Gj On Talksport.

[Cideriuplandlord]

GJ was supposed to be on talksport just after 8, waited as long as I could but had to get into work, can anyone give a breif resume of what was said ? Thanks

[Whale Eye Beef Hooked]

Basically said that January is a horrible time of year and that when asked if anyone would be leaving BCFC he said that he doesnt know, hopefully not but anything can happen in Jan and that he was not activily seeking any more new players but if one came along that would improve the squad then he would look at it.

I only caught the last couple of mins of the interview but that was the jist of what was said.

[Nibor]

he was not actively seeking any more new players

I hope he's lying to the press because if that's true it's actually quite frightening that he can't see the gaping lack of creativity in the centre of midfield and the fact that we only have two left sided players in the whole squad.

[William Stand]

I hope he's lying to the press because if that's true it's actually quite frightening that he can't see the gaping lack of creativity in the centre of midfield and the fact that we only have two left sided players in the whole squad.

We also need a right winger to compete with Sproule & a centre half - unless he is happy to use James Wilson there (not a bad idea in my book).

[redcityman]

I hope this is just a case of GJ keeping his cards close to his chest, for me 2 wins although great as only papered over the cracks, I hope GJ feels the same.

[BCFC_Dan]

I suppose it depends on what his real aims for this season are. We won't win promotion with this squad, or even come close, but it should be good enough to stay up. January is a terrible time to buy players as we all know and maybe Johnson will feel he's best served by keeping his money till the summer when he'll get better value and can sign the players that are undoubtedly needed.

Of course I'd prefer it if he splashed the cash now and we had a good go at making the playoffs - just offering a suggestion like.

[easton boy]

I hope this is just a case of GJ keeping his cards close to his chest, for me 2 wins although great as only papered over the cracks, I hope GJ feels the same.

Agreed.

Hopefully, not only is he playing his cards close to his chest, and is actively looking for LB, CM and RW, but I bloody hope that he has a contingency plan for if someone offers stupid money for Marvin Elliott.

The last thing I would want to see (a la Spurs and Berbatov), is for a silly offer to come in for Marv on the 31st(or 2nd February I should say), and Marv be off with no time to get a replacement in - then we could be looking over our shoulders very nervously for the remaining months of the season instead of pushing for a last gasp pray off spot.

[Nibor]

I suppose it depends on what his real aims for this season are. We won't win promotion with this squad, or even come close, but it should be good enough to stay up. January is a terrible time to buy players as we all know and maybe Johnson will feel he's best served by keeping his money till the summer when he'll get better value and can sign the players that are undoubtedly needed.

Of course I'd prefer it if he splashed the cash now and we had a good go at making the playoffs - just offering a suggestion like.

The thing that concerns me is that the holes in the squad now are the same as they were in the summer and indeed the same they were the season before. I'm worried he doesn't recognise them.

We've signed god knows how many strikers in that time, probably played something like 12 different players up front since we've been in the Championship and we've consistently had problems getting goals. That should be evidence enough that the problem isn't the strikers but what did we do this January? Signed a striker.

[Port Said Red]

I hope he's lying to the press because if that's true it's actually quite frightening that he can't see the gaping lack of creativity in the centre of midfield and the fact that we only have two left sided players in the whole squad.

I am sure he does especially the left sided bit, hence the triallists we have had in. But do we want him to bring in any old player just because he's left footed or pay over the odds because it's January?

I am sure from a financial point of view they will be keen to get value for money which could mean waiting until the summer. I think we have enough in the squad to consolidate our position and a mid table finish would not be the end of the world.

Better to wait than panic buy i think.

[Nibor]

I am sure he does especially the left sided bit, hence the triallists we have had in. But do we want him to bring in any old player just because he's left footed or pay over the odds because it's January?

I am sure from a financial point of view they will be keen to get value for money which could mean waiting until the summer. I think we have enough in the squad to consolidate our position and a mid table finish would not be the end of the world.

Better to wait than panic buy i think.

Ideally I wanted him to address the obvious problems last summer. We did very poor business in the close season IMO.

I'd rather pay over the odds for one specific player when there's a gaping hole than buying an endless stream of expensive strikers to warm the bench.

Let's put it this way, if we went out with the wages we're paying Stern John and the £500k+ we paid for Styvar do you really think we couldn't find a good creative midfielder in the whole of Europe even in January?

[Port Said Red]

Ideally I wanted him to address the obvious problems last summer. We did very poor business in the close season IMO.

I'd rather pay over the odds for one specific player when there's a gaping hole than buying an endless stream of expensive strikers to warm the bench.

Let's put it this way, if we went out with the wages we're paying Stern John and the £500k+ we paid for Styvar do you really think we couldn't find a good creative midfielder in the whole of Europe even in January?

I don't know and I suggest that there are very of us outside the game that do.

