Why Gary Johnson Is The Man For This Club.

[Dastardly and Muttley]

First, of all, apologies for the long post, I hope you take the time to read it and comment!

There seems to have been an ongoing debate about GJ's suitability and credentials for the post of manager at this club, so I thought I'd put forward the reasons why I have full confidence in his ability to take this club forward in the long run.

1) His record at Yeovil was impressive. There are those who say that at Yeovil all he did was carry on Colin Addison's good work, but I believe GJ instilled that vital ingredient of self-belief to turn a side of "nearly-men" into runaway Conference champions as they were. Our club, before this season, is not too different. We've been given the "nearly-men" tag, which neither Wilson nor Tinnion could shake off. GJ did it at Yeovil, so hopefully he can do the same here.

2) He's in this for the long run. He left a secure job at Yeovil to come here, and knew full well the difficulties he would face - after all, no new manager comes into a job where the garden is rosy, otherwise the manager's job wouldn't be available! City do not need a quick fix, we have deep-rooted problems and need someone to come in, change the culture and mentality of the club, to allow us to progress in the future. GJ may not be the man to reap the rewards of this success, but I believe we will look back at his tenure as being the starting point of our future success.

3) He is starting to change the mentality of the club. I see it as a positive that we no longer EXPECT to beat anybody in this division. This expectation and belief that we are bigger than others has almost certainly played a part in the development of the cosy club culture at Ashton Gate. Now, players and fans realise that we will only win games through hard work, effort and concentration - it's not just a case of turning up, which we almost seemed to believe was the case, particularly during the DW reign. We now have players who are putting in 100% effort every game, and improved fitness levels are showing. In the long run, this will get us results.

4) He has a tradition of helping youngsters succeed, including succeeding where others have failed - Kevin Gall and Amankwaah anyone? He can take youngsters, give them the confidence and encouragement they need to shine and turn them into good players. We all saw the potential in KA, but he was not able to fulfil it under the coaching at City, so left to join Yeovil where he has excelled. Hopefully now we have GJ in charge we can see the potential of our academy being unlocked by a manager who knows how to bring the best out of youngsters.

5) He has a reputation for producing teams playing good football. All fans want to see good, exciting football don't they? So this has to be a good point.

6) He hasn't panicked. Previous managers would have paid over the odds for Reddy and Hayter this window, and possibly left the club in a VERY dangerous state. Remember that, despite the hype, signing either of these players would have been a gamble. Hayter has only really had one season scoring regularly and most of these goals were penalties. Reddy has drifted down the leagues after being released by Sunderland, and again isn't a regularly prolific striker. These two guys would have been "good" signings, but by no means in the same league as say, Nathan Tyson or Leon Knight, people who would have been more "safe" gambles, but for one reason or another weren't viable options for us.

7) His reputation is on the line. At Yeovil, he was viewed as a good manager, now he's at City it's make or break time in his career. From here, he has really only three options

a) make a success of it at City and progress into Championship and Premiership, spending rest of career here

b) succeed here, getting himself noticed by a Premiership club, Fulham? West Ham? and going on to have a successful Prem career.

c) fail here. Then what? Conference and League Two management beckons again, and GJ fades into obscurity as a one-club wonder manager.

He needs to succeed here for the good of his career as much as anyone else.

8) He has identified the clubs problems, and is working on it. He identified a drinking culture at the club, and has started to sort it out, he identified a cosy club culture, and is working on that, he identified poor fitness levels and has worked on that and he is working well within the budgetary confinements of a club of our size.

For me, all of the above stack up to show that GJ is a positive appointment for Bristol City, and although things may not be fantastic at the moment, the seeds are being sown for future success.

It is at times of adversity that you can best plan for future success, and GJ is working hard on the grass roots areas of this club - training, work ethic and mentality. These things will bring success in the long run. This is not a quick fix, the club needed a complete overhaul and we are still in the early stages of that.

[WARWICK RED]

couldnt agree more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rockin-robin]

You must really have a lot a faith in this guy. Hope your right!!

[Luke_Ciderhead]

I would agree with all of those points except for number seven.

The fact that he needs to succeed at City to continue climbing the managerial ladder applies to EVERY manager, and is unlikely to have any effect on the outcome of his stint as manager.

