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Johnson's final gamble? Deadline Day reviewed


The Exiled Robin

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Good read. Personally I think Johnson has two seasons now. Half a new side has been put together and will take 5-10 games to gel. The lateness of the signings could be the downfall for this season. 

I would really hope a summer of stability next season and give it one more go. If we aren’t promoted by then who knows what happens. 

Nobody can have any idea how this season will go now. How exciting. We have no idea how good half of our team are. We could storm the league or finish 12th. Looking forward to finding out 

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Good read. 

My hopes for the season would be that we find we have a squad of 16 or so that play the fast moving forward flowing football we are looking for (Brentford circa 2016).@RedDave  has it spot on in that we need a summer of stability, that way we can add one or two players of real, and I mean real, quality and hopefully have a proper crack at promotion. 

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Shame really as I honestly felt after 2 seasons of being there or thereabouts, that this was going to be the season.

What I don't want to see is us keeping it tight and only starting to play after 60 mins when we are 0 - 2 down.

The best tacticians don't wait until 60 mins to make changes.  I've seen some managers make substitutions and formation changes after 15/20 mins and at half time at the latest.

I know that 60 minutes is ideal, but there's no need to stick to it week after week after week after week. it's so bloody predictable.

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Good read. However I see it slightly differently. If we finish 7th-11th I think it’s much more likely that he’ll get the bullet rather than walk. He’s been backed more than anyone ever has and he must now perform. Hopefully the days of such abysmal home performances are gone. 

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4 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Good read. However I see it slightly differently. If we finish 7th-11th I think it’s much more likely that he’ll get the bullet rather than walk. He’s been backed more than anyone ever has and he must now perform. Hopefully the days of such abysmal home performances are gone. 

When we say backed more than anyone else has ever that's a little 1 sided, he has also lost his best players like no one else has. It's a balanced approach IMO. 

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19 minutes ago, Pezo said:

When we say backed more than anyone else has ever that's a little 1 sided, he has also lost his best players like no one else has. It's a balanced approach IMO. 

Agreed, he spent £30m but we raised more than £34m in sales. So yes we have spent more than ever but also raised the funds to do that through sales. 

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5 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Good read. However I see it slightly differently. If we finish 7th-11th I think it’s much more likely that he’ll get the bullet rather than walk. He’s been backed more than anyone ever has and he must now perform. Hopefully the days of such abysmal home performances are gone. 

Agree. It'd be nice to get the crowd going at home again. Been poor for a couple of years now and I wonder if that's why Pack was moved on... to stop the slow ponderous build up and try and create a faster attacking midfield style of play...

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We have also been restricted by our own wage principles. 

Im not trying to preach to SL about how and how much he should be spending - I’m grateful for everything he has done so far and of course we mustn’t let things spiral out of control, but when we can’t land strikers due to wages that other clubs seem prepared to pay then we are always going to be at a disadvantage. 

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5 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Good read. However I see it slightly differently. If we finish 7th-11th I think it’s much more likely that he’ll get the bullet rather than walk. He’s been backed more than anyone ever has and he must now perform. Hopefully the days of such abysmal home performances are gone. 

I agree about our home performances,that has to improve.

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Great read about a very strange day.

Whatever else you think about it all, I remember people coming on here after the Palace game and pointing out that - abysmal performance aside - it was basically the same team as last season. And on Sunday the major source of my frustration - aside from our capitulation - was a feeling we were in for more of the same from our worse performances last year.

Whatever else happens this season, it certainly isn’t more of the same and certainly isn’t the same team from last year. It definitely is a massive gamble, and the way the striker situation played out has left a bad taste in the mouth but is an exciting set of signings and there is a very realistic chance Afobe will have a better season than either of the two strikers we missed out on.

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Very good read.

My fear is that by the time this new team ‘gels’ we will be consigned to a mid table finish and I doubt SL will accept that.

You have to assume that LJ and MA have made these calls based on the budget and, of course, the money from sales.

Some of the new lads sound exciting, but it will take time and patience - be very interesting to see the team sheet tomorrow afternoon.

