I Cant Believe What I Have Heard

[gary cornes]

I really cant believe what I heard after sats 1-1 draw, Johnsons taken us as far as he can and its time for a change. This is the biggest load of rubbish I have heard since someone said we would get relagated this year after lossing at wembaly.

A guy on the radio, if its you or you agree can you explain to me and thousands of city fans why??

I feel the squad may of gone as far as it can, (unless strenghtened) maybe let a few go and get some fresh blood in, but really johnson to go. Idoits!!!!!! We would not be in this league with out him, we would not of gone to wembely. and i bet you we would prob be playing the rovers.

I agree if we don't spend this time round we will struggle, but still championship football for the next 4 years would make us an esstablished championship side like, Wolves, QPR, Burnley ETC....... and we would attract more decent players

Anyone agree on that ???

Support Johnson 150% He will get us there if we give him the money to spend on quality, recognised players that have played at this level for some time.

[Robbored]

I really cant believe what I heard after sats 1-1 draw, Johnsons taken us as far as he can and its time for a change. This is the biggest load of rubbish I have heard since someone said we would get relagated this year after lossing at wembaly.

A guy on the radio, if its you or you agree can you explain to me and thousands of city fans why??

I feel the squad may of gone as far as it can, (unless strenghtened) maybe let a few go and get some fresh blood in, but really johnson to go. Idoits!!!!!! We would not be in this league with out him, we would not of gone to wembely. and i bet you we would prob be playing the rovers.

I agree if we don't spend this time round we will struggle, but still championship football for the next 4 years would make us an esstablished championship side like, Wolves, QPR, Burnley ETC....... and we would attract more decent players

Anyone agree on that ???

Support Johnson 150% He will get us there if we give him the money to spend on quality, recognised players that have played at this level for some time.

He's gone as far he can with this squad of players......hopefully Johnson himself realises it.

[Mr Gow]

Sag?

[westy]

He's gone as far he can with this squad of players......hopefully Johnson himself realises it.

that is bang on robbored

+ to the original poster people are allowed their views and in fairness I don't blame as GJ has opened himself up for criticism with poor decisions - i don't want him to go but for example subbing 2 players on 91:30 just made us look stupid

[Mr Mosquito]

He's gone as far he can with this squad of players......hopefully Johnson himself realises it.

Gary Johnson is more than capable of establishing us in the Premier League. My major worry is why he hasn't sorted out the midfield properly with players capable of giving more and better service to the quality strikers we have.

There may still be hope for us making the play-offs, especially if Cardiff get a points deduction. Over £15 in small change and about 20 lighters were found on the pitch from their game against Swansea. They could have taken the Refs eye out as well - sure to be a points deduction and/or fine for them after that. OK, we might make the play-offs not because of the football we played over the course of the season but because some tit threw a coin at the Ref. :noexpression: Aint life great.

[Nogbad the Bad]

Sag?

If it's someone on the radio moaning about Gary Johnson, then it's almost certainly not actually a City fan.

Geoff Twentyman must know there's a good chance many of the more extreme calls and emails ( 'Johnson out') are unlikely to be from genuine City fans.

If this particular caller is a City fan he must be more or less a one-off because I've certainly never met one who holds that view.

[garlicbread]

Gary Johnson is more than capable of establishing us in the Premier League. My major worry is why he hasn't sorted out the midfield properly with players capable of giving more and better service to the quality strikers we have.

There may still be hope for us making the play-offs, especially if Cardiff get a points deduction. Over £15 in small change and about 20 lighters were found on the pitch from their game against Swansea. They could have taken the Refs eye out as well - sure to be a points deduction and/or fine for them after that. OK, we might make the play-offs not because of the football we played over the course of the season but because some tit threw a coin at the Ref. :noexpression: Aint life great.

Wont happen...the FAW have 'launched an inquiry'

[Economou]

He's gone as far he can with this squad of players......hopefully Johnson himself realises it.

The whole squad ??!!

[Mr Mosquito]

Wont happen...the FAW have 'launched an inquiry'

I reckon the coin was aimed at a Swansea player rather like when we played Cardiff last season and they were aiming stuff at Lee Trundle because he's ex Swansea. I reckon they could get a points deduction regardless of the FAW simply because a Referee was hit. Anyway, we could have been in a play-off position ourselves now if we'd won more and not drawn so many home games.

[andy g]

He's gone as far he can with this squad of players......hopefully Johnson himself realises it.