Other than that, your post makes very positive reading for a change. Nice one.

[yeovilred]

Agree with everything you have said. Lets not forget that before he took up this post he turned Derby down.

I would like to see a record no. of posts on this topic backing GJ now as the majority so far just seem to want to sleight him

Most Yeovil fans wish he was still there

[Luke_Ciderhead]

Forgot to add, I am indeed backing Gary Johnson all the way! Anyone else? This is ultimate happy clappy time so lets show our support for him here!

[City Exile]

Not happy clappy.

But no doubt to me that in a relatively short time he has turned the club round from playing the most god awful football I have ever seen us play to a competitive side again. I think many on here forget just how very very bad we were playing before he came.

Not world beaters, and not sure I warm naturally to him. But that aside a very very encouraging start!

[Dastardly and Muttley]

Forgot to add, I am indeed backing Gary Johnson all the way! Anyone else? This is ultimate happy clappy time so lets show our support for him here!

Just to say, that I wouldn't call myself a "happy clappy"! There are aspects of GJ's reign that I don't like, such as the "9 in a row", although I believe this was a cathartic experience for all involved, the hand-grenade incident and the on-going spat with MS being a few. I just felt that it was time people took a step back and really looked at the whole picture and what GJ is trying to achieve here.

We may all not agree with some of his methods, but I believe he is working to a plan and that he is doing things in a sensible manner, the last thing we need now is a risk taker who may have gambled the entire future of this club on a player such as Reddy or Hayter in the window.

[Guest sprout1883]

First, of all, apologies for the long post, I hope you take the time to read it and comment!

There seems to have been an ongoing debate about GJ's suitability and credentials for the post of manager at this club, so I thought I'd put forward the reasons why I have full confidence in his ability to take this club forward in the long run.

1) His record at Yeovil was impressive. There are those who say that at Yeovil all he did was carry on Colin Addison's good work, but I believe GJ instilled that vital ingredient of self-belief to turn a side of "nearly-men" into runaway Conference champions as they were. Our club, before this season, is not too different. We've been given the "nearly-men" tag, which neither Wilson nor Tinnion could shake off. GJ did it at Yeovil, so hopefully he can do the same here.

Certainly GJ must get some credit for the work at yeovil but he did have a solid base and infrastructure to build on. He would have had to have done something special to cock that up.

Still he did a bloody good job

2) He's in this for the long run. He left a secure job at Yeovil to come here, and knew full well the difficulties he would face - after all, no new manager comes into a job where the garden is rosy, otherwise the manager's job wouldn't be available! City do not need a quick fix, we have deep-rooted problems and need someone to come in, change the culture and mentality of the club, to allow us to progress in the future. GJ may not be the man to reap the rewards of this success, but I believe we will look back at his tenure as being the starting point of our future success.

Yes and no. How much extra money is he getting?

He could have took a risk at Derby or Coventry. Was he really considered for the jobs?

I personally think he saw the city job as a challenge anda marriage of convenience

3) He is starting to change the mentality of the club. I see it as a positive that we no longer EXPECT to beat anybody in this division. This expectation and belief that we are bigger than others has almost certainly played a part in the development of the cosy club culture at Ashton Gate. Now, players and fans realise that we will only win games through hard work, effort and concentration - it's not just a case of turning up, which we almost seemed to believe was the case, particularly during the DW reign. We now have players who are putting in 100% effort every game, and improved fitness levels are showing. In the long run, this will get us results.

Certainly not expecting to beat everyone is a good thing. Probably didn't help with EXTRA expectation this season with the squad that was assembled.

You mention DW but then you were always up there challenging under him

4) He has a tradition of helping youngsters succeed, including succeeding where others have failed - Kevin Gall and Amankwaah anyone? He can take youngsters, give them the confidence and encouragement they need to shine and turn them into good players. We all saw the potential in KA, but he was not able to fulfil it under the coaching at City, so left to join Yeovil where he has excelled. Hopefully now we have GJ in charge we can see the potential of our academy being unlocked by a manager who knows how to bring the best out of youngsters.

Gall is so say a stiker, but every manager including Johnson has shifted him to right midfield. An average player at best who won't end up anywhere.

Amankwaah. You never shold have let him go IMHO. I always rated him when I saw him. had a nasty injury and City cast him adrift.

