SHAUN MALONEY, the former Hibernian manager, believes that his team's peformance in Saturday's 2-1 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hearts showed his side were on track to becoming one that the supporters could be proud of.
Two quick-fire goals from Robbie Neilson's men handed them the advantage early on at Hampden before Chris Cadden reduced the deficit shortly afterwards. Hibs improved as the game wore on despite having a man sent off but it wasn't enough to avoid exiting the cup.
The derby proved to be Maloney's final match as manager of the Leith club and the former Scotland internationalist was relieved of his duties on Tuesday.
With the Easter Road outfit languishing in the bottom half of the table and any hope of lifting silverware this term gone, Hibs owner Ron Gordon decided to pull the trigger on Maloney's tenure.
In a club statement released on Wednesday, Gordon said: "Ultimately when you look at the results, it is not acceptable for a club like Hibs. At the end of the day it comes down to the fact it's a results-based business.
"We had a special board meeting on Monday and we came to the conclusion that we needed to make a change."
Speaking to BBC Scotland, Maloney admitted he was 'disappointed not to have had the time' to turn things around in the capital.
"It was my deepest desire to be able to deliver for the fans a team of which they could feel proud and inspired by," he said.
"Even though the pain of our defeat last weekend remains raw, I was convinced all the more by the nature of the performance and the desire we showed even when reduced to 10 men that, given time, we would have achieved this."
Maloney added that he felt honoured to have managed a club of Hibs' stature.
"From day one, the players have been a real pleasure to work with and I am grateful for their enthusiasm and commitment to my coaching ideas," he said.
"It has been an honour and a privilege to be the manager of Hibernian, a club with such a proud and distinguished history."
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