I would think the signing of Styvar was similar to that of Carle in that, someone they had been tracking became available at a good price at the right time. Maybe they thought they would pick him up before someone else who was sniffing around?

[Nibor]

I don't know and I suggest that there are very of us outside the game that do.

Well, if you look at the transfers that took place last summer, and last January, the only reasonable conclusion is that it is possible for a Championship club to sign a creative midfielder. To me, that lack in our squad is so big that I would have expected the management and scouting team to have scoured the earth looking for a player that fits the bill ready to sign on Jan 1st. GJ seems to be saying he doesn't even acknowledge the need.

I would think the signing of Styvar was similar to that of Carle in that, someone they had been tracking became available at a good price at the right time. Maybe they thought they would pick him up before someone else who was sniffing around?

I'm not so sure that we'd be facing stiff competition for a 28 yr old from a small Eastern European club who hasn't been the subject of interest from the bigger leagues before now. I'm also not sure that we needed a 6th striker. Obviously if he's a class above what we already had then great but even then the resources would have been better targetted at areas of the squad where we didn't already have five players competing for one or two places.

[4eveREDDy]

Ideally I wanted him to address the obvious problems last summer. We did very poor business in the close season IMO.

I'd rather pay over the odds for one specific player when there's a gaping hole than buying an endless stream of expensive strikers to warm the bench.

Let's put it this way, if we went out with the wages we're paying Stern John and the £500k+ we paid for Styvar do you really think we couldn't find a good creative midfielder in the whole of Europe even in January?

More to the point is he looking, or in his mind do we need anybody else in midfield, nothing would suprise me anymore regarding GJ signings but hey ho, all will be revealed shortly, in GJ we trust because there aint no other

[PhatWill]

Surely Nick Carle provides evidence that GJ will sign a creative midfielder ? Without getting into the debate of his departure...

[garlicbread]

Regarding what he said about players leaving, I have a horrible feeling that Mcindoe will be sold...if that happens, we are right in the brown stuff.

Despite people on here barracking him, he is one of our best players and one of the best left footers in the CCC. If he's gone, we don't have anyone on the left and are mightily exposed.

[Port Said Red]

Well, if you look at the transfers that took place last summer, and last January, the only reasonable conclusion is that it is possible for a Championship club to sign a creative midfielder. To me, that lack in our squad is so big that I would have expected the management and scouting team to have scoured the earth looking for a player that fits the bill ready to sign on Jan 1st. GJ seems to be saying he doesn't even acknowledge the need.

Well I'll bow to superior knowledge of creative midfielders purchased by Championship sides in the summer. I think Eagles looked good, was he signed in the summer? Apart from that I haven't seen anyone outstanding and I wouldn't have a clue when they were signed anyway.

I'm not so sure that we'd be facing stiff competition for a 28 yr old from a small Eastern European club who hasn't been the subject of interest from the bigger leagues before now. I'm also not sure that we needed a 6th striker. Obviously if he's a class above what we already had then great but even then the resources would have been better targetted at areas of the squad where we didn't already have five players competing for one or two places.

Well Styvar did gain more prominence from the games against Villa so it's possible he alerted some people.

As far as the striking numbers go, maybe GJ is thinking ahead (as you wished) in this case, and knows who is going in the summer. This way he is giving Styvar 6 months to settle in and get to know the game in this league.

As we both know though, having had this discussion, GJ is quite capable of arriving at Ashton Gate with someone nobody has even heard of!

[sodburyred]

Surely Nick Carle provides evidence that GJ will sign a creative midfielder ? Without getting into the debate of his departure...

Without getting into a debate.. Carle is evidence that he will buy one but play him out of position!!

[Chivs]

I hope he's lying to the press because if that's true it's actually quite frightening that he can't see the gaping lack of creativity in the centre of midfield and the fact that we only have two left sided players in the whole squad.

If he's lyng to the press, he's also lying to us.

I'm all for GJ keeping cards close to chest but actively misleading me is not acceptable.

I'm not sure why he can't just play the "no comment" card.

Having said that, I didn't hear what he said.

PS This all assumes he actually believes that we need to strengthen the squad. If he thinks differently, I'm confused!!

[BCFC_Dan]

The thing that concerns me is that the holes in the squad now are the same as they were in the summer and indeed the same they were the season before. I'm worried he doesn't recognise them.

We've signed god knows how many strikers in that time, probably played something like 12 different players up front since we've been in the Championship and we've consistently had problems getting goals. That should be evidence enough that the problem isn't the strikers but what did we do this January? Signed a striker.

I prefer to believe that he sees the holes but is taking his time over filling them and refusing to rush or panic. This seems to be his way and he will not make a move until the right player is available. For instance, prior to McIndoe we'd needed a decent left sided midfielder for the best part of 10 years but Johnson didn't move until the right player was available and would come to us, preferring to make do with the likes of Myrie-Williams.

