Why Johnson Has To Go..

[Riaz]

In all honesty, he's never really looked like recovering from the play-off final defeat...

Johnson acheived alot in the first 3 years and this earned him some loyalty.

But no club can afford to go backwards - and I finally feel we are going backwards... after stuttering since the play-off defeat.

Cardiff are a very similar club to us and a good benchmark as to where we are...

In our first season up - both teams won their home games... we we're even

But this season, the aggregate score in the league 9 - 0

If johnson leaves now, he leaves us in a very respectable 11th and with a good reputation.

some fans have turned a little nasty - I dont want the majority to - not to a man who did a very good job for us..

Its all about timing and now is the time to go..

[Red Robin]

In all honesty, he's never really looked like recovering from the play-off final defeat...

Johnson acheived alot in the first 3 years and this earned him some loyalty.

But no club can afford to go backwards - and I finally feel we are going backwards... after stuttering since the play-off defeat.

Cardiff are a very similar club to us and a good benchmark as to where we are...

In our first season up - both teams won their home games... we we're even

But this season, the aggregate score in the league 9 - 0 If johnson leaves now, he leaves us in a very respectable 11th and with a good reputation.

some fans have turned a little nasty - I dont want the majority to - not to a man who did a very good job for us..

Its all about timing and now is the time to go..

We seem to have a very very loyal chairman to the manager,no other manager would or could hav survived last night.

SL the fans are not comeing through the turnstiles that says it all.

He has to go.

[City_pete1]

I, like you, have also come to the same conclusion. He's done fantastic for us and a lot more than any other in recent years, but we are now going backwards. Seeing the lack of effort and passion ("fight") on the pitch last night was the last staw for me.

Part of me still thinks give him until the end of the season to see if he can change things, but would not be too disapointed if he left now.

[CotswoldRed]

For all of GJ's faults, I think SL will feel confident that at least we will avoid a relegation fight with GJ at the helm.

There is always a fear that a new man could make it even worse this late in the season. Imagine if we took someone new and we started a one-way slide and went on a run of defeats like when GJ took over.

Better the devil you know? ...... He'll wait until the end of the season albeit I think he's a dead man walking because, at best, he'll just make the top ten, will sit in the boardroom in May and SL won't believe him any more when he says he can turn it round with more time and a few more signings.

[The Humble Realist]

Stick with GJ, let him build a team over a number of years, should only be considered precarious if we are in a relegation battle which currently we most defnitly are NOT

In GJ we trust

[bristolcitysweden]

For all of GJ's faults, I think SL will feel confident that at least we will avoid a relegation fight with GJ at the helm.

There is always a fear that a new man could make it even worse this late in the season. Imagine if we took someone new and we started a one-way slide and went on a run of defeats like when GJ took over.

Better the devil you know? ...... He'll wait until the end of the season albeit I think he's a dead man walking because, at best, he'll just make the top ten, will sit in the boardroom in May and SL won't believe him any more when he says he can turn it round with more time and a few more signings.

Only 7 defeats in 26 games backs that.

[Roe]

Never recovered from the play off final defeat? This time last year we were just about to go on a winning run which put us up to 4th I believe. Now obviously the last 12 months have been disappointing but that's football. I strongly believe that if Johnson is given the time and patience and if he can get himself together then in a year or so we can be back playing attractive football with effective results.

[Paul Hartley's Beard]

Give gary time! We hit a crest with the playoffs and right now we are in the dip of a wave. But there is a crest just round the corner hopefully we can support the players and help give them the confidence to help us get back to the crest as soon as.

[Riaz]

Never recovered from the play off final defeat? This time last year we were just about to go on a winning run which put us up to 4th I believe. Now obviously the last 12 months have been disappointing but that's football. I strongly believe that if Johnson is given the time and patience and if he can get himself together then in a year or so we can be back playing attractive football with effective results.

And thats the only good run we've had in 18 months... is it not?

[CotswoldRed]

I strongly believe that if Johnson is given the time and patience

Giving him time would imply that he knows what he needs to do and time will give him the ability to apply his own solution to the problem.

