Elliott And Johnson

[The Enormous Turnip]

Worked three seasons ago, and works now. Skusey certainly has his work cut out to get back into this side because we've picked up more points in the week or so since he's been injured than in the previous 8 games which he started in!

Johnson has had a huge impact on our performances since coming back into the starting lineup, and his display against Reading may just have turned our season around. Marvin's goalscoring and all round game is reminiscent of the play off final season, and he seems to be performing much more consistently, we just have to hope his knee problems are well and truly behind him.

Two central midfielders, one holding and one playing, it's working well for us and as we've seen in previous seasons Marvin and LJ work well together.. long may it continue.

[SDBS36]

Worked three seasons ago, and works now. Skusey certainly has his work cut out to get back into this side because we've picked up more points in the week or so since he's been injured than in the previous 8 games which he started in!

Johnson has had a huge impact on our performances since coming back into the starting lineup, and his display against Reading may just have turned our season around. Marvin's goalscoring and all round game is reminiscent of the play off final season, and he seems to be performing much more consistently, we just have to hope his knee problems are well and truly behind him.

Two central midfielders, one holding and one playing, it's working well for us and as we've seen in previous seasons Marvin and LJ work well together.. long may it continue.

Agree should be the same starting 11againest Preston, also think Jon Stead is amence & works his socks off for the club

[Cookie_7]

Worked three seasons ago, and works now. Skusey certainly has his work cut out to get back into this side because we've picked up more points in the week or so since he's been injured than in the previous 8 games which he started in!

Johnson has had a huge impact on our performances since coming back into the starting lineup, and his display against Reading may just have turned our season around. Marvin's goalscoring and all round game is reminiscent of the play off final season, and he seems to be performing much more consistently, we just have to hope his knee problems are well and truly behind him.

Two central midfielders, one holding and one playing, it's working well for us and as we've seen in previous seasons Marvin and LJ work well together.. long may it continue.

Spot on... I still believe LJ getting injured against Watford in the play-off season had a huge impact on our form and our push for automatic promotion stalling. He may not be everyones cup of tea and will not very often produce the spectacular, but he obviously has an impact on the team dynamic and does one of the most important things, keeps possession. The amount of stick the guy has had on here is nothing short of embarrassing and something no player who clearly gives 100% should have to endure.

[Big Jon]

Elliott and Johnson are our to best centrul par pluse it works as they bring out the best in each others game

[eastendloyal]

Completely agree currently our best central partnership is Marv and LJ.

LJ has improved unbelievably since his Ol' Man left IMO.

Hopefully this will make skuse work twice as hard to get back into the fold and we could have a midfield that really worries opposition, but atm what aint broke dont need fixing!

[Pete1975Legend]

Elliott and Johnno have always been our best pairing problem was fans were giving one part of that pairing undue criticsm IMO

[bangers]

Johnson has done well however STILL dont think he's the answer, a more creative presense would add greater strength to the midfield. Still has a role to play for us though.

[mindjuicer]

Completely agree currently our best central partnership is Marv and LJ.

LJ has improved unbelievably since his Ol' Man left IMO.

LJ did pretty well last season, kept out by Hartley and an in-form Skuse.

The stage was set for him though - a panicky side who couldn't pass for shit, played hoof-ball, struggled to keep possession and with 3 excellent wingers. I'm surprised he hasn't done better tbh.

[Drew Peacock]

LJ did pretty well last season, kept out by Hartley and an in-form Skuse.

The stage was set for him though - a panicky side who couldn't pass for shit, played hoof-ball, struggled to keep possession and with 3 excellent wingers. I'm surprised he hasn't done better tbh.

To quote Ashton Great "It's such a shame that despite a fantastic result we still have certain fans that try to put a downer on things. Sad really."

[Pederho ll]

Will people not learn that on this forum, your not allowed to damn Skuse, he is after all untouchable and praising LJ is just short of inflicting a custodial sentence upon one self!

