Nick Montgomery wants Hibernian to add a sports psychologist into their ranks as the under-pressure boss looks for solutions to aid their inconsistent form.
Montgomery inherited a struggling Hibs side when he replaced Lee Johnson in September, but he has been unable to spark a lift in fortunes with the Easter Road outfit finishing among the Scottish Premiership bottom six.
Hibs lost to Ross County last time out and have failed to secure back-to-back wins since early December.
That lack of consistency coupled with losing several late goals, has ultimately cost them and now Montgomery feels the club can do more to help the players remain laser-focused and not get caught up in constant negativity.
"I would like to bring in a sports psychologist," the Hibs head coach confessed. "Obviously coming in mid-season, it’s hard to implement stuff.
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“But I’m a big believer in sports performance, sports psychology. It’s really important in the modern game – because there is so much negativity around.
"The players have to deal with negativity all the time.
“Having that positive mindset allows you to focus on the task ahead, which is winning a game in football, not getting caught up in all the noise that surrounds being an elite athlete these days.”
Discussing what he would like to see improve in the future, Montgomery acknowledged that any changes will take time and there isn’t necessarily an easy short-cut.
“Resilience is a big word,” said the 42-year-old. “Putting it into practice takes time and effort. We talk here about mental skills and building a mental framework.
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“Some players develop it at a young age. And you can improve it, for sure. But some players struggle with resilience, the ability to deal with pressure and expectation. Some cope with it really well.
“It’s a case of improving the players who struggle with it. And we’ve had a real lack of consistency on that throughout the season.
“It’s something we can try to address in training. Ultimately, it’s a process you have to go through, with no easy shortcut.
“So it’s a great word, resilience. A great word. You can talk about the late goals we’ve conceded, people can call it game management, resilience, decision-making.
"These are all things that, when you step on the pitch as a player, in those moments, that’s when you have to grab hold of games and see them out.
“It’s something we’ve really, as a club, let ourselves down on this season. Maybe sometimes you just have to work on it without talking about it – but, when it keeps rearing its head in games like at the weekend, we have to talk about it. It’s definitely a mental resilience thing that takes time to fix.
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“I mean, yeah, I watched Dortmund. What an amazing team and amazing story. But you see examples of it all around the world, in all different sports.
“You also see examples of what we’ve gone through, for whatever reason. Consistently things not going the way you want them to go. It’s something you have to change.”
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