Can anyone make a case for sticking with LJ

[lenred]

3 minutes ago, Ivorguy said:

The only case that can be made surely is that given any successor will be appointed by SL we might land up, however bizarre that seems, with someone even worse given SL's abysmal track record, and the distinctly amateur way we approach managerial appointments

Hope things improve, at least in terms of effort, by the Millwall game as I and family have booked hotel for our long journey to see City play at Ashton Gate.  At least there will be plenty of seats to choose from I guess

You won't have any issue at all. Sure it's been mentioned already but I was quite surprised at the number of empty seats everywhere yesterday - it was really noticeable.  

[pillred]

44 minutes ago, bengalcub said:

We're established in the championship, we will stay up easily despite flirting with the drop zone ,I'm not a great lj fan and his starting linups are bizarre to say the least,  the subs he makes are so predictable the only reason I would stick with him is I feel we have a level of stabillity with him , fire him and bring in some else I feel we could end up in an ipswich/McCarthy situation very quickly.

or not, could just as easily go the other way with us improving.

[JamesBCFC]

21 minutes ago, lenred said:

From what I’ve read it’s been pretty level considering the abject performance and the reaction and vitriolic atmosphere at the ground yesterday. 

Perhaps. But, once again, that wasn't what I saw saying.

I wasn't focusing specifically on yesterdays game.

[Robbored]

6 minutes ago, glen humphries said:

No it hasn’t been 1 game , Rotherham , Wigan, Hull was poor , on the whole it’s poor , that yesterday wasn’t good enough 

So 4 poor matches from 17 played........one in four.......

Although any poor performance is disappointing its not so bad when you consider how new and young the squad is.

[MarkRed!]

No fan of LJ. But we are a midtable team in midtable. We have threatened to progress but have then lost key games. Given the boards position, LJ ain't going nowhere.

[Portland Bill]

4 hours 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.

In one mate

[glen humphries]

6 minutes ago, Robbored said:

So 4 poor matches from 17 played........one in four.......

Although any poor performance is disappointing its not so bad when you consider how new and young the squad is.

It’s not just that though as you well know, piss poor recruiting, playing players out of position, playing players out of form, no way of playing, and the worst for me is the bullshit bingo from his interviews 

[City fan 1982]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

So 4 poor matches from 17 played........one in four.......

Although any poor performance is disappointing its not so bad when you consider how new and young the squad is.

Stoke at home , reading away.  I could go on .....

[KeepUpLino]

8 minutes ago, Robbored said:

So 4 poor matches from 17 played........one in four.......

Although any poor performance is disappointing its not so bad when you consider how new and young the squad is.

Seriously robbered are you ok? The football this season bar the odd game has been atrocious!

[Portland Bill]

19 minutes ago, Robbored said:

It was one game Glen..........

It’s been going on for three years, the lack of consistency from game to game is incredulous. 

We had a two month spell before Xmas last year that saw  the ONLY consistent football and team selection during his tenure, and as many have pointed out, that was only because of an injury crises which forced his hand. During that period players actually learnt each other strengths, a team spirit was found, and LJ couldn’t mess it up because he was unable to tinker. 

Other than that 2 month period it’s been anyone’s guess who will play and which tactics will be used. Fourty players-have been signed, but at no time has he known who to play and who plays well with whom.

We train 5 days a week on the training pitch, so surely if tinkering has to be done you try it then. 

To me he is a gambler, this week i will try this, next week I will try something else, if we lose I will deflect attention from me on to the players, as I know my job is totally safe. There is no plan whatsoever, it’s hit or miss. 

I feel sorry for you lot that still go and watch his boring, dull, meaningless football, I had enough of it quite a while ago, and now find better ways to spend my Saturday afternoons, not once have I regretted it!. 

 

[robin_unreliant]

19 minutes ago, MarkRed! said:

No fan of LJ. But we are a midtable team in midtable. We have threatened to progress but have then lost key games. Given the boards position, LJ ain't going nowhere.

We've lost three in a row. Looking at our next six games, unless our form changes, I could easily see us losing five of them. That might not put us in the bottom four but it wouldn't be far off the record 8 straight defeats we had under LJ. Sadly, even if that does happen, I can see Lansdown refusing to budge again.

[hertsexile]

The main problem very LJ is tinker man mentality not sure of his best lineup. Missing his holding midfielder ie Korey Smith no one has filled that gap. He still hasn’t realised that Matty Taylor should start. He needs to decide on a line up and stick with it for a few games. 

