Ok

[BigTone]

so a great result against Brighton in what I considered our most important game of the season. Kudo's to all involved. But where do we go now ? In my mind our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering and I still think he needs to be moved on for us to progress. We have a decent squad with a few exceptions and a panic buy or two. A couple out and a couple in and we look good. We have shown what we can do on our day.

I hope SL can see this and will make the changes required to move us on.

[CotswoldRed]

Simply won't happen. We have to accept that and work out how he might be successful. 

I'm with you BT, but I hope he plays a blinder from here. 

The only way he leaves - we get 6 points from our opening 12-15 games. Nobody wants that. 

[gl1]

3 minutes ago, BigTone said:

so a great result against Brighton in what I considered our most important game of the season. Kudo's to all involved. But where do we go now ? In my mind our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering and I still think he needs to be moved on for us to progress. We have a decent squad with a few exceptions and a panic buy or two. A couple out and a couple in and we look good. We have shown what we can do on our day.

I hope SL can see this and will make the changes required to move us on.

Don't think LJ is going anywhere soon Tone, should we struggle again next season I think we will see more of the same, protests, huge animosity on here and little action from the board. SL clearly sees something in LJ that a lot of us fans dont. To be fair to the man though, if look at opening form and closing form to the season, you can see why hes still here. The dreadful run of games (which seems to follow LJ around - didnt he oversee a 9 game losing streak at Barnsley) allowed the people who doubted his appointment in the first place to come to the fore. He was berated as a player, so I suppose the same fans would react to his managment with the same negativity.

If results go our way next Sunday, we could finish 15th. At the start of the season I would've taken that. If only the losses had been spread more evenly across the season we probably wouldn't have seen the anger on here (as much)

Anyways lets hope for a city, Blackburn and Forest win on Sunday, so we can repay the nice compliment Birmingham did to us a few seasons back...

 

 

[Big Red Rich]

Totally agree with everything you've written. 

[P'head Red]

Whilst I understand why some fans want LJ gone, I think he may have learnt his lesson. The past five games has seen the same team get 13 points from 15, and yesterday we managed to see out a 1-0 lead for 45 minutes against a team who are now in the PL, something we wouldn't have been able to do not that long ago. If LJ was sacked after the Preston game, and another manager came in and got these results we'd be all very hopeful for next season. 

Whilst I wouldn't want a repeat of this season, I think we should give him a chance. Lets see if he'll live up to his three window pledge. I for one hope he does, and hope for a more comfortable finish next season. 

COYR. 

[Monkeh]

Just now, P'head Red said:

Whilst I understand why some fans want LJ gone, I think he may have learnt his lesson. The past five games has seen the same team get 13 points from 15, and yesterday we managed to see out a 1-0 lead for 45 minutes against a team who are now in the PL, something we wouldn't have been able to do not that long ago. If LJ was sacked after the Preston game, and another manager came in and got these results we'd be all very hopeful for next season. 

Whilst I wouldn't want a repeat of this season, I think we should give him a chance. Lets see if he'll live up to his three window pledge. I for one hope he does, and hope for a more comfortable finish next season. 

COYR. 

still want him gone, but I'm happy for him to prove me wrong, as with every manager we've had, accept maybe tiny

[Selred]

Every manager tinkers though. We are average in the number of players used this season. At times the tinkering has been a disaster but at other times he's bettered top managers like Benitez.

I feel he has come under a lot of slack for his "tombola" as many say, but now we've had the same starting line up for 5 games. He is improving.

[Wanderingred]

If previous evidence is anything to go by, our fine end of season form cannot be used as a sign that things will improve. We finished 2011-12 like a steam train then got relegated the following year. Last year ended promisingly too but the same old problems resurfaced.

That said, LJ has given us enough joy in the last few weeks (I absolutely LOVED spoiling Brightons party yesterday) that I'm willing to give him a clean slate for next season. Learn from your mistakes Lee, don't tinker with team selections and know your best XI! Take the blame for your mistakes and don't publically condemn players.. If by next Christmas, we are looking healthy, I will accept that he's capable of growing into the role. If we are in the same position again then enough really will be enough.

