In Gj We Trust

[pdgifford64]

http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=972651

I posted this response in a different thread and, apparently, with an announcement pending, it got me to thinking about the board and manager. Its often been said that players, managers, directors and chairmen come and go. The club and the vast majority of fans are the only constant.

With that said i`m curious as to fans feelings with regards to GJ when this situation is resolved.

There can be no doubt that GJ is a very talented manager and to date has done a fantastic job here at City.He`s set out his stall and has really tightened up the ship, so to speak. His `my way or the highway` approach is well documented but surely there is a limit to which this approach continues to work in favour of the club. At some point his unwillingness to `manage` a player with a slight ego is going to act against the club rather than for it.

The facts are not known and maybe they never will be. Meteb played for the club that still held his registration at the same time as nothing but a verbal agreement had been made with us. It`s not as if he was out partying the night before a match. There seems to be no indication of a massive gambling addiction or any other addiction other than the love of playing football.

We don`t how much/if any pressure was put on him by Ahly to play. There is a heck of a lot of information we are not privvy to and i for one am not ready to write this kid off just yet.

Whatever decision is made by GJ and the club i will support, however.......

In this situation, with GJ quoted as saying ` if he`s half as good as we think he is....` then i believe we`ve reached the point where GJ would gain massive kudos by doing everything he can to go ahead with this signing.

For the good of the club. Instead of scrapping the deal for the good of his reputation. If he really is the manager to take us to the top flight then i see this a his first real test of his ability to manage. Get the kid here, get the situation sorted and get him playing.

I read in some post somebody comparing the situation the Stewart situation, well thats complete b******s.

Thats my feelings on the subject i`m interested to see how others feel.

GJ, your a good manager, heres a golden opportunity to show just how good you could be.

PDG

[Pete1975Legend]

The way GJ has turned this club around in a small amount of time deserves credit so for me if GJ no longer feels Meteb is a worthwhile signing then I trust his judgement.

Hence why we are not football managers and GJ is.

[BASSO]

I would say that Johnson's weakness has always been buying strikers/getting the strikers to perform. Its really frustrating that we seem to be letting our record signing slip through our fingers for something which doesn't really matter and replacing him with someone who is second choice. Especially when I thought we were getting both of them.

Still Johnson has my 100% backing. I am just pissed off with the situation we find ourselves in.

[denning]

could not have put it better myself. We know GJ can manage players (Orr, Brooker) Carle I believe he could manage but with a quick profit made he was happy to see go. This lad has disobeyed orders but we do not know how much at fault he was, naive sure but fault we do not know.

[formerly known as ivan]

if johnson does pull out of the signing of mateb then it will be the first time i have really questioned his actions (maybe apart from nick carle going to palace!)

if mateb was the no.1 target and we chased him for that long, how can he suddenly become not worth signing? yes there was a mix up and he played in that match bla bla bla... but if he can score goals for us, which johnson must believe he can otherwise why even make the effort to sign him, then whats changed so much?

[Midge]

In response to the title of the thread I say that I trust him more than any other manager we've ever had and I don't post on here to argue so don't think I'm doing that.

You make some good points however and I think one thing we have all realised is that with GJ it will always be run his way and I wonder whether he feels that if he were to let his guard down it may show a sign of weakness on his part therefore he may view it as undermining his authority.

I think the club is better off having that mentality than the one experienced under the Legend Brian Tinnion and I am not being sarcastic when I say legend,I truly mean it.

You're right when you say it would be a test of his skills if he were to bring an ego in which if we got in the Premier League players attracted to the club would have egos but quality to add to that unlike the lower level players who have attitude problems.

It might be a bad move not to sign Meteb especially after such a pursuit,and to be honest I think if he signed,he'd know that Gary was boss,as far as Mifsud goes he has a lot of pace and has scored twice in one game at Old Trafford which is something that opposing players don't do very often.

Nonetheless mate some good points made and I'm sure that all will be revealed by august 9th

[pdgifford64]

The way GJ has turned this club around in a small amount of time deserves credit so for me if GJ no longer feels Meteb is a worthwhile signing then I trust his judgement.

Hence why we are not football managers and GJ is.

Agreed.

My point is that at some point GJ will have to manage outside of his `comfort zone `. If the club are to be as successful as we would al love it to be, then there are players that will come into the picture that will need managing more than others.

In Metebs case have we reached that point ?

I believe that the benefits to the club in going ahead and signing Meteb outweigh any percieved harm to GJ s management style.

