Johnson claims 'the media battered me' during time at Hibs

Footage of the Fleetwood Town boss speaking at a fans' forum event, understood to have taken place at the English League One side's Highbury Stadium in October around a month after he succeeded Scott Brown, was circulating on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. 

In the video footage, Johnson makes a series of claims about his time as Hibs boss, including: 

• He was the second longest-serving manager in Scotland
• There isn't much to choose from between the Hibs squad and Fleetwood Town squad
• He brought young players through and gave them their first-team debut
• He sold two-to-three million pounds worth of players
• Fans 'expected' Hibs to beat Aston Villa
• Fleetwood 'could be decent' in the Scottish Premiership

Answering a question from a supporter at the start of the first clip, Johnson says: “I was speaking to my old assistant manager Jamie McAllister and we were having this debate and honestly, if I picked a team from the two squads it would be very even in terms of Hibs players and Fleetwood players."

Fleetwood have lost their last six games in all competitions, conceding 17 goals and scoring none. They are currently third bottom of League One, three points off basement club Cheltenham Town.

Back in October however, Johnson felt the Cods could compete in the Scottish Premiership. Speaking later on in one of the clips, he says: “I think we could go, as a Fleetwood side, flying and be decent in that league [the Scottish Premiership]. At the same time, outside of the Old Firm there are some top Championship-standard players, but I think we’ve got Championship-standard players here."

Addressing his time in Scotland, Johnson continued: “It was difficult for me because I played for Hearts, and then Hibs took me on as manager. I got battered by the media - although I think everyone does in Scotland. It’s a culture up there, where they’re very strong, passionate, and opinionated."

He also expressed sympathy for one of his former Tynecastle team-mates, who was relieved of his duties by Hearts after losing six of his final seven matches.

"My good friend Robbie Neilson got sacked by Hearts having got them promoted and into Europe and only lost a couple of games and ended up gone. I was only there 15 or 16 months and I was the second longest-serving [manager] in Scotland, which gives you a bit of an idea as to the intensity that’s there."

While Johnson spoke highly of Hibs as a 'big club in terms of fanbase and history', and stressed that he enjoyed his time there, he admitted that his sacking came as a surprise. 

“I loved my time there. Hibs is a big club in terms of fanbase and history. I took over after they finished eighth the year before, we got into Europe and won the best game in Europe in 30 years. We’d just got to the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup, we sold two or three million pounds worth of players, and we’d brought young players through and given them debuts so it was bit of a shock if I’m honest, and I wasn’t expecting it."

Johnson tasted defeat in the first three league games of the current campaign, losing 3-2 to St Mirren at Easter Road, 2-1 to Motherwell at Fir Park, before a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Livingston spelled the end for him in Leith. Despite the club's league form, positive results in Europe led Hibs to the play-off round of the Europa Conference League after they dispatched Inter Club d'Escaldes and Luzern in the second and third qualifying rounds to set up an all-British showdown with Aston Villa. Unai Emery's side, who are currently third in the English Premier League, recorded a 5-0 scoreline at Easter Road before a comfortable 3-0 win at Villa Park in the return leg, after Johnson's sacking, brought Hibs' continental involvement to an end. But the 42-year-old claimed Hibs fans had 'genuinely expected' to beat Villa. 

“We lost the first three league games but there were some circumstances behind it, based on playing on the Thursday and the travelling, and Aston Villa, and the Europa Conference League," he continued.

"The expectation is huge at Hibs. We were going up against Aston Villa’s £108 million pound budget and their £180m on fees and [the fans] genuinely expected us to turn one over those English b*stards. And I’m English!"

Johnson also took aim at the media following an incident that preceded Hibs' new year derby defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle in January 2023. Social media pictures claimed to show the manager at an establishment on Edinburgh's George Street the night before the match, which he later said was a family meal.

“There are a lot of dynamics. Even the media - there are a lot of pages to fill. I went out for dinner with my mum and my nan before the Hearts game and somebody took a picture of me walking home on George Street, which is the sort of street that I’m sure you guys would enjoy if we went on a pre-season to Edinburgh," Johnson continued.

“By the time I got home the CEO [Ben Kensell] was FaceTiming me because it had gone live in The Sun that I was drunk, walking down George Street the night before the Hearts game. It was completely untrue and a little bit of a defamation of character as I saw it, but these were the types of things I had to deal with."