Last summer was disrupted by making the playoff final. Johnson had to plan his signings not knowing which league the team would be in and with reduced time to do so. None of use would have been terribly happy if he'd signed some good Championship players but we were currently bottom of the Premier League.

Of course he has made mistakes. I would struggle really to justify the signings of Trundle and Betsy for instance, so Johnson isn't perfect in his approach. For the time being I think we can explain his actions (if indeed those are his actions - we may sign another half dozen players in the next couple of weeks for all we know), though I'll find that harder to do if we see similar inactivity this summer.

[phantom]

I thought a few weeks back GJ stated that he would be looking to bring in 2-3 new players ??!??!

[Fodbarmyarmy]

It's the same old problem as most teams have.............we have to get rid first to be able to bring in new

[Port Said Red]

It's the same old problem as most teams have.............we have to get rid first to be able to bring in new

Not according to GJ, before Xmas, he said SL had told him he didn't have to let people go in the Jan window before he made signings.

[mercury]

I honestly believe we will not be seeing any creative midfielder signing for this club for quite a while, or until Marvin departs.

Out of our midfield pairing of Elliott and Johnson, who would make way for the creative one? The creative one we already have at the club barely gets a game if either of them is injured. Elliott is a must have, and LJ will never be dropped regardless of how long a poor run he has (agreed he has been better the last couple of games), so we would only end up playing him out of possition anyway.

Here's a teaser for you , if Tinnion were 10 years younger and an in our current squad which included Elliott and Johnson, do you think he would get a game?

[4eveREDDy]

I honestly believe we will not be seeing any creative midfielder signing for this club for quite a while, or until Marvin departs.

Out of our midfield pairing of Elliott and Johnson, who would make way for the creative one? The creative one we already have at the club barely gets a game if either of them is injured. Elliott is a must have, and LJ will never be dropped regardless of how long a poor run he has (agreed he has been better the last couple of games), so we would only end up playing him out of possition anyway.

Here's a teaser for you , if Tinnion were 10 years younger and an in our current squad which included Elliott and Johnson, do you think he would get a game?

Tough 1 that Anybody got Prof Stephen Hawkins e mail addy

[Nibor]

Here's a teaser for you , if Tinnion were 10 years younger and an in our current squad which included Elliott and Johnson, do you think he would get a game?

Yes, but I think we wouldn't have signed LJ anyway were that the case!

Imagine Tins supplying Sproule and Maynard with balls in behind like he did Murray, we'd score for fun.

[BCFC_Dan]

As regards Johnson/Elliot, I don't think it is as simple as to say that one is purely attacking the other purely defensive. They don't play in that way. As a partnership I think they can be likened to Liverpool's duo of Gerrard and Alonso. Gerrard and Elliot are both all-action hard working box-to-box midfielders who bring a lot of dynamism to the midfield whilst Alonso and Johnson are more thoughtful and like to take time, keep possession and look for the pass. In Liverpool's team it's Alonso, the "creative" one, who sits deeper whilst Gerrard gets more goals, so in that respect perhaps we should be looking for more goals from Marvin rather than Lee?

Of course it's notable from a quick glance at the stats that both Gerrard and Alonso have scoring ratios approaching twice that of Elliot and Johnson, so perhaps neither is as good even relatively speaking.

[Pederho ll]

Its a non-debate, our midfield has needed strengthening for well over a year, probably a little longer and still GJ doesn't do anything about it. I am pretty sure the money is available (it always has been thus far so no reason why it wouldn't be at the moment) and there is no lack of quality midfielders out there, you've just got to pay the asking price.

[bully]

Last summer was disrupted by making the playoff final. Johnson had to plan his signings not knowing which league the team would be in and with reduced time to do so. None of use would have been terribly happy if he'd signed some good Championship players but we were currently bottom of the Premier League.

Like Phil Brown....

If he'd signed good championship players we might have been in the Prem now, and like Hull would have offloaded many of those who got us there.

[Portland Bill]

.

As we both know though, having had this discussion, GJ is quite capable of arriving at Ashton Gate with someone nobody has even heard of!

Like he did with............. Bas Savage

[kingswood red]

I honestly believe we will not be seeing any creative midfielder signing for this club for quite a while, or until Marvin departs.

Out of our midfield pairing of Elliott and Johnson, who would make way for the creative one? The creative one we already have at the club barely gets a game if either of them is injured. Elliott is a must have, and LJ will never be dropped regardless of how long a poor run he has (agreed he has been better the last couple of games), so we would only end up playing him out of possition anyway.

Here's a teaser for you , if Tinnion were 10 years younger and an in our current squad which included Elliott and Johnson, do you think he would get a game?

It would depend on how much tracking back he did and whether LJ was injured or not.