Hibs boss Lee Johnson accused his players of being SCARED to play at Parkhead after Celtic battered them 6-1. And the Easter Road gaffer says if their mentality doesn’t change going to big stadiums - he’ll ship them OUT of the club.
Johnson was livid after the Hibees were hammered by the champions. The manager made four substitutions at half-time with his team 3-0 down. Elie Youan pulled a goal back but they were second best all afternoon in Glasgow.
A James Forrest hat-trick, Giorgos Giakoumakis’ brace and Daizen Maeda’s late goal put them to the sword. Hibs haven’t won at Celtic Park in 12 years and Johnson could sense trepidation in his players. But at full-time, he warned them in no uncertain terms that he won’t persist with players who aren’t psychologically strong. Johnston said: “I’m hugely disappointed. We can’t come here and be as timid as we were in the first half.
“We wanted to come here and be a team that makes history by winning. But our timid play at the start acted like a domino effect through the team.
“We just didn’t get up to the ball. What is the fear factor about going to press? I’ve got defenders with a lot of experience in this league. And as a team, I know we can apply pressure.
“But there’s a fear factor here and we have to change it. It’s the hardest thing to change when it’s on a psychological level.
“But it’s difficult for me to take and it eats me up inside. In the second half today, we were outclassed by Celtic but at least we had a go and scored a good goal.
“The standard of goals we conceded - my God, you’d do well to put clips together like that from a Sunday park league. It must be psychological because I see these boys every day.
“Today it was like we were a boxer who didn’t want to throw a punch because we were worried about the counter-punch. That hurt me the most. I find that difficult to understand. When you’re a kid you want to play in places like this.
"You don’t have a bad game when you visualise playing at Wembley, Parkhead or Ibrox. When does that fear set in? What’s the worst that can happen?
“You have to show yourself as a player. Today was a free hit because 99 percent of people didn’t expect us to win. It has to change and that will become my focus.”
Despite having a go at his players, Johnson also took responsibility for the team and system he deployed at kick-off - before having to rip it up after 45 minutes of mediocrity.
He said: “It’s 100 percent me. I sent a team out to press in a certain way and I got it wrong. I want my wide players to press on the front foot but it was as if someone in our goal had a rope and they were pulling them back today.
“We also gave the ball away too many times. For our full-backs not to engage and allow so many free crosses - I had to change it at half-time. It’s on me but I put a team out and wanted them to produce their best when it mattered most.
“When they don’t do that, you take them off or move them on. Otherwise, you go, don’t you? That’s the nature of the beast.
“We were a million miles off it in the first half and if I could have made seven changes I would have.
“It’ll be a tough week for us and we deserve the criticism. I’ve had nearly 500 games as a manager and this is one of the worst feelings I’ve had.”
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