Thoughts Currently On Gj

[mightyreds89]

Last 2 seasons have been great for us and Gary, this season we are having the season we should have had last season, as a result our expectations are even greater than they were at the start of last season so Gary is now a victim of his own success, unfortunate but tue. I really would feel a whole lot better about our current position if our manager who has been great up until recently started publicly accpeting some responsabilty for the current decline we are in, and he should be able to do this as he really has not had to do this before in his time with us, he states that we need the fans in these types of situations but for me we also need some honest from the guy in charge?

Gary has done great in his time with us and has brought us forward no end, but for me the following questions are still un answered,

Do we have a plan B? Not just chuck on 4 strikers thats just panic mode

Have the issues that our fans have been stating dfor 12-18 months even when doing well been address when money has been made avliable ie wide right player, cover as full back, a midfielder to complament Marvin (Form of last season), and a settled strike pairing?

Why do are best players either warm the bench, or get played out of positon when they do play? and if they are not fit to play 90 mins week in week out when will they ever be if they do not play 10-15 games in a week?

Non perfomring players not being dropped?

3 biggest buys not really delivered for various reasons Trundle (no settled run, no settled strike partner, played out of positon), Sproule (Not good enough for this level), Maynard (No settled partner, and ball in above waist height and back to goal not why he scored the goals he did at Crewe)

I still believe just but slowly but surely I am thinking is Gary the man to take us to the Prem?? Gj really has to earn his money over the next 2-3 months for me.

[bh_red]

It's as tough a time for Gary as he's probably had in his Career.

Right now my view is.......

Gary's Performance's MUST improve, in terms of Selection, Tactics and Signings and most importantly

Past Loyalty to Players needs to be forgotten that includes ALL PLAYERS (whether they have been here 5 years or 5 months)

Wholesale changes should have happened in the summer and yet many players got new contracts? despite the fact he's barely played on of them since?

However......RIGHT NOW Is he still the right man for the job..........definately.

Is he the so called GOD who some claimed could do no wrong........definately not.

Roll On January........and if we can get a win or two in between GREAT

[mightyreds89]

It's as tough a time for Gary as he's probably had in his Career.

Right now my view is.......

Gary's Performance's MUST improve, in terms of Selection, Tactics and Signings and most importantly

Past Loyalty to Players needs to be forgotten that includes ALL PLAYERS (whether they have been here 5 years or 5 months)

Wholesale changes should have happened in the summer and yet many players got new contracts? despite the fact he's barely played on of them since?

However......RIGHT NOW Is he still the right man for the job..........definately.

Is he the so called GOD who some claimed could do no wrong........definately not.

Roll On January........and if we can get a win or two in between GEAT

100% agree

[Rob k]

It's as tough a time for Gary as he's probably had in his Career.

Right now my view is.......

Gary's Performance's MUST improve, in terms of Selection, Tactics and Signings and most importantly

Past Loyalty to Players needs to be forgotten that includes ALL PLAYERS (whether they have been here 5 years or 5 months)

Wholesale changes should have happened in the summer and yet many players got new contracts? despite the fact he's barely played on of them since?

However......RIGHT NOW Is he still the right man for the job..........definately.

Is he the so called GOD who some claimed could do no wrong........definately not.

Roll On January........and if we can get a win or two in between GREAT

No real point in adding to that as it sums it up perfectly for me. GJ is still the best manager we have had since i started watching in 1984.

[Fodbarmyarmy]

As he has now openly agreed with what all but the happy clappy rose tinters had been saying for a while...That a lot of players just arent good enough for competing at the top of this level - I defo want him to stay and prove that he can find the quality needed as well as handle them and get the best from them

If he can or not is another question but at least he is now accepting it

Come on Gary sort out the ones who cant take us forward and get rid......Loyalty to your team is great but not at the expense of the club and its supporters

[formerly known as ivan]

not totally defending johnson, but at the moment he is stuck with overpaid, underchieving players.

