Lee Johnson has warned Hibs he "won't accept mediocrity" and admitted he was "bored" watching their Premier Sports Cup defeat to Falkirk. Johnson's side paid the price for a lacklustre first-half as they slipped to a Group D defeat to their League One opponents.
A terrific header from Aidan Nesbitt caught the Hibees napping and they were unable to salvage a result after the interval. And while Johnson stressed it remains early days amid what's been a positive pre-season so far, he promised to be ruthless if standards don't meet his expectations.
The manager told Premier Sports: "Poor first-half, just boys not at it. It was mediocre at best and that's not good enough. Second-half we were good, we should've scored two or three. But, listen, I'm here and I'm still learning about my players, my individuals and I learnt a lot today.
"Did I get it wrong with the team selection? I'd like to think that first-half side should've been better than it was but, like I say, too many mediocre performances and that led to giving Falkirk the shot in the arm they needed.
"They were good, they fought hard and they hustled. Full credit to them, but second-half I felt we had a number of opportunities, a number of appeals that maybe would've gone our way and done enough to win the game.
Hibs were ruthless in a 5-0 dismantling of Clyde at the weekend but couldn't find that killer touch at the Falkirk Stadium, despite fashioning a number of second-half chances. But, asked to deliver a message to the side which toiled through the opening period, the former Sunderland boss was crystal clear.
He replied: "We can't accept mediocrity, it's as simple as that. I'm quite ruthless in terms of I'll make the changes early, because I was bored of watching it, to be honest with you.
"I like to be entertained by my team myself, as well. And if I'm bored watching it or don't feel it's committed enough or attacking enough, I'll just make changes.
"The beauty of having five subs is you have the ability to be able to do that. So, yeah, it's frustrating but it's a small blip in a very good pre-season/start of the season so far, I'd rather have that now than two weeks into the season."
