Bristol City target Marley Watkins - why Lee Johnson is interested and why he's failed at Norwch City All you need to know about the Norwich City man who could be heading to Ashton Gate Bristol City are set to sign Norwich City winger Marley Watkins, according to reports from Mirror Football. City boss Lee Johnson worked with Watkins at Barnsley and wants to bring the 27 year-old to Ashton Gate at the end of the season. Here’s what you need to know about the winger. Who is he? Watkins was born on 17 October, 1990 in Lewisham in London. The winger grew up in Swansea and qualifies to play for Wales and France through his parents. He stands at 6ft 1in tall, and has made 2 caps for Wales, making his debut in a 1-1 draw against Panama in November 2017. Who’s he played for? Watkins started his youth career with Swansea City, joining the club in 1999 as he spent 8 years with The Swans. The winger was released and joined Cheltenham Town in 2008, making his first senior appearance for the club against Northampton in the first game of the 2008/09 campaign. Watkins spent two years with Cheltenham before moving out on loan to Conference Premier side Bath City, signing permanently for the club in January 2011. After a successful spell with Bath for whom he made 65 appearances, Watkins signed for Hereford United at the start of the 2012/13 season and went on to score 5 goals. Scottish Premier League side Inverness snapped up Watkins in the 2013 summer transfer window, with the winger impressing in the SPL from 2013 to 2015. Watkins moved back to England before the start of the 2015/16 campaign, signing for then League One side Barnsley. The winger had a successful time with Barnsley scoring 17 goals in 87 appearances and was signed by Norwich on a free transfer at the end of the 2016/17 season. Achievements In his second season with Inverness, the club reached the Scottish Cup final. Watkins opened the scoring and assisted another to help side claim a 2-1 victory over Falkirk at Hampden Park. The winger’s most successful time with a club in terms of trophies came with Barnsley in his first season with The Tykes. The club won the Johnstone Paint Trophy as they beat Oxford 3-2 at Wembley. Watkins also won promotion with Barnsley from League One to the Championship via the play-offs. The Tykes beat Barnsley 6-1 over two legs before overcoming Millwall 3-1 in the final to complete a double Wembley triumph in one season. Why is he available? Watkins has been unable to replicate his Barnsley form at Norwich and a change of scenery may be needed. The winger has not found the net in the league this season in 24 appearances. His only goal for The Canaries came in The Carabao Cup against Charlton Athletic. Lee Johnson rates Watkins very highly and the winger played some of his best football under the current City boss at Barnsley from 2015 to 2016. Back in September 2017 before The Robins played Watkins current side Norwich, Johnson admitted his interest in the 27 year-old. "Yep, Marley [Watkins] was another one that we were interested in in the summer. He got a fantastic deal at Norwich so I was delighted for him, because obviously it wasn't so long ago that I picked him up from Inverness, from deepest, darkest Scotland," explained Johnson to a question from BBC Radio Bristol. "He did very well for me, so I'll be looking forward to catching up with him." Watkins was subject of a bid from City in January which was rejected by Norwich, with The Robins opting for moves for Liam Walsh and Ryan Kent instead. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/bristol-city-chasing-norwich-city-1483901
History ~ Swansea, Cheltenham, Bath City, Hereford, Inverness, Barnsley and Norwich. I genuinely would be more exited over a player like this joining us, proven, solid and experienced than some we have had recently, a fair price for him and I would snap him up and LJ knows the player.
With no disrespect intended towards the boy, Cheltenham and Bath are not really good training. Having said that; we haven’t seen much from Liverpool or Everton recently - apart from a £300k bill for not playing their rejects.
Not good enough for Norwich,but good enough for City Typical LJ signing,how many more does he want.Try and sort out your current signings that you have made.We got enough already that have not made the first team.
I don't know anything about him , so I can't make an informed decision , his record does seem a bit underwhelming though .LJ has worked with him before so should know him. Seems to go against LJ's assertion that we need experienced leaders though.
What and we are bigger than Norwich are we? And if LJ went out and spent millions on a player, even if you thought was brilliant and he turned out a dud for us.....you would saying exactly the same thing, how rubbish LJ is......
I see in another post you say we are not a big club,honestly this club can go as far as it wants,you only have to look at the Manchester games to see that. Bristol City are in the top eleven crowds in the championship,give us something to cheer about and those crowds would get bigger. Don't underestimate Bristol and it's catchment area. # Team sum Matches average 1 please log in to view this image Aston Villa 696.481 22 31.658 2 please log in to view this image Leeds United 694.971 22 31.590 3 please log in to view this image Wolverhampton Wanderers 621.057 22 28.230 4 please log in to view this image Sunderland AFC 607.153 22 27.598 5 please log in to view this image Derby County 564.058 21 26.860 6 please log in to view this image Sheffield United 589.065 22 26.776 7 please log in to view this image Sheffield Wednesday 569.704 22 25.896 8 please log in to view this image Norwich City 566.190 22 25.736 9 please log in to view this image Middlesbrough FC 558.896 22 25.404 10 please log in to view this image Nottingham Forest 519.283 21 24.728 11 please log in to view this image Bristol City 458.014 22 20.819
I agree what you’re saying about catchment area but unfortunately a huge percent is filled with Manchester, Liverpool and London teams supporters. I look at Cardiff who have a massive catchment with the valleys included and one team in the city. When they were in the Prem they were sold out most weeks. Now they’ve got second spot and lower attendances (average) than us. Me personally would love to see the ground full with proper Bristol City fans that are there for City not because they want to watch the other team’s we are playing. Good argument though if it works and they stay great but it won’t happen in real life.
Not always as cut and dry as that - apparently De Bruyne and Salah weren't good enough for Chelsea; next thing they're first and second in the player of the year award. It'd hardly be a 'sexy' signing, but thinking about it we could do with more natural wide players...
... and we’ve had them too - look at Bolasie - couldn’t get into our team whilst we were struggling during the Johnson-free era and now playing in the Prem week in week out. Chris Wood is another. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out at one club, but clicks into place at another.
Chris Wood was a loanee, Bolasie was very raw. But I fully agree with your logic, a lot of players are sold as they are not deemed worthwhile by their clubs only to go onto be a success and their next club.
