Lee Johnson

[solo red]

With a bit of luck a manager somewhere will have seen his performance and bid for him before the window closes!

[Red_Mat]

Totally agree with davros -- Lee has always been there or there abouts to pick up from defence and set things up -- yes i have despaired of him at times but also felt he had not been given a chance and all to quickly became the scapegoat when things were going wroong and this undoubtedly affected his confidence.

he is a great link up from defence and always seems to find space for himself -- one of the best passers and actually has a good shot on him too. ..... but v weak as we all know in the air and in the tackle so it may well be there are others in front of him on balance but a great squad platyer and will not let us down if he becomes and established regular in the team -- as others have suggested we may be seeing him come into his prime now he is seen as being here in his own right.

With all due respect, I think he has been given a hell of a lot of chances! Let's be honest, Gary never dropped him and hardly ever substituted him (I think I can remember three occasions when his dad...ahem...pulled him off).

So to say he's 'not had a chance' is not right. I think what will be interesting is to see if he can prove himself under a manager other than Gary and become a consistent performer. Something which he's lacked throughout his career.

[Red Ass]

With a bit of luck a manager somewhere will have seen his performance and bid for him before the window closes!

solo red, are you having a laugh? he's a decent club in the bag, who seems to have had the shackles removed now his old man has gone.

[NickJ]

I think its sometimes said that the most satisfying praise is when given by your critics.

Well I have certainly been one of those over the past 2 seasons, however IMO Johnson was superb against Barnsley.

Doing all the things I have criticised him in the past for not doing.

Forwards passing - some Tinnionesque balls to Sproule.

Tackling - maybe not crunching tackles but at least getting in and nicking the ball at key moments.

Tracking back - noticed on more than one ocassion determined efforts to get back and cover when we lost the ball. Making a mockery of those who in the past said it wasnt his job to do that.

Fair play to Lee and if he keeps that up I will be more than happy to change my opinion on his value to us.

[Melksham Red]

solo red, are you having a laugh? he's a decent club in the bag, who seems to have had the shackles removed now his old man has gone.

Decent club in the bag! Is that you Gary?

Ill admit he did okay on Saturday but I still maintain long term if we are serious about challenging at the right end of this league Lee can not be part of the team as he is simply not good enough. Simply too small to succeed at this level.

You have to be a very special player to make it at the higher levels of football when you are as small as Lee. He looks lost when he amongst 6 footers in the middle of the park and he can't keep up.

[solo red]

solo red, are you having a laugh? he's a decent club in the bag, who seems to have had the shackles removed now his old man has gone.

Free transfer it is then!

[Ian M]

I know it was only one match but I think a big factor in his decent performance was in the way Millen set up the team compared to Lee's father.

In our first season at this level we pretty much played the whole season with proper wingers in McIndoe & Sproule, the following 2 seasons had us playing with the wide midfielders tucked in.

When we play with wingers, LJ still plays the short sideways passes that appear to frustrate so many people on here but also plays a reasonable number of incisive balls out to the flanks. When this happens no-one minds the short passes as he is contributing to the creative efforts of the team in other stages of the move & isn't just keeping things ticking over the entire time.

On Saturday we set up far more like we did in that first Championship season by having definite options left & right for Lee to aim at & if we continue to line up in that way I suspect he will have many more decent performances

[SDBS36]

Def one of his better games all he needs to do his be consistant come & keep his A game going

[Red-Robbo]

One major improvement was that he actually made some tackles - he used to run away from them!

All-in-all one of the best performances Lee has made for us, 100% effort and some very clever passes. Makes a strong case to start against Ipswich.

[Martyn Hocking]

Absolutely.

Johnson played no different today than he has, on the whole, for the past three seasons - good passing range with vision and composure.

Just so happens that those who took aim at the managers son during Gary's time here have moved targets to Clarkson, who had a pretty decent outing too I may add.

