Can anyone make a case for sticking with LJ

[chinapig]

From a purely footballing point of view my answer is now no.

When he joined his declared aim was to play a high pressing, quick passing game, something I was glad to hear.

I expected that from that point the recruitment and development of players and the way all our teams played would be designed to reflect that philosophy. But the philosophy has long since been abandoned and I no longer know what the aim is. Nor does he it seems.

In mitigation, I am convinced that the club's true aim is to retain Championship status while developing players to sell so as to improve the finances. To that extent I'm not sure it would make a huge difference who the head coach is, especially as I see no chance of the big names being touted by some would sign up to the strategy and accept not having complete control.

 

[Judda]

His failure to get a striker who can bang in goals will cost him his job. Bobby Reid saved him last season. Weimann isn't good enough to do the same this season. FD is looking like a waste of space and money....

[Tin Soldier]

6 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Get this man as far away from my club as possible.

I am assuming this is a windup. BUT if Johnson did say this, then explains the fact that this guy has not got a scooby doo.

He has no leaders on the pitch, he has clearly lost the dressing room at the moment, does not have any B Plan when we fall behind (apart from said quote), struggles/cant set a team up correctly, most on here could do a better job against the likes of Reading & Preston. In man management there is usually a tipping point when you lose the ear of your “team” and Johnson has now reached this. Will take to Xmas for Lansdown to do anything IMO.

PLEASE do not allow Johnson to have yet another transfer window of excuses in January 19. He has to go before then. We will be in a relegation fight soon. Worried.

[Fordy62]

6 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Get this man as far away from my club as possible.

I think this is my favourite ever thing in football ever. 

Its so incompetent it’s unbelievable. 

[pl00peh91]

Interestingly on the post-match presser on the OS they edited the comments about the song out, but the paragraph below about running stayed in.  

[swanker]

7 hours ago, bobby kellard was go said:

He has kept us above our natural level so we need to get behind him.

Like him or hate him that was terrible yesterday. We gave a poor side an easy three points away from home. It doesn’t get much worse than that and personally I don’t think he has much longer at Ashton Gate. 

[Dr Balls]

6 minutes ago, chinapig said:

From a purely footballing point of view my answer is now no.

When he joined his declared aim was to play a high pressing, quick passing game, something I was glad to hear.

I expected that from that point the recruitment and development of players and the way all our teams played would be designed to reflect that philosophy. But the philosophy has long since been abandoned and I no longer know what the aim is. Nor does he it seems.

In mitigation, I am convinced that the club's true aim is to retain Championship status while developing players to sell so as to improve the finances. To that extent I'm not sure it would make a huge difference who the head coach is, especially as I see no chance of the big names being touted by some would sign up to the strategy and accept not having complete control.

 

You have hit the nail on the head! Johnson is safe under Lansdown, as success on the pitch in terms of getting to the Premier League is not an essential prerequisite of his business strategy. The strategy in simple terms is "bums on seats and keep the till registers ringing" and "find some players relatively cheap, don't pay them too much, and sell them on for a profit".

Walking back from the ground last night, there was discussion as to whether Premier League football actually doesn't fit with the plan because the financial implications are so much bigger, and would dwarf the rugby, basketball, arena etc ambitions of Bristol Sport and unbalance things too much. Better to keep us small. Of course this overlooks the fact that the only way to reliably turn a profit in this era is to get your hands in the Premier League TV money. But as I have said in another thread I don't think SL is enough of a gambler to ever take the punt. He struck lucky with Johnson Senior but we blew it at the last step.And now it's significantly harder to achieve.

As for arguments to keep LJ, I don't have any. But then again like almost every other person on this forum, what I think counts for very little when it comes to decisions at the club.

[Bris Red]

6 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Get this man as far away from my club as possible.

Haha that is disgraceful. **** off Little Lee and stick to property development because you are a  useless manager and were and even worse player ***!!!!!

[Robbored]

LJs heart is the right place when it comes to City. He’s very proud that he’s the head coach of our club and desperately wants to be a success. To him it’s more than just a job - he really cares about the club and if/when he gets sacked he’ll be devastated.

