Lee Johnson curses 'footballing Gods' conspiring against Hibs as power cut causes training ground misery

Lee Johnson reckons the footballing gods are conspiring against Hibs at the moment but is adamant his team will still have a heaven-sent season. First it was work permit delays, now sorted, that meant the likes of Marijan Cabraja and Elie Youan have had to kick their heels on the sidelines instead of being integrated into the team.

Then it was the registration mess that led to being knocked out of the Premier Sports Cup because Rocky Bushiri’s suspension had been overlooked. And on Thursday, to put the tin lid on their build-up to the league opener in Perth tomorrow, a power cut hit their training ground in Tranent and Johnson, normally a pretty chirpy character, wasn’t too chuffed.

“It was annoying if I’m being honest with you,” Johnson said. “The footballing Gods are testing me at the minute on all levels with work permits and power cuts. We just had to adapt, nobody told us, the national grid or whoever it was. It was disappointing - cold showers for the boys and food at home so no mollycoddling today. But we’ve had to get on with it.”

The power might have been off but Johnson is determined to send shockwaves through the Scottish game this season and although the build-up hasn’t been electrifying, he reckons the start of the league campaign is time to hit the reset button. He has built a brand new team, almost from scratch, and revealed that he had given new goalkeeper David Marshall the armband, while Paul Hanlon remains club captain.

“It didn’t feel like that big a decision if I’m honest with you,” Johnson insisted. “Mainly because I haven’t seen Paul Hanlon on the grass yet. I’ve gone through a whole pre-season studying the players’ leadership qualities, looking at what we’ve got, what we haven’t got.

“My