Again, if the latest reports are to believed, it looks like being a straight fight between Alan Kernaghan and Davie Hay, with my preference most definitely for the Clyde boss.

It's been a strange couple of months to be a Hibbie, and as if our suffering isn't bad enough with what has been happening ON the pitch, the Iron Rod, Big Lebowski and the other green blazers have made life even more intolerable for us by turning the search for Boaby's successor into a bigger Carry On than Sid James and Babs Windsor could ever muster.

In this computer-dominated age, the message boards have been going ballistic in recent weeks, with a cast of thousands mentioned as possible candidates for the Hibs hotseat. The Gordon Strachan rumour was most popular of all - and while it may seem a tad fanciful to consider that the Ginger God would fancy slumming it at ER for a while, it was surely worth a try. Time will tell if the board even brooched the subject with the wee man, but there was certainly no harm in trying to lure him to his boyhood heroes. The feedback on the websites proved that he would have put thousands on the gate at Easter Road and brought in a flood of cash in season ticket sales.

But do you really expect the current board to have enough ambition to pull of a coup like that? Nah, thought not. Me neither. Their handling of the Thordarson Affair, as it will go down in history, was a complete and utter shambles.

Andreas Brehme, the man who scored the winner in the World Cup final and made an ass out of Shilton at Italia 90, emerged as another interesting candidate. Sure, he would have some great contacts to draw on, but so did Franck, and it all went pear-shaped for Le God. Also, if you can excuse the generalisation, after the performance of Berti Vogts at the helm of the national team, you can forgive us for being a little apprehensive about putting another German in charge.

The Robbo rumours seem to have petered out and that is probably for the best. I don't doubt that the wee fat Jambo has what it takes to be an excellent manager, and his success with Inverness is testament to that, but it would have been far more grief than it was worth to install a Hearts legend as manager of Hibs. Could have done a job for us I'm sure, but he would have come with far too much baggage - and I'm not talking about his belly.

As for Tommy Burns, Paul Lambert, Eric Black, Glenn Hoddle's lackey etc, no thanks!

And so, it would seem, we are left with Hay - the elder statesman - and Kernaghan, one of the best up-and-coming managers in Scotland.

Davie Hay has my utmost respect for what he has achieved in the game. He is quiet, dignified, a shrewd tactician (who outmanouevred Boaby in the CIS Cup final), but he just doesn't excite me. Such is the weariness amongst the Hibs support after the recent seasons of massive under-achievement, that we need a pick-me-up and, for me, Hay is just too plain to instill any real feeling of optimism.

Kernaghan, on the other hand, has done nothing but impress me. I must confess, my knowledge of his capabilities is somewhat limited, but he is on an upward curve, appears an intelligent, amiable and popular manager, and if the board have narrowed it down to a scrap between the Irishman and Hay for the job, then I think we've got to go for the younger man.

Unfortunately, we're still relying on paper talk and message-board rumours, so the Hibs board are well capable of disregarding both Hay and Kernaghan and surprising us all with somebody I've not even mentioned. I just wish they'd get on with it instead of disrespecting the supporters by sending out the mailshots about season ticket packages when we don't even have a manager in place!

It's been yet another PR disaster for the Hibs board, hopefully they can right another wrong by giving us a manager that can bring back the good times to Easter Road. And the sooner, the better.