There is no need to push panic buttons yet 

[Robbored]

26 minutes ago, kivsy said:

Stoke at home , reading away.  I could go on .....

Stoke at home or rather the Jack Butland show.........City played some decent stuff in that game created several chances that the England keeper saved...........not a poor performance in my view.

[Davefevs]

57 minutes ago, Nbafc said:

I don't normally post so not an "anti-Johnson" poster, although was never a fan of his appointment.

Its a really good post B86, but the highlighted paragraph I think is far from true, let alone undeniable. If he left us today the new incumbent would inherit a decent sized squad which (in my view) is unbalanced, lacks characters (Chippenham Red made an excellent thread on this yesterday) with few large assets. A squad where players have horrendous losses of form on a regular basis, disappear from the team for no discernable reason or have extended runs in the side without performances to justify it. A stable, mid-table, championship side? The last two are true as of today but stable is (again, in my view) the last thing we are at the moment.

The statement "Cotterill was taking us down" could easily be applied to Johnson, admittedly he has 6 or 7 more points at this stage though. 

He has had more backing than any other City manager I recall (financially and during an extended period of bad results and performances). His father and Cotterill took over with us in or near the league 1 drop zone and left us in a higher division. Although it was a painful tenure, it could be argued O'Driscoll left us in a position to go forward having done a lot of dirty work behind the scenes.

At this point the club are in a good position to kick on again, with a good HC/manager appointment. A better position than when he took over? Not in my view. Marginally if I'm being generous. And given the time and resources he's had that's not progress, it's been nearly 3 years of 1 step forward, 2 back. In context, the average tenure of a championship manager in the last 3 or 4 seasons is between slightly under to slightly over 12 months.

Too much too soon for Lee I believe. And the powers that be must take that responsibility for that as it was an appointment where sentiment and wishful thinking were at the forefront from where I was standing. A gamble if you will. Fair enough, it was their call. But given the absurd amounts of money Mr Lansdown has invested over the years, a puzzling one. Whatever he decides at least he's given this roll of the dice a fair crack.

The great run up to Christmas last year, the defeat of United & the performance at the Etihad will always be on Lee's CV,  also the development of Reid which was a thing beauty. Given that, it seems even more preposterous we end up where we are at the moment.

Apologies for the length, hope I'm wrong but we seem so lost, and from a position where we had everything going for us, that something has to give for the sake of all involved.

 

 

Thanks NBAFC.  I lost my train of thought in my response, but you’ve captured what I wanted to say (but forgot!) nicely.

48 minutes ago, Robbored said:

He does accept that yesterday was poor - said as much post which you obviously missed.

No doubt the performance was crap but it was just one game in a long 46 game season.......It’s almost impossible for any team to perform well in every game, there are simply too many variables in any match, just as it’s unlikely to play like yesterday in the next game.

Time to put it behind us and move on.....

I posted on another thread - no point calling for LJs head, he’s not going anywhere.

Just because LJ accepts it was poor is not grounds to sweet it under the carpet.  No-one expects them to perform at their peak every game, but there have been countless below par performances this season, sometimes when winning (QPR for example).  This isn’t just 1 game in 46, that is why there is a growing swell of dissatisfaction from the level-headed posters on here.

I don’t think posters are calling for LJ’s head, they are expressing their opinion that he ought to go / be sacked.  We know SL won’t make any decision lightly, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to express our views.  It’s like your post should shut us all down.

47 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

Not what I was meaning.

This forum is extremely reactionary, and generally over the top in how reactionary it is (both on positives and negatives). 

You’ve been on here long enough to know who the extremes are, (and remove them from the equation) you should also know who are in the middle but increasingly changing there view towards thinking LJ’s time ought to be up.

33 minutes ago, BRISTOL86 said:

That’s fair enough. But since Johnson’s appointment we’ve improved our league position every season which is where I was coming from in terms of leaving us in a better place.

I also believe the reputation of the club has improved under Johnson thanks largely to the cup run. So in my view we are further forward as a club than we were when SC left. 

Whether we would be further forward had SC stayed is debatable and unknowable. 

What if SC had been backed by SL to the extent LJ has been?  It so reminds me of Trading Places, albeit SL isn’t betting $1, but he trying his hardest to prove his Eddie Murphy experiment will work.

