Hibernian boss David Gray backs Elie Youan over keepy-uppy criticism

David Gray has defended Hibernian forward Elie Youan in the face of criticism for doing keepy-uppies after his struggling side had been reduced to 10 men in Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Dundee.

The Frenchman was seen juggling the ball while waiting for play to resume as Dark Blues midfielder Mo Sylla received treatment following a tackle from Hibs left-back Jordan Obita that earned him a red card.

Former Easter Road midfielders Michael Stewart and Marvin Bartley, both working as pundits for Premier Sports, were infuriated by Youan’s actions, insisting he should have been looking to receive instructions and focus on how his team were going to defend a 1-0 lead with 10 men.

“It’s embarrassing,” said Bartley. “It sums it up at the moment that he’s been allowed to get away with this. Not only is he doing it, he’s got players looking at him and allowing him to do it.”

Gray accepted why his former team-mate Bartley might interpret the situation the way he did but insisted Youan was already well aware of his role and had done nothing wrong.

“I think anyone who knows Elie knows he loves football,” said Gray. “He loves being on the pitch, he’s enjoying football, that’s when he’s happiest, when he’s on the pitch.

“I’d fully understand it if the game was about to go on, or I hadn’t had the information on, or if I’d pulled all the players across and he wasn’t over and he was doing his own thing. Then I would understand exactly the magnitude of making the point on it.

“But I didn’t see it at the time, my information went on very quickly as to what we wanted to do at the red card, especially for the next five minutes, to see what Dundee would do, because of how well we started in the game.

“So the plan was on very quickly, he knew exactly where he was and he went into position very quickly.

“I think a lot’s been made of it, but I think if you actually know him, I don’t think there’s any malice in what he was doing. But I understand why the question would be asked and why Marvin gave his feelings on it.”

Gray’s basement boys host Aberdeen on Tuesday on the back of a run of eight games without a win, although they have been ahead in four of those matches, with a string of individual errors undermining their cause.

Goalkeeper Josef Bursik has come under particular scrutiny after some costly errors, including in each of the last two defeats by St Mirren and Dundee.

Asked if he was considering taking the England Under-21 international out of the firing line, Gray said: “I’ve always got big calls, I’ve had big calls for a number of weeks, because there’s been, not just Joe, a lot of players making individual errors, that’s been a common theme for us this season.

“I don’t know what it is exactly, 14 points (squandered) from winning positions, and I think the biggest issue we’ve had is we’re almost beating ourselves when you look at the goals we’ve conceded and the decisions we’ve made in games that have cost us.

“Unfortunately for goalkeepers, when they make a mistake they very often get punished and, when they do get punished, it leads to a goal.

“So he’s going through a real difficult moment and it’s a situation that’s not great for everybody involved. The goalies are working as hard as they can every day in training to make sure we try and rectify the problems that we’re facing.”