LJ Press Conference

[Hampshire Red]

For the record B Fs post is the most sensible thing I have read on here for weeks, other than Ole 's match reports.

 

Those who stay away and criticise should continue to do so, it's hard enough at some games without you lit making nonsense comments during the 90 mins

I am just waiting for the 'everyrhing the club does we slaughter' brigade to complain about the generous gesture of refunds for some of the travelling fans.

I strongly suggest real fans just watch the football and support the club rather than listening to media and making a song and dance....

[Jack Dawe]

2 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

Well that is one way of looking at it EMB.  

It seems to me that a number of mistakes have been made and it is unclear who is to blame.  SL has sold his idea of developing our own young talent in order to help create a more self sustaining club.  This is a wonderful idea - and he sold it to MA and LJ amongst others.  

We spent a significant amount of the transfer budget on players who were too young to really make an impact.  The experienced players, such as GON (who has ended up being a bit of a sicknote and is clearly struggling for fitness), Matthews, who seems to have all sorts of motivational problems that should not be part of the make-up of an international player, and Lee Tomlin, who has blown hot and cold and been a shadow of the palyer we saw last season.  Injuries to Korey Smith and others have proved to be troublesome.  

This has been a difficult season with the end of the previous loan system, bigger squads to keep happy and some unbelievable refereeing decisions e.g. Alby's goal against Burton, that would have given us two more points and them one less. There have been 8 other instances where the referees association has written to the club to apologise for similarly terrible decision - and this has cost us a number of points, that should have us in mid table.  

From what I can see, SL has seen the fortitude that LJ has brought to the job and is backing him in the face of adversity - he knows what is really happening within the club.  Meanwhile, the mob are baying for blood and applying even more tension and stress on to the players.  

I have tried to speak out in support and urged people to leave all this negative stuff until the end of the season.  Right now we need to pull together to win every point we can to avoid the drop so that we can push on next season.  

Sorry if that does not fit with your view of matters, but there it is! 

There you go, sir. Bit better, eh?

[AlrightMeBabber]

26 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Well take my advice and stop listening and reading the thoughts of Johnson Jr. It does help the blood pressure! 

 

PS: I don't want to dis your post, because I understand the sentiment, but when Cotts was sacked we were 22nd and now we're all of 21st. Progress! 

I was referring to winning promotion and winning the JPT, building a strong, promising squad. 

[42nite]

3 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

Lee Johnson, is a young man under enormous pressure, trying to make sure that our club is not relegated.  Some may say it is his fault - but right now bothe he and our team need us as supporters to get behind them and beat Wolves, QPR, Barnsley and Brum at home and Blackburn and Brighton away. It is in everyones interest that he achieves his very difficult task - so maybe it is time to give everyone in our club the support that they so badly need. Park all this negative stuff until after the seaon is finished.  With a wall of support and loud, positive ecouragement - we can make the difference! COYR!

 

Easy solution to his 'enormous pressure'.......Resign!

 

[Ska Junkie]

18 minutes ago, Hampshire Red said:

I strongly suggest real fans just watch the football and support the club rather than listening to media and making a song and dance....

Here we go! Sit on your hands and accept the crap we're being served up if you want, some of us won't.

What was it Einstein said? 'The definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result.'. I for one, am not happy with our 'insane' head coach and will happily play my part in trying to get rid of the useless pillock!

 

[Red-Robbo]

Just now, AlrightMeBabber said:

I was referring to winning promotion and winning the JPT, building a strong, promising squad. 

Fair enough, but he departed on a low having failed to capitalise on his success.  In my opinion,  he (and others at the club) underestimated how tough the Championship would be. 

A successful squad and togetherness can take you a long way, but we achieved the amazing success in L1 with quite a lot of luck (you can't do really successful seasons like that without it). We had few injuries and even fewer discipline bans, and our loanee Matt Smith surpassed all expectations and went on the goal spree of his career. 

In the Championship that luck ran out.

[East End Old Boy]

3 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

beat Wolves, QPR, Barnsley and Brum at home and Blackburn and Brighton away.

