Former Sunderland and Hibs boss reveals next steps thinking after two sackings in one season

Lee Johnson started last season as Hibs manager | SNS

Lee Johnson isn’t going chasing his next gig in football after a tough season at Hibs and Fleetwood Town.

The boss previously of clubs like Bristol City and Sunderland started the campaign at Easter Road, but was sacked just weeks into the 23/24 season. It was just over a year into his tenure in the Premiership but within weeks, he landed at Fleetwood Town in League One.

Johnson lasted 111 days before being handed his jotters there too, and has not yet made a dugout return since. He has opened up on the pain of sacking and why there isn’t a desire to jump straight back into the frontline of management.

The former Hibs and Sunderland gaffer told the Daily Mail: “After you get sacked, you have a grieving period. There’s no doubt, you’re human. When you put everything into something, it’s hard. It’s instant and often unexpected. It’s tough. It hurts. You shed a few tears.

“But you know it’s football, you don’t enter this world with blinkers on, you know exactly what’s going to go on. Like relationships – it’s nice to be courted as well when somebody wants you. And appreciate the work that you’ve done. Football is in my blood, I’ve been in it all my life.

“What I haven’t been doing this time is chasing the next job. I applied for one – that’s it, I didn’t get it, obviously! There are a lot of opportunities and angles I can take now but there’s many avenues other than management. I have done some advisory work for a family looking to buy a club, just a bit of squad analysis.

“I have been offered director of football roles in the past and that’s something I’d really enjoy, the strategic side of the game. But there’s no doubt coaching is my passion – it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.

“The lads, the grass, the wins, the camaraderie… it’s a drug, you can’t describe it. People say, “Why do you do it?!”. But when you win and build something special, that is amazing, you crave it.”