That's not true. Lee was slated in the past for two specific, recurring weaknesses in his game:

1. Wimping out of tackles and headers - he didn't do this on Saturday

2. Playing risky balls close to our box that lost us possession and lead directly to the opposition scoring - he didn't do this either on Saturday

If he gets stuck in and plays his football on the halfway line or inside the opposition half then he's a cracking player. Could combine well with Cisse, Marv or Skuse this season if he keeps up Saturday's standard (and I say that as someone who wrote him off a year ago).

[Sid]

Lee Johnson played some beautiful passes against Barnsley but he still needs to reduce his ball watching which I thought was still evident when Barnsley had the ball (mind you that could be said about our whole team at times during that match)

However if he can keep consistently finding those Tinnionesque passes and continue not giving away the ball in our third (which he used to do but did not do against Barnsley) then he is worth keeping.

I think Gary Johnson leaving is the best thing that could have happened to Lee Johnson and I hope he keeps up the good work that he showed against Barnsley. After all the cra**p he took from being the managers son I wish him all the best! People will say he got in the team ahead of others but thats not Lee Johnsons fault that was his dads fault

Good luck to him!

[SJC]

That's not true. Lee was slated in the past for two specific, recurring weaknesses in his game:

1. Wimping out of tackles and headers - he didn't do this on Saturday

2. Playing risky balls close to our box that lost us possession and lead directly to the opposition scoring - he didn't do this either on Saturday

If he gets stuck in and plays his football on the halfway line or inside the opposition half then he's a cracking player. Could combine well with Cisse, Marv or Skuse this season if he keeps up Saturday's standard (and I say that as someone who wrote him off a year ago).

I genuinely, firmly believe that Johnson didnt play a great deal different vs Barnsley than he has done for the past couple of seasons.

To my memory he didnt make a mistake last saturday, certainly not a blatant one, whereas clearly he has made mistakes in previous games. Therefore it is fair to say he had a better game Saturday than he has had in previous years, but I dont think it's fair to suggest that his performance was inherently different than those he has been producing in City colours.

Did you notice how there were no boo's as he entered the pitch, as sad and pathetic that it is, I did.

At times last season {some} 'fans' treatment of someone who appears an absolute model pro operating in a difficult professional situation, albeit one he put himself in, was nothing short of disgraceful. But I say this not simply from a moral standpoint, this attention and scape goat status that he acquired placed him under the harshest of spotlights where every misplaced pass or shirked challenge became cardinal sin, or typical Lee Johnson.

Was he the only player to shirk the odd challenge, misplace a pass or fail to track his man, of course not, but every single time he did, and he did, a minority of 'fans' jumped at the opportunity to inescapably highlight his misdemeanor. Therefore, in my opinion, it gradually became a false common knowledge that Lee Johnson was performing consistently badly, a good Lee Johnson performance immediately became an acceptable one, an acceptable one became a bad one.

On Saturday Johnson showed good vision, passing range and composure, all attributes that he has frequently demonstrated in the past. Therefore I dont see that his performance was anything dramatically different from the 'norm' for him. Granted he was pretty much error free but I remember Lee Johnson linking the play, playing short passes, crossfield passes, making tackles, tracking back and setting atacking moves on their way since he signed for this club.

Would I play him in a 4-4-2 at Championship level, no. Which is ironic when you consider the success we had when those two things came together. I would have no qualms with him being one of midfield two, but it certainly wouldnt be my first or preferred choice.

Would he be in my first eleven right now, no. Which again is ironic as he is one of only two players, the other being Gavin Williams, who can be classed as a playmaker - the difference between those two, in my opinion, is that Williams offers assists, Johnson assists assists.

Ive probably lost your interest a long time ago, and if you dont agree you dont agree and that's great - tell me im wrong, but for me Lee Johnson played, give or take relative fractions, as he always has on Saturday. It just so happens that the aura surrounding him has shifted, momentum behind him has dramtically swung. Suddenly all those that lambasted him for his errors have lost their raison d'etre, while all those who silently backed him are striving to see him suceed.

