Johnson Out - Noble In

[rossjonesuk]

I expect a backlash from those on this forum who seem to support Johnson no matter what he does, and I don't think he's a bad player from time to time - but surely no-one (who actually watches City regularly) can argue that he is a better player than Noble?!

So why cant we have Elliot and Nobe's in the middle - what a partnership it would be with Elliot winning the ball for us and Noble orchestrating the middle of the pitch. To see Johnson start again when Noble sits on the bench is so frustrating.

And to appease you Johnson lovers - perhaps after a rest LJ will come back a bit more like he was at the start of the season and not give every other pass to an opposition player like today.

[BITW]

It was only a matter of time...

[bringbacktherobin]

I didnt think noble looked good when he came on, kept giving the ball away.

[tom_burnham]

he didnt have his best game today, but i don't think noble could last 90 minutes....elliott and johnson are good together...somethings gota be working! we're third

[samo]

Think it's unlikely Johnson will lose his place while the team are winning/drawing, no matter his form. I didn't attend the game so no idea how he or Noble did, but it would be unlike GJ to chop-and-change after going 5 unbeaten.

[rossjonesuk]

It was only a matter of time...

Gotta ask yourself why this is a recurring theme on the forum... no smoke without fire?! Maybe people keep saying to drop him cos he needs to be dropped?

I cant think of another player in our starting 11, which is the best I have seen in the last 8 seasons, who is currently being carried by the team. Johnson however provides nothing. He cant tackle, based on last few performances (especially today) cant pass, cant particularly shoot.... he can take a decent corner but cant McIndoe/Trundle/Orr all do that as well?? What does he offer this current side??

[samo]

Johnson however provides nothing.

I think even some of his most vocal critics might take issue with this. He might not be playing very well or performing as well as others in the team, but I doubt he gives "nothing" to the side.

[rossjonesuk]

I think even some of his most vocal critics might take issue with this. He might not be playing very well or performing as well as others in the team, but I doubt he gives "nothing" to the side.

maybe I am being harsh... but if someone can tell me what he provides that Noble/Skuse/even Aggy Russell cant then I will shut up.

[Stephen Lewis]

I expect a backlash from those on this forum who seem to support Johnson no matter what he does, and I don't think he's a bad player from time to time - but surely no-one (who actually watches City regularly) can argue that he is a better player than Noble?!

So why cant we have Elliot and Nobe's in the middle - what a partnership it would be with Elliot winning the ball for us and Noble orchestrating the middle of the pitch. To see Johnson start again when Noble sits on the bench is so frustrating.

And to appease you Johnson lovers - perhaps after a rest LJ will come back a bit more like he was at the start of the season and not give every other pass to an opposition player like today.

Did we win today or not ?

[Maltshoveller]

Noble for me every time

[BITW]

Gotta ask yourself why this is a recurring theme on the forum... no smoke without fire?! Maybe people keep saying to drop him cos he needs to be dropped?

I cant think of another player in our starting 11, which is the best I have seen in the last 8 seasons, who is currently being carried by the team. Johnson however provides nothing. He cant tackle, based on last few performances (especially today) cant pass, cant particularly shoot.... he can take a decent corner but cant McIndoe/Trundle/Orr all do that as well?? What does he offer this current side??

Fair point and don't get me wrong, of course you are fully entitled to your opinion. But it just seems he is treated unfairly at the gate. I travel away regularly (not every game but when I can). Now in fairness he was quite poor today. But I notice a huge difference in how he plays at the gate and how he plays away. It seems he feels under less pressure away from home and keeps his head up more often. But what really bugs me is when almost any of our players make a slight mistake and everyone around me shouts unlucky. But a soon as johnson makes a slight mistake... ###### sake johnson your sh*t. Half the time it ends up being a good pass but still "oh no johnson what are you doing". The point I'm making is that we need to get fully behind all our players and encourage them. Johnson just doesent have the support. Anyway, not the best city performance by any means but three points over our rivals baadiff.

COME ON YOUU REDDDSS

[pdgifford64]

Gotta ask yourself why this is a recurring theme on the forum... no smoke without fire?! Maybe people keep saying to drop him cos he needs to be dropped?

I cant think of another player in our starting 11, which is the best I have seen in the last 8 seasons, who is currently being carried by the team. Johnson however provides nothing. He cant tackle, based on last few performances (especially today) cant pass, cant particularly shoot.... he can take a decent corner but cant McIndoe/Trundle/Orr all do that as well?? What does he offer this current side??

I think you`re going a little OTT. I actually agree that he may benefit from a game or two starting on the bench but he`s certainly not as bad as you`re making him out to be. 90% of our forward movement starts from him and theres bound to be the odd misplaced pass but of late there`s been more of them than you`d want. Yes, he`s not the strongest and our midfield is weakened if he`s continuously muscled off the ball and unable to compete in the air. I just feel that know might be a good time to try something different while we have a little leeway (excuse the pun).

