Lee Johnson’s time as Hibernian manager has finally come to an end.
The club announced the departure of Johnson and his assistant coaches Jamie McAllister and Adam Owen following Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Livingston at Easter Road.
Three losses in three league games leaves Hibs bottom of the Premiership and the only side without a point so far this season. With thousands of supporters making their feelings known during and after yesterday’s match, it was obvious Johnson’s fate had been sealed at full time.
A man who has overpromised and under-delivered since his appointment last summer, it’s been clear for some time that Lee Johnson was never going to be the person to lead the club forward and get the most out of a first team squad which has benefited from huge levels of investment in recent months.
With failure to progress from last season’s League Cup group stages, back-to-back 3-0 derby defeats, a 6-1 humbling at Celtic, the worst European result in the club’s history and complete inconsistency in results over the last 13 months, the writing has been on the wall for some time.
In reality, the majority of the support has never taken to the former Sunderland and Bristol City boss, and it’s been an uphill battle for Johnson for large parts of his tenure. The football hasn’t been good to watch, we’ve conceded goals for fun and we’ve struggled to put together meaningful runs of results.
Did the club wait too long to act? Very possibly, but with Shaun Maloney’s fudged appointment still relatively fresh in the minds of everyone associated with Hibernian, it can perhaps be understood why those in charge were reluctant to move Johnson on.
With record summer investment in the playing squad showing no early signs of improvement, it’s not surprising to learn of his dismissal this weekend.
No one was stunned to read the news this morning. Fans, pundits, ex-players – it came as a shock to absolutely nobody and it leaves Hibs looking for our ninth manager in the last 10 years. Neil Lennon’s 2.5 years in charge makes him the longest serving manger in a decade.
So, what contributed to the downfall of Lee Johnson who – arguably – never really settled into his role as Hibs manager?
Results
Naturally the most important measure of success in football is the ability to produce results. Lee Johnson’s record as Hibs boss was unacceptably poor, and his start to the league season has been nothing short of a disgrace.
With three of last season’s bottom seven teams – with two at home – to play in our opening league fixtures there was an expectation that the club would get off to a positive start before the first international break.
The reality has been the opposite with three defeats and eight goals conceded against St Mirren, Motherwell and Livingston.
While it’s fair to point to European exertions as a factor in the poor domestic results, we’ve had all summer to ready a squad for two games a week in the opening portion of the season.
Johnson has simply failed to do that to any reasonable degree and he leaves us pointless at the bottom of the league.
Not Learning from Mistakes
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again, and expecting different results.
Lee Johnson’s Hibs have been doing the same things for months and there’s been no sign of improvement or learning.
Defensively we are naïve and there has been nothing to suggest the management team have done anything about the goals we have been losing since the summer. We seem totally unable to deal with crosses into our box and any team gearing up to play us knows exactly what to do to get a result.
We have four senior centre halves at the club, all of whom have been unable to effectively deal with balls into the box.
While Chris Cadden is sidelined we’ve relied heavily on Lewis Miller to deputise at right back and we’ve conceded huge numbers of crosses from our right hand side in recent weeks.
With 59 league goals conceded in 38 games last season (compared to 42 in 2021/22), and eight conceded in three games so far in this campaign, we have done very little to address the obvious weaknesses in the side.
The midfield balance still isn’t right. It’s never been right since Johnson was appointed despite having three transfer windows to do something about it. Dylan Levitt’s injury has been unfortunate but even when he was in the team, he was being utilised in a far deeper role than many expected, limiting his ability to contribute positively going forward.
Jimmy Jeggo has started the season poorly and yet he’s played nearly every minute of our domestic games so far, while Alan Delferriere has struggled for gametime in midfield following his deployment at right back in the matches against Inter d’Escaldes.
Style of Play
Lee Johnson claimed when he was appointed that Hibs would “turn up the attacking dial during the game” and “play a high-tempo brand of football.”
It was music to the ears of Hibs fans and exactly what lots of supporters would like to see from their team.
In his first interview he said: “Whatever formation we play, I will make sure my team is consistent in our playing style – aggressive and on the front foot.
“What you will get from me is I will try and win every game, I guarantee you that. Sometimes to our detriment, but I guarantee you we will go to the big boys, be aggressive and try to win every football match.”
In over a year as Hibernian manager it’s difficult to say he achieved what he set out to any significant degree over any consistent periods of time. With a talented squad and more opportunities than most Hibs managers to implement a strong identity and playing style, Hibs fans have had no idea what to expect from one week to the next.