I am clearly not suggesting that yourself, or anyone else who disagrees with me bases their view of a player purely on crowd reaction, but I honestly believe that Johnson did what Johnson does and has done on Saturday. It was a good performance and while he has produced worse performances in the past I believe it is wrong to suggest that he offered something that, as a rule, he previously, consistently, has not.

[Riaz]

I think LJ DID play differently. He was playing without pressure and with a bit of fire in his belly.

Seems as though he is relishing NOT playing for his dad.

[Bris Red]

I genuinely, firmly believe that Johnson didnt play a great deal different vs Barnsley than he has done for the past couple of seasons.

To my memory he didnt make a mistake last saturday, certainly not a blatant one, whereas clearly he has made mistakes in previous games. Therefore it is fair to say he had a better game Saturday than he has had in previous years, but I dont think it's fair to suggest that his performance was inherently different than those he has been producing in City colours.

Did you notice how there were no boo's as he entered the pitch, as sad and pathetic that it is, I did.

At times last season {some} 'fans' treatment of someone who appears an absolute model pro operating in a difficult professional situation, albeit one he put himself in, was nothing short of disgraceful. But I say this not simply from a moral standpoint, this attention and scape goat status that he acquired placed him under the harshest of spotlights where every misplaced pass or shirked challenge became cardinal sin, or typical Lee Johnson.

Was he the only player to shirk the odd challenge, misplace a pass or fail to track his man, of course not, but every single time he did, and he did, a minority of 'fans' jumped at the opportunity to inescapably highlight his misdemeanor. Therefore, im my opinion, it gradually became a false common knowledge that Lee Johnson was performing consistently badly, a good Lee Johnson performance immediately became an acceptable one, an acceptable one became a bad one.

On Saturday Johnson showed good vision, passing range and composure, all attributes that he has frequently demonstrated in the past. Therefore I dont see that his performance was anything different from the 'norm' for him. Granted he was pretty much error free but I remember Lee Johnson linking the play, playing short passes, crossfield passes, making tackles, tracking back and setting atacking moves on their way since he signed for this club.

Would I play him in a 4-4-2 at Championship level, no. Which is ironic when you consider the success we had when those two things came together.

Would he be in my first eleven right now, no. Which again is ironic as he is one of only two players, the other being Gavin Williams, who can be classed as a playmaker - the difference between those two, in my opinion, is that Williams offers assists, Johnson assists assists.

Ive probably lost your interest a long time ago, and if you dont agree you dont agree and that's great - tell me im wrong, but for me Lee Johnson played, give or take relative fractions, as he always has on Saturday. It just so happens that the aura surrounding him has shifted, momentum behind him has dramtically swung. Suddenly all those that lambasted him for his errors have lost their raison d'etre, while al those who silently backed him are striving to see him suceed.

I am clearly not suggesting that yourself, or anyone else who disagrees with me bases their view of a player purely on crowd reaction, but I honestly believe that Johnson did what Johnson does and has done on Saturday. It was a good performance and while he has produced worse performances in the past I believe it is wrong to suggest that he offered something that, as a rule, he previously, consistently, has not.

Very true words.. The main overriding theme in your explanation is that this summer Lee Johnson has for the first time in roughly 2 years at this club managed to keep his head down, and for once not be the main attraction for the moaning minority (or majority) to moan about. With all the publicity surronding firstly Coppell and then James and the other signings the whole Lee J debate has lost a lot of momentum. As you said against Barnsley other than not make any blatent mistakes Johnson did what he always has done, made some neat and tidy passes and generaly linked up the play well and efficiently.

To say Johnson is a different player since has dad has gone would probably be correct to a point, but to say he has or will vastly improve is wide of the mark. He is what he is imo and saturday was Lee J doing what he does bestt. A player that will not create many chances but somebody that will retain possesion well. Nothing has changed really other than the Lee J bashing brigade is dispanding giving everyone the false sense that he has become or is becoming a better player. Fan pressure is a very funny thing..

[Ron]

Seems as though he is relishing NOT playing for his dad.

A recent BEP article would certainly suggest this to be the case.