Hibernian manager Lee Johnson admitted his team had left him “bored” during the first half of a 1-0 Premier Sports Cup defeat by Falkirk.
Aidan Nesbitt’s 39th-minute header sent the League One side top of Group D and consigned Johnson to a first defeat as Hibs boss in his second game.
The Bairns were well worth their lead and Johnson made four changes at the break with Chris Cadden, Ryan Porteous, Ewan Henderson and Elias Melkersen replacing Lewis Miller, Kyle McClelland, Runar Hauge and Aiden McGeady.
Johnson told Premier Sports: “We just can’t accept mediocrity, it’s as simple as that. I am quite ruthless in terms of making changes early, because I was bored of watching it if I’m honest with you.
“I like to be entertained by my team myself and if I’m bored of watching it, or I don’t think it’s committed enough or it’s attacking enough, I will just make changes.”
Johnson’s side had some concerted second-half pressure, hitting the post twice, having three efforts cleared off the line, seeing a Christian Doidge effort chalked off and being denied several penalty claims.
“It was just a poor first half, the boys not at it, mediocre at best, and that’s not good enough,” he said.
“The second half we were good, we should have scored two or three, but, listen, I am still learning a lot about my players, my individuals. I learnt a lot today.
“Did I get it wrong with the team selection? I’d like to think that that first-half side should have been better than it was, but too many mediocre performances gave Falkirk a shot in the arm. And they were good, they worked hard, they hustled, and full credit to them.
“But second half we had a number of opportunities and a number of appeals that may have gone our way and done enough to win the game.”
John McGlynn admitted he was surprised to claim his first win as Falkirk manager.
The former Hearts and Raith boss said: “I didn’t think we could have got a performance like that and beat a Premiership team so early.
“I’m absolutely delighted for the players, they worked so hard to get that win. The first half I thought we were the better side and possibly could have been further ahead.
“The second half, we were obviously going to have to dig in, they made four changes at half-time and we knew they were going to give it a go.
“We got a little bit lucky but to beat a Premiership team you quite often need to carry some luck.”