One hell of an accumulator!

[Redstreet]

3 hours ago, AlrightMeBabber said:

Sick and tired of reading/ listening to the same old drivel that comes out of his mouth week after week. I can't wait for this season to be over either way.

All of the hard work and everything Cotts built has been completely undone. 18 months ago we were "a sleeping giant on the move" according to various pundits, now we're going backwards. 

LJ says he will put out a team that " he can trust ( I. E he has lost the players ) and who will " fight for the badge " ( again players demoralised by LJ demotivating apptoach ) . Does BS and LJ really think we will  swallow this utter garbage ? Clearly they do . 

Lee . The reason the players are demotivated is down to you and your management for the last 6 months . Can you please wake up to that and stop blaming your team . The buck firmly stops with you and yes actually we are savvy enough to get that . It seems you LJ are not and fired -proof . 

[Show Me The Money!]

Just now, East End Old Boy said:

One hell of an accumulator!

One i wont be parting with any money on

[AlrightMeBabber]

1 minute ago, Red-Robbo said:

Fair enough, but he departed on a low having failed to capitalise on his success.  In my opinion,  he (and others at the club) underestimated how tough the Championship would be. 

A successful squad and togetherness can take you a long way, but we achieved the amazing success in L1 with quite a lot of luck (you can't do really successful seasons like that without it). We had few injuries and even fewer discipline bans, and our loanee Matt Smith surpassed all expectations and went on the goal spree of his career. 

In the Championship that luck ran out.

I agree I think Cotterill wrote his own ending with City, but surely it was also Lee Johnsons job to build on the success built by SC and not undo it. Going back into League 1 will take us back to square 1 in my opinion and SL is just standing by and letting that happen. 

[Knappster]

If he is true to his word he is a fan and not just a manager and to earn respect he would resign.

[Merrick's Marvels]

12 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Fair enough, but he departed on a low having failed to capitalise on his success.  In my opinion,  he (and others at the club) underestimated how tough the Championship would be. 

A successful squad and togetherness can take you a long way, but we achieved the amazing success in L1 with quite a lot of luck (you can't do really successful seasons like that without it). We had few injuries and even fewer discipline bans, and our loanee Matt Smith surpassed all expectations and went on the goal spree of his career. 

In the Championship that luck ran out.

There's no evidence for that and Cotterill wanting to sign Andre Gray and then, when that deal was scuppered (by the suits above him?), Dwight Gayle suggests the exact opposite - that Steve Cotterill knows exactly what's required in the Championship and exactly what's required to get promoted. One of his mistakes was believing the drivel spouted by the powers that be about whanting to make it to the Premiership, when history makes it obvious they talk the talk but never actually deliver on it.   

One interpretation of events surrounding Cotterill's departure is that rank amateurs above him, who have their hands on the purse strings but also a penchant for meddling in team affairs, pulled the plug on both deals and it was this  that caused an irretrievable split between the manager and the suits. (This interpretation of events accepts that Cotterill made mistakes and contributed to his own downfall too.) 

[WhistleHappy]

14 minutes ago, 42nite said:

 

Easy solution to his 'enormous pressure'....... Re sign!   (for three more years)

 

OMG.... Are You Crazy?

I can't believe you wrote that, re sign for another 3years??  Geez !

 

 

 

 

 

(ok, soz, I may have edited your post slightly  )

[Ska Junkie]

Gotta love FB. Whoever did this..

[petehinton]

3 hours ago, AlrightMeBabber said:

Sick and tired of reading/ listening to the same old drivel that comes out of his mouth week after week. I can't wait for this season to be over either way.

All of the hard work and everything Cotts built has been completely undone. 18 months ago we were "a sleeping giant on the move" according to various pundits, now we're going backwards. 

100%. I bet Cotts is laughing his bollucks off.

[Red-Robbo]

10 minutes ago, AlrightMeBabber said:

I agree I think Cotterill wrote his own ending with City, but surely it was also Lee Johnsons job to build on the success built by SC and not undo it. Going back into League 1 will take us back to square 1 in my opinion and SL is just standing by and letting that happen. 

