The great Jordi Cruyff - A man of honour.. https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ruyff-maccabi-tel-aviv-sacked-himself-manager
Did you watch the play-off at Wembley when his dad brought him on with the game poised and moved the Championship player-of-the-season out of his midfield position to full-back so LJ could get a game ? LJ may not have been toxic in the animal sense, but his effect on City has rarely been positive. And I don't blame him for that so much. He had the build of a 4th year schoolboy. Thats not his fault. He stopped growing same as his dad did. However, football is a very competitive profession, and there is a fine line between becoming a winner or ballsing it all up
I'd say toxic is accurate. For every LJ sympathiser/lover out there, there is someone who can't stand him. Whether you disagree with someone hating him for their belief he brings / brought nothing to the table other than "effort" or "professionalism (something we would all do for 15k a week), he divided fans even at the best of times. You can deny that all you like, but ever since I joined 606 half hated half felt sorry for him. The difference between the two groups is the half that hate have legitimate stats and truths to point to as to why he had no place on the pitch and the ones who loved him argued "we support him because he wears the shirt" and always put in effort. That's not enough and you can't hide behind that reason to defend why anyone should be playing for Bristol City. Now he is doing it all over again, but as a manager. Creating a toxic atmosphere between fans that 18 months ago were harmonious and on cloud 9!
Some people on here should take a long hard look in the mirror before calling LJ toxic!! These are probably the same people who threw stones at Tinnions house when he was in charge... Pathetic!!
It's the reasons why some people hate him which is toxic...Not because of his playing or managing ability but because of who he was......tedious in my book. Must be rubbing hands together with the way things have been going!! Quite sad! I'm not calling myself a lover, but I disagree that he didn't have a place on the pitch.....at the time, I think we won more games with him than without him.....wasn't nowhere near as bad as some would like to make out......there have been plenty worse. OK, it's not been working out for him as manager, that's how it goes sometimes, happens to the best of them, but saying he's toxic is just plain disrespectful and low.
Those amazing feelings seem a long, long time ago now. All we expected was to make a fair go at the Championship. Our first season was bad but this one......well, I think we can all agree that it's aged all of us.
Sorry this is riddled with conjecture. How many times does the question need to be asked "what does who he was or who he was related to matter?" I was a fan of his dad Gary, but his son wasn't any good at football. If he was, why was 90% of his career playing under his dad? No one else thought he was good enough. You have zero stats to show anyone that we won more games with him than without and zero proof to show he was the reason for those wins. He was never strong on the ball, couldn't tackle, had hardly any goals to his name, and next to zero assists. So what did he do that made him a good player? And please don't say "he put in effort" as that isn't what makes a player good. So his presence was toxic, people disliked him because he was a poor footballer being given chance after chance. To say people hated him because who his dad is when the majority loved his dad makes absolutely no sense. No one ever addresses this or answers how there is any logic to that statement but we hear it over and over, the same thing, like a Steve Lansdown interview.
Sorry to be against the wind here (as I often am tbf), and I really do agree with some of the sentiment here, it's a **** show, but people saying the club is toxic inside out, etc. I know we're proper **** at the moment, but that is absolute hyperbole. Let's face it, aside from the results (which admittedly is a pretty big thing), everything to do with the club is and has been looking pretty damn positive. Recruitment, scouting, youth, facilities, everything has come in leaps and bounds in the past few years, the squad looks great, it's just results. That's not a toxic club. If you want a properly toxic club, look for the club who have foreign owners who don't give a damn, who change manager every 4 months, who change the kit colours you've had for decades to suit their preference, who sell your stadium and all assets just to keep the club afloat, who face going extinct over a £250k tax bill..... you get the picture. Results are shocking. We risk undoing a ****load of good work if we get relegated. But is it a toxic club? Absolutely bloody not. Let's have some perspective. P.S. I'm not a happy clapper. The past few months on the pitch have been a joke. I'm just being realistic.
If I went into it, i'm sure I could find stats to say we won more at the time when he was playing, but can't be arsed. Not sure you can produce stats regarding assists etc. Derby had good things to say about him, when he went their on loan, so when you say no one else rated him, is not quite true!! Lot's of sons work with their father, just because it's football......IT's not allowed! Really? Ok, didn't score boat loads of goal and he wasn't a Norman Hunter, but in my book quite an intelligent footballer, always looking to feed the balls into areas rather than lump it and hope. Many of our fans did hate him because of who he was, no doubt in my mind. His presence was toxic, only to the ones who couldn't see past the father, son situation, IMO. Setting all that aside, I believe because of his understanding of the game/intelligence, is the reason why he was appointed by SL. I'm not putting LJ as a player in the same category as Tinnion, Ray Wilkins, Gary Neville, etc, all whom can talk a good game, but never make it as good managers for some reason or another........It's looking like LJ could be added to that list. which is just unfortunate. But by no means Toxic in my book. I'm able to see what he's trying to achieve, just doesn't seem to be working out for him......I imagine, we will move on to the next appointment, to say in 18 months time how toxic he is, the minute things don't go according to expectations