PDG

[BCFCfan]

Implicitly. Although the Carle transfer is testing my resolve.

[denning]

many people have spoken of gary johnson's authority etc. Signing him may for some have a short-term impact on his 'percieved' authority to some, but I have no doubt that his 'actual' authority will not suffer at all.

How is his authority hampered if he is brought into the club and severely reprimanded? I honestly do not see how it is anything less than strengthened quite frankly.

[chinapig]

The short answer to your question is totally, however disappointed I might be if we lose Meteb. I think it's less a question of ego in Meteb's case and more a question of commitment. He does not come across as a big ego (otherwise we would never have come this far) but it appears he may have made a promise and broken it.

Good managers in any line of business engage with and involve their employees and try to manage by consensus but there are times when you have to make tough and unpopular decisions that you believe are for the greater good. The biggest mistake is to be inconsistent in your standards in my opinion.

If Meteb could convince Gary there genuinely was no intent on his part he might relent, but only if convinced and in a way that is consistent with the way he treats the other players. There is a risk that if you give one player special treatment you breed resentment in the others and that is corrosive. The likes of Ferguson and Wenger handle lots of big egos but there is never any doubt who is in charge when it comes to the crunch and they will ship players out when necessary. Likewise Gary.

[cummins17]

this says it all for me :

when gary johnson took over we were on the verge of being relegated to league two under tinnion, in the same season johnson got us out of the relegation zone and one point off the playoffs !

in gary johnsons first full season he got us promoted at the first time of asking !

our first season under johnson in the campionship he got us to the playoff final on a tight budget and we were tipped for relegation !

IN JOHNSON I TRUST !

[SE23Red]

The short answer to your question is totally, however disappointed I might be if we lose Meteb. I think it's less a question of ego in Meteb's case and more a question of commitment. He does not come across as a big ego (otherwise we would never have come this far) but it appears he may have made a promise and broken it.

The key question is was it a promise he could be expected to make?

If it was then everything you say is true, if we only got him to agree this instead of seeking agreement with Al-Ahly then we put him in an unfair position.

I've supported GJ in 99% of what he has done for the club (Stewart, Savage and Carle included) and with more information may find myself agreeing with him on this one too. But at the moment I can't help but feel, based on his own comments on how good the player is, that there is a danger that he is cutting off his nose to spite his face.

[pdgifford64]

this says it all for me :

when gary johnson took over we were on the verge of being relegated to league two under tinnion, in the same season johnson got us out of the relegation zone and one point off the playoffs !

in gary johnsons first full season he got us promoted at the first time of asking !

our first season under johnson in the campionship he got us to the playoff final on a tight budget and we were tipped for relegation !

IN JOHNSON I TRUST !

I trust him yes and up to this point i`ve had no real cause to question his judgement, though as already mentioned the Carle transfer raised an eyebrow. Last years achievement was great though i firmly believe that the real test will be this season.

We have all managed at some point in our lives to varying degrees. The real tests of management are those that stretch your abilities. GJ has done a fantastic job with the squad we have but as we all know we don`t move forward as a club without the signing of fresh blood, better fresh blood. If GJ is not prepared to expand his comfort zone by managing a situation when it could benefit the club as a whole then where do we go from here.

This is all conjecture of course. None of us know all the facts and the ins and outs but i do believe that at some point GJ will either have to adapt his style a little or we, as a club, will be treading water.

PDG

[Robbored]

If Meteb could convince Gary there genuinely was no intent on his part he might relent, but only if convinced and in a way that is consistent with the way he treats the other players. There is a risk that if you give one player special treatment you breed resentment in the others and that is corrosive. The likes of Ferguson and Wenger handle lots of big egos but there is never any doubt who is in charge when it comes to the crunch and they will ship players out when necessary. Likewise Gary.

From the fans perspective it seems as if the whole Egyptian saga has not been a straight forward affair. They seem to have their own rules that don't apply to other footballing nations.

I can imagine Johnson's frustrations firstly with dealing with them which couldn't have been easy and then when GJ thinks its all resolved and he's got his man he furiously discovers that Meteb has turned out for his old club whilst technically a City player. How much of that was Meteb's doing and how much he was pressured into playing is something that we won't ever know.

But... the bottom line is now that the Cairo derby has been and gone and Johnson has to decide whether he still wants Meteab on board or whether he'd rather put two fingers up at the Egyptians and cancel the deal.