Fact is LJ is a super midfielder who has the heart of a lion, let's be honest, he has played most matches with both sets of supporters on his back, hurling abuse and alike, yet still he has the resolve to keep going and pushing himself for the betterment of himself and our footy club.

Nothing gave me more joy last season when he scored in front of the East End, chest buffed out...how do you like them eggs....quality.

I am pleased that some are finally seeing the light, even if it has taken threw years!

[Pederho ll]

Will people not learn that on this forum, your not allowed to damn Skuse, he is after all untouchable and praising LJ is just short of inflicting a custodial sentence upon one self!

Fact is LJ is a super midfielder who has the heart of a lion, let's be honest, he has played most matches with both sets of supporters on his back, hurling abuse and alike, yet still he has the resolve to keep going and pushing himself for the betterment of himself and our footy club.

Nothing gave me more joy last season when he scored in front of the East End, chest buffed out...how do you like them eggs....quality.

I am pleased that some are finally seeing the light, even if it has taken three years!

[Sniper]

Worked three seasons ago, and works now. Skusey certainly has his work cut out to get back into this side because we've picked up more points in the week or so since he's been injured than in the previous 8 games which he started in!

Johnson has had a huge impact on our performances since coming back into the starting lineup, and his display against Reading may just have turned our season around. Marvin's goalscoring and all round game is reminiscent of the play off final season, and he seems to be performing much more consistently, we just have to hope his knee problems are well and truly behind him.

Two central midfielders, one holding and one playing, it's working well for us and as we've seen in previous seasons Marvin and LJ work well together.. long may it continue.

Spot on there! This is all about Bristol City Football Club and not about the players, and who should be playing just because of who they are.

It's working so why change it. Carey may not be happy at rightback but TOUGH!. Hunt, Stewart, Sproule etc might not be happy on the bench, or even out of the squad totally, TOUGH!

It's trying to find a winning formula with the players we have. At the moment it's starting to look good, but players do get injured, sent off etc so the other players have to be ready to step up to the plate when called on and perform just as well.

[bcfcnick]

I think LJ said on his return to the team this season that he's a winner - and he is. He was an integral part of the promotion and play-off teams. Both he and Louis Carey bring a bit of determination and character to the team. I think Lee has handled himself brilliantly during his time here when some players would have snapped had a go at the vocal minority of unreasonable critics. The emphasis is on 'unreasonable' as football's a game of opinions and passion but some of the criticism of LJ crossed the line. Fans need to realise that undermining a players confidence isn't a great way of supporting the team. Looks a nicely balanced team now perhaps just needing a 'fox in the box' goal-scorer to support Stead ... Bret Pitman?

[Galley is our king]

Elliot and LJ have always been the best combination. Anyone that used the word "nepatism" or the phrase "Daddy's boy" should hang there heads in shame. Not only that, it just goes to show they knew diddly s**t about football.

[mindjuicer]

To quote Ashton Great "It's such a shame that despite a fantastic result we still have certain fans that try to put a downer on things. Sad really."

Hmm, I've twice been accused on this forum of being a Johnson family member.

But I try to be objective and add to the debate. Hence I repeat, the situation could not be better for him.

I have to echo concerns that Skuse wasn't dropped for LJ a month or two ago as many on this board called for.

Lastly, it's nice that people are finally noticing what he does for the team. It seems to have raised the understanding of the game somewhat on this board.

[NickJ]

Hmm, I've twice been accused on this forum of being a Johnson family member.

But I try to be objective and add to the debate. Hence I repeat, the situation could not be better for him.

I have to echo concerns that Skuse wasn't dropped for LJ a month or two ago as many on this board called for.

Lastly, it's nice that people are finally noticing what he does for the team. It seems to have raised the understanding of the game somewhat on this board.

Patronising, not to mention inaccurate, comments such as the last one are not really necessary, are they.

Johnson played a blinder when he returned against Reading, was ineffective for large parts of the QPR game.

