He is the Problem and the Solution.

Lee Johnson speaks out on rumours suggesting Lee Tomlin is leaving Bristol City
By a_stockhausen

Lee Johnson has moved quickly to dispel rumours linking star player Lee Tomlin with a possible move away from Bristol City in January.

Signed from Premier League AFC Bournemouth for around £3m in the summer, the 27-year-old midfielder is regarded as a talismanic figure, both by his team-mates and the club's supporters.

But his form has been up and down so far this term and, when he was left out of the starting line-up against Reading on Monday and not introduced from the bench, fans took to social media suggesting his time at Ashton Gate might be coming to an end.

But nothing could be further from the truth according to head coach Johnson, who sees the former Middlesbrough and Peterborough raider as a key element in his future plans.

Johnson told The Post: "I saw the rumours and I don't really know where they came from. Lee Tomlin is our talisman, he's an important player for us and he's going nowhere.

"He is not superhuman and he cannot play every game. He got a really bad whack against Ipswich, but he had to stay on the pitch. I know people will always say that he can stick one in the top corner, but he has not done that enough this season.

"But Lee Tomlin is a top, top player and we want to build our side around him. Hopefully, he will go on to have an outstanding second half of the season.

"If you're asking me, 'do I want to lose Lee Tomlin', the answer is 'absolutely not'."

Some City fans questioned the decision to omit Tomlin from the side to face Reading and Johnson offered the following explanation of his team selection.

He said: "I didn't play him against Reading for a reason and I spoke to him about it. He didn't like it, but he ended up agreeing with me.

"Reading have dominance of the football in every game they play in the Championship, so much so that a player like Lee Tomlin would have been bypassed and would have struggled to deal with their movement and the defensive things that we needed in that game.

"That doesn't mean that we don't love Lee Tomlin, it doesn't mean we don't think he is a fantastic player, and it definitely doesn't mean we want to lose him, because we don't."

Johnson's biggest challenge has been coming up with a system that accommodates Tomlin and enables him to flourish. He feels it is important to build the team around the summer signing and surround him with players who will help him perform at his optimum on a more regular basis.

He explained: "I speak to Lee Tomlin himself about this, but he is the problem and the solution all rolled into one. If you build the team around him, then he can be a brilliant player.

"He needs to play at a level he is comfortable with and he needs to do that he can make a difference in. He needs a platform and that means providing certain things around him.

"He needs mobile forwards he can slip in, he needs midfielders who have legs and good energy. If Lee Tomlin had better mobility, he would be playing Champions League football.

"But he doesn't have that, which is why we've got him. We have to compensate, so he can be the best player he can be."

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/lee-jo...bristol-city/story-30033692-detail/story.html