5) He has a reputation for producing teams playing good football. All fans want to see good, exciting football don't they? So this has to be a good point.

But also had a team full of little gob ###tes and a-holes, and divers. NOT GOOD

6) He hasn't panicked. Previous managers would have paid over the odds for Reddy and Hayter this window, and possibly left the club in a VERY dangerous state. Remember that, despite the hype, signing either of these players would have been a gamble. Hayter has only really had one season scoring regularly and most of these goals were penalties. Reddy has drifted down the leagues after being released by Sunderland, and again isn't a regularly prolific striker. These two guys would have been "good" signings, but by no means in the same league as say, Nathan Tyson or Leon Knight, people who would have been more "safe" gambles, but for one reason or another weren't viable options for us.

I'd agree with that but has made himself look foolish with his ever changing statements and actions.

Don't judge me on this team anyone. Handgrenades etc.

7) His reputation is on the line. At Yeovil, he was viewed as a good manager, now he's at City it's make or break time in his career. From here, he has really only three options

a) make a success of it at City and progress into Championship and Premiership, spending rest of career here

b) succeed here, getting himself noticed by a Premiership club, Fulham? West Ham? and going on to have a successful Prem career.

c) fail here. Then what? Conference and League Two management beckons again, and GJ fades into obscurity as a one-club wonder manager.

He needs to succeed here for the good of his career as much as anyone else.

Managers fail more then they succeed. At the end of the day only so many teams can win anything/get promoted.

One week your a hero the next your sacked

8) He has identified the clubs problems, and is working on it. He identified a drinking culture at the club, and has started to sort it out, he identified a cosy club culture, and is working on that, he identified poor fitness levels and has worked on that and he is working well within the budgetary confinements of a club of our size.

To be honest a blind man could have spotted that, but at least he is doing something about it which can only benefit you in the long run

For me, all of the above stack up to show that GJ is a positive appointment for Bristol City, and although things may not be fantastic at the moment, the seeds are being sown for future success.

It is at times of adversity that you can best plan for future success, and GJ is working hard on the grass roots areas of this club - training, work ethic and mentality. These things will bring success in the long run. This is not a quick fix, the club needed a complete overhaul and we are still in the early stages of that.

[Dastardly and Muttley]

Thanks for the comments, Sprout.

Certainly GJ must get some credit for the work at yeovil but he did have a solid base and infrastructure to build on. He would have had to have done something special to cock that up.

Still he did a bloody good job

Yep, it would have been hard to cock it up, but what he did was push them over the finish line, and move the whole club forward, through his hard work and team ethic that he's now trying to instill at City.

Yes and no. How much extra money is he getting?

He could have took a risk at Derby or Coventry. Was he really considered for the jobs?

I personally think he saw the city job as a challenge anda marriage of convenience

Possibly so. I think he was offered the job at Derby, not sure about Coventry. Still, there's no doubt that GJ sees the potential here, and our being local was almost certainly a factor in his decision to take up the post. This has to be a good thing, I mean, we wouldn't want a manager commuting from say, Chesterfield, would we?

Certainly not expecting to beat everyone is a good thing. Probably didn't help with EXTRA expectation this season with the squad that was assembled.

You mention DW but then you were always up there challenging under him

We were always challenging, but never made it. We were the "nearly men", similar to the Yeovil that GJ inherited, how different things could have been if he was appointed then...

As you say, lower expectation is good, as it relaxes the pressure on everyone.

Gall is so say a stiker, but every manager including Johnson has shifted him to right midfield. An average player at best who won't end up anywhere.

Amankwaah. You never shold have let him go IMHO. I always rated him when I saw him. had a nasty injury and City cast him adrift.

Amankwaah was a great prospect, but never really achieved more than this at City, similar to many others at the club. Players progress to the first team, then stagnate. For example, Clist, Damian Spencer, Kay Odejayi, even Woodman, Orr and to a lesser extent Cotts before GJ took over. At Yeovil, their youngsters seem to keep improving, a sign of better coaching? If so, I hope GJ can bring it here to City!

But also had a team full of little gob ###tes and a-holes, and divers. NOT GOOD

Wasn't aware of this side of Yeovil, hope it doesn't come here. The team's attitude and discipline against Swansea suggests to me that it won't.