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7 hours ago, RedDave said:

Good read. Personally I think Johnson has two seasons now. Half a new side has been put together and will take 5-10 games to gel. The lateness of the signings could be the downfall for this season. 

I would really hope a summer of stability next season and give it one more go. If we aren’t promoted by then who knows what happens. 

Nobody can have any idea how this season will go now. How exciting. We have no idea how good half of our team are. We could storm the league or finish 12th. Looking forward to finding out 

Totally agree.  Probably 1.5 seasons. Everything is now in olace for success. The only improvement needed is tge striker (doubtless a job for next summer), and potentially the manager. 

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5 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Good read. However I see it slightly differently. If we finish 7th-11th I think it’s much more likely that he’ll get the bullet rather than walk. He’s been backed more than anyone ever has and he must now perform. Hopefully the days of such abysmal home performances are gone. 

I see this written a lot and, while we’ve spent money, it also has to be acknowledged that we’ve also sold/lost our best player(s) every summer.

So, yes, he’s been backed but the club have still raked in more than they’ve spent in terms of transfer fees.

As a side note - and I’m not suggesting this is your particular point, but others do obsess over it - it’s completely irrelevant and out of context to compare the fees we’re spending now to any other period in our history.

Spending £1m on Lee Trundle and £2.5m on Nicky Maynard were, at the time, fairly big deals!

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I'd love to know whose idea it was to spend £8m on an 18yo who has only played a handful of first team games.

I find it difficult to believe that LJ would have chosen to spend that much of his funds that way. It does strike me as an MA decision, following the vision set by SL. Here's a little diamond for you Lee, polish him up and make us a whacking great profit please.

All well and good but Lee can only lose in that scenario. I find it hard to see that the player will contribute significantly this season. If you're looking to finish top 6 this season surely this isn't the most effective way to spend that money.

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The idea of having a team and building season by season has been shredded. Due to losing our best players and to a lesser extent LJ never seeming to know his best team for large parts of the season. But what a job he has now on his hands. It is almost like starting again. Loads of new players, a number from abroad who have not played in this country. Best of luck Lee you will need it. If only last January we had got that striker when in such a good position. But that is history. Come on Lee show us what you are made and mould this lot in to a good team.

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Whatever happens, it will certainly be exciting. These days I don’t get attached to certain players, the team needs to deliver. We’ve had too many passengers, especially in midfield. 

and a deal isn’t done until it is done, you can’t blame Nkieta for heading to Leeds.

 

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Trust Afobe, come on if we signed him two years ago we wil get crazy. He s only 26, if he fits good and he is happy here, and his morale goes up, he will be the best player in our team.

He can do over 20 goals, why don't you trust him. Maybe he was unsettled at his last teams. Lee is a nice person and he knows to speak with his players. I trust him. We will finish in top 2 this season.

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28 minutes ago, Judda said:

Agree. It'd be nice to get the crowd going at home again. Been poor for a couple of years now and I wonder if that's why Pack was moved on... to stop the slow ponderous build up and try and create a faster attacking midfield style of play...

Sunday was like most of last season at home if not worse.

20k home fans wont tolerate that level of display for too long. It’s been a long time since I was truly entertained by City and with the new faces on board my expectations are now to see good attacking football with goals - I have waited long enough!!

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In all the conjecture and debate, everyone seems to be overlooking Semenyo?   OK Nketiah did not sign, but all eggs in one basket tends to be a risky, strategy?  Whether viewed as a turncoat or an opportunist, he can hardly be blamed for joining, surely the champions elect?           The young Arsemal player would have been here for one season, and that would have been that, whatever the outcome,  We have a similarly aged player, who is commited to the club, and who will now hopefully get more opportunities than if Eddy Baby had turned up for his medical?            Who knows, he might even become a bettter player than the Arsenal protege, given time, game minutes and more coaching?  I am hoping that Semenyo steps up a gear this season, he seems to have the potential to be a top striker, so maybe this cloud might yet have a silver lining?

