Lee Johnson can’t wait to get his head back fully on managing Hibs - after admitting his deadline day health scare left him unable to remember if he’d finalised key signings. The Hibs boss is back in business after a brutal few weeks that saw him undergo emergency surgery to remove a perforated gall bladder.
Speaking for the first time since that operation in the final few hours of the transfer window, Johnson revealed he’d been curled up in a ball in agony while still trying to conduct business in his HTC office. Harry McKirdy, Will Fish and Mykola Kukharevych were all secured late in the day - not that the Easter Road boss could remember much about it.
The 41-year-old said: “I was literally in my office curled up in a ball because I was in agony. Someone would knock on the door and I’d act like I was all right and as soon as they’d gone I’d go back to curling up in a ball in agony again. You just keep trying to do your job.
“I couldn’t have timed it any worse with that week. I was taking calls as the anaesthetist was about to put me under and I’m making decisions on Harry McKirdy. In one sense you want to say, ‘f*** off, I’m in agony here’ but in another sense you know it’s important.
“The funniest thing was that, when I came round after the four-hour operation, I made three phone calls to find out what had gone on, and then I made the same three phone calls because I completely forgot I’d made them.
“Ben Kensell and Ian Gordon did really well and the coaching staff all mucked in. Will Fish was a good example. I can’t remember if I did or didn’t sign him. Apparently I did, but I couldn’t remember because I’d just come out of theatre.
“It was a four-hour op. I had a perforated and infected gall bladder and there were gall stones in there too. I had inflammatory levels of 103 and the maximum should be five.
“I tell you what, it makes you realise you need to be self-first - not selfish - in terms of your health and all that goes with the rigours of being a football manager. Because it’s highly stressful, highly impactful on your health and you often put yourself second. You have to make sure you are in good shape physically and mentally.
“If you are then you can spread better work among the group. Generally I’ve been in very good health. My dad had a quadruple heart bypass so I’ve always been on that in terms of blood pressure, cholesterol, that type of stuff.
“I’ve always been in good shape but the one positive is that I lost 17lbs over the period. It was partly regime, but it was regime because I took an intolerance test which helped me a lot in terms of being in the gym and losing weight, then I had a blow-out - six or seven pints and a curry - and that was what sent me under so lifestyle is a big important piece.”
Assistants Jamie McAllister and Adam Owen oversaw the 1-0 win over Kilmarnock the following Saturday. Johnson said: “ Martin Boyle said ‘gaffer I’m superstitious can you not come next week as well?!’
“So, lovely. I brought him back from the desert and gave him everything he ever wanted, played him in every game and I’ve lost an organ and he’s chucking that at me!”
Aberdeen are up next in Leith on Saturday and new signing Kukharevych could feature with McKirdy suspended. Johnson said of the towering Ukrainian striker: “He’ll bring something different and I think that’s the key.
“When we made the decision to move Christian Doidge out on loan it was a sacrifice really on what we could do with those wages. Obviously, by signing Fish, McKirdy and Mykola, there’s three players there who we’ve been able to do who we felt we needed to do.
“What does he bring? Well, he’s not a ready-made signing, so there’s no guarantees he’s going to hit the ground running. It’s not a Boyle type signing, where he’s been here and knows the level and knows the division.
“But he does bring a set of attributes that we haven’t got in the building. He’s mobile - he’s a physical presence, height-wise, but he’s also mobile. He’s technically very good.”
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