Lee Johnson has say on Rangers' sportsmanship as Hibs boss recalls his own Malik Tillman moment

Hibs manager Lee Johnson says he has some sympathy for under-fire Rangers player Malik Tillman, following the Bayern Munich loanee’s breach of etiquette during the Ibrox side’s Scottish Cup clash with Partick Thistle, but confessed that he would not trust himself to make the same call as his Rangers counterpart if presented with the same conundrum.

The Championship side looked to return the ball after it had been played out following a meaty challenge but Tillman pressed the visiting defenders and then stole through on goal, igniting some fiery exchanges and prompting a moment of sportsmanship as Govan boss Michael Beale accepted that the goal was not in the spirit of the game and ordered his team to stand aside at the restart and allow the Firhill outfit to cancel out the US midfielder’s effort.

Having been in a similar situation himself as a player when he mis-kicked a ball he was attempting to play out for a goal-kick into the net instead, Johnson isn’t surprised by the backlash but he believes it is unfair to put players in that position and said teams should adhere to the referee’s judgement rather than any gentlemen’s agreement.

“That was the only hat-trick of my senior career,” he said of the 2004 incident, which has been memorialised on the match ball. “If you were to see the match ball now, normally all your team-mates sign it with well wishes. I just got pelters! ‘You cheating little b’, ‘Never a hat-trick’ .. it was all on there.”

Hibs manager Lee Johnson is all too familiar with the situation that Rangers midfielder Malik Tillman found himself in at Ibrox on Sunday. (Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group)

Johnson’s dad was manager of Yeovil Town when they faced Plymouth on cup duty that day and that only added to the discomfort. “I remember looking over to my dad. I swear to God …when he used to send me to my room as an 11-year-old, it was the same look! He said: ‘you idiot’.

“He was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. He didn’t really want to do it because he’s a dirty winner like we all are. But, he had to. So we let them run through to equalise.

“My dad probably made that early decision to save me from a beating. Good parenting! But it was quite interesting, the psychology is funny. I felt I had to do something in the game otherwise I would have made it a mockery. It’s amazing what can spark a player into action.”

While Johnson got nothing but stick for his goal, his father received a Fair Play Award for his intervention. But, admitting he would hate to be faced with such a decision, he says it should be left to officials to make the tough calls. “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t trust myself. It’s all contextual. I hope I’m never in that situation.

Gary Johnson, the father of current Hibs boss Lee, was in charge of Yeovil Town when his son inadvertently scored when attempting to return the ball, and Plymouth were allowed to score at the other end. (Photo by Paul Thomas/Getty Images)

"It’s interesting because I got in a bit of trouble with the other managers when I was in the Championship. I wrote a letter to all the other managers because there was a player called Jonathan Kodjia. Whenever the ball came up to him he would take a hit and if he lost it he would just hit the deck and stay down.

“Then there was a big row with Leeds and Derby because that went on there as well, so I wrote a letter to every manager saying: ‘I’m telling my team not to kick the ball out of play if there’s an injury therefore I don’t expect you to do it for us. When you play Bristol City we’re not expecting any sportsmanship if a player goes down’.

“I remember big Mick McCarthy giving me some in my office afterwards over a drink. But my view is that refs are there to run the game and there’s enough officials, they’re very quick to halt the game if there’s a head injury, but often there’s a bit of play acting involved.

“There are mitigating circumstances. If I saw something horrendous, like an ankle going completely the opposite way to the shin bone, then that ball’s going out of play. You know that player’s injured. But not for a simple coming together. I would prefer them not to [kick it out]. Jose Mourinho’s an example. You might have heard John Terry talk about it. There is an element of gamesmanship to it - a cross comes in, two centre-halves go up to head it and go down because they know they can’t move them off the pitch.”

And, while he hasn’t been as black and white with his Hibs side when it comes to unwritten rules Johnson maintains it would be easier to remove any ambiguity. “It is never an easy one, though, because if it happens quickly and you’re under pressure…

“A naughty one that Neil Warnock has never forgiven me or my dad for was a phantom goal. I still can't understand why it didn't stand but we were playing Crystal Palace and they were flying at the time and we were flying at the time and it was 0-0 in the game and the guy turns and hits it from about 20 yards and hits the back stanchion low and bounced straight out. It was a goal but there were no mics as it was back in the day and the ref didn’t know if the ball has gone in and the linesman had put his flag half up, thinking it was a goal but then being caught up with the ref not knowing what to do, so we carried on.

“You should have seen Neil Warnock! You have never seen someone so angry. But on that occasion dad said, ‘nope, no chance! You’re not getting a goal back’. And, we played on. If you ever hear Neil Warnock talking about it, he has still got the rage to this day. I should have sent him a picture of my old man with his Fair Play Award!”