This squad of players (or at least most of them) reached the playoff final last season and will probably only just fall short of the playoffs this season. There are bigger and more expensive squads in our division which would LOVE to be where we are.

I agree there is always a need to strengthen (I'm assuming thats what you meant, because a wholesale clearout would be crazy) and I'm confident that GJ will do that.

Failure to improve on last seasons performance shouldn't be translated as failure to progress - last season was an exceptional one and it was always going to be difficult to repeat that.

The people who are saying GJ has taken us as far as he can must have very short memories or ridiculously high expectations.

Thank goodness the people running our football club have more sense.

[bcfcbs20]

[Rocky]

The briz bus after the game was full of old blokes saying Johnson should go and someone with new ideas was needed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbelievable, best manager for 30yrs and they want him out!!!!!!!!!

[Will Rollason]

:gasmask: or silly old farts. or both.

[westred1]

We've still a long way to go in the footballing aspect. We need to strengthen the squad in order for the club to go onwards and upwards not replace the manager. Replacing Johnson would be like surrendering to the rest of the teams and being automatically relegated from day one.

GJ and Steve Lansdown have set the foundations for a solid and exciting future of football within this club. The atmosphere, in the changing room and with the fans, is clearly better than it was with previous managers and the players seem to want to play for Johnson as well as the club.

Johnson can take us far and I know that he'll be the first one to put his hands up and say that he cannot take us further and it is time for a change when needs be but I can see him staying until the end of his contract and longer before this happens.

[Andy082005]

This squad of players (or at least most of them) reached the playoff final last season and will probably only just fall short of the playoffs this season. There are bigger and more expensive squads in our division which would LOVE to be where we are.

I agree there is always a need to strengthen (I'm assuming thats what you meant, because a wholesale clearout would be crazy) and I'm confident that GJ will do that.

Failure to improve on last seasons performance shouldn't be translated as failure to progress - last season was an exceptional one and it was always going to be difficult to repeat that.

The people who are saying GJ has taken us as far as he can must have very short memories or ridiculously high expectations.

Thank goodness the people running our football club have more sense.

I see where your coming from, but lets be fair here, the chap is right....we have gone as far as we can with the crop of players.

Last season was a dream, this season has been good, but quite often...our short comings and our weaknesses have been really exploited. Now, if we want to make a serious attempt at top 6 next season, we need to bring in quality....real quality, not "potential" quality, for example a Styvar or Maynard. Players like Surman, Tommy Smith, Ambrose etc, should all be the type of player looked at in the summer.

I'm not moaning about this season, its been great and it was always going to be hard after last seasons success, but 12 homes draws and failure to put teams away have cost us. Unlucky?? no....just not good enough. Off the top of my head QPR, Plymouth and Blackpool at home.....Derby home and away...all games that if we had had a bit more quality, we would have took maximum points.

For me, certain players are just not good enough to push us to the next level....and next level I mean establish us as a top 6 team.

I really hope Johnson has some ideas for the summer, as if he doesnt, mid-table will be the very best for us next year

[BS3_RED]

We've still a long way to go in the footballing aspect. We need to strengthen the squad in order for the club to go onwards and upwards not replace the manager. Replacing Johnson would be like surrendering to the rest of the teams and being automatically relegated from day one.

GJ and Steve Lansdown have set the foundations for a solid and exciting future of football within this club. The atmosphere, in the changing room and with the fans, is clearly better than it was with previous managers and the players seem to want to play for Johnson as well as the club.

Johnson can take us far and I know that he'll be the first one to put his hands up and say that he cannot take us further and it is time for a change when needs be but I can see him staying until the end of his contract and longer before this happens.

Stop being so silly. Do you think that SL wouldnt replace him with another gifted manager.

As much as i rate GJ, there are other managers out there who are equal or better in ability.

[Pezo]

Stop being so silly. Do you think that SL wouldnt replace him with another gifted manager.

As much as i rate GJ, there are other managers out there who are equal or better in ability.

Correct there are managers better in ability but IMO they are all in the top half of the Prem, I cant think of any that would realistically join us that are better.

I don't know about anyone else but I for one would like to know who you think would join that is better then GJ?

[CotswoldRed]

They could have taken the Refs eye out as well - sure to be a points deduction and/or fine for them after that. OK, we might make the play-offs not because of the football we played over the course of the season but because some tit threw a coin at the Ref. :noexpression: Aint life great.

Is there a precedent for a points deduction for this kind of offence?

[BigP]

Is there a precedent for a points deduction for this kind of offence?

Yeah what happened to Portsmouth was it? When the linesman or fourth official was hit at Spurs?