Im sure he struggles to sleep at night after a performance like yesterday. I’m also sure he didn’t see it see it coming and was as disappointed as we all were. 

Lots  of posters on here question whether he’s the right man, several threads about other managers who SL should employ but the reality is that SL has complete faith in LJ to implement his philosophy. He trusts him to do it whereas previous managers had failed to stick to it - Cotterill in particular.

So......I really cant see any point in calling for LJs head - it won’t happen unless LJ takes us to the brink of relegation and I can’t see that happening.

Yesterdays crap performance was one match in a 46 game season so let’s try and get over it and try to accept that LJ is here pretty much indefinitely - like it or lump it.

[eastonboy]

Mike Bassett would have been embarrassed with the Taylor comments.

 

[General Zod]

5 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Yesterdays crap performance was one match in a 46 game season 

If only that was true

[Rich_s]

Give him until the New Year.

Personally I’m sick of the tinkering, abject tactics, tedious football. On the weekend it’s nice to go out and be entertained, win lose or draw but at present I watch the match and think about all the interesting things I could have done instead.

Other than Pack I believe that all the players were LJ signings. He’s been at the club a long time and been well supported. The AG faithful have been patient but if the current form continues he should be out by early Jan.

[Bristol Oil Services]

6 hours ago, bearded_red said:

Get this man as far away from my club as possible.

But he is right, now. Now, we have a support/team problem, at AG.

But! Where LJ is naughty, worse than that, is that his team started playing like drains long before yesterday, or this month, or even this season. His team have been struggling and uninspired all bloody year, stretching back to when there was plenty of support and encouragement. 

 

 

[exAtyeoMax]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

@BCFC Grim it’s a genuine quote being reported by the Bristol Post here:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-highlights-preston-johnson-2205984

Appalling comments. If you’re picking your substations based on who has the best song, without doubt it’s time to go.

Johnson out.

Oh dear, that’s embarrassing. A load of waffle. I’m not taking any blame for the performance. I didn’t boo or jeer, I was bored and fed up but did get behind the team until the final whistle. Then went home. 

[Red Exile]

6 minutes ago, Robbored said:

LJs heart is the right place when it comes to City. He’s very proud that he’s the head coach of our club and desperately wants to be a success. To him it’s more than just a job - he really cares about the club and if/when he gets sacked he’ll be devastated.

Im sure he struggles to sleep at night after a performance like yesterday. I’m also sure he didn’t see it see it coming and was as disappointed as we all were. 

Lots  of posters on here question whether he’s the right man, several threads about other managers who SL should employ but the reality is that SL has complete faith in LJ to implement his philosophy. He trusts him to do it whereas previous managers had failed to stick to it - Cotterill in particular.

So......I really cant see any point in calling for LJs head - it won’t happen unless LJ takes us to the brink of relegation and I can’t see that happening.

Yesterdays crap performance was one match in a 46 game season so let’s try and get over it and try to accept that LJ is here pretty much indefinitely - like it or lump it.

I'm sure you're right that we have to like it or lump it...personally I'll be voting with my feet, not that the club will much care as they already have the money from my ST...but there are better things to do in life than watch dross like I watched at Reading last week. Athletes with quality and talent to equal or excel anything ever assembled by Bristol City FC squandered by an incompetent management.

I don't doubt that LJ will be devastated when he's sacked...which he will be sooner or later. The whole edifice of 'bright young coach' will be in danger of collapse. This is a man who talks a good story but has almost zero in concrete footballing achievements thus far. I suspect he'll never do any better than he is at the moment.

As for SL's philosophy - what exactly is that? I follow the affairs of the club pretty closely and it seems to me that what he says is nothing but a mixture of self-evident truths - the 5 Pillars nonsense - and wishful thinking. 

[And Its Smith]

16 minutes ago, swanker said:

Like him or hate him that was terrible yesterday. We gave a poor side an easy three points away from home. It doesn’t get much worse than that and personally I don’t think he has much longer at Ashton Gate. 

Preston were far from poor. 

[General Zod]

1 hour ago, ChippenhamRed said:

@BCFC Grim it’s a genuine quote being reported by the Bristol Post here:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-city-highlights-preston-johnson-2205984

Appalling comments. If you’re picking your substations based on who has the best song, without doubt it’s time to go.