He`s a good little player and noone can question his commitment.............just give a him a a little rest GJ.

PDG

[tompo]

Gotta ask yourself why this is a recurring theme on the forum... no smoke without fire?! Maybe people keep saying to drop him cos he needs to be dropped?

I cant think of another player in our starting 11, which is the best I have seen in the last 8 seasons, who is currently being carried by the team. Johnson however provides nothing. He cant tackle, based on last few performances (especially today) cant pass, cant particularly shoot.... he can take a decent corner but cant McIndoe/Trundle/Orr all do that as well?? What does he offer this current side??

An outlet to pass to? Always looking to get involved?

I could not go to the game today and put 5 Live Extra on at the end of the game. Not sure who the commentators were but the question was asked by one of them if City would be in the mix at the end of the season and which player(s) stood out. If my memory serves me correctly the only name that was mentioned was Lee Johnson as " he can play a bit".

Now I don't profess to be an expert but I value the opinions of those who probably know more about football than the majority of fans.

We are third in the league and Lee Johnson is and has been an integral part of that success. People should wise up to that. Until we have a suitable replacement who can bring bring more to the team than Johnson offers then why make changes for changes sake?

[Guest Tafkar]

No Orr out threads then? Get off his back, he had as good a game as many players today, we didn't play that well. Only Sproule and Showunmi stood out attacking wise this afternoon, besides that we weren't great as a team.

[Leveller]

Don't get me wrong, I like Noble, but no way does he have the strengths to replace Johnson.

Noble's a bit of a luxury, while Johnson works tirelessly doing routine stuff, linking the back four with the midfield & attack. I'd bet that if we had proper stats to look at, Johnson would come out with more touches than anyone and probably no more mistakes than most.

The trouble is, there's an anti LJ bandwagon that has built up, so that any misplaced pass gets picked on, while every routine fetch and carry gets ignored. To my mind he's Elliott's equal a lot of the time.

Noble has class, but he is simply not the right player to sit in with Elliott lying deep. He's better further forward where he doesn't have to do the donkey work that he doesn't have the stamina for anyway. I prefer him as an impact sub - not tough enough as a full time central midfielder.

[formerly known as ivan]

noble looked shocking when he came on, giving the ball away in stupid areas twice in quick sucession. thought johnson had a decent game today and wont get the credit he deserves.

as for dropping johnson for noble, no way! noble can play of the front man, but can not play in the middle. he is no where near fit enough to get up and down the pitch the way johnson does.

[Tunley Legend]

Firstly, the team as a whole didn't play well today and our inability to keep possession seemed to spread right through the whole side in the last twenty minutes. Where I felt both Johnson and Elliott could have done better today was in moving the ball QUICKER. When Cardiff went down to ten men we seemed to be taking great care with the passing and were over-deliberating. This gave Cardiff all the time they needed to get men behind the ball into good defensive positions. When they started pressing us in the last twenty we were still taking too much time to shift the ball and were getting caught in possession. The only time we moved the ball well and got it wide quickly was in the first twenty minutes of the second half.

As for Johnson specifically, he did play a direct part in the goal but did not have a great game overall in my opinion. However, to single him out today would be unfair as there were at least half a dozen of his team mates in the same boat.

[A Horse With No Name]

Did we win today or not ?

Yes but that is not the point of the thread. Even in winning there are always bound to be some aspects that are not right, and only a happy clapper like yourself cannot admit that. Lee Johnson can be a class act, and at times this season, and last, he has been far and away the best player on the park. However, when he is bad, he is awful and today was one of those days. He hasn't played well for a while now, and the time has come to give him a rest, if the suspension doesn't come first. Personally, I wouldn't replace him with Noble, but rather Skuse.

[old_man_terry]

noble just wasn't in the game today when he came on.

as for Johnson, thought he had a bloody good game today, was always looking to receive the ball, played a few very good passes, couple of passes went astray (don't similar threads having a pop at poor crossing/passing from mcindoe, sproule, orr?) got very stuck in with a few very good tackles

[BristolCity1992]

Nice cross for the goal.

[StapleHillPhil]

I thought Lee Johnson was easily our man of the match today and barely put a foot wrong. Random strangers on the bus back to town seemed to be of a similar opinion (although granted one of them happened to be the stud aka Giles).

Why does this thread even exist?

[old_man_terry]

I thought Lee Johnson was easily our man of the match today and barely put a foot wrong. Random strangers on the bus back to town seemed to be of a similar opinion (although granted one of them happened to be the stud aka Giles).

Why does this thread even exist?

because quite simply some people are just stupid and despite going to games each week, don't understand football

[shepton red]

Yes but that is not the point of the thread. Even in winning there are always bound to be some aspects that are not right, and only a happy clapper like yourself cannot admit that. Lee Johnson can be a class act, and at times this season, and last, he has been far and away the best player on the park. However, when he is bad, he is awful and today was one of those days. He hasn't played well for a while now, and the time has come to give him a rest, if the suspension doesn't come first. Personally, I wouldn't replace him with Noble, but rather Skuse.