[bully]

Correct there are managers better in ability but IMO they are all in the top half of the Prem, I cant think of any that would realistically join us that are better.

I don't know about anyone else but I for one would like to know who you think would join that is better then GJ?

Who is or isn't better than GJ is a matter of opinion so never proven one way or the other, however bs3 is absolutely right that he's not the only reason we are in this division, and we are a far better proposition now for attracting a good manager should the unthinkable happen.

Anyway, maybe GJ has taken us as far as he can, simply because we can't or won't spend big enough to gamble on a genuine push for the Prem. If that's the case, then a competitive CCC team is what we'll likely be, and its open to argument whether anyone could do better under the same circumstances.

I personally hope he stays but improves in his transfer dealings and uses the loan market more effectively - and sod how that upsets some of the dressing room favourites.

If he's as good as you say Pezo, then we should expect bigger clubs to come calling in the summer because that's how football works.

[Pezo]

I see where your coming from, but lets be fair here, the chap is right....we have gone as far as we can with the crop of players.

Last season was a dream, this season has been good, but quite often...our short comings and our weaknesses have been really exploited. Now, if we want to make a serious attempt at top 6 next season, we need to bring in quality....real quality, not "potential" quality, for example a Styvar or Maynard. Players like Surman, Tommy Smith, Ambrose etc, should all be the type of player looked at in the summer.

I'm not moaning about this season, its been great and it was always going to be hard after last seasons success, but 12 homes draws and failure to put teams away have cost us. Unlucky?? no....just not good enough. Off the top of my head QPR, Plymouth and Blackpool at home.....Derby home and away...all games that if we had had a bit more quality, we would have took maximum points.

For me, certain players are just not good enough to push us to the next level....and next level I mean establish us as a top 6 team.

I really hope Johnson has some ideas for the summer, as if he doesnt, mid-table will be the very best for us next year

The real question is can we afford these types of players, I think the answer is not until we are attracting the type of support that the top 6 get on a regular basis (this is where the new stadium comes in).

If we bought these players and they didn't do the business (because there is no guaranty they would) and we ended up in a relegation battle 2 things would happen, 1) these aren't the type of players to fight and get you out of a relegation battle and 2) supporters wouldn't be here in the numbers they are now let alone pushing on to try and get more supporters to try and pay these players massively inflated wages.

I think what your looking for is someone with class but also has that drive and ambition that allot of our players have, these players are playing in the prem. What we need is fair compromise between quality and effort, IMO (and I will probably get shot down for this) this season we have had less effort and more quality but the gain in quality hasn't made up for lost effort the lost effort is probably down to a very long season last season.

[Riaz]

Stop being so silly. Do you think that SL wouldnt replace him with another gifted manager.

As much as i rate GJ, there are other managers out there who are equal or better in ability.

Like who? for example? who would be interested in managing us?

[William Stand]

Stop being so silly. Do you think that SL wouldnt replace him with another gifted manager.

As much as i rate GJ, there are other managers out there who are equal or better in ability.

There may well be other managers out there of equal/better ability. I doubt though that there are many that have better track record & would want to come here.

It's all very well saying Lansdown would appoint another gifted manager, but he thought he was appointing a gifted manager when he appointed Tinnion. At different stages, different boards have thought Lumsden, Pullis, Benny et al were all gifted managers.

[Andy082005]

The real question is can we afford these types of players, I think the answer is not until we are attracting the type of support that the top 6 get on a regular basis (this is where the new stadium comes in).

If we bought these players and they didn't do the business (because there is no guaranty they would) and we ended up in a relegation battle 2 things would happen, 1) these aren't the type of players to fight and get you out of a relegation battle and 2) supporters wouldn't be here in the numbers they are now let alone pushing on to try and get more supporters to try and pay these players massively inflated wages.

I think what your looking for is someone with class but also has that drive and ambition that allot of our players have, these players are playing in the prem. What we need is fair compromise between quality and effort, IMO (and I will probably get shot down for this) this season we have had less effort and more quality but the gain in quality hasn't made up for lost effort the lost effort is probably down to a very long season last season.

Ok I get what your saying, and I'm not saying bust the bank and sign them all, but there is going to have to come a time when, if we want to seriously contend for the Premier League....we are going to have to invest in real quality. I really don't think these players are out of our budget anyway.....

