Lee Johnson lifts Hibs lid on manic European paperwork rush that almost had Christian Doidge playing GOALKEEPER
A goalkeeping crisis was averted - just - as Hibs won through to the Conference League third qualifying round on Thursday.
Lee Johnson has revealed Hibs were 90 seconds away from having to throw Christian Doidge in goals during Thursday’s Euro salvage job against Inter Escaldes.
A dramatic turn of events between the sticks saw David Marshall injured in the warm-up and his replacement Jojo Wollacott last only 18 minutes before suffering a thigh problem that could see him out for an extended period. Luckily third choice shot-stopper Max Boruc was in the building - and after a frantic pre-match paperwork dash was named on the bench with just over a MINUTE to go until kick off.
That proved vital as the 20-year-old summer signing - who had played a full 90 minutes for the development team a day earlier - was thrown on for his debut after Wollacott went down. Had Boruc not got the green light from UEFA then Johnson admits he would have turned to Doidge to don the gloves for the remaining 72 minutes of the crucial tie.
Instead the Welshman scored an acrobatic third as Hibs stormed to a 6-1 win to overturn the 2-1 deficit from last week’s humbling in Andorra. Boruc could now keep his spot for tomorrow’s Premiership opener at home to St Mirren if Marshall isn’t passed fit with Johnson also scouring the loans market for another keeper.
And the manager said: “If there’s an injury in the warm-up you can go and say we need to make an adjustment to the team sheet. But it did go right to the wire on that one, if I’m honest. I don’t know why that was, but there were a few people involved. And I think it was a case of going through the protocol to get it through. The doctor had to sign off a letter to say it was a genuine injury.
“How long to spare? Oh, not a lot. Probably 90 seconds, I reckon, in terms of Max being on the bench. It was still going on when the whistle went for the boys to come out of the dressing room. I would have put Doidge in goal because he has great spring, he’s brave and confident enough to take it on. That’s who I would have turned to at that moment in time.”
Despite the drama that was to unfold, Johnson insists he managed to keep “quite calm”. He said: “To be honest I just let everybody deal with it, I obviously trusted Jojo to go straight in. I didn’t want to risk Marsh if he was feeling something, this is a player who is experienced and knows his body.
“So it was a case of being told Marsh was not quite right, me going in and looking in the whites of his eyes and making a decision based on the short term and long term, which I was comfortable with. But then there was the curveball of Jojo going down and it looks like it could be a bad one, I am praying for the best but almost expecting the worst on that. And then, yeah, it was what it was. When Jojo goes down for Max it was sink or swim, he got thrown in at the deep end.
Johnson has recalled Murray Johnson from his loan spell at Queen of the South. But he will have no hesitation in naming Boruc between the sticks against the Buddies if required. He said: “Jojo is going to be a write-off for a period of time, there’s no question about that. Marshall’s got a scan and we’ll find out in the next day or so when the specialist looks at it. I would be comfortable with Max. The question with any young goalkeeper is the box management, that’s what they need.
“Most are technically good and he certainly is that, he can keep goal, there’s no question. I can’t see anything but solid progression in his career. He is really focused on becoming a top goalkeeper.”
St Mirren head to Leith tomorrow on the back of a successful League Cup group campaign that saw them top their group after thumping Forfar 4-0 last Saturday. Mikael Mandron hit a double in that rout and Johnson admits the striker is a player who’s been on his transfer list more than once in the past. He said: “I have always liked him. He has always done alright against my teams and a couple of times I’ve had him on lists to potentially sign him.
“I think Curtis Main was a big loss for them in terms of their style, but they have done very well to replace him with a player with similar attributes. They are not exactly the same but they do have similar attributes. I think they will do well. I like their midfield and they are a team that have worked together now for a long time and have had a lot of consistency, and they have a manager who is wise and tends to maximise his squads.
“I have a lot of respect for St Mirren and I think it will be another good season for them if they keep their injury list down. I think that’s the same for a lot of clubs in that band. You can get a very good 14 or 15 of a certain quality or standard but you can’t afford injuries and in the end that is why the bigger clubs come through because they have that extra depth.”
Meanwhile Lewis Stevenson reckons the six-goal thumping of Escaldes was payback to the supporters and coaching staff for the woeful first leg defeat. And the veteran insists the standard has now been set. He said: “I probably didn’t relax til the fifth goal went in. I’ve played here for long enough that you can’t rest on your laurels. It was a good dominant performance. Very clinical, ruthless in front of goal.
“We let ourselves down in Andorra and the people who travelled, the coaching staff, the managers. We had a few rights to wrong and I think we did that. I hate making excuses but the pitch over there wasn’t great, there was a bit of altitude, it was dry. But they were alright. I think people thought they were part-time and they were unfit and we’d go there and win easy.
“But we made them look pretty ordinary on Thursday. To get where you want to finish in the league you have to have that consistency. You don’t look too early at the league but you certainly want to get off to a winning start.”