Managers fail more then they succeed. At the end of the day only so many teams can win anything/get promoted.

One week your a hero the next your sacked

To be honest a blind man could have spotted that, but at least he is doing something about it which can only benefit you in the long run

True on both counts, but as you say it's easy to spot the problems, it's taking action which is hard - and GJ is taking action.

I'd agree with that but has made himself look foolish with his ever changing statements and actions.

Don't judge me on this team anyone. Handgrenades etc.

Again, I agree. His PR does need improvement, and he has made some contradictory statements but I believe his comments were made in good faith and with the intention of shaking up the players, showing them a few home truths, before bringing them around to his way of thinking.

[madmax]

The jury is out for me. I appreciate we have only lost two games in 11 but we are still where we are. If we stay up and I think we will, then I am willing to see what he does in the first three months of the new season.

Saturday is massive and although we have several defenders missing, it will go to show how good a squad we have, seeing as it's now "his team".

If, come October, some 3 months into the new season, we are in mid-table struggling to put our mark on it early, then I would have serious doubts.

My only worry is who has Gary Johnson managed and where?

http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=481

I also understand he has managed Latvia who is probably the same standard as Championship and League One mixed.

This worries me, only slightly, but he must understand we are a club starved of success and his job comes with pressure, so can he handle it?

MM

[Gazred]

To point 3 alone i take my hat off to you sir. Good post.

[solo1bc]

I agree with you Dastardly.. Particularily about point number 8!

It's high time that the soft option culture of this club was sorted out and if we have to suffer a little to make it happen then that's ok by me.

I also agree strongly that he 'seems' to be in it for the long term and about not paying over the odds during the window.

I'm fully in support of GJ (although this 'thing' with Stewie needs to be sorted out IMO)

[Dastardly and Muttley]

I agree with you Dastardly.. Particularily about point number 8!

It's high time that the soft option culture of this club was sorted out and if we have to suffer a little to make it happen then that's ok by me.

I also agree strongly that he 'seems' to be in it for the long term and about not paying over the odds during the window.

I'm fully in support of GJ (although this 'thing' with Stewie needs to be sorted out IMO)

This thing with Stewie - As we've said, GJ is in this for the long run, Stewart is coming to the end of his career. It's not as if we're dealing with someone like Cotts who has his career ahead of him.

There could be many reasons for this "thing", maybe MS is finding the new training regime hard? Maybe GJ and MS just have a personality clash, so GJ is making an example of MS before a dressing room split develops? Maybe GJ feels he can spend MS wages better elsewhere? Maybe MS is disliked in the dressing room because of his higher wages and "big name" tag?

I don't claim to know any of the answers, and as such will leave it up to GJ to sort out. Hopefully he'll be here longer than MS will, even if MS gets back in the fold and starts performing, because if GJ can outlast him it means he'll be doing a good job and taking us places!

[RedZepperin]

7) His reputation is on the line. At Yeovil, he was viewed as a good manager, now he's at City it's make or break time in his career. From here, he has really only three options

a) make a success of it at City and progress into Championship and Premiership, spending rest of career here

b) succeed here, getting himself noticed by a Premiership club, Fulham? West Ham? and going on to have a successful Prem career.

c) fail here. Then what? Conference and League Two management beckons again, and GJ fades into obscurity as a one-club wonder manager.

He needs to succeed here for the good of his career as much as anyone else.

Good post but I don't agree with this point. He could be unsuccessful here and then get lured away to a different third tier club with little fuss. There are few good managers around and, let's face it, being unsuccessful when you're manager of Bristol City manager is par for the course.

[OmegaSnake]

I couldnt agree more with your post Dastardly, I've backed GJ all the way, and i still think he is the right man for this club

[North Bristols Cider Army]

I agree we are in a rebuilding phase and I don't think there is anyone else apart from GJ who could do a job for us long term.

If not then who would you rather have in charge?

[Dastardly and Muttley]

I agree we are in a rebuilding phase and I don't think there is anyone else apart from GJ who could do a job for us long term.

If not then who would you rather have in charge?

Don't think anyone in this thread has suggested that GJ isn't the right man?

There's no one around at the moment that I would rather have, I feel we have the best man for the job and that we will see that in the years to come.