He had to rescue that season first, which he did. It wasn't rocket science though - just shake things up a bit, 4 at the back, play some underused players. Pembo had got the job going.

Where Johnson fails in my view is his utter inability to lift morale and inspire.  He's also a very poor coach,  as the declining decision-making of our squad can attest. 

[Red-Robbo]

7 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

There's no evidence for that and Cotterill wanting to sign Andre Gray and then, when that deal was scuppered (by the suits above him?), Dwight Gayle suggests the exact opposite - that Steve Cotterill knows exactly what's required in the Championship and exactly what's required to get promoted. One of his mistakes was believing the drivel spouted by the powers that be about whanting to make it to the Premiership, when history makes it obvious they talk the talk but never actually deliver on it.   

One interpretation of events surrounding Cotterill's departure is that rank amateurs above him, who have their hands on the purse strings but also a penchant for meddling in team affairs, pulled the plug on both deals and it was this  that caused an irretrievable split between the manager and the suits. (This interpretation of events accepts that Cotterill made mistakes and contributed to his own downfall too.) 

What there is no evidence for is that the deal was scuppered by the "suits".

As I say, if Cotterill had felt he was stiffed over his transfer targets by the board he'd have called them out on it and walked in September.  His stock was high, he'd have walked into a bigger job then. He's hardly a shrinking violet. 

[REDOXO]

Does anyone listen to this toss pot anymore. FRAUD!!

[AlrightMeBabber]

11 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

He had to rescue that season first, which he did. It wasn't rocket science though - just shake things up a bit, 4 at the back, play some underused players. Pembo had got the job going.

Where Johnson fails in my view is his utter inability to lift morale and inspire.  He's also a very poor coach,  as the declining decision-making of our squad can attest. 

I think it was SC's stubbornness (amongst other things) that saw his demise. 

Johnson's "me (coach) and them (players)" Approach really winds me up, he picks the team, if that team fails then he is responsible. Refund should have come out of his pocket in my opinion. For him to say he needs 3 transfer windows to turn things around, I think is utter horsesh*t. If he was a good enough coach he would've rallied us out of it by now but he is not. 

I've also lost a lot of respect for SL in all of this. 

[petehinton]

21 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

There's no evidence for that and Cotterill wanting to sign Andre Gray and then, when that deal was scuppered (by the suits above him?), Dwight Gayle suggests the exact opposite - that Steve Cotterill knows exactly what's required in the Championship and exactly what's required to get promoted. One of his mistakes was believing the drivel spouted by the powers that be about whanting to make it to the Premiership, when history makes it obvious they talk the talk but never actually deliver on it.   

One interpretation of events surrounding Cotterill's departure is that rank amateurs above him, who have their hands on the purse strings but also a penchant for meddling in team affairs, pulled the plug on both deals and it was this  that caused an irretrievable split between the manager and the suits. (This interpretation of events accepts that Cotterill made mistakes and contributed to his own downfall too.) 

Cotts is probably my favourite manager of all time for us, but he didn't help himself that summer. He loved the club so much that it blinded him a bit. He thought, because we stormed L1 and were certainly going places, that players would leave bigger, more established clubs to join. Gayle was never interested but Cotts dug in his heels, told the press that things were ongoing, but the reality is Gayle said to his agent that he wouldn't even travel down. Gray was interested, but Burnley offered far superior wages. It never made it to the press, but we were in for Dele Alli on loan too, but obviously no one knew how well he'd turn out at Spurs.

The board certainly didn't help him though. Jamie Murphy was all but a done deal but it was screwed up by Keith Burt. There's a reason he went so soon after that summer. We ended up scraping the barrel for players we didn't even want just to get bodies in (Robinson, Fredericks). 

[Red-Robbo]

1 minute ago, AlrightMeBabber said:

I think it was SC's stubbornness (amongst other things) that saw his demise. 