Johnson out.

I am totally stunned by this. Are we a Championship football team or contestants on Xfactor?  If it was any other club it would be funny.

[cidered abroad]

I lived in Portugal from 2005 until 2013, so only saw about six games a season. Thus I missed most of Johnson's time here as a player.

But what I did see was a midfielder of one pace, who made a bigger percentage of his passes sideways and backwards. One who was rarely if ever involved in any crunching tackles to win the ball.

It is often said that men marry an image of their mother, so is it true that a manager's football team will play the game in a similar way to the manager played in his career?

After that miserable non performance yesterday, I'm convinced the answer is a resounding YES.

A thought for Steve Lansdown.

Matt Busby once said that you'll get 60,000 people in a refuse tip to watch a great team. But you'll get nobody in a shiny new stadium to watch rubbish purporting to be a football team.

So SL, why did you build a shiny new stadium? For Premier football and rugby or is there some other financial reason? If it's the former, sack Johnson and get a proper football manager in like you did at Bristol Rugby. 

Otherwise you'll have a conference centre with allotments alongside it and about 27,000 plastic seats for sale. 

[Dr Balls]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

LJs heart is the right place when it comes to City. He’s very proud that he’s the head coach of our club and desperately wants to be a success. To him it’s more than just a job - he really cares about the club and if/when he gets sacked he’ll be devastated.

Im sure he struggles to sleep at night after a performance like yesterday. I’m also sure he didn’t see it see it coming and was as disappointed as we all were. 

Lots  of posters on here question whether he’s the right man, several threads about other managers who SL should employ but the reality is that SL has complete faith in LJ to implement his philosophy. He trusts him to do it whereas previous managers had failed to stick to it - Cotterill in particular.

So......I really cant see any point in calling for LJs head - it won’t happen unless LJ takes us to the brink of relegation and I can’t see that happening.

Yesterdays crap performance was one match in a 46 game season so let’s try and get over it and try to accept that LJ is here pretty much indefinitely - like it or lump it.

Well if that's the type of performance that we have to accept thanks to "the bigger strategy", then you would have to suggest that the strategy is wrong.

I am accept that SL seems to trust LJ, but as we appear to be going on another long painful clueless slide down the table, the vast majority of fans won't.  And I can see attendances sliding as the performances get worse too. Who wants to see us play that kind of tripe and lose to Millwall on a Sunday afternoon, or get stuffed by Norwich in front of the Sky cameras on a cold Drcember night? Few other than the ST holders, and quite a few of them might decide not to bother either.

Let's face it, LJ is not getting better as a tactician. His in-game management is poor, and he clearly has his favourites (Paterson) who are definitely not fan favourites. When I saw that LJ was bringing him on yesterday, it was an indication that we had no chance in the game, if he was our "inspiration" up front with Matty Taylor, a player with a goal scoring record as bad as any striker in this division.

Bottom 6 here we come!

[cidered abroad]

11 minutes ago, Rich_s said:

Give him until the New Year.

Personally I’m sick of the tinkering, abject tactics, tedious football. On the weekend it’s nice to go out and be entertained, win lose or draw but at present I watch the match and think about all the interesting things I could have done instead.

Other than Pack I believe that all the players were LJ signings. He’s been at the club a long time and been well supported. The AG faithful have been patient but if the current form continues he should be out by early Jan.

TOO LATE.

[The Coach]

19 minutes ago, Robbored said:

LJs heart is the right place when it comes to City. He’s very proud that he’s the head coach of our club and desperately wants to be a success. To him it’s more than just a job - he really cares about the club and if/when he gets sacked he’ll be devastated.

Im sure he struggles to sleep at night after a performance like yesterday. I’m also sure he didn’t see it see it coming and was as disappointed as we all were. 

Lots  of posters on here question whether he’s the right man, several threads about other managers who SL should employ but the reality is that SL has complete faith in LJ to implement his philosophy. He trusts him to do it whereas previous managers had failed to stick to it - Cotterill in particular.