[Chappers]

Right, how about a slightly different view. Prior to GJ, Yeovil had considtently finished in the top 8 of the conference, the previous season finishing second to Rushden and Doc Martens. So basically, he took over a good Conference Club, which was also one of the best supported teams, and got them into the League.

Getting into Division 4, he then got them up again within 2 years. Again, fair play to him, but Wycombe, Barnet, Macclesfield, Cheltenham, Darlington and Rushden have all achieved that as well. Soon you may be able to add Carlisle to that list. The majority of what are traditional Non-League Clubs tend to start well once they get into the League. Of the others, Scarborough and Maidstone reached the Play-Offs during their first two seasons. In fact, only Boston have made no impact at all, and there were rather a lot of 'irregularities' during their promotion season.

Next, the point of GJ developing young players, before the recent car boot sale at Yeovil, the record fee received, according to Soccerbase is still the £75K that we paid for Mark Shail. That hardly indicates a conveyor-belt of top talent passing through Huish. Turning positive, it might mean that he can achieve wonders with ordinary players.

I am not putting this to knock Johnsons record, just to put a bit of perspective on his Yeovil achievements. And yes, I am being deliberately negative, and putting more than a hint of spin on the statistics. I must admit that, in all fairness, he clearly did a very decent job there. At City, I have been impressed with certain aspects such as fitness and organisation, but less so with other things that he has done, particulrly the striker situation. I am yet to be convinced, but hope that my doubts are unfounded.

[Redtucks]

First, of all, apologies for the long post, I hope you take the time to read it and comment!

There seems to have been an ongoing debate about GJ's suitability and credentials for the post of manager at this club, so I thought I'd put forward the reasons why I have full confidence in his ability to take this club forward in the long run.

1) His record at Yeovil was impressive. There are those who say that at Yeovil all he did was carry on Colin Addison's good work, but I believe GJ instilled that vital ingredient of self-belief to turn a side of "nearly-men" into runaway Conference champions as they were. Our club, before this season, is not too different. We've been given the "nearly-men" tag, which neither Wilson nor Tinnion could shake off. GJ did it at Yeovil, so hopefully he can do the same here.

2) He's in this for the long run. He left a secure job at Yeovil to come here, and knew full well the difficulties he would face - after all, no new manager comes into a job where the garden is rosy, otherwise the manager's job wouldn't be available! City do not need a quick fix, we have deep-rooted problems and need someone to come in, change the culture and mentality of the club, to allow us to progress in the future. GJ may not be the man to reap the rewards of this success, but I believe we will look back at his tenure as being the starting point of our future success.

3) He is starting to change the mentality of the club. I see it as a positive that we no longer EXPECT to beat anybody in this division. This expectation and belief that we are bigger than others has almost certainly played a part in the development of the cosy club culture at Ashton Gate. Now, players and fans realise that we will only win games through hard work, effort and concentration - it's not just a case of turning up, which we almost seemed to believe was the case, particularly during the DW reign. We now have players who are putting in 100% effort every game, and improved fitness levels are showing. In the long run, this will get us results.

4) He has a tradition of helping youngsters succeed, including succeeding where others have failed - Kevin Gall and Amankwaah anyone? He can take youngsters, give them the confidence and encouragement they need to shine and turn them into good players. We all saw the potential in KA, but he was not able to fulfil it under the coaching at City, so left to join Yeovil where he has excelled. Hopefully now we have GJ in charge we can see the potential of our academy being unlocked by a manager who knows how to bring the best out of youngsters.

5) He has a reputation for producing teams playing good football. All fans want to see good, exciting football don't they? So this has to be a good point.

6) He hasn't panicked. Previous managers would have paid over the odds for Reddy and Hayter this window, and possibly left the club in a VERY dangerous state. Remember that, despite the hype, signing either of these players would have been a gamble. Hayter has only really had one season scoring regularly and most of these goals were penalties. Reddy has drifted down the leagues after being released by Sunderland, and again isn't a regularly prolific striker. These two guys would have been "good" signings, but by no means in the same league as say, Nathan Tyson or Leon Knight, people who would have been more "safe" gambles, but for one reason or another weren't viable options for us.

