Lee Johnson

[shelts]

1 minute ago, And Its Smith said:

5th is a decent job. 4th is a good job. 3rd is very good.  2nd would be freedom of the city.  He will have to finish 4th next season to keep his job I reckon and his best player will be leaving this summer so got his work cut out a little bit.  

Work to be done then .  Hard to break the old firm stranglehold in that league . Just watched Ross v Patrick which was very entertaining, we’d give em both a good go 

[Portland Bill]

10 hours ago, shelts said:

Some of the best football I’ve witnessed in my time watching Bristol City . He’s a decent enough guy and a tidy manager . I’m a little surprised how well he’s done at Hibs , don’t know Scottish football that well so can’t say if they finished where they should’ve 

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

[The Coach]

I seen this the other day from Neil Warnock when speaking about Pep at Man City. It made me think of Johnson straight away.

You can talk all the lingo you want and you may be a clever tactician etc. However, if you lack man management skills. All means nothing. Which is what LJ does not have.

[bcfcredandwhite]

1 hour ago, Portland Bill said:

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

Really? 
I’ve been watching City admittedly a little longer than you (50+ years), and I’ve seen some really dire crap over those years - in lower divisions too. 

The football under Johnson ‘stagnated’ and became boring, it was right that he went  (although the way his successor was appointed was a debacle that made us a laughing stock) - we were burning money and going nowhere, but there was good stuff too like our cup run - that night vs Man U was one of the most enjoyable in my 50+ years as a fan.

 

 

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Really? 
I’ve been watching City admittedly a little longer than you (50+ years), and I’ve seen some really dire crap over those years - in lower divisions too. 

The football under Johnson ‘stagnated’ and became boring, it was right that he went  (although the way his successor was appointed was a debacle that made us a laughing stock) - we were burning money and going nowhere, but there was good stuff too like our cup run - that night vs Man U was one of the most enjoyable in my 50+ years as a fan.

 

 

Fair.

We had a right mixed bag under Lee…good and bad.  But his bad spell still wasnt as bad as other manager’s bad spells.

[The Coach]

35 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Fair.

We had a right mixed bag under Lee…good and bad.  But his bad spell still wasnt as bad as other manager’s bad spells.

Did other mangers have as much spending power as LJ, Dave? That is why in my eyes. Johnson was a massive failure here.

If he didn’t have the money to throw around. I’m confident he would have taken us down to league one 

[Portland Bill]

45 minutes ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Really? 
I’ve been watching City admittedly a little longer than you (50+ years), and I’ve seen some really dire crap over those years - in lower divisions too. 

The football under Johnson ‘stagnated’ and became boring, it was right that he went  (although the way his successor was appointed was a debacle that made us a laughing stock) - we were burning money and going nowhere, but there was good stuff too like our cup run - that night vs Man U was one of the most enjoyable in my 50+ years as a fan.

 

 

I got so disillusioned watching his football that I stopped going, coupled with the fact he blamed everyone else for how bad it was.

He constantly threw players under the bus, and counted the ‘box entries’!

That’s how bad it was in my eyes. 

 

[The Coach]

2 minutes ago, Portland Bill said:

I got so disillusioned watching his football that I stopped going, coupled with the fact he blamed everyone else for how bad it was.

He constantly threw players under the bus, and counted the ‘box entries’!

That’s how bad it was in my eyes. 

 

Brentford home game New Year’s Day? Think we got paced 4-0 and Brentford dominated for 90 minutes.

That was the game you really could see the difference in class and where Brentford were heading. They were the ones with the identity that Johnson always banged on about.

[ExiledAjax]

I believe the 4 year contract we gave Johnson in 2019 finally expired last week.

[beaverface]

43 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Fair.

We had a right mixed bag under Lee…good and bad.  But his bad spell still wasnt as bad as other manager’s bad spells.

Definitely agree about the good and bad times. Some of the stuff played during the good times was exceptional. Unfortunately, LJ tinkered and tried to change things on a match by match basis, and it cost us. Also, didn't Steve McClaren say that every single goal we attempted to score was a Worldy and that we never score the scrappy\messy goals?

What I will say is that LJ also presided over the longest EVER losing spell as any Bristol City manager in history - I'd say that's a pretty bad spell (although I would say that the football wasn't as dire as under some other managers - but it was close!)

[Riaz]

2 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

You must have missed alot of football then. Pulis days? Russell Osman days?

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, The Coach said:

Did other mangers have as much spending power as LJ, Dave? That is why in my eyes. Johnson was a massive failure here.

If he didn’t have the money to throw around. I’m confident he would have taken us down to league one 

Ooooooh, that’s another dynamic to the LJ debate, I’ve posted so many times about over the years.

[Riaz]

10 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Ooooooh, that’s another dynamic to the LJ debate, I’ve posted so many times about over the years.

And what people always forget in that debate, was LJ was often spending money gained from losing players.

off the top of my head, Kodjia, Kelly, Bryan, Reid & Flint, all went for big fees.

Pretty sure he spent less than fees brought in.

[Cityboy1954]

3 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

But he talked a good game with his waffle

[miketh2nd]

 

Yes he had more to spend than any manager but the teams around us were doing the same and it is known that many signings were bought whether LJ or his team wanted them or not .  

The highs were very high but the lows were darn low. Other than the man utd season he couldn't quite find the right balance but as stated above his best players were always being sold . For me I think Webster was the biggest loss ,  such a shame we only had him for one season . 

I ll enjoy keeping a eye out to see how LJ does in Europe.

[Selred]

56 minutes ago, Riaz said:

You must have missed alot of football then. Pulis days? Russell Osman days?

