Hibs players can make themselves monsters like Celtic stars then Lee Johnson won't have to go full John Collins - Tam McManus

John Collins was famously never shy of whipping off his top to flaunt his six pack as he drove his Hibs stars to rebellion with never ending gym sessions.

I wonder what he’d have made of Lee Johnson ’s comments on Saturday when the current Hibs manager urged his stars to go and take the shirt off the Celtic players who had just scudded them 6-1. And to ask them how they got so good in the process.

Collins paid the ultimate price for his gruelling demands which ended in the infamous Easter Road revolt. But 15 years on it’s the same issues being raised in an albeit more offbeat manner by Johnson. He said of the Hoops stars: "I look at the Japanese players and I think, 'wow you are so dynamic'. They squat, they're powerful and athletic. If I was a player, I'd be knocking on the door and trying to get a shirt, and I'd be saying: 'Tell me what you do, how do you wake up, what do you eat for breakfast?’”

Like a lot of Hibs fans I found the comments a bit strange at first. But I’m sure he’s not talking literally. I can’t imagine he actually wants any of his side to go and knock on the home dressing room door and ask the Celtic players what they had with their morning cuppa! I certainly hope not.

Johnson would have been talking metaphorically, challenging his players to get to that level by looking closely at the Celtic players and aspiring to match their physical fitness. He could have chosen his words better. Hibs fans reading that will be wondering why their players need to chap on the Celtic door when they should be getting knocked into shape by their own management team or conditioning team.

You can bet they will be hitting the gym a bit more in the next few days though. Saying that Celtic looked more powerful and