7) His reputation is on the line. At Yeovil, he was viewed as a good manager, now he's at City it's make or break time in his career. From here, he has really only three options

a) make a success of it at City and progress into Championship and Premiership, spending rest of career here

b) succeed here, getting himself noticed by a Premiership club, Fulham? West Ham? and going on to have a successful Prem career.

c) fail here. Then what? Conference and League Two management beckons again, and GJ fades into obscurity as a one-club wonder manager.

He needs to succeed here for the good of his career as much as anyone else.

8) He has identified the clubs problems, and is working on it. He identified a drinking culture at the club, and has started to sort it out, he identified a cosy club culture, and is working on that, he identified poor fitness levels and has worked on that and he is working well within the budgetary confinements of a club of our size.

For me, all of the above stack up to show that GJ is a positive appointment for Bristol City, and although things may not be fantastic at the moment, the seeds are being sown for future success.

It is at times of adversity that you can best plan for future success, and GJ is working hard on the grass roots areas of this club - training, work ethic and mentality. These things will bring success in the long run. This is not a quick fix, the club needed a complete overhaul and we are still in the early stages of that.

An excellent and well though out post with which I couldn't agree more.

I just wish some of our so called supporters would also see that there's no instant fix to many of our problems which have been with us for many years.

The culture of our club, and that includes the ill thought out and illogical expectations of many of our supporters, needs to change and it will take patience and understanding from everyone before it is achieved.

I feel at present that in general we are moving in the right direction, and whilst there are many things that may not be entirely clear to us (which is not surprising as we do not have an intimate day to day knowledge of the interactions within the club, let alone experience in managing a professional club) I am prepared to back GJ all the way, even it it takes several seasons before we ultimately achieve sucess.

[shamussy]

Like the positive tone. Clouds over many issues imo. I hope that in the long run he works out for us but I am sometimes puzzled with his attacking selections and haven't been too impressed by his loan signings. Will give him that he is positive and a strong character though which could go a long way. Proof of the pudding's in the eating and I haven't ate any yet.

[Dolman Block B]

I agree we are in a rebuilding phase and I don't think there is anyone else apart from GJ who could do a job for us long term.

If not then who would you rather have in charge?

A CERTAIN CHELSEA BOSS SPRINGS TO MIND

[st_jude_here]

First, of all, apologies for the long post, I hope you take the time to read it and comment!

There seems to have been an ongoing debate about GJ's suitability and credentials for the post of manager at this club, so I thought I'd put forward the reasons why I have full confidence in his ability to take this club forward in the long run.

1) His record at Yeovil was impressive. There are those who say that at Yeovil all he did was carry on Colin Addison's good work, but I believe GJ instilled that vital ingredient of self-belief to turn a side of "nearly-men" into runaway Conference champions as they were. Our club, before this season, is not too different. We've been given the "nearly-men" tag, which neither Wilson nor Tinnion could shake off. GJ did it at Yeovil, so hopefully he can do the same here.

Non league semi pro football is totally different to professional level - this team lacks self belief how many goals? Look at the body language Were you at Barnsley?

2) He's in this for the long run. He left a secure job at Yeovil to come here, and knew full well the difficulties he would face - after all, no new manager comes into a job where the garden is rosy, otherwise the manager's job wouldn't be available! City do not need a quick fix, we have deep-rooted problems and need someone to come in, change the culture and mentality of the club, to allow us to progress in the future. GJ may not be the man to reap the rewards of this success, but I believe we will look back at his tenure as being the starting point of our future success.

He left for a bigger club - knowing we had a good squad and academy - not much of a risk. Tinnion was the first to stand up to the players in recent years. How does a manager change the mentality of a profit driven Chairman who will sell anything of any value in the club - we are still waiting for his top to bottom shake up.

3) He is starting to change the mentality of the club. I see it as a positive that we no longer EXPECT to beat anybody in this division. This expectation and belief that we are bigger than others has almost certainly played a part in the development of the cosy club culture at Ashton Gate. Now, players and fans realise that we will only win games through hard work, effort and concentration - it's not just a case of turning up, which we almost seemed to believe was the case, particularly during the DW reign. We now have players who are putting in 100% effort every game, and improved fitness levels are showing. In the long run, this will get us results.

