Lee Johnson is confident he can crack open Hibs ’ true potential this season - especially with celebrity pal DJ Locksmith just a phone call away.
The new Easter Road boss is big on motivation and mindset and used the Rudimental star to spur his players on when he was in charge at Bristol City. Former Arsenal and England goal machine Ian Wright has also been brought in as were inspirational characters from other sports and the military.
Johnson admits he could call in a favour from Scottish boxing hero Josh Taylor, a huge Hibs fan, to give his players a jab if required in the same way his mate Leon Rolle - aka Rudimental star Locksmith - helped kick City in to shape. He said: “Every year that’s gone by you learn a lot in management. You forge what you think works, how to fast track certain things and the demographic of this squad is quite similar to the Barnsley and Bristol City ones.
“You have the same attributes but the same flaws which can lead you going on good or bad runs often when they feel good about themselves or a bad run can continue longer than it should.
“Those situations help me flatten the waves, keep consistency, create a growth mindset and one of the layers is a
speaker series.
“We’ll bring guys in whether it be a sleep coach, the SAS, my mate Leon from Rudimental, Ian Wright, Josh Taylor is a big Hibs fan. It doesn’t always have to cost.
“There are so many things you can do and learn off and we just try and drip feed this into the boys. Rudimental and Ian Wright came to Bristol. We had the Red Arrows. Marcus Trescothick came in. He’s a big Bristol City fan. I first met Leon at a charity game and he was a really good guy, charismatic and very successful.
“He is extremely passionate in everything he does and I wanted to bring that vibe. The energy levels he has to perform day in day out, he can’t have an off day because there’s paying public there and it’s similar to a footballer.”
It’s all well and good being able to call on speakers through the week but Johnson is well aware he needs big voices to step up in his squad too.
The pressure is on the Easter Road squad to perform after a miserable season in Leith saw them slump to an eighth place finish.
The new boss will take his time over appointing his captain with the armband being shared around in the Premier Sports Cup games starting this Saturday against Clyde.
But Johnson reckons the ferocious, demanding, leaders of the past are now almost redundant with only Ryan Porteous coming close in his current Hibs crop.
He said: “Aren’t they dead in terms of the old school? Are they there anymore, genuinely?
“You’d probably say Ryan is closest to old school leader. Even your 30-year-olds aren’t maybe cut from the same cloth.
“Where it used to be you used to earn respect it’s now about ‘listen, you must respect me’ no matter what. I think society has changed and my take is to try and promote the individuals’ leadership qualities. You can’t all be like Wacko who goes and heads the door before he goes out.
“Some people are really good at
one-on-one conversations and if you’re good at that then bring it along.
“If you’re the best at putting nights together for the wives or stuff like that then just bring your bit to add value to the leadership side of the club.”
Johnson was delighted with the work his troops put in during their week-long pre-season camp in the blazing Algarve heat last week.
Friendly wins over Hartlepool and Burton Albion have instilled a confidence and two goals for Elias Melkersen have thrust him right into the manager’s thinking ahead of the new campaign. The 19-year-old has yet to hit top gear after arriving from Bodo/Glimt in January.
But Johnson added: “He’s a lovely mover. If I could build a 5ft 11in centre forward/wide man it would be him in terms of the fluidity of his mobility.
“He makes good darting runs and is the type of player as a midfielder I’d have liked to play with because you feel he is always on the move.
“There are still a few bits to improve in terms of that receiving rapport that he has with the midfield.
“But he is a really good character so I think he will be an easy one to work with and try to improve.
“I rang him in the summer and said he will need to be flexible because whether it’s from the left or right or up top I like his attributes but obviously there are other players in the squad.
“So he will get more game time by having that growth mindset and
appreciating the different roles within the team for various games.
“It was great to have the young players travel with us and experience that purposeful practice.
“I mean you can drive a Punto and go into auto-pilot but then get in a Formula One car and it comes quicker.
“That’s the simile we use for the young lads getting into the first team.
“Kyle McClelland too. That’s why the young players were out in Portugal
with us. They have to understand how we play.”
READ NEXT
.png?w=600)