28 minutes ago, glen humphries said:

No it hasn’t been 1 game , Rotherham , Wigan, Hull was poor , on the whole it’s poor , that yesterday wasn’t good enough 

Yes, and a few more too.

[Robbored]

15 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

I feel sorry for you lot that still go and watch his boring, dull, meaningless football, I had enough of it quite a while ago, and now find better ways to spend my Saturday afternoons.

I felt exactly the same when Senior was in charge but I carried on attending because I’m a SC holder and diehard City fan.

[Davefevs]

3 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Stoke at home or rather the Jack Butland show.........City played some decent stuff in that game created several chances that the England keeper saved...........not a poor performance in my view.

The Jack Butland second half show.  I’m being facetious, but you have to wonder that if we’d got the equaliser, whether we’d have found a way to concede another, going gung-ho for the winner?

[glen humphries]

5 minutes ago, Robbored said:

I felt exactly the same when Senior was in charge but I carried on attending because I’m a SC holder and diehard City fan.

Well done 

[pillred]

1 hour ago, Robbored said:

It was one game Glen..........

and we've been so good in all the others haven't we.

[Robbored]

2 minutes ago, pillred said:

and we've been so good in all the others haven't we.

Far better than yesterday for sure....

[pillred]

2 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Far better than yesterday for sure....

can't argue with that. Left the ground as down as I ever have.

[Red Exile]

13 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 It so reminds me of Trading Places, albeit SL isn’t betting $1, but he trying his hardest to prove his Eddie Murphy experiment will work.

In a nutshell.

This is precisely what's happening. And the more we all moan, or Geoff Twentyman asks him awkward questions when he gets the chance, the more SL digs in. He's determined to prove that he saw something that no one else did. Sadly its all going to end in tears. Frankly it would be funny if it was happening at any other club!

[JamesBCFC]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

You’ve been on here long enough to know who the extremes are, (and remove them from the equation) you should also know who are in the middle but increasingly changing there view towards thinking LJ’s time ought to be up.

 

True, and that is the case.

Indeed there are a few names who have seemed to have turned on yesterday, yourself included, which leave me concerned.

The following is intended with the greatest of respect re you now wanting LJ out, so please don't misinterpret. 

But I have to admit I'm questioning a little whether you really did give him a clean slate for this season, or maybe you did but are being harsher in judgement.

I think we have a fairly mid table squad, there are times where we will play well but lose (WBA) there are times where we will play very well, (Swansea) and there are times where we will play very badly, like yesterday. The inconsistency is exactly what makes us a mid-table side.

This doesn't make performances like yesterday any better, or make it any less frustrating to see.

I also think we were playing above ourselves during the first half of last season, and the fact we were playing above ourselves meant it was unsustainable, yet it set a standard that is now expected week in, week out.

 

Again, no disrespect intended, as I do view you as one of the more balanced posters.

 

Can expand on some of my thinking for the above if you wish.

[lenred]

11 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

In a nutshell.

This is precisely what's happening. And the more we all moan, or Geoff Twentyman asks him awkward questions when he gets the chance, the more SL digs in. He's determined to prove that he saw something that no one else did. Sadly its all going to end in tears. Frankly it would be funny if it was happening at any other club!

Sad but very true unfortunately.  And having lost 4 out of the last 6 games and with the fixtures coming up it's only going to get worse. Relegation battle coming up if nothing changes I fear. 

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, JamesBCFC said:

True, and that is the case.

Indeed there are a few names who have seemed to have turned on yesterday, yourself included, which leave me concerned.

The following is intended with the greatest of respect re you now wanting LJ out, so please don't misinterpret. 

But I have to admit I'm questioning a little whether you really did give him a clean slate for this season, or maybe you did but are being harsher in judgement.

I think we have a fairly mid table squad, there are times where we will play well but lose (WBA) there are times where we will play very well, (Swansea) and there are times where we will play very badly, like yesterday. The inconsistency is exactly what makes us a mid-table side.

This doesn't make performances like yesterday any better, or make it any less frustrating to see.

I also think we were playing above ourselves during the first half of last season, and the fact we were playing above ourselves meant it was unsustainable, yet it set a standard that is now expected week in, week out.

 

Again, no disrespect intended, as I do view you as one of the more balanced posters.

 

Can expand on some of my thinking for the above if you wish.