January will be a big month as he will need to get rid of a few (orr, trundle, adebola, sproule, mcindoe and stern (best not sign him!) to start the ball rolling) and replace them with quality. obvious problem is the cost of replacing these players. would like to see a couple from abroad brought in and after the surprise of nicky carle last season i wouldnt say its not going to happen.

it is the toughest time johnson has had since he came here, but its also came at the best time (if there is such a thing) with january just round the corner and the chance to change things. hopefully he has his list and we will see a few new faces within the first week or two.

[Laner]

not totally defending johnson, but at the moment he is stuck with overpaid, underchieving players.

January will be a big month as he will need to get rid of a few (orr, trundle, adebola, sproule, mcindoe and stern (best not sign him!) to start the ball rolling) and replace them with quality. obvious problem is the cost of replacing these players. would like to see a couple from abroad brought in and after the surprise of nicky carle last season i wouldnt say its not going to happen.

it is the toughest time johnson has had since he came here, but its also came at the best time (if there is such a thing) with january just round the corner and the chance to change things. hopefully he has his list and we will see a few new faces within the first week or two.

I'd have thought the 'best time' would have been during the summer months... not the 'lottery' of the January transfer window???

[Andy082005]

not totally defending johnson, but at the moment he is stuck with overpaid, underchieving players.

January will be a big month as he will need to get rid of a few (orr, trundle, adebola, sproule, mcindoe and stern (best not sign him!) to start the ball rolling) and replace them with quality. obvious problem is the cost of replacing these players. would like to see a couple from abroad brought in and after the surprise of nicky carle last season i wouldnt say its not going to happen.

it is the toughest time johnson has had since he came here, but its also came at the best time (if there is such a thing) with january just round the corner and the chance to change things. hopefully he has his list and we will see a few new faces within the first week or two.

but this is his fault, no one elses. He bought them in, and he chose to stick with them all this time

The simple fact of the matter is the fans having been saying since the SUMMER we needed to improve the squad.....and he obviously didnt think he did! Now, 5/6 months down the line, the fans have been proved right! Plain and simple, he got it drastically wrong! The quicker he drops his stubborn "I'm always right attitude"...the quicker he can sort this mess out and stop the rot....and before anyone mentions "what are you moaning about, were mid-way in the Championship blah blah.." and "we would have accepted this 3 years ago blah blah...". Yeah, its still good times for the City at the minute, but we look so poor and so weak at the bit, its only a matter of time before we get sucked into a relegation dogfight!

Now, I don't believe in all this "loyalty to the players" rubbish! Football is a cut throat business. Ive said it before, Phil Brown at Hull, where would they be right now if he had "stuck with the players who got him where they are". Would they be 5th in the Premier League?? not a chance!!. He went out and bought in the players that he needed!! better still, he RECOGNISED the positions which needed replacing!!

One more thing....Gary, stop being so stubborn and childish with Bradley Orr, admit you were wrong for once and get him back in the team! For crying out loud, he is the best right back we have at the club, and he brings strength to the team! Not picking him because he doesnt want to sign your contract doesnt mean he doesnt want to play for Bristol City. We still pay his wages....he should be playing! Full stop!

[WARWICK RED]

[!!

One more thing....Gary, stop being so stubborn and childish with Bradley Orr, admit you were wrong for once and get him back in the team! For crying out loud, he is the best right back we have at the club, and he brings strength to the team! Not picking him because he doesnt want to sign your contract doesnt mean he doesnt want to play for Bristol City. We still pay his wages....he should be playing! Full stop!

[bcfcmike]

It's as tough a time for Gary as he's probably had in his Career.

Right now my view is.......

Gary's Performance's MUST improve, in terms of Selection, Tactics and Signings and most importantly

Past Loyalty to Players needs to be forgotten that includes ALL PLAYERS (whether they have been here 5 years or 5 months)

Wholesale changes should have happened in the summer and yet many players got new contracts? despite the fact he's barely played on of them since?

However......RIGHT NOW Is he still the right man for the job..........definately.

Is he the so called GOD who some claimed could do no wrong........definately not.