Hibs fans would struggle to tell you how we played under Lee Johnson as it changed from one week to the next. In domestic games this season we’ve reverted to chucking the ball up to Christian Doidge while our £700,000 striker sat on the bench
Regular changes in formation, personnel and attacking style led to huge periods of inconsistency during Johnson’s time in charge. It has been to the detriment of our league performance and to the detriment of the enjoyment in the stands.
Worryingly, Johnson doesn’t appear to have implemented anything he said he would do as manager in any of his previous jobs either, leading to question marks over the due diligence before his appointment just over a year ago.
He talked a decent game, but in truth he showed little of it on the pitch.
Team Selections
While there’s been huge inconsistencies in Johnson’s results, there have been even more in his team selections.
Whether it’s a back three, back four, various central defensive partnerships, multiple players filling in at right back, anyone’s guess who starts in the middle three, Doidge frozen out on loan and then back in the starting XI, Obita at left wing, left back or left midfield – the list is endless.
In Johnson’s time in charge, we’ve seen Chris Cadden, Lewis Miller, Will Fish, Kanayo Megwa, Josh Campbell, Alan Delferriere and Riley Harbottle at right back. It screams of a manager who does not know his best team – he didn’t even know his best full back.
On the opening day of the league season, after a full pre-season to prepare, we were 2-0 down and arranging a double change before 30 minutes were on the clock. Shambolic.
It is, of course, important for a squad to be flexible and adaptable to the opposition, but there’s huge value in a consistent set up and team selection. While this season may be more understandable due to European commitments, the problems have been evident for a year.
With nine summer signings and three transfer windows to make the squad his own, it seemed like Johnson still had no idea of his best XI. The inconsistencies in his team selections coupled with inconsistencies in performance and results have made for a hugely frustrating 12 months following Hibs.
Relationship with Fans
For one reason or another, the Hibernian support never seemed to take to Lee Johnson. Whether it was his previous connection to Hearts, his demeanour in the press or the football he produced week to week, it always felt like Johnson was struggling to bring the fans onside.
His start to life as manager did not help matters, with whimpering performances in the League Cup and just seven wins in his first 20 league games making it easy for fans to turn against him.
From that point on it always felt like Johnson had his back against the wall, regularly coming out with a defensive attitude following poor results and never really understanding what it meant to be a part of the club.
In recent months Johnson has been ridiculed by supporters of Hibs and others for his riddle-filled interviews. Sometimes his metaphors were well-placed and understood by the majority (see driving an F1 car), but at other times his remarks left fans scratching their heads (see Will Fish being chased by a lion).
It became far too easy to turn off from what he was trying to say.
His reflection on some performances and results often seemed separated from reality, with Johnson’s interpretation of the progress being made by the squad not being experienced by supporters watching on from the stands.
Johnson spoke last night of ‘very good European success’, which has consisted of overcoming an unthinkable deficit against Andorra’s Inter d’Escaldes, an impressive two-legged victory over the fourth-best team in Switzerland and an uninspiring home defeat to Aston Villa.
For many, that’s just about par for the course for a club the size of Hibernian.
The former manager’s apparent belittlement of supporter reaction following the shock defeat in Andorra got fans backs up even more, his view that it was unusual to be questioned at ‘half time’ of a match – following the first leg of a two-legged European tie – left many of us utterly lost for words.
Comments about ‘true Hibs fans’ in his post-match interview yesterday were the clearest sign that Johnson had lost the battle with the support. His sarcastic response when asked about the fans as he was scuttling out of the interview area door was a sign of a manager who was nearing the end.
As it turns out it was one of his last acts as Hibernian manager, but it encapsulated his sticky relationship with the club’s followers in his time in charge.
As Johnson departs, the club are left in a difficult position just three games into the league season. With nine signings, huge levels of investment and a whole pre-season behind us, whoever comes in to take the job will have a tough task on their hands to make a difference, and quickly.
With an international break to follow the trip to Pittodrie next weekend, it would be in the interests of everyone at the club to make a swift appointment and give the new manager as much time as possible ahead of the visit to Rugby Park on 16th September.
We go to Villa Park on Thursday evening five goals and a manager down on a night where only club pride is at stake with the tie already over. David Gray will resume caretaker charge and it’ll be on him to get the players ready for what is likely to be another tough European night.
The East Stand 
To completely misquote the great Eddie Turnbull “There’s average,there’s below average, then there’s Hibs managers”
LikeLike
Excellent analysis!
LikeLike