Thing is, I'm not convinced he knows what the problem is, or the best approach to fixing it. If he came out and said "give me time to develop players x,y and z and I'll bring in 2 wingers, then you can judge me" it would be a lot easier for all concerned.

This 'time' we keep talking of has no end point.

[Olé]

Johnson should not go. It's the old stick or twist scenario. Sometimes you twist and it works out for the better, often you twist and the whole thing falls apart and undoes years of progress. We have made progress in the big picture and I'm not prepared to take the risk on the latter, it's happened before and it can happen again. We remain in a pivotal position, that's not necessarily the time for change, as we can go two ways. You fire and hire when the ONLY way is up!

That's not to say my posts since last night have not called into question Johnson's judgement or some of the problems we're facing but Gary Johnson is the best person to fix Gary Johnson's problems, provided that on THIS occasion, the 6-0 serves as the wake up call and injection of humility which some of the surrenders previously this season haven't produced. He has made a number of mistakes in transfers and selections and he needs to start learning from them.

No one is perfect, I think the enthusiasm to see Gary go is because most don't think he'll change. I'm of a view he HAS to change and I still want and expect to see him lead out the side at the new Ashton Vale. He's a big part of this club's progress to date, he just needs to re-invent himself and prove that he can admit where it has all gone wrong for him. I'd rather that and maintain some stability, than put a bomb under it all and hope the pieces keep going upwards.

Here are those Gary Johnson makeover guidelines in full:

• Choose a formation and stick to it
• Swallow your pride and review Basso's position
• Surrender your club loyalty ethic and bring in a Premier League left back on loan who has NO intention of a permanent transfer
• Have Millen running drills with the back 4 on defending and concentrating in all phases of the game
• Have Walshy running drills for all wide players practising crossing until they're sick
• Have all 4,932 permanent and loan strikers currently in the squad killing each other to attack these crosses
• Restore a minimum of two of our younger players (i.e. Akinde and Ribeiro) to the match day squad and let them play
• Make Cole Skuse captain
• If you bought anyone in recently who looks a bit ****, it's okay, we're won't say anything if you don't, just dump 'em
• Anyone who looks a million miles from making your resultant side, release or send home or whatever it takes to streamline
• Anyone who makes the grand total of two substitute appearances a month, release, you obviously don't need them
• Close ranks with the remaining squad and tell them how much you love them
• Choose the best side out of that and stick to it
• Develop a thicker skin
• Stop looking for disaffected bit part championship players you think you can polish up, that isn't progress from our position
• Review the situation in the summer

[Roe]

Giving him time would imply that he knows what he needs to do and time will give him the ability to apply his own solution to the problem.

Thing is, I'm not convinced he knows what the problem is, or the best approach to fixing it. If he came out and said "give me time to develop players x,y and z and I'll bring in 2 wingers, then you can judge me" it would be a lot easier for all concerned.

This 'time' we keep talking of has no end point.

I just don't see what good it would do if Johnson went. All we'd have to do is pay his wages for the next 3 years on top of paying another manager who presumably would be on at least the same as GJ's on now plus we'd have to fork out for different backroom staff and an entire new squad which a new manager would inevitably want. That would of course leave us even more short on money and the changes could see us fall towards the relegation places.. which I feel is far more likely than a sudden turnaround that see us challenging with teams like Cardiff and West Brom.

Johnson has earned time on the back of 3 successful seasons in charge. OK so the football at home hasn't been the most entertaining over the past couple of years but generally we're doing alright and have definitely improved as a club. Even now after a 6-0 thumping at home.. we're still top half!

Now I don't always agree with Gary Johnson's decisions (in fact there's hardly any that I do agree with to be honest) but that's what a manager does. Whoever we get in would have exactly the same decisions to make and they wouldn't all work out. The grass isn't always greener on the other side and it looks like that grass would be on a downward hill to me!