Good challenge.  I don’t think we’ve played a decent 90 minutes all season bar Swansea.  I’ve seen every game (there or tv / stream) bar both Sheffield games.  We’ve had spells in games, e.g. Stoke where we’ve played well, but not the whole 90.  I thought we played decent enough v Boro, but I think it was purely because they were 2-0 up and coasting.  We’ve had some shockers that far outweigh the ‘decent(ish)’ games, e.g. Wigan, Rotherham, Reading, Preston.  Brentford and Hull were 4 points gained (thought both were draws).  Even Blackburn (4-1) and QPR (3-0) weren’t stellar performances, I thought we deserved the Blackburn win, but thought QPR could very easily have been 2-0 up before Taylor scored.

So, it’s been building James.  I give him credit for our recruitment, but when I see ya listing £25m losses, I have to reflect that in the slate being wiped clean.  That is huge...the biggest in the club’s history!  That hamstrings us going forward too. SL and MA culpable too.  Where is MA?  Is @Septic Peg‘s post that MA likes gardening, a cryptic knowledge that he is on gardening leave?  That £25m loss has forced me to be harsher.  I think it’s scandalous that we’ve posted losses of that size.  That is a significant waste of resource.  Couple that with a slip down the table and no identity and I think his time should be up.  He said “it’s my team”, his team isn’t good enough under his tenure.

[GoodridgeandGoater]

What we need to be clear on is the difference between the club’s philosophy and LJ’s football philosophy. 

LJ can point to the constraints he works within owing to the club’s philosophy and that’s legitimate. 

But he is unconstrained on his own football philosophy and has had time and money to assemble the team who is an expression of him the manager.  Yesterday’s match highlighted the shortcomings here. 

- We played 3 at the back and wing-backs, but he hasn’t signed the players to play that system. Hunt doesn’t have the lungs for it. 

- He’s signed two midfielders (Hegeler and Walsh) who is basically said can’t really play in a 2, yet the the settled formation we were playing was a 4-4-2. 

- Yesterday he did want to put 3 in the middle to match Preston - fine - but based on the players we have wouldn’t make more sense to play more of a 4-3-3, given the players we have at our disposal?  Johnson has stocked us with winger / forward players: Paterson, Eliasson, Watkins, O’Dowda - and eventually got around to changing things - but the abject tone was already set. 

Yesterday players looked like they had no plan for how to win that football match other than trying hit Diedhou long or with crosses when he was pretty much the only player in the box. A team low on confidence that’s lost its way and a manager still experimenting to find a winning formula. Preston were a limited outfit who played to their strengths and kept at us at arms’-length without breaking a sweat. It was depressing to watch. 

[KeepUpLino]

57 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

It’s been going on for three years, the lack of consistency from game to game is incredulous. 

We had a two month spell before Xmas last year that saw  the ONLY consistent football and team selection during his tenure, and as many have pointed out, that was only because of an injury crises which forced his hand. During that period players actually learnt each other strengths, a team spirit was found, and LJ couldn’t mess it up because he was unable to tinker. 

Other than that 2 month period it’s been anyone’s guess who will play and which tactics will be used. Fourty players-have been signed, but at no time has he known who to play and who plays well with whom.

We train 5 days a week on the training pitch, so surely if tinkering has to be done you try it then. 

To me he is a gambler, this week i will try this, next week I will try something else, if we lose I will deflect attention from me on to the players, as I know my job is totally safe. There is no plan whatsoever, it’s hit or miss. 

I feel sorry for you lot that still go and watch his boring, dull, meaningless football, I had enough of it quite a while ago, and now find better ways to spend my Saturday afternoons, not once have I regretted it!. 

 

I’ve got an Adult season ticket and 2 child tickets, we don’t go anymore, the kids find it as dull as I do.. won’t be renewing next year for the first time in 10 years... Done with The SL/LJ project, it really sucks!!

[Bazooka Joe]

13 hours ago, bobby kellard was go said:

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

That's where someone's gonna be when they kick him up the backside.

[Bazooka Joe]

12 hours ago, bobby kellard was go said:

Whats his net spend?

We just sell our best players and expect to win the league,it never ever works.

Much more likely to get relegated if  you sell your 3 best players out of 11 imo.

Why you askin' about his internet shopping habit?