[BS2 Red]

I wanted him gone months ago and haven't changed my opinion.

But it seems clear that SL wants to keep him and that LJ isn't going anywhere. I therefore hope he proves me wrong and we have an amazing next season.

[Atticus]

17 minutes ago, gl1 said:

Don't think LJ is going anywhere soon Tone, should we struggle again next season I think we will see more of the same, protests, huge animosity on here and little action from the board. SL clearly sees something in LJ that a lot of us fans dont. To be fair to the man though, if look at opening form and closing form to the season, you can see why hes still here. The dreadful run of games (which seems to follow LJ around - didnt he oversee a 9 game losing streak at Barnsley) allowed the people who doubted his appointment in the first place to come to the fore. He was berated as a player, so I suppose the same fans would react to his managment with the same negativity.

If results go our way next Sunday, we could finish 15th. At the start of the season I would've taken that. If only the losses had been spread more evenly across the season we probably wouldn't have seen the anger on here (as much)

Anyways lets hope for a city, Blackburn and Forest win on Sunday, so we can repay the nice compliment Birmingham did to us a few seasons back...

 

 

I would disagree that it allowed people that don't like the guy a chance. Whether he was a shit player/good player for us or not is irreverent. That run of form in the middle would of got practically every manager sacked at any club.

I can't see how finishing 15th is a success either. You would of honestly taken 15th place before the season started? Wouldn't call it huge progress.

It's average at best, especially after the amount of "talent's we recruited.

Mid table should of been our realistic expectations, and granted 15th isn't too far off, but it would of been a disappointment to me if I'd known that at the start.

However, we are on a good run, and it's good feeling to have. It's nice to see a settled team playing week in week out, and maybe LJ is learning lessons. 

It will be interesting to see recruitment per season, I'm still apprehensive about it, and it really needs to be quality over quantity.

No point buying buying buying and not playing, which is what I worry LJ will do.

[Robbored]

40 minutes ago, BigTone said:

so a great result against Brighton in what I considered our most important game of the season. Kudo's to all involved. But where do we go now ? In my mind our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering and I still think he needs to be moved on for us to progress. We have a decent squad with a few exceptions and a panic buy or two. A couple out and a couple in and we look good. We have shown what we can do on our day.

I hope SL can see this and will make the changes required to move us on.

As others have said Tone, LJ won't be going anywhere. 

We are going to finish around mid table and I'm happy with that and said as much at the start of the season.

We had a good start and a good finish with decent performances but lost that consistency in the middle party down to LJ tinkering with the team so much.

As yesterday proved when LJ gets its right we are capable of beating any  SBC team. 

 

[gl1]

Just now, Atticus said:

I would disagree that it allowed people that don't like the guy a chance. Whether he was a shit player/good player for us or not is irreverent. That run of form in the middle would of got practically every manager sacked at any club.

I can't see how finishing 15th is a success either. You would of honestly taken 15th place before the season started? Wouldn't call it huge progress.

It's average at best, especially after the amount of "talent's we recruited.

Mid table should of been our realistic expectations, and granted 15th isn't too far off, but it would of been a disappointment to me if I'd known that at the start.

However, we are on a good run, and it's good feeling to have. It's nice to see a settled team playing week in week out, and maybe LJ is learning lessons. 

It will be interesting to see recruitment per season, I'm still apprehensive about it, and it really needs to be quality over quantity.

No point buying buying buying and not playing, which is what I worry LJ will do.

This season, yes, we struggled the year before, LJ is not a glamour manager and we didnt sign anyone of real note at the time (no one knew how Tammy would turn out).

I believed SL when he said that it was a 'working towards' campaign rather than a balls out charge for the premiership. In line with SL 's vision I am now expecting a top 8 or 10 finish next season.