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I was hoping for playoffs at least this season but now, realistically if we have a season of upper mid table where the majority of the new guys click and find their feet then I’ll be happy as long as the footballs exciting and we are winning more than we are losing at home. We desperately need next summer to be a summer of stability and for once knock back any offers we received for our better players.  If we are not in a position to do that financially now, we never will.  We can’t constantly be a team in transition.  One summer we must keep the squad together, only offload for our benefit, add with real quality and go for it.

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12 minutes ago, robin_unreliant said:

I'd love to know whose idea it was to spend £8m on an 18yo who has only played a handful of first team games.

I find it difficult to believe that LJ would have chosen to spend that much of his funds that way. It does strike me as an MA decision, following the vision set by SL. Here's a little diamond for you Lee, polish him up and make us a whacking great profit please.

All well and good but Lee can only lose in that scenario. I find it hard to see that the player will contribute significantly this season. If you're looking to finish top 6 this season surely this isn't the most effective way to spend that money.

You really believe that our first team coach dd not have a massive input into the idea of signing him?  He was originally spotted at a tournament we were involved in, he was  made a note of, and monitored in the outside chance that he might become available at sometime in the future.  The change of regime at Monaco opened up that opportunity, and  LJ would have had his opinion, and say in talks, and then MA did the business side with the backing of the owner..............any other scenario makes no sense?  IMHO.

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14 minutes ago, maxjak said:

In all the conjecture and debate, everyone seems to be overlooking Semenyo?   OK Nketiah did not sign, but all eggs in one basket tends to be a risky, strategy?  Whether viewed as a turncoat or an opportunist, he can hardly be blamed for joining, surely the champions elect?           The young Arsemal player would have been here for one season, and that would have been that, whatever the outcome,  We have a similarly aged player, who is commited to the club, and who will now hopefully get more opportunities than if Eddy Baby had turned up for his medical?            Who knows, he might even become a bettter player than the Arsenal protege, given time, game minutes and more coaching?  I am hoping that Semenyo steps up a gear this season, he seems to have the potential to be a top striker, so maybe this cloud might yet have a silver lining?

Agreed, semenyo is obviously getting a lot of attention and hopefully makes an impact. Im not sure he has that same finishing instinct of someone like lita or maynard but time will tell.

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My prediction is that we’re really going to struggle in the early part of this season now, given the amount of change and the fragility of our defence, 

This will put huge pressure on LJ, who will be lucky to survive until January. This may or may not be fair, as I have no idea who is responsible for these transfers, but most supporters don’t have the patience to see them bed in - this where pre-season would have helped.

Things may pick up in the 2nd half of the season, and a couple of January signings may help. 

Id be happy with a top 10 finish come the end of the season - any aspirations for play offs are out of the window now!

 

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Excellant read and I think you've articulated perfectly how a lot of us feel, particularly around the sudden departure of Marlon Pack.

We seem to be entering a new phase in the team development, whether this was always part of the plan or whether we've suddenly decide to change course I'm not sure - it does feel a little like the latter to me.

Hopefully we'll see a new more progressive style of play and be in for a decent season.

Time will tell.

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We have bolstered our attack, as said before we would have taken Benik Afobe a few years ago. He has been playing in a poor Stoke City team so cut him some slack yes!  The signings need time to gel and to work out where they fit in the playing pattern so please get off their backs in the coming months. 

 

We are in transition again as all the teams have found us out, so lets sit back and enjoy the ride.

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53 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

Very good read.

My fear is that by the time this new team ‘gels’ we will be consigned to a mid table finish and I doubt SL will accept that.

You have to assume that LJ and MA have made these calls based on the budget and, of course, the money from sales.

Some of the new lads sound exciting, but it will take time and patience - be very interesting to see the team sheet tomorrow afternoon.

To be fair, we’ve had two seasons where we have been great for half the season and mediocre the other and we’ve still got relatively close to the play offs. The problem is we usually do the good part first. Certainly I agree that it might take at least a month or two before the team achieve any kind of fluency. I think much depends on how much we can grind out results whilst the team finds its feet. I am optimistic for the season as a whole but will be pleased if we even draw tomorrow.

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I thought  last year's squad needed tweaking but we've gone for another total rebuild again! I hope it works this time but blending this team of strangers may not be easy or swift. One thing about City at the moment is it's certainly not boring. COYR.

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