[View from the Dolman]

Johnson should not go. It's the old stick or twist scenario. Sometimes you twist and it works out for the better, often you twist and the whole thing falls apart and undoes years of progress. We have made progress in the big picture and I'm not prepared to take the risk on the latter, it's happened before and it can happen again. We remain in a pivotal position, that's not necessarily the time for change, as we can go two ways. You fire and hire when the ONLY way is up!

That's not to say my posts since last night have not called into question Johnson's judgement or some of the problems we're facing but Gary Johnson is the best person to fix Gary Johnson's problems, provided that on THIS occasion, the 6-0 serves as the wake up call and injection of humility which some of the surrenders previously this season haven't produced. He has made a number of mistakes in transfers and selections and he needs to start learning from them.

No one is perfect, I think the enthusiasm to see Gary go is because most don't think he'll change. I'm of a view he HAS to change and I still want and expect to see him lead out the side at the new Ashton Vale. He's a big part of this club's progress to date, he just needs to re-invent himself and prove that he can admit where it has all gone wrong for him. I'd rather that and maintain some stability, than put a bomb under it all and hope the pieces keep going upwards.

Here are those Gary Johnson makeover guidelines in full:

• Choose a formation and stick to it
• Swallow your pride and review Basso's position
• Surrender your club loyalty ethic and bring in a Premier League left back on loan who has NO intention of a permanent transfer
• Have Millen running drills with the back 4 on defending and concentrating in all phases of the game
• Have Walshy running drills for all wide players practising crossing until they're sick
• Have all 4,932 permanent and loan strikers currently in the squad killing each other to attack these crosses
• Restore a minimum of two of our younger players (i.e. Akinde and Ribeiro) to the match day squad and let them play
• Make Cole Skuse captain
• If you bought anyone in recently who looks a bit ****, it's okay, we're won't say anything if you don't, just dump 'em
• Anyone who looks a million miles from making your resultant side, release or send home or whatever it takes to streamline
• Anyone who makes the grand total of two substitute appearances a month, release, you obviously don't need them
• Close ranks with the remaining squad and tell them how much you love them
• Choose the best side out of that and stick to it
• Develop a thicker skin
• Stop looking for disaffected bit part championship players you think you can polish up, that isn't progress from our position
• Review the situation in the summer

I think I have to agree with that post completely - if we can take something out of last night, turn it in a crystal-clear wake up call and respond in the right manner, I have positive hopes.

[The Casual Connoisseur]

Agree strongly with that, however this would be an admittance of wrong doing and I think Gary Johnson or rather his ego is not capable of this.

Bring someone in now who has championship experience and can build a squad that can compete consistently.

[Roe]

A recent example of a solid, mid table club that weren't 'happy' with slow progression is Charlton.. and look what's happened to them!

[View from the Dolman]

A recent example of a solid, mid table club that weren't 'happy' with slow progression is Charlton.. and look what's happened to them!

Exactly, we need to walk in the Championship before we can considering running.

[Alex_BCFC]

A recent example of a solid, mid table club that weren't 'happy' with slow progression is Charlton.. and look what's happened to them!

Sometimes in life you have to be careful what you wish for. Charlton fans wanted Curbishley out even though he did a great job of making them mid-table season after season. As soon as he went they collapsed and if they don't go up this season they may well be in League 1 for a while yet. Do we want all that again? It was John Ward leaving last time that sent us down- changing managers should only be a last resort for me. Dave Jones has survived bad times at Cardiff yet has turned it around a few times- I see GJ doing that if given time.

[roylegalatyeo]

I started a similar thread to this after losing 4-0 at Burnley.At the time I was accused of being a Gashead.Now people are finally waking up the fact that unless something is done we will be looking over our shoulders at relegation,and not top 6 place by March.In all fairness Gary has done brilliant job to get us to the verge of the premier league ,but now is the time to go.

[Paul Hartley's Beard]

I started a similar thread to this after losing 4-0 at Burnley.At the time I was accused of being a Gashead.Now people are finally waking up the fact that unless something is done we will be looking over our shoulders at relegation,and not top 6 place by March.In all fairness Gary has done brilliant job to get us to the verge of the premier league ,but now is the time to go.

that 4-0 that kept Baadiff out of the playoffs...

