Lee Johnson: Five top priorities for new Hibs manager to tackle in bulging in-tray

A pre-season training camp in Portugal will give him time to get his philosophy across to the squad, but there are lots of conversations to be had before then.

With Jamie McAllister coming in as assistant manager, he’ll need to define David Gray’s role as coach and bring in any other support staff agreed during the interview process to shape his backroom team. But the big decisions, of course, are about players. Here are five big challenges in Johnson’s in-tray.

One of the first things Johnson will have to do is rubber stamp the arrival of Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall on a two-year contract.

His signing is understood to include a break clause should the new manager have other ideas about a preferred goalkeeper, but it would be a major surprise if Johnson did not sanction the arrival of someone as experienced as Marshall.

The 37-year-old fell out of favour under Wayne Rooney at Derby County but became No 1 under Mark Warburton at Queens Park Rangers when he joined in January before an injury ended his season in March.

Shaun Maloney is understood to have done the groundwork for the signing before he was sacked, but Johnson will surely be happy with the arrival of a keeper who has not given up his Scotland ambitions.

If Marshall can produce anything like the kind of form that fellow Scotland veterans Craig Gordon and Allan McGregor have been displaying for Hearts and Celtic, Johnson will have a solid foundation to build from.

Johnson may have to consider whether or not he needs to retain both Matt Macey and Kevin Dabrowski, both contracted to the summer of 2023. Third choice David Mitchell, who has been filling in as interim goalkeeping coach, also has a year left.

Money will be available for Johnson to bring players