As for your bottom paragraph, I agree with you about the drive and ambition...but are you saying that, were the only club who has players with driver and ambition in our league? I put a lot of our players drive and ambition down to the motivational skills of our manager and back room staff......now bring in REAL quality, its down to the manager and staff to do their jobs and get the best out of them. Hard work and graft will only get you so far

As I said, I really cant imagine players like Ambrose and Smith etc being that far out of our wage structure...if at all.

[William Stand]

As I said, I really cant imagine players like Ambrose and Smith etc being that far out of our wage structure...if at all.

You may be right, but don't forget both have been on Prem wages fairly recently (of course they would have been reduced when their teams got relegted).

I would love us to get Tommy Smith, but an atacking winger who scores a lot of goals, sadly I think he will have better options than us.

Ambrose is an interesting one, clearly a decent player but for a few sesaons now his career has been in decline. Maybe playing for the right boss he could turn it round??. I would see him as more likely than Smith TBH.

[CotswoldRed]

I would love us to get Tommy Smith, but an atacking winger who scores a lot of goals, sadly I think he will have better options than us.

Maybe, but he'd be guaranteed a starting place and a pretty decent chance of the playoffs.

[William Stand]

Maybe, but he'd be guaranteed a starting place and a pretty decent chance of the playoffs.

If I were a manager of a team relegated from the Prem, Tommy Smith is just the sort of player I'd go for - proven at this level, can play a No of positions, creates chances & scores goals.

I wouldn't actually rule him out staying at Watford though, he seems pretty happy there & under Brendan Rogers they could be a dark horse for next season.

[Spike]

To get rid of Johnson would be ridiculous when he is probably the best manager we can get to come manage us. Sure we could probably get another great manager in but not one that would be willing to stick to a budget in both wages and transfer fees.

The only manager that could come in and do a better job than Gary Johnson would be one who wants to spend and have a higher wage budget.... the manager who can come in and do a better job on the budget we have doesn't excist

[Pezo]

Who is or isn't better than GJ is a matter of opinion so never proven one way or the other, however bs3 is absolutely right that he's not the only reason we are in this division, and we are a far better proposition now for attracting a good manager should the unthinkable happen.

Anyway, maybe GJ has taken us as far as he can, simply because we can't or won't spend big enough to gamble on a genuine push for the Prem. If that's the case, then a competitive CCC team is what we'll likely be, and its open to argument whether anyone could do better under the same circumstances.

I personally hope he stays but improves in his transfer dealings and uses the loan market more effectively - and sod how that upsets some of the dressing room favourites.

If he's as good as you say Pezo, then we should expect bigger clubs to come calling in the summer because that's how football works.

Well logically he cant be the only reason were in this league simply because he isn't kicking the ball around. But arguably he was the galvanizing factor in our promotion where others had failed before him, some with more and some with less finances but had failed.

Maybe he has taken us as far as he can with the resources available but we will never know if we appoint another manager the same we don't know at the moment if he has taken us as far as he can.

As for improving in his transfer dealings I'm not to sure what you expect (can you clarify?). He has bought in experienced pros with flair when they were required to ensure if we were in a relegation fight they would know what to do (as it happens we were the best team not to go up), this season he bought in young talent so we don't have to keep spending big every year and we can hopefully sometime in the future get a decent return on our investment, Add this to the fact he wouldn't let the club get bent over and shafted like a pedo in a prison by 2 players even though the pressure was on him to make a signing. I do conceded that this summer our midfield needs strengthening and I'm sure as Gary is a very good manager that he is looking at this but nothing comes as easily as just saying it. As for "and sod how that upsets some of the dressing room favorites" this seems to promote a negative dressing atmosphere where everyone is looking over there shoulders thinking will it be me this week - completely the opposite attitude that has taken us this far, do you really think this works in pro football(do you see any top manager doing this)?

I had faith in him throughout the 12 game losing streak, I have faith in him now. Some people need to hold there nerve a little better. We haven't taken knee jerk reactions in the last 3 years and I think some people have forgotten what happens when we do take them.

[William Stand]

I had faith in him throughout the 12 game losing streak, I have faith in him now. Some people need to hold there nerve a little better. We haven't taken knee jerk reactions in the last 3 years and I think some people have forgotten what happens when we do take them.

In truth I don't think many (any?) want a change in manager, those that do should be sanctioned!

I do think though we are becoming the X Factor generation - instant success or you got voted off. There was a post earlier today about this season fading to nothing (or words to that affect) & it does concern me if people really think a top 10 finish is a poor return for us. For anyone under 40 these are pretty much our glory years, far better to enjoy them for what they are, rathe than lament the fact they're not even better.