Roll On January........and if we can get a win or two in between GREAT

Brialliant post bh........well said

[formerly known as ivan]

but this is his fault, no one elses. He bought them in, and he chose to stick with them all this time

One more thing....Gary, stop being so stubborn and childish with Bradley Orr, admit you were wrong for once and get him back in the team! For crying out loud, he is the best right back we have at the club, and he brings strength to the team! Not picking him because he doesnt want to sign your contract doesnt mean he doesnt want to play for Bristol City. We still pay his wages....he should be playing! Full stop!

last season the players done fantastically well so he had every right to stick with them. a few have got a bit to big for their boots and you can tell that they don't want to be here, so come january gary can get rid of them.

as for orr, why play him when he wants to be paid more money to play elsewhere. don't give me all that 'where did he come out and say that' crap. he is a rubbish player anyway. never understood why people rated him so highly. he cant pass/cross and he cant tackle. sooner he is gone the better and until then gary is 100% right to leave him out the team.

[rednotblue]

Current thoughts on GJ?? He's having a shocker this season in my eyes.

However not because we are currently mid-table this is the difficult second season after all and as long as we don't finish in the bottom three then lessons can be learned.

Carle was sold, and in my eyes not replaced. He at least looked to try and pass the ball forwards and run with the ball. None of our current central midfielders do this. Noble occasionally does this but never really seems to be given a chance? Why because he doesn't do enough for the team apparently. Personally compared to Johnson Jnr, Noble would start, simply because Johnson Jnr is not attack minded enough. He's neither defensive or offensive. He'd be great in a central midfield three.

The chopping and changing of the strikers is helping no-one. It sends out a confused message to players and fans alike. If they are playing badly then ok drop them.

Players playing poorly need to be dropped but currently we don't have a squad big enough to do that, I think we have to struggle to the end of the season and during that time GJ and his bunch of merry men need to find maybe as many as 10 players to bring in to add strength, depth and a bit of quality. (I say 10 as I expect 3/4 to leave)

Has anyone else noticed we are now playing 442 like we did years a go under DW?? 2 defensive midfielders.

[Andy082005]

last season the players done fantastically well so he had every right to stick with them. a few have got a bit to big for their boots and you can tell that they don't want to be here, so come january gary can get rid of them.

as for orr, why play him when he wants to be paid more money to play elsewhere. don't give me all that 'where did he come out and say that' crap. he is a rubbish player anyway. never understood why people rated him so highly. he cant pass/cross and he cant tackle. sooner he is gone the better and until then gary is 100% right to leave him out the team.

The players did do really well last season, and it was a fantastic season...but lets not forget the fact that it was one of the strangest Championship seasons on record! Every team up the top were incosistent....and that played a massive part in where we finished! don't forget, didnt we only win something like 2 in the last 12 before the play-offs?

As for Orr....again, I agree, he isnt the most talented of individuals...but lets be fair, he is the best option we have! I didnt say he did come out and say that "crap", but good managers MANAGE! Ronaldo had contract disputes at Man U....did he get dropped?? no...Ferguson kept selecting him! The fact is, you pick your strongest 11....something Johnson is continuingly failing to do!

[formerly known as ivan]

As for Orr....again, I agree, he isnt the most talented of individuals...but lets be fair, he is the best option we have! I didnt say he did come out and say that "crap", but good managers MANAGE! Ronaldo had contract disputes at Man U....did he get dropped?? no...Ferguson kept selecting him! The fact is, you pick your strongest 11....something Johnson is continuingly failing to do!

was ronaldo's contract due to expire and he refused to sign another one as he could get better else where? exactly, totally different. a lot of people would say gary is managing the situation very well by not picking a player who wants to go elsewhere because of money. and as for picking your strongest 11, you could ask 10 people their opinion of their strongest 11 and they could all be different. people have been calling for johnson to be dropped, and ok he wasnt dropped but injured, but our performances and more importantly results havent improved.

[CiderSomerset]

Current thoughts on GJ.. Where do I start??