[Pickle Rick]

44 minutes ago, BigTone said:

so a great result against Brighton in what I considered our most important game of the season. Kudo's to all involved. But where do we go now ? In my mind our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering and I still think he needs to be moved on for us to progress. We have a decent squad with a few exceptions and a panic buy or two. A couple out and a couple in and we look good. We have shown what we can do on our day.

I hope SL can see this and will make the changes required to move us on.

"our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering"

Is LJ really to blame though? Scapegoated massively is my thought.

And who is Kudo?!

[Ivorguy]

Ten game leeway (sorry about that) and if floundering get rid.  If not forget this season and onwards and upwards

[bakes]

I can't remember a season quite like this one, how LJ managed to turn it around at the end of the season is staggering.

I agree about all the tinkering and now we have a settled side / formation we have done well.

I would of happily seen him gone but to be fair i think he deserves another chance next season.

Talk about ups and downs from Preston to Brighton!

 

[Toffee dog]

9 minutes ago, Wanderingred said:

If previous evidence is anything to go by, our fine end of season form cannot be used as a sign that things will improve. We finished 2011-12 like a steam train then got relegated the following year. Last year ended promisingly too but the same old problems resurfaced.

That said, LJ has given us enough joy in the last few weeks (I absolutely LOVED spoiling Brightons party yesterday) that I'm willing to give him a clean slate for next season. Learn from your mistakes Lee, don't tinker with team selections and know your best XI! Take the blame for your mistakes and don't publically condemn players.. If by next Christmas, we are looking healthy, I will accept that he's capable of growing into the role. If we are in the same position again then enough really will be enough.

Agree with this, think the rest of this year could be very interesting for all concerned, who's coming & going this next window & what are form is like for the start of next season. Thought we were dead & buried this season so he has earned some respect back.

Hope he is able to develop as a manager and  move us forward, this I feel will have a large influence on how next season turns out.

Expect SL to back him in the transfer market for next season, so time for you Mr Johnson to step up to the plate & show us what your made of & whether all this talk about you being an up & coming young manager have any foundations.

 

 

[Mike Hunt-Hertz]

Just now, bakes said:

I can't remember a season quite like this one, how LJ managed to turn it around at the end of the season is staggering.

I agree about all the tinkering and now we have a settled side / formation we have done well.

I would of happily seen him gone but to be fair i think he deserves another chance next season.

Talk about ups and downs from Preston to Brighton!

 

Not too much of a chance though, Leanie! Any more of that shite, and he needs a size 9 up his dirtbox.

[INCRED]

55 minutes ago, BigTone said:

so a great result against Brighton in what I considered our most important game of the season. Kudo's to all involved. But where do we go now ? In my mind our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering and I still think he needs to be moved on for us to progress. We have a decent squad with a few exceptions and a panic buy or two. A couple out and a couple in and we look good. We have shown what we can do on our day.

I hope SL can see this and will make the changes required to move us on.

He's played the same team last 5 games and the results reflect the consistent selection. He has found the right blend of players and tactics. Players are playing for him and the club so leave it alone.

He has realised Tomlin can't play in this team and in spite of trying probably concludes that was our problem. 

LJ will have learnt a lot this season about the players and himself. A good season next time round I reckon and the haters will be put back in their box permanently

[BigTone]

20 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

"our problems this season have been down to LJ's continued tinkering"

Is LJ really to blame though? Scapegoated massively is my thought.

And who is Kudo?!

He is the manager, decides formations, tactics and picks the team so how is he a scapegoat.?

Kudo is our new Japanese signing "for the future"

[BigTone]

9 minutes ago, INCRED said:

He's played the same team last 5 games and the results reflect the consistent selection. He has found the right blend of players and tactics. Players are playing for him and the club so leave it alone.

 

Amazes me how people forget the other 40 odd games.

And BTW I will leave it alone when I decide I want to.

[ChippenhamRed]

If I had to choose between:-

a) Continuity, a manager who knows the squad + has a decent overall record in charge of the club + has just taken 13 points from 15 and overseen top 10 form over the final third of the season.