Despite the win today, I thought the whole team, bar Basso, McCombe and Carey performed below par, so to single out Johnson is harsh. I thought that all of the players, bar the 3 mentioned, had poor first touches and just a general lack of skill emenated throughout the team. For example Sproule had no end product, Bradley gave the ball away to often and Enoch looked lacklustre. The game did call out for Skuse to put his foot on the ball and add some steel to the midfield, and perhaps he should have replaced LJ. The contstant stream of comments regarding favouritism toward him from his father is becoming tedious, and in cases vitriolic.......carry on supporting GJ in all aspects of his management abilities and begin to live the dream.

[Guest Tafkar]

Yes but that is not the point of the thread. Even in winning there are always bound to be some aspects that are not right, and only a happy clapper like yourself cannot admit that. Lee Johnson can be a class act, and at times this season, and last, he has been far and away the best player on the park. However, when he is bad, he is awful and today was one of those days. He hasn't played well for a while now, and the time has come to give him a rest, if the suspension doesn't come first. Personally, I wouldn't replace him with Noble, but rather Skuse.

It's funny how whenever we don't have a great performance it's always the same old members criticising the same player. Where are the McIndoe, Orr, Trundle threads? Lee was certainly not the worst performer on the field today for us, and yet he is the one who gets singled out for individual criticism. It's not nice to see.

[The Chaplain]

An outlet to pass to? Always looking to get involved?

I could not go to the game today and put 5 Live Extra on at the end of the game. Not sure who the commentators were but the question was asked by one of them if City would be in the mix at the end of the season and which player(s) stood out. If my memory serves me correctly the only name that was mentioned was Lee Johnson as " he can play a bit".

Now I don't profess to be an expert but I value the opinions of those who probably know more about football than the majority of fans.

We are third in the league and Lee Johnson is and has been an integral part of that success. People should wise up to that. Until we have a suitable replacement who can bring bring more to the team than Johnson offers then why make changes for changes sake?

Amen Brother!

I listened, for the first time, to 5 Live extra today, was quite illuminating. No only did they pick out LJ as a key figure if were to maintain a play-off push, as you said, but throughout the game were commenting on how he, sometimes, on his own, was providing a potential source of a city break-thro ... i commented on some of their quotes in the match thread, anticipating such a thread as this...

[BITW]

No Orr out threads then? Get off his back, he had as good a game as many players today, we didn't play that well. Only Sproule and Showunmi stood out attacking wise this afternoon, besides that we weren't great as a team.

Exactly! Why is it only Lee who has these threads started about him.

He is a QUALITY player.

[Guest DanC]

Gotta ask yourself why this is a recurring theme on the forum... no smoke without fire?! Maybe people keep saying to drop him cos he needs to be dropped?

I cant think of another player in our starting 11, which is the best I have seen in the last 8 seasons, who is currently being carried by the team. Johnson however provides nothing. He cant tackle, based on last few performances (especially today) cant pass, cant particularly shoot.... he can take a decent corner but cant McIndoe/Trundle/Orr all do that as well?? What does he offer this current side??

My view from the EE isn't very good but he seemed to make some good passes and played reasonably well. Didin't he set up teh goal today?

Noble for me every time

Didn't impress me at all when he came on. He's a quality player but I would choose LJ every time as he is our playmaker and is doing a good job.

[RedM]

To put it briefly I don't think Noble, over the past few games, has been as effective as he once was. While Johnson is improving over the same period.

[Godzilla]

Today was my first live game since September, so hopefully I'll be able to look at this objectively.

I thought LJ was ok today, probably a 6 out of 10. Maybe the assist marks him up to a 7. He covered a lot of ground, made a lot of good passes, but of course, like anyone who sees as much of the ball during 90 minutes he also made some bad passes. One thing that he does superbly well is the way he never hides from the ball. He's always looking to get on the ball and make things happen; too often we'd had players in the past who go missing or let the game pass them by. LJ never lets this happen. On the downside, he looks absolutely terrified to shoot, but that's probably because he knows he'll get an earful of abuse if he does and misses. I actually thought one of the moments of the first half was when he ran 60\70 yards, turned his man and blasted a shot just wide of the post from the edge of the area.

Still, a decent performance from Lee today and if Noble wants to get into the team/stay in the team he's going to have to do a lot better than that when he's on the pitch.

He was completely off the pace when he came on. He did have one opportunity when he went through on goal, and after a majestic first touch he then sadly dithered on the ball and allowed a last ditch challenge.

[Super Scotty Murray]

Noble didnt influence the game when he came on today, stick with lee, he is one of the reasons we are where we are this season, remember he did the cross for the goal today. Just leave off him for 5 minutes please.