He is struggling this season to say the least. Last season we were on a rollercoaster and everyone (players / fans) were on a high because of the promotion. This year reality has set in and we are now realising just how tough this division is. Every team in this league can smell the premier league and we need to fight harder and play alot better than we are doing and need to show everyone we want it more than the rest. GJ rightly or wrongly has stuck by players who have got us so far in the last couple of seasons, but alot are now showing that there simply are not good enough to take us any further.

What I cannot understand is his team selection and tactics at times this season. The strikers are not to blame for their lack of goals, and this has been said a thousand times or more on here. They are simply not getting the service from the midfield that they crave. That, along with the fact that he doesnt seem to know what his best partnership is up front is not helping the strikers confidence one bit. I wish he would just say, right lads, next ten games (for example) Nicky and Trunds are starting up front, and lets see if they can build a partnership.

We need to buy some serious quality in the middle of the pitch. Marvin aside, I would get rid of the rest and start again. I would love to see Noble in there as I think he has the sort of quality we need, but that simply isnt going to happen under GJ. To be fair to the Noble its best to let him go and play elsewhere rather than having that talent rotting on the sidelines. Our so called wingers are not up to the job and we need to get those positions sorted out so that the forwards can get some service... McIndoe was quality last season, not so this season.

We need another centre back to cover / play alongside Carey, because without Louis we look shaky to say the least. And this whole Bradley Orr issue is ridiculous. He is the best we have got in that position, so bloody play him.

Its all very well GJ saying he needs to strenghten the squad in January, but he should have done this in the summer.

He seems to lack man management skills with big name / big ego players, and IF / when he manages to take us up then he will need to change his attitude because we will need to have a squad full of them.

I am abit disillusioned with the season so far, but I hope he can turn things around. I am not expecting the play offs, but do expect us to stay up, and stay up fighting.

Its going to be backs to the wall time for the rest of the season, and although I may have a winge on here from time to time, I will be supporting him and whatever team he selects 100% on match day.

[Olé]

Why should current thoughts on GJ be any different to past thoughts? The guy hasn't changed. It's just all the people jumping up and down spitting their dummies who seem to have changed their tunes. GJ is an exceptional lower division manager who was lucky enough to sustain that at a higher level last season.

Luck is the keyword as everyone I know knew that we were punching above our weight last season and had extraordinary luck time and time again with referees, lack of injuries, opposition mistakes, and we ran with that luck all the way to Wembley. But by Spring we were already getting found as an average team at best.

So, this season is no surprise and all the people claiming amazement at our position and demanding GJ out were obviously not paying attention last season. The problem is not that we've suddenly hit the wall or that GJ has suddenly lost it, but that we've simply reverted to the real abilities and potential of most of these squad players.

After all, where is the player development to come from? Fontaine and Maynard are about the only ones with age, ability and opportunity to still develop. With everyone else this is 'as good as it gets'. And opportunity is a keyword here because young players like J.Wilson, Plummer, Myrie-Williams, Akinde etc haven't had a chance.

The positive thing is that the spine of the team (besides up front) is practically the same as got us promoted (Basso, Carey, LJ), so its not like we've filled lots of positions recently and failed to achieve anything, the chance to go sign some players now to turn this round is still in front of us. But can GJ sign such players?

We can have all the thoughts in the world on GJ but the bottom line is he will be measured by what he does in the transfer market now as that is all that can change both this season and the future progression of this team.

[Andy082005]

was ronaldo's contract due to expire and he refused to sign another one as he could get better else where? exactly, totally different. a lot of people would say gary is managing the situation very well by not picking a player who wants to go elsewhere because of money. and as for picking your strongest 11, you could ask 10 people their opinion of their strongest 11 and they could all be different. people have been calling for johnson to be dropped, and ok he wasnt dropped but injured, but our performances and more importantly results havent improved.

