Lee Johnson claims Hibs fans expected him to beat 'English b******s' Aston Villa as he makes Fleetwood comparison

Lee Johnson has claimed that Hibs fans genuinely expected him to "English b******s" Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League this season.

The Fleetwood Town boss was speaking at a supporters function when he was asked to compare the Hibees to his current club and he expanded on the standard of Scottish football and the media landscape north of the border. Johnson reckons he was "hammered" by the Scottish press and admitted his past as a Hearts player made things difficult for him in Leith.

But he maintains he was shocked to get the sack earlier this season, despite losing his first three league games and sitting bottom of the table at the end of August. That came after a 6-0 home drubbing to Unai Emery's Villa in the Conference League playoff round. Few Hibs fans held out any realistic hopes, but Johnson reckons his failure to come out on top was held against him.

"I said this to my old assistant manager Jamie McAllister and we had this debate," he said. "Honestly, if I picked a team between the two squads, it would be very even in terms of Hibs players and Fleetwood players.

"What is Scottish football? Well it was difficult for me because I played for Hearts and then Hibs took me on as a manager.

"I got battered by media, really. I felt that but I think everybody does in Scotland. There's a culture up there they're very strong, passionate and opinionated.

"I'm good friends with Robbie Neilson, who got sacked from hearts having got them promoted, got them into Europe then lost a couple of games and ended up gone. I was there 15/16 months and was the second longest serving in Scotland. That gives you a bit of an idea of the intensity that's there.

"I loved my time there. It was. big club in terms of fanbase and