So......I really cant see any point in calling for LJs head - it won’t happen unless LJ takes us to the brink of relegation and I can’t see that happening.

Yesterdays crap performance was one match in a 46 game season so let’s try and get over it and try to accept that LJ is here pretty much indefinitely - like it or lump it.

 

1. If you really care and love something. You let it go, and do what is best.

2. I think you'll be in for a shock. However, I do agree. LJ is going nowhere. 

[Robbored]

9 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

I'm sure you're right that we have to like it or lump it...personally I'll be voting with my feet, not that the club will much care as they already have the money from my ST...but there are better things to do in life than watch dross 

That’s how l felt when GJ was in charge but, guess what? I carried on attending because I’m a SC holder and diehard City fan.

[italian dave]

14 minutes ago, RedDave said:

Preston were far from poor. 

Not very!

[And Its Smith]

1 minute ago, italian dave said:

Not very!

Quality away performance from what I watched

[Dr Balls]

You boycotted GJ? The last season when he was let go, I could understand the frustrations but not otherwise. And that departure still seems to haunt SL. That was the start of the slide that left us relegated back to League 1 and was he too premature in getting rid of him. So I fear that you are correct that unless we are looking like relegation candidates with 10 games to go, nothing will change, and by then it will be too late anyway.

[italian dave]

We'll have to disagree! They didn't need to put in a quality performance of any description, because we never even started to make it difficult for them. Someone said they've let in more second half goals than anyone else this season, and we never looked like scoring apart form one free kick. 

Thats what disappointed me about the last two game, I didn't think either Reading or Preston looked like good sides. 

[Dr Balls]

1 minute ago, italian dave said:

We'll have to disagree! They didn't need to put in a quality performance of any description, because we never even started to make it difficult for them. Someone said they've let in more second half goals than anyone else this season, and we never looked like scoring apart form one free kick. 

Thats what disappointed me about the last two game, I didn't think either Reading or Preston looked like good sides. 

Yes but we managed to make them look good, and the results would suggest that they were better than us!

I could accept the defeat against Stoke because although LJ got it wrong in the first half, we should have won based on the second half performance, but we were denied by Butland. However the last 2 performances have been woeful. And to put it in context, Preston hasn't won away all season until yesterday, and they never looked threatened, while Ipswich drew at Reading yesterday having dominated them for long periods. We really are that bad at the moment!

[glen humphries]

23 minutes ago, Rich_s said:

Give him until the New Year.

Personally I’m sick of the tinkering, abject tactics, tedious football. On the weekend it’s nice to go out and be entertained, win lose or draw but at present I watch the match and think about all the interesting things I could have done instead.

Other than Pack I believe that all the players were LJ signings. He’s been at the club a long time and been well supported. The AG faithful have been patient but if the current form continues he should be out by early Jan.

Why wait until January, he’s clearly out of his depth, if he loves the club like he says he does he will walk , but he knows he’s unlikely to get another championship job so he will stick it out until he gets the boot, crowds will fall by a couple of thousand and hopefully Lansdown will act, spoke to lots of people yesterday who just can’t be bothered to go any more, sad times, we’re going to have a lovely new stadium with no one in it , and lj interviews are just getting more delusional match by match, things are going to get worse unless sl acts 

[headhunter]

59 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

Thing is, he doesn't really mean any of it, it's all a smokescreen to cover his pitifully poor in-game management. He thinks he's being smart and funny...and seems to be under the impression that we'll laugh along with him. I'm afraid he comes across as the golden boy who thinks he's cleverer than he is...on reflection he has done all along. He's deluded..but somehow never held to account. Needs to go before he does any more damage.

Just like his dad - cheeky chappy comments a la Alfie Moon on Eastenders!

SL only sacked GJ because of a players revolt after the Plymouth incident. I'm afraid only something of this nature will unseat the boy. He's bullet proof. Ashton will be gone before him.

[Kingswood Robin]

4 minutes ago, headhunter said:

Just like his dad - cheeky chappy comments a la Alfie Moon on Eastenders!

SL only sacked GJ because of a players revolt after the Plymouth incident. I'm afraid only something of this nature will unseat the boy. He's bullet proof. Ashton will be gone before him.

The place or the man!