 

[JamesBCFC]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Good challenge.  I don’t think we’ve played a decent 90 minutes all season bar Swansea.  I’ve seen every game (there or tv / stream) bar both Sheffield games.  We’ve had spells in games, e.g. Stoke where we’ve played well, but not the whole 90.  I thought we played decent enough v Boro, but I think it was purely because they were 2-0 up and coasting.  We’ve had some shockers that far outweigh the ‘decent(ish)’ games, e.g. Wigan, Rotherham, Reading, Preston.  Brentford and Hull were 4 points gained (thought both were draws).  Even Blackburn (4-1) and QPR (3-0) weren’t stellar performances, I thought we deserved the Blackburn win, but thought QPR could very easily have been 2-0 up before Taylor scored.

So, it’s been building James.  I give him credit for our recruitment, but when I see ya listing £25m losses, I have to reflect that in the slate being wiped clean.  That is huge...the biggest in the club’s history!  That hamstrings us going forward too. SL and MA culpable too.  Where is MA?  Is @Septic Peg‘s post that MA likes gardening, a cryptic knowledge that he is on gardening leave?  That £25m loss has forced me to be harsher.  I think it’s scandalous that we’ve posted losses of that size.  That is a significant waste of resource.  Couple that with a slip down the table and no identity and I think his time should be up.  He said “it’s my team”, his team isn’t good enough under his tenure.

Good thoughts and helps me see where you are coming from.

Referencing what I said before 

Quote

I also think we were playing above ourselves during the first half of last season, and the fact we were playing above ourselves meant it was unsustainable, yet it set a standard that is now expected week in, week out.

and expanding slightly (not applicable to yourself). I cannot recall which game, possibly Forest or Boro, but there was some very harsh criticism given and when watching the game on BCTV what I saw was very different to what was being said on here, even by some of the more balanced posters.

I think (and this probably applies to fans of all teams) it has got to a point where if the team doesn't play excellently, it gets written off as rubbish.

 

RE losses and MA

The losses are hard to really comment on.

Firstly, losses of a club are, in footballs current financial state, always going to rise. I don't mean the loss will be bigger every season, but with the inflation in the game making transfer fees, signing on fees, agents fees and wages constantly rising it means when a club has a season where they spend, the chances are they are spending more than before, so when a club has a season where they take a bigger loss it will be more than the equivalent of 5 years ago.

(It's a bit like how the "he's spent more that any other manager" line some people use is an easy and slightly unfair one with regards to LJ- the depleted squad when he arrived meant recruitment was needed, constantly inflating prices means bigger fees, certainly compared to when we were last a Championship side. However player turnover has been very high and that leads to more spending.)

However I certainly agree that looking at it at face value, the losses are a concerning number.

But here's why I find the finances a bit hard to comment on.

Partly because I don't know all the ins and outs.

Mostly because it's been a while since I looked at them and have some questions. But they don't include the summer sales where we are £15m odd up (I suspect I'm a little conservative there, but hard to tell with undisclosed fees), something I'd need to look at again to see exactly what time period they cover and what goes into it- I have some questions like with the training ground development, has work started, if so would those costs be a part? Were the sell on fees we got last summer in it?

We are allowed £39m odd of losses over 3 years aren't we, with a little extra allowed as investment? Year before last was something like £13m IIRC, last years was £20m (but with questions of how much of that was actually FFP relevant losses). I think it is something like £8m of investment allowed towards these numbers per season (@Mr Popodopolous might be able to help shed a little info here).

If the £8m investment bit is right then we have anywhere between £6m and £22m as our "allowable losses" for FFP this season

 

MA- Like everyone else I'm not overly fond of him, however he is pretty consistent with when he make an appearance IMO. We generally hear from him around each transfer window as far as I recall.

So I'm not 100% sure what the criticism of him not saying anything right now is about.

[The Nest Egg]

I haven't been here for a while, but thought I would come and explain why I think we should stick with Lee- for now.

I haven't really followed us too closely recently; the Calgary Flames are absolutely killing it right now so I've been following them more. What I would say if that you are becoming disillusioned with football in general- give ice hockey a watch. No 'gamesmanship', no feigning injury. Takes a few games to get into it (and be able to see the bloody puck), but seeing as the Pitbulls will be returning in a few years it's honestly worth a go. NHL and EIHL games are shown on 'Free Sports' which I think is on Freeview and Virgin Media. 

