Any new manager usually brings in their own number two, which means present employees get the cold shoulder.

It inevitably happens, that a departing player of coach has a few words to say about their old employer. And Mark Proctor is no different. The newly-installed Livingston manager Proctor claims that Hibs did not make the best use of his experience by having him coaching the reserves. Proctor was recruited as a first-team coach last August by previous Easter Road manager Tony Mowbray. However, with the arrival of John Collins three months later, he saw his opportunities to progress diminish When Mowbray left, Proctor stepped up for a brief stint as caretaker manager, but Collins appointment saw the Englishman sidelined and coaching the reserves. Proctor was appointed as John Robertson's successor at Almondvale on Wednesday and admits the opportunity to manage Livingston following his snub at Hibs was too good to turn down.

He said: "It was difficult for me. I was moved sideways shall we say. I have coached in the Premier League in England and I had not really gone to Hibs to coach the reserves. Rod Petrie brought in John and John brought in Tommy Craig. I've been in football long enough to realise these things happen. Football is a precarious business and it was nothing personal. I spoke to John a while ago and told him I wanted to go into management and that the job I was doing at Hibs was not quite fulfilling my ambitions as a coach. I needed a bit more responsibility so he was aware that if an opportunity like this did arise, then something could happen. Maybe he was a little bit disappointed that I've left, hopefully he was because I feel like I did a decent job at Hibs in the short space of time I was there. He was aware I was looking to take some more responsibility."

With Proctor having very little experience and knowledge of Scottish football, the former Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland player sought the opinion of Mowbray, among others. He added: "My biggest problem in Scotland is that I don't know what is a good job and a bad job because I have not been here long enough. Since the initial approach and a chat, I have tried to fill in as many empty spaces as I can in terms of the playing personnel, the club, the history. That's what I've tried to do over the last seven to 10 days. My background is England really, Tony brought me to Hibs. I have spoken to Tony and a number of people to fill in the empty spaces. He said it was a terrific club, he spoke very highly of Livingston."

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