OR

b) No continuity, yet another new manager, repeating a cycle we have seen a million times before, more squad upheaval, no guarantees we would get someone "better" and no guarantees they would actually do better.

...I would currently choose a).

[ChippenhamRed]

Just now, BigTone said:

Amazes me how people forget the other 40 odd games.

And BTW I will leave it alone when I decide I want to.

Amazes me how people forget the strong finish to last season, the good start to this season, and the good finish.

The poor run was nowhere near 40 games, that's just fake news to support an argument. Look at LJ's overall record.

[BigTone]

The point is we are at the end of the season so continuity now means nothing. There will be squad upheaval either way so that is not part of any argument.

[BigTone]

8 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Amazes me how people forget the strong finish to last season, the good start to this season, and the good finish.

The poor run was nowhere near 40 games, that's just fake news to suppwement. Look at LJ's overall record. 

I am and does not inspire me one bit. Last season means nothing as does the good start to this season that we failed to capitalise on. People now say that if we beat Brum we will finish mid table but forget had we lost yestersday we would be in deep poop again. This division is very close and our managers tactical naivety at times has cost us dearly.

[ChippenhamRed]

Just now, BigTone said:

The point is we are at the end of the season so continuity now means nothing. There will be squad upheaval either way so that is not part of any argument.

You can't just decide what is and what isn't part of the argument.

A new manager would bring new staff, would make more wholesale changes to a squad, and would bring a new way of working. Yet more change. Stability and continuity is something in our favour compared to other clubs and it is a factor whether it's the end of the season or not.

[BigTone]

1 hour ago, CotswoldRed said:

Simply won't happen. We have to accept that and work out how he might be successful. 

I'm with you BT, but I hope he plays a blinder from here. 

The only way he leaves - we get 6 points from our opening 12-15 games. Nobody wants that. 

I hope he succeeds but just know he won't if he continues in the same vein. To be clear I am not talking about the last couple of games but the season overall

[One BCFC]

The change to keep Pack and Smith together in midfield and having Tammy and Taylor up front has saved his bacon this season. In fairness, we would look stupid to sack him now and simply, it is not going to happen.

1 real positive is the players are united, fighting for eachother and that says a lot and I will hold my hands up and admit I wanted him gone all along but to pull us away like he has should also be credited.

 

[cidercity1987]

His tinkering has been ridiculous but somehow we have progressed this season and for that reason he is now unsackable imo

[cidered abroad]

20 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Amazes me how people forget the strong finish to last season, the good start to this season, and the good finish.

The poor run was nowhere near 40 games, that's just fake news to support an argument. Look at LJ's overall record.

The "poor run" was twenty two matches when we gained only eleven points out of sixty six. That sequence of non performances, snatching defeats from the jaws of victory, led us on a downward spiral that I can only remember once before at City, in 1979-80 which ended in relegation from the old First Division. (8th in October 1979 to 20th in April 1980)

What was going wrong during that spell from October until February will probably never be known to us. What was done to turn it around will also never be known. The slaughter at Deepdale is the sort of result that can happen to any side, just like us stuffing Huddersfield a month or so ago. But having been preceded by the "eleven from sixty six", it was understandable that our support went into meltdown because all most could see at the end of that match, was another spell in the inappropriately named League One.

Yet now, we are in the midst of another boom time, beating a side on their own tump who have given us nothing in the past few years. A superb result and clearly a performance so different to what has gone before. I don't know now, whether Johnson is going to be a supercoach or not. To take us to places we've never been or continue on a "boom or bust" roller coaster ride but we'll just have to wait until August to find out whether the next stage of being a City supporter, will be good or not so good. 

[grifty]

The problem with his team and tactical changes was they were so extreme. He wouldn't make one or two changes, slight formation change (4-4-2 to 4-5-1, etc) so it got confusing for fans what system we were playing, let alone what the players must have felt.

But as been said, he's stopped that, settled the side and i think the telling thing is whether he has learnt from this - previous jobs suggest not yet. I reckon he panicked when the bad run started and thought wholesale changes were needed when only a slight tweak was required.