Rod Petrie and Neil Lennon face a very uncomfortable day and a half as they consider the future of John McGinn.
In one corner you have the man who effectively runs the club and a time served SFA committee man. He knows the Scottish game inside out.
Across from Petrie is the ambitious young manager with a restless player and big holes in the squad that finished six points short of second place last season.
The decision on whether to play John McGinn in a meaningless Europa League tie on Thursday could prove very costly.
With a 6-1 lead from the first leg Hibs are as good as through to the second round but all eyes will be on the team-sheet for tomorrow’s match against NSI Runavik.
If McGinn plays he’ll be ineligible for Celtic’s Champions League qualifiers. Will there be any urgency to bring him to Celtic before the final days of the Scottish transfer window?
August 9 is the transfer deadline day in England- Neil Lennon will know how likely it is that he will receive a bid from south of the border.
On August 10 he could be left with a midfielder with 10 months left on his contract, one interested party and with the player able to run the clock down to sign for Celtic in January and move for ‘free’ next summer with £1m added to his signing on fee.
Lennon the pragmatist will want the issue resolved to Hibs advantage. That will almost certainly involve a hefty transfer fee to reinvest and a Celtic player coming in on loan for the season.
Petrie will have to decide between brinkmanship and sensible business practise.
If he opts from brinkmanship he may find himself left with a frustrated manager, a squad thin on quality and another player ready to follow Dylan McGeouch and leave for nothing at the end of their contract.