Anyway, I'm deviating. I think those that are clamouring for Lee to go need to realise that it just isn't going to happen at this stage. It is easy to come here and think it is the general consensus amongst our fanbase, but I honestly doubt it would become a majority opinion unless we lost all through November and most of December. I know the level of dissent from the stands were at their highest level for a while yesterday, but this cannot be taken to be interpreted as a sign that suddenly 'Johnson Out' is a majority opinion. I have never really agreed with the term 'happy clapper'; it's just a silly insult and we can do better than that. Anyone can insult someone over the internet (and this is something I also do myself at times), and it certainly isn't a way to win people over to your opinions. Would be a shame if the toxicity flooded this place again.

Many of the criticisms of him do hold validity. For all the talk of playing a possession-based attacking style, we are instead trying to play to the opposition's weaknesses- and failing. Yesterday was a key example of this. This is naivety by Johnson, but some of this we are just going to have to begrudgingly accept, as long as he learns from it and doesn't make us have to watch performances like that. I also am not a fan of certain favourites staying in the squad when it is apparent they just aren't on it at all. Hopefully once Adelukan returns we can see more winger rotation and Paterson can be dropped. It worked when we did it to him last time; why not do it again?

The recruitment has been patchy, but what encourages me is our focus on buying younger players and loaning them out. I really enjoy catching up on what they have been doing (it's my favourite section of OSIB), and many of them have been impressing and advancing. That isn't really something I had seen happen in the club before (I have been supporting the club since 2006) and is something I think LJ has been good at implementing. I certainly hope the European experiment is going to end though, and our recruitment since has shown that they have perhaps realised that's a non-starter. 

Despite my concerns, I think we should keep Lee  The season is still young, and things can happen very quickly in this league. The fact we were 2nd at Christmas last year and still didn't make it should tell you everything about the seriousness in which you should treat the table right now. Look at Fulham. Towards the end of the season, they picked up momentum and absolutely flew through. I know this was mostly due to them spending a huge amount to get Mitrovic, but the message I am trying to convey is that we are not in immediate danger and are still trying to establish ourselves in this league. We don't have a God-given right to be up there, and there are plenty of clubs out there who have thrown ridiculous amounts of cash around yet are in a similar position (or even worse) to us. We are also doing this having lost three significant players while bedding in new ones. It's always important to give newer players a season to adapt; it's frustrating, but we have to do it if we accept that as a smaller club in this league we need to look long term. The days of the McInnes/SOD era are not as far away as they feel; it wasn't long ago that we were a complete and utter embarrassment in this league. Even though we are not doing well right now, I have confidence that it is not going to get to that stage. This is the reality of being a midtable club. A few bad results have you looking over your shoulder, while a few good ones make you look up instead. It isn't the most exciting but to be honest, it's what we need. Those wanting McCarthy must surely realise that we would most likely just stagnate where we are right now? 

What worries me if that if we just sacked him and then went onto the managerial merry-go-round, we'd end up just losing what we have built so far (although construction admittedly seems to have been on hold for a while). It is rare to have a manager who has a genuine affinity for the club these days. When Rowett took the Derby job, people here were livid that we didn't try to get him. Yet, when Stoke came calling, off he went. If we had that happen to us (be it Rowett or any other 'preferred' manager), it would cause a lot more damage in the long term to the club. If we picked up our results in the second half of the season and another club came calling for Lee, I don't think he would do it. He would want to finish the job here. The tradeoff of this is that it can get a bit too cosy at the top of this club.

I've wanted him out before, decided that I wouldn't attend a game until he was gone. And he won me over. It made me realise that being too reactive was just creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by making me more cynical. It also meant I said some pretty awful things on here at the time, in particular towards Dean Holden. Going back to that mindset is just something I am not interested in doing. The next month is going to be a very important one. I had said to my friends at the beginning of the season that if we were going to have a half of being good and a half of being comically bad, fans would want off the LJ train. Flaws? Of course there's flaws right now. Our side of the debate knows that too. Lee Johnson has given me the best times of my life as a Bristol City supporter. Yes, he can frustrate me, and there have already been too many Saturday afternoons dampened by our performances, but when the right levers are pulled we are a formidable side. I want to give Lee more time with them and see if he can get the combinations right on a more sustained basis. Obviously, if we completely tail off towards relegation than I would change my position, as long as a suitable replacement was lined up. This is a transitional season and spells like this are, sadly, what happens sometimes in transition. Those that say that we have already had two seasons of that underestimate how long change can take to set in. 

 

 

P.S It's Preston. They always beat us. If I only made major life decisions following a game against Preston, I would probably be a heroin addict by now.