Meteab is still the same player and still coveted by City. Johnson clearly rates the guy and described him as City's 'number 1 target all along' and despite the problems that should still be so. If City do withdraw from the deal then could be seen and as 'doing a flapper' and throwing your dummy out the pram.

It all boils down to the fact that if Johnson still holds the same opinion about the Egptians abilty then he should keep the deal alive. I can't see any reason why GJ's view should have changed.

[headhunter]

One poster on this thread used the term 'comfort zone' to describe an aspect of GJ's management style and I can concur with that view.

Enough has been said about Metab but here we are 16 days from the start of the season with a squad that is intrinsically weaker than when we lost at Wembley in May.

Carle's gone, yes we made some £ but what did GJ mean about the 'hierarchy of the team' in justifying his decision in letting him go?

Did GJ really have £4m to spend in January - all this stuff about dressing room harmony > if he couldn't keep everyone happy and at the same time bring in someone of real quality whose goals would surely have got us up then you have to question what some are alluding to in this thread. We let a massive opportunity pass us by through not buying or loaning big in January.

Comfort zone > Williams our only signing falls into that category without a doubt and his lack of fitness suggests a guy that did not look after himself one iota through the summer.

Mifsud > on this thread someone said he must be a good player as he scored 2 goals in a Carling Cup tie at Old Trafford ; whoopy do!! [Kevin Mabbutt is one of only 4 opposition players ever to have scored a hattrick at that venue], personally I would have been more excited had we gone in for Leon Best

[chinapig]

From the fans perspective it seems as if the whole Egyptian saga has not been a straight forward affair. They seem to have their own rules that don't apply to other footballing nations.

I can imagine Johnson's frustrations firstly with dealing with them which couldn't have been easy and then when GJ thinks its all resolved and he's got his man he furiously discovers that Meteb has turned out for his old club whilst technically a City player. How much of that was Meteb's doing and how much he was pressured into playing is something that we won't ever know.

But... the bottom line is now that the Cairo derby has been and gone and Johnson has to decide whether he still wants Meteab on board or whether he'd rather put two fingers up at the Egyptians and cancel the deal.

Meteab is still the same player and still coveted by City. Johnson clearly rates the guy and described him as City's 'number 1 target all along' and despite the problems that should still be so. If City do withdraw from the deal then could be seen and as 'doing a flapper' and throwing your dummy out the pram.

It all boils down to the fact that if Johnson still holds the same opinion about the Egptians abilty then he should keep the deal alive. I can't see any reason why GJ's view should have changed.

No reason why Gary would have changed his opinion about the player's ability but he may have changed his mind about his character.

[WarksRed]

The Carle scenario was clarified to us in Portugal, and was very enlightening, but in all our efforts to understand and analise GJ's decisions on most players we must not forget one aspect.

we see these guys once maybe twice a week, we have no real idea of their attidudes and commitment to training etc.

GJ has to manage coax, co-erce and do whatever is neccesary to hopefully get them to perform to a level which will appease the majority of us paying to be entertained.

If we have no trust in the manager, then his position will eventually become impossible.

whatever my views on the Egyptian Experience may be, GJ's decision is OK by me.

[Cyderman]

http://www.otib.co.uk/index.php?s=&sho...st&p=972651

I posted this response in a different thread and, apparently, with an announcement pending, it got me to thinking about the board and manager. Its often been said that players, managers, directors and chairmen come and go. The club and the vast majority of fans are the only constant.

With that said i`m curious as to fans feelings with regards to GJ when this situation is resolved.

There can be no doubt that GJ is a very talented manager and to date has done a fantastic job here at City.He`s set out his stall and has really tightened up the ship, so to speak. His `my way or the highway` approach is well documented but surely there is a limit to which this approach continues to work in favour of the club. At some point his unwillingness to `manage` a player with a slight ego is going to act against the club rather than for it.

The facts are not known and maybe they never will be. Meteb played for the club that still held his registration at the same time as nothing but a verbal agreement had been made with us. It`s not as if he was out partying the night before a match. There seems to be no indication of a massive gambling addiction or any other addiction other than the love of playing football.

We don`t how much/if any pressure was put on him by Ahly to play. There is a heck of a lot of information we are not privvy to and i for one am not ready to write this kid off just yet.

Whatever decision is made by GJ and the club i will support, however.......

In this situation, with GJ quoted as saying ` if he`s half as good as we think he is....` then i believe we`ve reached the point where GJ would gain massive kudos by doing everything he can to go ahead with this signing.

