Under-fire Lee Johnson has urged the Hibs fans to keep the faith after their derby dismantling as he explained his decision to not address his players in the Tynecastle dressing room.
There was talk of the Easter Road boss being on the brink after their 3-0 defeat at Hearts left the Hibees sitting disappointingly in eighth place. He was critical of his players in a furious post match debrief but never addressed them in the away dressing room after the hammering at the hands of Hearts.
He reckons it was better to wait and let emotions die down and then to address it back at the training ground. He claimed: “I won’t be the first manager not to have gone into the dressing room after the game for the great good. I believe at times, one on one conversations are good. The manager not being there in a dressing room after the game is sometimes conducive to players being a bit more honest with each other and themselves.
"Then everything comes together when you come in and train again and you have that full stop meeting, as we call it, based on the game. There are various different ways and techniques to improve, to bring the voice out of young players for example.
"We try to use a balance of those techniques and it is all for the greater good of the team, getting the next result and making sure the confidence remains from parts and elements of good performance but certainly over the recent run of games there have been some good parts to our play and that is what we need to hone into to put on a 96 minute performance against Motherwell.”
After his scathing verdict on the first-team he is confident he is putting plans in place that will not only bring success this season but also in the longer term. A defiant Johnson admitted: “You have to take it in your stride.
“You continue to focus on the performances and building up individual players. I make every decision at a football club like I am going to be there forever because that is what you have to do, to make the right choices, but at the same time this is a great football club and to be manager of a great football club is a privilege. What comes with that privilege is the pressures of people talking, outside noise, social media and the media.
“It is understandable. All I want is for our fan base to enjoy watching their team, to believe we can be successful, which I fully believe we can, both this season and moving forward.
“I think we can be really successful moving forward over the next few seasons. We are doing everything we can and I would just ask people to keep the faith and to trust in the process - that has been reality short in terms of that football succession plan and progression.”
The Hibs boss knows it is now his job to pick his staff and players up and to push for three points against Motherwell. Johnson, speaking to Sky Sports News, insisted: “You have to lift people.
“That is where the leadership element sets in. There are a lot of great people at this football club and I think they will be hurting.
"Not just players, you are talking also staff members. We need to try and lift everybody and let people vent anything they have got but also be focused on the next result.
“Everybody can be a leader but it is my job not to be disingenuous but to lift people in different ways to how we see their personalities and how we can increase their confidence levels. We are three points off fourth. There is a lot of doom and gloom but three points are on offer and we must fight tooth and nail to make sure we win them.”
Ryan Porteous has been the subject of interest from Italian side Udinese but he will be available for the trip to Fir Park. Johnson confirmed: “Very simply, he is available for selection and keen to play.”
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