Johnson's "me (coach) and them (players)" Approach really winds me up, he picks the team, if that team fails then he is responsible. Refund should have come out of his pocket in my opinion. For him to say he needs 3 transfer windows to turn things around, I think is utter horsesh*t. If he was a good enough coach he would've rallied us out of it by now but he is not. 

I've also lost a lot of respect for SL in all of this. 

I gotta say AMB I've been a big defender of Lansdown  (and still think he gets a bad press here on many issues) but ditto for me.

You'd think as time developed in owning a football club your decision making might sharpen. 

There are no guarantees in football , it's an inexact science - that's why we love it - but Lansdown really has made a f-in gert balls-up here of epic proportions. 

[sodburyred]

4 hours ago, AlrightMeBabber said:

Sick and tired of reading/ listening to the same old drivel that comes out of his mouth week after week. I can't wait for this season to be over either way.

All of the hard work and everything Cotts built has been completely undone. 18 months ago we were "a sleeping giant on the move" according to various pundits, now we're going backwards. 

Depressing to think what might have been had Lansdown backed his transfer targets a slight bit more in the form of wages. We had so much momentum and potential that summer.

[AlrightMeBabber]

18 minutes ago, petehinton said:

100%. I bet Cotts is laughing his bollucks off.

I expect he is. I would have him back in a heart beat, he might not have been everyone's cup of tea and yes he was quite arrogant but he was honest, respected and he got the job done. 

Part of me hopes we go down and they sack LJ, crawl hands and knees back to SC (who still lives in Bristol) and he gives SL and the rest of the deluded clowns on the board the finger. IT would serve them right for being so plain ignorant and stupid in thinking that we are this big club when we aren't. We are miles away from the likes of Newcastle, Norwich, Brighton, Derby, the ones who are fighting to get into the Prem every season. 

It runs through the entire club/ Bristol Sport, from the Board right down through to the people selling the pies. They're all under this illusion that we are this super heavyweight big club when we really are quite far away from that. 

[AlrightMeBabber]

2 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

I gotta say AMB I've been a big defender of Lansdown  (and still think he gets a bad press here on many issues) but ditto for me.

You'd think as time developed in owning a football club your decision making might sharpen. 

There are no guarantees in football , it's an inexact science - that's why we love it - but Lansdown really has made a f-in gert balls-up here of epic proportions. 

He'll willingly pump the money into the team but I cannot understand his logic in always seemingly aiming for the cheap option when it comes to a manager. 

[Merrick's Marvels]

24 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

What there is no evidence for is that the deal was scuppered by the "suits".

As I say, if Cotterill had felt he was stiffed over his transfer targets by the board he'd have called them out on it and walked in September.  His stock was high, he'd have walked into a bigger job then. He's hardly a shrinking violet. 

He did call them out on it - by not picking a full bench, by constantly saying in the media "we can't cope" - lots of evidence he called them out, I'm afraid.

What he was hoping to do was "bully" them into doing it his way. Instead we got pigheadedness  locking horns with pigheadedness and a falling out.

Then the crap results gave the suits the opportunity to get rid.

[Red-Robbo]

Just now, Merrick's Marvels said:

He did call them out on it - by not picking a full bench, by constantly saying in the media "we can't cope" - lots of evidence he called them out, I'm afraid.

What he was hoping to do was "bully" them into doing it his way. Instead we got pigheadedness  locking horns with pigheadedness and a falling out.

Then the crap results gave the suits the opportunity to get rid.

So you think his last six months were a protracted career suicide by Cotts?  Failing to use what he had at his disposal surely is a strange way to resign.  Lack of success gets everyone (bar LJ) sacked. It didn't take long for others to show that City could cope. 

[NickJ]

4 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

Lee Johnson, is a young man under enormous pressure, trying to make sure that our club is not relegated.  Some may say it is his fault - but right now bothe he and our team need us as supporters to get behind them and beat Wolves, QPR, Barnsley and Brum at home and Blackburn and Brighton away. It is in everyones interest that he achieves his very difficult task - so maybe it is time to give everyone in our club the support that they so badly need. Park all this negative stuff until after the seaon is finished.  With a wall of support and loud, positive ecouragement - we can make the difference! COYR!

