Nicky Cadden admits Hibs hairdryer treatment happens at home with David Gray not his only taskmaster
Cadden, along with twin brother Chris, have another former footballer keeping an eye on their performances
22:30, 24 Oct 2025
Nicky Cadden
Nicky Cadden admits Hibs boss David Gray is not the only person he has to please – after joking that his dad also is also not shy in giving out the hairdryer treatment.
The winger is loving playing alongside twin brother Chris at Easter Road and old man Steve – a former league winner with Albion Rovers – is desperate to see his boys do well.
But Cadden admits his father will not beat around the bush when it comes to appraising their performances.
He said: “I’ve been in the game long enough where I think I know if I’ve played bad or if I’ve played good.
“My dad will tell me after the game. Maybe I thought I was good but he’s like, ‘no you were….’ – I was just about to swear there.
“It doesn’t happen often because I can tell if I’ve had a bad game.
“My dad’s good that way, he can go through you a few times but he does give you a lot of praise.
“When you do good, when he does give you that praise you feel like you’re on top of the world because you must have done well.
“It’s good to have that family, even like Chrissie. If he tells me something I should improve on, I tell him something to improve on.
Hibernian’s Nicky Cadden (L) and Chris Cadden
“We can talk about that and it’s good to have that closeness with my family.
“It’s a big thing that relates to football so we talk a lot about it.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for him taking us everywhere when we were younger.
“I think he quite likes the fact that he’s invested in it and it’s a lot better that we’re both at the same club.
“He does try to watch two games at one time but even my mum as well, they do really well.
“They tell us what we can do and what we can improve on. It’s good to have that family around you.”
The Cadden brothers will likely line up on both flanks as Hibs attempt to make it successive league wins at Aberdeen tomorrow after thrashing Livingston last weekend.
It has been a frustrating season so far for the Leith outfit with Gray’s team drawing five of their opening eight games.
But that has still been good enough to see Hibs sit in third spot.
Cadden added: “Everybody’s talking about how we’ve not started well but we’ve only lost one game.
“Obviously, a few of them have been draws and we think we should have picked up points there.
“When you look back at it, we’re third on the table now and we’ve not really had the best start wins-wise.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
“I think we can build on that and obviously build on the weekend’s performance.
“It’s going to be a tough one on Sunday and hopefully we can build on how we played on Saturday.”
Aberdeen are licking their wounds from their 6-0 humbling at AEK Athens on Thursday night.
Cadden loved being involved in the demanding European fixture schedule at the start of the season and knows how the Dons will be feeling.
He added: “It was tough, not just physically but mentally as well. You’re not really getting a chance to focus on the last game because you’ve got a game coming up so soon.
“I actually weirdly enjoyed it because it was just games, games, games.
“I just love playing games of football. When you’re younger, that’s what you dream about doing.
“I feel like if you’re playing games of football and playing every week, even during the week, it’s a blessing.
“It is tough but at the same time it’s what I love to do. It’s tough on the body and the mind but you get over it.”
