The trio reached agreement to quit before last night's transfer deadline leaving them free to take their time to win new deals elsewhere as Paatelainen brought in Celtic striker Derek Riordan and Dunfermline defender Sol Bamba before the window slammed shut.

Snapped up from Motherwell on a three-year deal by former boss John Collins, the midfield star became an instant hero with the Hibs support as he scored the only goal of the game just two minutes into his debut against Hearts at Tynecastle at the beginning of last season.

But Kerr found himself with the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Scott Brown after his £4.5 million move to Celtic and slowly became the centre of attention for the Easter Road boo boys no matter what he did on the park.

Although he played 30 games last season, Kerr's only involvement this time round was in the first InterToto Cup match against Swedish side IF Elfsborg in Edinburgh at the beginning of July and the fact he wasn't even given a squad number by Paatelainen was a broad hint his days were numbered.

Today former Newcastle United star Kerr was reluctant to dwell on the reasons for his departure just hours before last night's midnight deadline, saying: "I've left the club on good terms.

"I had a great time at Easter Road, I enjoyed my time there and I have no regrets about joining Hibs. Things have perhaps not worked out for me and it is time to move on.

"There's no real reason that I can put my finger on. I need to be playing first team games, I need to be involved and that's my aim. The club and myself have come to this decision, there's been no fall-out, there's no problems between us."

Kerr was sporting a wry grin as he recalled that night at Tynecastle, adding: "It just shows how fickle football can be, there are no guarantees wherever you play.

"Perhaps I scored that goal too early into my Hibs career but I had a great night and I enjoyed my time at the club."

While the departures of Kerr and Malkowksi had long been rumoured – the Polish goalkeeper having spent spells on loan at Gretna and Inverness Caledonian following a series of high-profile blunders – Canning leaving will come as something of a shock to Hibs fans.

The former Gretna and Ross County defender, signed on a 15-month deal in February, made his first SPL start of the season against Motherwell at the weekend following a two month absence from first team duty.

But the arrival of Sol Bamba moved him further down the pecking order behind skipper Rob Jones and Chris Hogg with Ian Murray and Steven Thicot also capable of filling in at centre-half.

Canning admitted after the defeat by Motherwell that he'd been unhappy sitting on the bench, saying: "I haven't played as much as I would have liked and that's been very frustrating.

"I feel I can do a job, sitting on the bench isn't what I want to do. But it's the manager's decision and we'll have to wait and see what happens."

A hint, in hindsight, that he felt his days in a green-and-white shirt were coming to an end.

Canning, who played 13 times for Hibs last season, has now signed for SPL rivals Hamilton.

Yesterday's hectic activity at Easter Road completes a rapid transformation to the squad which Paatelainen inherited from his predecessor John Collins with Ian Murray, John Rankin, Colin Nish, David Van Zanten, Joe Keenan, Thicot, Fabian Yantorno, Steve Pinau and now Bamba having arrived since January. Heading out in the same period have been Mickael Antoine-Curier, Patrick Noubissie, Clayton Donaldson, Dermot McCaffrey, Ally Brown, Keegan Ayre, Sean Lynch, Patrick Mailey and Kerr, while Canning and Algerian internationalist Abdel Zarabi have both come and gone.