For the good of the club. Instead of scrapping the deal for the good of his reputation. If he really is the manager to take us to the top flight then i see this a his first real test of his ability to manage. Get the kid here, get the situation sorted and get him playing.

I read in some post somebody comparing the situation the Stewart situation, well thats complete b******s.

Thats my feelings on the subject i`m interested to see how others feel.

GJ, your a good manager, heres a golden opportunity to show just how good you could be.

PDG

When I mentioned Stewart, I didn't mean that him and Meteb are similar players, or that this is a similar situation. I was referring to Stewart as the origin of all this 'Johnson can't handle big players' stuff, and even though Johnson was proven to be absolutely correct, it seems that the accusation has stuck, and resurfaces from time to time to time as an excuse to bash our manager, even though the origins of it were completely unfounded. Not to mention this apparent belief that every top flight player has a massive ego, and that this is something we should just deal with. As if Ferguson or Wenger would tolerate (allegedly) being messed around like this!

[brad blit]

The Carle scenario was clarified to us in Portugal, and was very enlightening, but in all our efforts to understand and analise GJ's decisions on most players we must not forget one aspect.

we see these guys once maybe twice a week, we have no real idea of their attidudes and commitment to training etc.

GJ has to manage coax, co-erce and do whatever is neccesary to hopefully get them to perform to a level which will appease the majority of us paying to be entertained.

If we have no trust in the manager, then his position will eventually become impossible.

whatever my views on the Egyptian Experience may be, GJ's decision is OK by me.

Well can you clarify to me what happened with Carle?

[Big Jon]

Cant belive there is a thred like this Gary Johnson has done a fantastik job since he came here look ware we were heading

before he arived leage 2 wasent it

[Redhyde]

At some point his unwillingness to `manage` a player with a slight ego is going to act against the club rather than for it.

That i think is a complete misconception. Gary is unwilling to sign players who don't give a damn.

Trundle has an Ego. He thinks he should play every game. So what did he do when he got left out? Knuckled down, improved in an effort to force his way back in. McIndoe has a massive ego. There's no problems there.

You're meaning Gary should put up with strops and hissy fits and people disregarding the rules and generally being unprofessional. I say i'm happy if we never sign an unprofessional player.

Gary actively looks for player with ego, because they're the ones who want to improve themselves and kick on.

[bh_red]

I was a massive fan of him while he was at Yeovil and I championed for him to be manager after Tinnion and to say I was delighted when he took over at City is an understatement as for what he's done since, he's rebuilt the team AND club....however

This summer I've doubted him for the first time, the Sale of Carle has utterly and totally confused me and I'm yet to see a sensible suggestion as to why he's left. Yes we doubled our money, but 500k profit is still nothing in the bigger picture.

The whole striker situation as well has been a constant problem, what happens over the next 72hrs will be VERY interesting regarding the Meteb situation, despite the possible signing of Mifsud..........he's still go alot to do to make it an impressive summer of transfer dealing.

[East End Lad]

There will always be doubt, but I think we should look at what he has done so far and really question why anyone is doubting him. Lets say we won the play off final, there would be doubts about him in the Premier League, then if he went on to a bigger club doubts about him in the champions league, doubts about managing at the top. Until you have done it all you still have more to learn and so far GJ has done brilliantly for us. Gary has my trust, 110%.

[Midge]

One poster on this thread used the term 'comfort zone' to describe an aspect of GJ's management style and I can concur with that view.

Enough has been said about Metab but here we are 16 days from the start of the season with a squad that is intrinsically weaker than when we lost at Wembley in May.

Carle's gone, yes we made some £ but what did GJ mean about the 'hierarchy of the team' in justifying his decision in letting him go?

Did GJ really have £4m to spend in January - all this stuff about dressing room harmony > if he couldn't keep everyone happy and at the same time bring in someone of real quality whose goals would surely have got us up then you have to question what some are alluding to in this thread. We let a massive opportunity pass us by through not buying or loaning big in January.

Comfort zone > Williams our only signing falls into that category without a doubt and his lack of fitness suggests a guy that did not look after himself one iota through the summer.

Mifsud > on this thread someone said he must be a good player as he scored 2 goals in a Carling Cup tie at Old Trafford ; whoopy do!! [Kevin Mabbutt is one of only 4 opposition players ever to have scored a hattrick at that venue], personally I would have been more excited had we gone in for Leon Best

Only thing is mate,Kevin Mabbutt dosent play anymore,are you saying it's not an achievement to score twice at a ground like that