At Middlesbrough on Saturday Johnson was patchy at best, not surprised when subbed. Made a couple of tackles, good, but City never got going in the first half, and in particular James went mental on more than one ocassion when they cut through the middle of us unchallenged; one half of our central midfield (Marv) was getting through the work, the other was not, and only Boyd's crapness stopped us going in 3 down. Skuse in midfield would have got far more tackles in, his all-round game - tackling, covering, passing - are very underrated by some.

Overall LJ has done OK in the last 3 games however for me he needs to add more of a presence in the tougher games.

[BCFC_Dan]

I don't want to be negative, but we had a midfield for all of about 10 minutes during the game on Saturday and that was the period when Elliot scored the winner. The rest of the time Elliot and Johnson were largely anonymous.

In the first half in particular David James seemed to be getting very frustrated with Johnson not doing enough.

Like I said, I don't want to be negative. I do think they are our best pairing and when they were playing well they were both excellent, it's just we could do with them doing that for the whole game if possible. It's an area of the team that still needs some work.

[mcbcfc]

I don't want to be negative, but we had a midfield for all of about 10 minutes during the game on Saturday and that was the period when Elliot scored the winner. The rest of the time Elliot and Johnson were largely anonymous.

In the first half in particular David James seemed to be getting very frustrated with Johnson not doing enough.

Like I said, I don't want to be negative. I do think they are our best pairing and when they were playing well they were both excellent, it's just we could do with them doing that for the whole game if possible. It's an area of the team that still needs some work.

Our problem is we don't keep the ball well enough. That's not just the fault of midfield, it's players all over the park. Teams can't score if we've got the ball.

[WellRedPhil]

Will people not learn that on this forum, your not allowed to damn Skuse, he is after all untouchable and praising LJ is just short of inflicting a custodial sentence upon one self!

Fact is LJ is a super midfielder who has the heart of a lion, let's be honest, he has played most matches with both sets of supporters on his back, hurling abuse and alike, yet still he has the resolve to keep going and pushing himself for the betterment of himself and our footy club.

Nothing gave me more joy last season when he scored in front of the East End, chest buffed out...how do you like them eggs....quality.

I am pleased that some are finally seeing the light, even if it has taken threw years!

Lets not go overboard. Peter Whittingham is a super midfielder (presuming this is based on this level of football) not LJ. I don't want to be overly negative, but considering the criticism he has often recieved a lot of this praise seems hypocritical and a tad naive. Don't get me wrong, many of the posters in this thread have long defended him, showing that they have clearly always rated the player, but I'm sure many who have slated him in the past are now under the illusion he is some kind of super player. He is not.

As others have said he came back into the team against Reading and was excellent, the result in question turned out to be a 1-0 City win, our first at home. What followed was a draw with the league leaders and a win at Borough, 3 excellent results. I'm not saying Johnson didn't play his part in these, and we've been crying out for a player who can keep possession, but he was average at best in the QPR game, and was almost entirely unneccessary in the second half. I was not at Borough Saturday but others have said that he was not by any means brilliant.

Elliot has improved a lot lately, and if having LJ in the team means we get Marv at his best, then obviously this is a huge positive. But based on three games, where to be frank Johnson has played well in only one, to suggest he is the answer, or to describe him as a super midfielder seems very over the top.

I hope LJ can start to perform consistently, and if he plays the way he did against Reading every week he will be a huge assest, as he managed to get people in behind the defence at times, something he has maybe struggled to do in the past. Playing him alongside Elliot in a team with 2 pacy wingers is probably the platform to which he is best suited, as he can get the ball out wide and use the space. I just worry that in some of the bigger games, he can get lost in midfield, and it would be nice to see a few more clinical passes from what is supposedly a "creative" midfielder.

I'm sure I'll get a lot of stick for this post as it wil be deemed 'unneccessarily' negative, but I'm just giving my take on what appears to be a reaction based largely on the teams recent improvement, not neccessarily Johnson's impact.