Hibs boss Lee Johnson opens up on his own Malik Tillman moment - and what he would do in Rangers boss Michael Beale's position

Tuesday August 24, 2004. A summer’s evening in Somerset, at Huish Park where Yeovil Town are taking on on Plymouth Argyle in a West Country derby in the Carling Cup.

With the tie goalless, Argyle defender Graham Coughlan suffers a knock and needs treatment from the physio. The visitors knocking the ball out of play. After play restarts, a certain Lee Johnson attempts to play the ball back to Pilgrims ‘keeper Luke McCormick – only to find the net from 50 yards, leaving manager Bobby Williamson and his players furious. The Glovers, managed by Gary Johnson, allow Stevie Crawford to walk the ball into the net straight after to restore parity and defuse the situation. In the end it matters little. Two free kick goals from Johnson, one in extra time, complete his treble and win the game for Yeovil. There are obvious comparisons to be made with Malik Tillman’s goal for Rangers against Partick Thistle at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup last weekend, in which he stole the ball and scored despite the visitors preparing to hand possession back to the hosts following a medical break, and the subsequent decision by Gers boss Michael Beale to signal that his team should allow the Jags to level things up in a similar manner to Crawford.

“The truth was I tried to be clever,” Johnson says, when asked about the incident nearly two decades later. “The goalkeeper tried to cut off my opportunity to put it out for a goal kick, so I tried to clear him, but I shanked it completely and ended up bending it in the bottom corner. It was a bit of a shock for everybody. It was a big game, local derby, a sell-out, and I remember looking over to my dad – he was wearing the same look as when he used to send me to my room as an 11-year-old – who looked at me and said, ‘you idiot’.

“He didn’t really want to because he’s a dirty winner like we all are but at the same time he had to do it, so we let them run through to equalise. It was the only hat-trick of my senior career – normally your team-mates sign the match ball with good wishes. I just got pelters: ‘You cheating little b’, ‘Never a hat-trick’… it was all on there.”

Lee Johnson relieved his own Malik Tillman moment as he previewed Hibs' game against Kilmarnock

It would be safe to assume that, were Johnson junior to find himself in a similar situation, he’d be happy to follow his father’s lead, surely? Not so, as the Easter Road boss explains, referencing Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to let Aston Villa score against Leeds after they had netted while a Villa player was down injured.

"I’ll be honest with you, I don’t trust myself. It’s all contextual. I wouldn’t have in the Leeds situation, I probably would have done in my dad’s situation at Plymouth. I haven’t looked into the Rangers one enough. I hope I’m never in that situation – I’m already hated enough,” he adds with a smirk.

On the subject of sportsmanship, Johnson reveals that he sent a letter to the other managers during his time in charge at Bristol City – correspondence that got him in trouble with some of his counterparts.

“I wrote a letter to all the other managers saying I was going to tell 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 so when you play Bristol City we are not expecting any sportsmanship if a player goes down. I remember big Mick McCarthy giving me some in my office after a game over a drink. Everybody has different ideas on it. The refs are there to run the game. They’re very quick to halt it if there’s a head injury, but often there’s a bit of play-acting involved, so it’s a little bit contentious.”

Lee Johnson in action for Yeovil Town during the 2004/05 season

Johnson has instructed his Hibs side to keep the ball in play and wait for the referee to make a decision but admits he would prefer them not to do it at all. In an ideal world he would also like officials to do more study on teams and players with a reputation for play-acting.

"The general tone is, ‘look guys, allow the ref to manage it’. He can stop the game. The fourth official has eyes on it as well, they are mic’d up, and they can see it all. But there’s a gamesmanship to it as well – cross comes in, two centre-halves go up to head it and go down. They can’t move them off the pitch, it’s not allowed. Or a goalkeeper goes down. People often use that one to calm it down 20 minutes in, or with 20 minutes to go. All the players come over and there is another little team talk over a drink of water.

"You absolutely know the players and teams who do it. You say things to the fourth official. But this is why I talk a lot about the money going into the referees. I don't get too upset when they make mistakes because they’re not full-time. At this level you should have three professional teams including the officials but at the moment there are two professionals and one part-time.

“While they will know most of the players because they do a lot of games, sometimes that can create an unconscious bias. We always felt Ryan Porteous would get booked for every half-challenge while someone like Josh Campbell would get away with it.

Rangers' Malik Tillman is confronted by Partick Thistle players after scoring in the cup tie between the two sides at Ibrox

“The more study the referees can do, the better. In England, they play five-a-sides together because they’re in full-time, every day. They do gym sessions, they meet and talk about the weekend, and everybody has an opinion. I’m sure that they do versions of that here but they obviously don't have the same time because they have day jobs as well as refereeing.”