SO'D, McInnes...

[FNQ]

LJ brought us Brownhill and Webster… also brought us Diony (friggin hell). There were great times and a lot of really bad times.. He was too much of a smartarse with his post match interviews especially after a loss and for that there’s no doubt, but I honestly believe he cared about Bristol City. At the end of the day we’ve moved on for the better and the futures looking so much better but for me both LJ (and his dad) were genuinely onboard and wanted the best for us, just wasn’t to be.

[Riaz]

13 minutes ago, FNQ said:

LJ brought us Brownhill and Webster… also brought us Diony (friggin hell). There were great times and a lot of really bad times.. He was too much of a smartarse with his post match interviews especially after a loss and for that there’s no doubt, but I honestly believe he cared about Bristol City. At the end of the day we’ve moved on for the better and the futures looking so much better but for me both LJ (and his dad) were genuinely onboard and wanted the best for us, just wasn’t to be.

Spot on

[TonyTonyTony]

Amazing to me still how marmite he is, 3 years after he left. Ive never got the strong dislike some have for him. You cannot deny his team gave us the best memory we've had in years. In regard to the job he has done at Hibs, it is about Par finishing 5th. 

[Sleepy1968]

4 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

I thought the three consecutive relegation seasons were terrible, as was some of the first season in the fourth division. 

Other relegation seasons were pretty dire if I think about it

The Johnson season whilst Bobby Reid was playing like the EverReady bunny was partly great. But when Bobby ran out of puff, so did we. So it was ultimately disappointing.

Toward the end of Johnsons reign I think him and Ashton had undermined the building of a successful team, and that football was pretty uninspiring.

[Gimme Shelton]

Constantly amazed that people still bring up Diony. He didn't cost 30 million,he was a loan that didn't work out,it happens,get over it!

[BanburyRed]

15 hours ago, GrahamC said:

They finished 5th, so I really can’t see that as any sort of achievement.

They finished below Aberdeen & Hearts who are similar size & above a load of sides nowhere near as big as them.

An achievement would be above the sides who finished 3rd & 4th, whoever is in charge they have no chance of anything more.

He finished 5th, behind Aberdeen in 3rd who finished with -4 GD. Not much to shout about. And played last game against rivals Hearts with man advantage for 60 mins.

[bcfctim]

2 hours ago, bcfcredandwhite said:

Really? 
I’ve been watching City admittedly a little longer than you (50+ years), and I’ve seen some really dire crap over those years - in lower divisions too. 

The football under Johnson ‘stagnated’ and became boring, it was right that he went  (although the way his successor was appointed was a debacle that made us a laughing stock) - we were burning money and going nowhere, but there was good stuff too like our cup run - that night vs Man U was one of the most enjoyable in my 50+ years as a fan.

 

 

Not just the cup run either. 6-0 Vs Bolton, 4-0 Vs Sheff Wed, 4-0 Vs Huddersfield (twice!), 4-0 Vs Fulham away, 4-1 Vs Derby, 3-1 Vs Aston Villa....

Some of the pressing, front-foot football we played in his early years was a joy to watch, and as much as I'm happy and optimistic about the direction of the club at present, I don't think we've quite reached those heights under Pearson, yet.

And that's pretty much all before we started getting silly in the transfer market.

The team that beat Man Utd and was 2nd in the league ~2 years into his reign:

Steele

Wright Baker Flint Magnússon

Brownhill Smith Pack Bryan

Paterson

Reid

5 of those were already at the club when he joined (including Bobby Reid who was well on his way out the door before he arrived). Steele was a loan to cover the injured Fielding which would have made 6. Wright/Paterson/Brownhill signed for nominal fees, all were good value (and spectacular in brownhill's case) The only two signings for £1m+ were Baker and Magnússon, the latter being the only one you'd describe as poor or wasteful and even he had his moments.

People say LJ only had success because we threw money at him, I'd argue almost all of his success came before we started spending stupidly, and when we did it worked to our detriment on the pitch as well as off.

Obviously he's got to take his fair share of the blame for the way things stagnated and the lack of a coherent plan once the purse strings were loosened, but the way people talk about him on here sometimes you'd think he never got anything right to begin with - and that's just straight up not true.

[Bristol Oil Services]

3 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Fair.

We had a right mixed bag under Lee…good and bad.  But his bad spell still wasn't as bad as other manager's bad spells.

He set a club record for consecutive league defeats, Dave, in 16/17. That was pretty bad going.

[bcfcredandwhite]

12 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

He set a club record for consecutive league defeats, Dave, in 16/17. That was pretty bad going.

It was very bad. 
the strange thing is though, the rot stopped when Pembo was sacked. Bizarre. I wouldn’t have predicted that. I still don’t understand it. 

[shelts]

5 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

Personally, some of the worst football I ever witnessed, that’s in the 45 years of watching City. 

I wouldn’t disagree with you , the end was hard watch and I was really surprised he wasn’t sacked earlier. 

[Davefevs]

23 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

He set a club record for consecutive league defeats, Dave, in 16/17. That was pretty bad going.

Was more referring to how we were playing than results per se.

[shelts]

Always reasons why the football ain’t great . I wasn’t massively impressed with some of what Nigel’s team were producing ….it was pretty damn bad but I had to give it a chance and be a realist . Circumstances 

[Northern Red]

Yeah, I don't buy that anyone who sat through Pulis just for starters could possibly say that LJ produced the worst football they'd seen.

Pulis was the one manager we've had who genuinely made me think about packing it in.

[Bristol Oil Services]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

Was more referring to how we were playing than results per se.

I know, Dave. Was just having a little fun with you there.