 

3 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

Well that is one way of looking at it EMB.  It seems to me that a number of mistakes have been made and it is unclear who is to blame.  SL has sold his idea of developing our own young talent in order to help create a more self sustaining club.  This is a wonderful idea - and he sold it to MA and LJ amongst others.  We spent a significant amount of the transfer budget on players who were too young to really make an impact.  The experienced players, such as GON (who has ended up being a bit of a sicknote and is clearly struggling for fitness), Matthews, who seems to have all sorts of motivational problems that should not be part of the make-up of an international player, and Lee Tomlin, who has blown hot and cold and been a shadow of the palyer we saw last season.  Injuries to Korey Smith and others have proved to be troublesome.  This has been a difficult season with the end of the previous loan system, bigger squads to keep happy and some unbelievable refereeing decisions e.g. Alby's goal against Burton, that would have given us two more points and them one less. There have been 8 other instances where the referees association has written to the club to apologise for similarly terrible decision - and this has cost us a number of points, that should have us in mid table.  From what I can see, SL has seen the fortitude that LJ has brought to the job and is backing him in the face of adversity - he knows what is really happening within the club.  Meanwhile, the mob are baying for blood and applying even more tension and stress on to the players.  I have tried to speak out in support and urged people to leave all this negative stuff until the end of the season.  Right now we need to pull together to win every point we can to avoid the drop so that we can push on next season.  Sorry if that does not fit with your view of matters, but there it is! 

 

3 hours ago, Bat Fastard said:

We obviously do not agree - if you and the mob had your way and SL and LJ were lynched and the stadium torn down brick by brick - I cannot see how this would benefit the club we love.  I suggest that we show our support in our own ways - you in exile and me in the Dolman!

 

1 hour ago, Bat Fastard said:

In my experience the mob are seldom right and their vitriol is intensified by each person who comes up with the next best insult to the victim of their attention.  I can see mistakes and problems - but I can also see that the club and BS are making gargantuan efforts to build something that we can all be proud to support.  Everyone in every walk of life makes errors and that does not mean that they are hopeless and without chance of redemption.  I have learned to be patient because things take time to grow and develop - and I can see the plan growing and developing.  Of course there are problems - but I have heard nothing from all these negative threads that has offered a truly viable solution.  I appreciate the time, effort and money that SL has lavished on this club - for the benefit of us supporters.  You can question his motives, but I think he is well motivated.  You can question his choice of staff, but I think that he has always tried to do his best for the club.  A cursory glance around the whole football league shows that most managers only last for a short time - and I feel that many good babies have been chucked out with the bathwater only to be replaced by some right horrors.  SL likes to give youth a chance - and I applaud him for that, because old codgers are not the future. I will continue to support on Saturday against a Wolves team that have won 5 on the trot and will pose a massive challenge to our team, who are probably lacking in confidence right now.  I feel that positive support right now is better than bitterness and vitriol aimed at the manager or any other member of staff.

If you are going to persist in talking bollocks, any chance you could save us all some time and keep it to single sentence bollocks?

[Bat Fastard]

Just now, NickJ said:

 

 

 

If you are going to persist in talking bollocks, any chance you could save us all some time and keep it to single sentence bollocks?

Maybe I should try to write "Sun" English so that some on here can understand it better?

[NickJ]

8 minutes ago, Bat Fastard said:

Maybe I should try to write "Sun" English so that some on here can understand it better?

Even your banter is bollocks.

Seriously mate the moment has passed for inane drivel in support of three windows Johnson.

[Bat Fastard]

Just now, NickJ said:

Even your banter is bollocks.

Seriously mate the moment has passed for inane drivel in support of three windows Johnson.

You seem to be fascinated with the word "Bollocks" - maybe you should try to get past the "B"s in the dictionary of swear words - it would make your posts so much more colourful!