[The Casual Connoisseur]

Cardiff kept themselves out of the play offs by blowing it at Sheffield Wednesday

[WellRedPhil]

I'm incredibly grateful for what GJ has done for us and he has clearly achieved a great deal of success. However this is a man, that has through his own making built himself an incredibly inbalanced squad, and doesn't even know what his best formation is, 24 games into the season. How can this be acceptable? He has appeared tactically inept at times this season and the issue of late goals from last season has somehow got even worse this time around. Our away form is unnacceptable, and we rearely look like winning on the road, whilst Ashton Gate has turned into bore draws of late, witht he exception of the win against Preston and the utterly embarressing defeats to Cardiff, and to an extent Sheffield United when put in context. (Scoring in 95 then conceding in 96!) I just don't see where he can go from here without spending more and some of the loans that we have been bringing in are just unnessecary and terrible business. I'd give him another month or 2, hold serious meetings with him and ask him what his structured plan is to take us out of this poor form. If things arent looking up by April, I'd begin to look for a replacement and have a new manager drafted in for the start of the summer, however we MUST ensure that we get in the correct replacement, as we cannot afford to keep wasting money.

[WellRedPhil]

Cardiff kept themselves out of the play offs by blowing it at Sheffield Wednesday

Or by losing 6-0 at Preston, the team who eventually took their playoff position on goal difference!

[Esmond Million's Bung]

In all honesty, he's never really looked like recovering from the play-off final defeat...

Johnson acheived alot in the first 3 years and this earned him some loyalty.

But no club can afford to go backwards - and I finally feel we are going backwards... after stuttering since the play-off defeat.

Cardiff are a very similar club to us and a good benchmark as to where we are...

In our first season up - both teams won their home games... we we're even

But this season, the aggregate score in the league 9 - 0

If johnson leaves now, he leaves us in a very respectable 11th and with a good reputation.

some fans have turned a little nasty - I dont want the majority to - not to a man who did a very good job for us..

Its all about timing and now is the time to go..

To be honest I can't argue much with your assessment, although my view is review the situation at the end of the season and my reasoning for that is an incoming manager won't have a) much time within this current window to bring in his own players and b) probably won't have any budget left to work with anyway.

on a wider a note, I understand that ultimately that the buck stops with the manager, but I have to say that the players have shown themselves as total spineless cowards, the capitulation last night was the final proof. Over paid, money grabbing, self seeking, egotistical,under achievers. They are well paid to put their foot and heads in where it hurts and to give nothing less than 100% at all times and sadly this season this has been happening less and less, I don't want to hear the pathetic cliché 'the players are hurting' that is a crock of crap, but they should all hang their heads in shame.

[Riaz]

To be honest I can't argue much with your assessment, although my view is review the situation at the end of the season and my reasoning for that is an incoming manager won't have a) much time within this current window to bring in his own players and b) probably won't have any budget left to work with anyway.

I feel we should get a manager in now. I dont think we need to bring in players - the new manager can have a good look at the squad for the rest of the season and forward plan for next season.

on a wider a note, I understand that ultimately that the buck stops with the manager, but I have to say that the players have shown themselves as total spineless cowards, the capitulation last night was the final proof. Over paid, money grabbing, self seeking, egotistical,under achievers. They are well paid to put their foot and heads in where it hurts and to give nothing less than 100% at all times and sadly this season this has been happening less and less, I don't want to hear the pathetic cliché 'the players are hurting' that is a crock of crap, but they should all hang their heads in shame.

The buck does stop with the manager, because he signed and picked these over paid, money grabbing, self seeking, egotistical,under achievers.... to be fair.

[CotswoldRed]

The buck does stop with the manager, because he signed and picked these over paid, money grabbing, self seeking, egotistical,under achievers.... to be fair.

Too true. All teams in the Championship have over-paid, money grabbing, self seeking, egotistical players. The under-achiever bit stems from the management team.