Looks like he's changing the mentality and expectancy level of the fans more like - we should be beating these teams - again he took over from a manager 7 games in who was trying to sort out his new signings and signings brought in by the chairman over his head (you think Tinnion signed Stewart?). We should expect no more than 100% fitness and commitment.

4) He has a tradition of helping youngsters succeed, including succeeding where others have failed - Kevin Gall and Amankwaah anyone? He can take youngsters, give them the confidence and encouragement they need to shine and turn them into good players. We all saw the potential in KA, but he was not able to fulfil it under the coaching at City, so left to join Yeovil where he has excelled. Hopefully now we have GJ in charge we can see the potential of our academy being unlocked by a manager who knows how to bring the best out of youngsters.

KA wouldn't have been anywhere WITHOUT the coaching of city - another released for next to nothing. How many youngsters did Tinnion bring through? Only to be sold off?

5) He has a reputation for producing teams playing good football. All fans want to see good, exciting football don't they? So this has to be a good point.

Are we playing good football? League position?

6) He hasn't panicked. Previous managers would have paid over the odds for Reddy and Hayter this window, and possibly left the club in a VERY dangerous state. Remember that, despite the hype, signing either of these players would have been a gamble. Hayter has only really had one season scoring regularly and most of these goals were penalties. Reddy has drifted down the leagues after being released by Sunderland, and again isn't a regularly prolific striker. These two guys would have been "good" signings, but by no means in the same league as say, Nathan Tyson or Leon Knight, people who would have been more "safe" gambles, but for one reason or another weren't viable options for us.

Are you aware that we were offered Reddy on a free before he signed for Grimsby when Tinnion was in charge? Why would we need Tyson if we have kept what we had already? I suggest that a number of players he wanted to sign didn't want to come here and play for him - what happened to Easter?

7) His reputation is on the line. At Yeovil, he was viewed as a good manager, now he's at City it's make or break time in his career. From here, he has really only three options

a) make a success of it at City and progress into Championship and Premiership, spending rest of career here - NOT WITH THE CURRENT CHAIRMAN UNLESS HE DRASTICALLY CHANGES HIS WAYS

b) succeed here, getting himself noticed by a Premiership club, Fulham? West Ham? and going on to have a successful Prem career. NO - YOU SERIOUSLY THINK THEY WOULD COSIDER HIM?

c) fail here. Then what? Conference and League Two management beckons again, and GJ fades into obscurity as a one-club wonder manager. PROBABLY AN EXCELLENT LOWER LEAGUE MANAGER

He needs to succeed here for the good of his career as much as anyone else.

He needs to succeed here for US THE FANS!

8) He has identified the clubs problems, and is working on it. He identified a drinking culture at the club, and has started to sort it out, he identified a cosy club culture, and is working on that, he identified poor fitness levels and has worked on that and he is working well within the budgetary confinements of a club of our size.

He took over the club 7 games in .... it's obvious fitness levels would not have peaked - he is trying to finish what Tinnion started. Budgetary confinements ....... How do Swindon sign so many reasonable players much as i hate to say it but Peacock is a good signing for this league - and to bring in untested loanees and release PROVEN PLAYERS - excellent to see them scoring all over the place.

For me, all of the above stack up to show that GJ is a positive appointment for Bristol City, and although things may not be fantastic at the moment, the seeds are being sown for future success.

It is at times of adversity that you can best plan for future success, and GJ is working hard on the grass roots areas of this club - training, work ethic and mentality. These things will bring success in the long run. This is not a quick fix, the club needed a complete overhaul and we are still in the early stages of that.

Why was he appointed? Surely to improve on the previous management, he has proven nothing at this club I sincerely hope he does!

[Guest alex1089]

Great post agree 100% GJ is the man!

[Maesknoll Red]

I'd just add a bit about the drinking culture etc. I don't condone it in anyway, but we finished 3rd two seasons running with the "socialites", just missing out on promotion to decent sides. Just an observation more than anything.

So had the "socialites" been more focused on their game, spent less time on the treatment table and reporting for training without feeling the effects of the night before we would have won the league. Perhaps they should pay the club back 25% of the wages they received whilst here, as they didn't give 100%.

I've had a long held belief that there was a deep rooted problem at this club, a succession of Managers have failed to instill the right mental attitude and professional approach to the game. I would suggest the last Manager to be a strict disciplinarian was Joe Jordan.

