 His arrival came when Mark Hughes was in the process of agreeing a transfer to FC Barcelona of Spain for the end of the season, and manager Ron Atkinson was looking to buy a new striker.However, with Hughes not leaving until the close season and his strike partner Frank Stapleton staying put, Gibson spent most of his time on the bench and his chances of first team action barely improved even when Hughes left as Atkinson had since signed striker Peter Davenport.The Reds had been top of the league when Gibson had joined them but a disappointing second half of the season sucked them down to fourth place, and Atkinson was sacked in early November following a terrible start to the 1986-87 season.