Ronaldo expressed a desire to play for Madrid....technically that means he wanted away, yet Fergusons attitude was "your under contract here for x amount of years, tough....get out there and do your job"

As for LJ being dropped/injured.....and our performances not improving, thats quite simply because we don't have the players good enough to come in and change things around. Its just a constant cycle of average players! It all comes back to Gary not going out and buying the right players in the summer....this is what has really pi**ed me off! We have a manager who works with these players on a day to day basis, and you have us the fans....who see them once a week? yet its taken god knows how long for Johnson to realise what us, the unqualified fans, have known for months and months!!

Now some say he may have knew what needs improving.....if thats the case, why hasnt he done anything about it?!?! as some people have clearly stated, we should have improved the squad in January 2008!!!!!!!!!. Wheres the "mystery" replacement for Nick Carle??

I appreciate its not like a computer game where you can just go out and buy anyone easy peasy, but there are plenty of other clubs who are out their wheeling and dealing and taking advantage of loan systems and whatever!

Quite simply......Johnson HAS to up his game, as well as the players

[big p]

It looks to me that GJ is reactive manager not a proactive manager.What i mean by this is he only reacts when we are 2 nil down where as a proactive manager would notice that his team isnt playing well and change it before we are 2 nil down.I know this probably sounds obvious but how many times have we seen him change 1 or 2 players after we are losing by 2 goals i.e plymouth,reading.

Also how many times last season did we see the team go in half time and come out a much better team after GJ gave them a bollocking.There not responding this season.

[bully]

The guy hasn't changed. It's just all the people jumping up and down spitting their dummies who seem to have changed their tunes. GJ is an exceptional lower division manager who was lucky enough to sustain that at a higher level last season.

Luck is the keyword as everyone I know knew that we were punching above our weight last season and had extraordinary luck time and time again with referees, lack of injuries, opposition mistakes, and we ran with that luck all the way to Wembley. But by Spring we were already getting found as an average team at best.

So, this season is no surprise and all the people claiming amazement at our position and demanding GJ out were obviously not paying attention last season. The problem is not that we've suddenly hit the wall or that GJ has suddenly lost it, but that we've simply reverted to the real abilities and potential of most of these squad players.

Nail on head - GJ needs to prove it wasn't a fluke just like the players, and that he is a CCC quality manager over a sustained period.

Unlike a number of the players, he will be given the time to prove it.

[pdgifford64]

Nail on head - GJ needs to prove it wasn't a fluke just like the players, and that he is a CCC quality manager over a sustained period.

Unlike a number of the players, he will be given the time to prove it.

I think you`ve missed the point. Last season WAS a fluke. As magical and enjoyable as it was, it was a fluke.

PDG

[Lack of Action Man]

I think perhaps Gj has been found out as a great motivator but lacking in total game tactics i.e. perhaps he uses similar tactics against similar opponents but lacks the ability to look at the finer details and neutralise individual team threats. Last season we were relatively unknown and did exceptionally well much like Hull this season, we had signed some talented players and looked to have a better side than the league 1 days however this season we are not unknown. The bulk of the players are still here and those that have been added are unproven at best.

January is close though and I'm sure that this year there will be some activity.

[bully]

I think you`ve missed the point. Last season WAS a fluke. As magical and enjoyable as it was, it was a fluke.

PDG

I haven't missed the point at all - GJ needs to prove it wasn't a fluke by delivering another good (albeit so as good as last time round) season - or admit that it was nothing to do with his genius and the hype surrounding him is b0ll0cks.

He clearly won't be doing the latter, so it's likely to be everyone else's fault if the current bad run continues.

The point I was trying to make, is that he's had a lot of plaudits like the players for what nearly happened last season. Some of the 'heroes' on the playing side are being questioned at the moment (LJ Marvin Basso etc), and GJ should be no different - like those players, it's down to him to prove that he belongs at the level we find ourselves.

[DavidNoble]

I am disappointed how in the summer alot of players would of maybe wanted to come to us after seeing what a great season we did have and those players are very unlikely to come now HOWEVER i still believe GJ is the man to take us forward and whatever team he picks i will get behind.

Good result at Pompey with a big away following could be the start of us moving up the table.