To be overly critical of GJ is nonsensical, the club had problems, they needed sorting and I very much doubt that they are all done and dusted yet, but he has made big inroads into them. The change in the physical and mental fitness of the players on the pitch has been very noticable, this achieved in four months.

Without a massive cash injection, it's going to take any Manager a couple of years to really call a team his own as he wheels and deals in the transfer windows.

Happy Clappy I'm not, but I am realistic, this season there should be two aims, the first and most important to stay up, the second, to do what it takes to build this team back into a fiesty, entertaining side, challenging for promotion.

[lotusman]

Quite what his capabilities are only time will tell.We have had a wide mixture of managers since the Dick's era, most with a package of experience and talent that should have brought more success.

Cooper certainly did his bit when the club was at its lowest ebb,as the club started moving in the right direction he seemed less and less the man to take it forward quickly enough.Jordan was of course tempted away after early success without fulfilling either his or the teams real potential.Second time around was just going through the motions.Smith & Wilson had some pedigree but both must look back and wonder quite what was lacking.

Osman &Tinnion were somewhat unfortunate,the fickle fan brigade could'nt understand why a player so talented as Jacki was for the most part a luxury the team could not afford.For Tinnion a lack of experience afflicted him from the outset,had he fought for his own-choice of a partner with S.L. he may well still be with us today.

Statistically and principally based on the fact we operated at a higher level Lumsdon was one of our more successful managers of course his problem was he never really wanted to be a manager.Ward too has his plaudits,really wish Lennartsons arrival could have been handled better for they could have been good for each other.Pulis for me the most uncharismatic person in soccer,for us a total misfit whose Laycock supported activity cost us wasted millions in money & years in time.

Regarding the bullet points on G.J. most are just speculative and applied equally to the guys listed above,none have left us to really be "big time" successful.Indeed its the ones that nearly came that seem to have been more succesful:Royle,Moyes,& Taylor.

Sadly I'm far from convinced about G.J.but nothing will give me more pleasure than to be proved wrong..... good luck to the guy for he has as a job one must regard as something of a banana skin .

[Guest Harry Dolman]

Next, the point of GJ developing young players, before the recent car boot sale at Yeovil, the record fee received, according to Soccerbase is still the £75K that we paid for Mark Shail. That hardly indicates a conveyor-belt of top talent passing through Huish. Turning positive, it might mean that he can achieve wonders with ordinary players.

Soccer base is wrong.

During Johnsons tenure they sold Gavin Williams to West Ham (now @ Ipswich) for around £250k. Mcindoe may have gone cheap, even a free but that was cos his contract was up. However in terms of ability he was certianly worth a 6 figure sum.

Your point about "before the car boot sale" is also a touched flawed in that it was Johnson that developed Johnson jnr & Darren Way. Add to that Terry Skiverton & Phil Jevons & there are 5 players that Johnson had develope a long way in a short space of time.

[solo1bc]

This thing with Stewie - As we've said, GJ is in this for the long run, Stewart is coming to the end of his career. It's not as if we're dealing with someone like Cotts who has his career ahead of him.

There could be many reasons for this "thing", maybe MS is finding the new training regime hard? Maybe GJ and MS just have a personality clash, so GJ is making an example of MS before a dressing room split develops? Maybe GJ feels he can spend MS wages better elsewhere? Maybe MS is disliked in the dressing room because of his higher wages and "big name" tag?

I don't claim to know any of the answers, and as such will leave it up to GJ to sort out. Hopefully he'll be here longer than MS will, even if MS gets back in the fold and starts performing, because if GJ can outlast him it means he'll be doing a good job and taking us places!

I agree with you mate but I'm don't think that when we're 4th from bottom is the right time to make a point to anyone. Whether that's Marcus or the rest of the dressing room.

I don't think it can really be to do with his wages either as if thats the case why wasn't Stewies name circulted during the window. I don't think he'd keep Stewie on the bench and sell Gilly if this was the case.

Like I said, I'm in full support of GJ and I'll leave it to him to sort it out but starting last week with Savage & Andrews was a mistake in my opinion.

Doesn't mean I don't think he's the right man for the job though as even the best managers make plenty of mistakes. The best managers learn from them though so it'll be interesting to see who starts on Saturday if Brooks is still injured.