Lee Johnson doesn't seem to trust his bench, Diedhiou needs to work harder and where is Liam Walsh? “We need to look at ourselves and not the officials” I’m starting to get a little bored of seeing Lee Johnson on the side-line questioning every decision with the 4th official that goes against us. The City boss was almost apoplectic at Refs Andy Davies decision to award Lucas Joao’s opening goal after 64 minutes for what he felt was a clear offside. From my position in the South stand it was difficult to tell but for me whether it was or wasn’t offside is academic as we should still have defended the hoofed ball forward far better. Nathan Baker who has been excellent since returning to the side made the cardinal sin of allowing the ball to bounce, he wasn’t strong enough and it was further compounded by a lack of communication between Bakes and Niki Maenpaa, leaving Joao with the space to fire in the opener. Just a couple of minutes later City were caught again at the back and Joao showed composure when beating Adam Webster and lashing the ball past a helpless Maenpaa. City were 2-0 down after ironically putting in their best opening half in a number of games. Lee Johnson opted to start with Matty Taylor and Famara Diédhiou up front with Andreas Weimann dropping to the bench. There was also starts for Jamie Paterson and Jay Da Silva. The opening exchanges were decent and City seemed to have found the passing and rhythm that had been sadly lacking on Wednesday night away at Rotherham. We are at the moment missing that cutting edge in the final third and we just couldn’t turn our possession into goals. Diédhiou had an excellent opportunity when a Wednesday midfielder played the ball back towards his goal in the tackle. Famara was standing in the Wednesday penalty area following the previous move breaking down and couldn’t believe his luck. Sadly for City, the surprise was too much and Famara could only strike the ball at the Wednesday keeper. With a little more composure City should have been one up. I like Famara but on Wednesday night and today he just didn’t work hard enough for me. He has to close the ball down quicker and stop giving up when there is a ball to win. By putting the pressure to close a defender or the keeper down you can force mistakes. Wednesday did look a threat on the break but the defence looked strong with Webster and Baker at the heart. Lloyd Kelly and Jack Hunt had good games with Kelly unlucky to see a left foot shot strike the foot of the post in the first half. After the disappointment of going 2 behind, Lee Johnson opted to make his substitutions bringing on Weimann, Callum O’Dowda and Marley Watkins for Kelly, Diédhiou and Paterson. O’Dowda looked to get forward and it was he who was fouled that led to Matty Taylor pulling a goal back from the penalty spot. Even with 7 minutes of added time, City couldn’t find the all-important second goal and Wednesday left Ashton Gate with the 3 points and 5th place in the table. This was a case of a missed opportunity; we had plenty of the ball in decent areas in the first half but just couldn’t make the possession count. That’s no win in 5 games now and within that run a couple of absolutely shocking performances away at Wigan and Rotherham. It is clear that Marlon Pack and Josh Brownhill are in need of a rest. We needed to sign a midfielder when Korey Smith got his long term injury and we failed to do so. It’s not feasible to expect Marlon and Josh to play every minute of every game but Lee Johnson just doesn’t seem to trust his bench. When will Liam Walsh be given a chance? Pack when interviewed after the Wednesday game said that he didn’t feel tired and wanted to play every minute, which is admirable but I’m sure he would admit, he has been a little off his game of late. Marlon said of Walsh that he is an excellent trainer and technically one of the best players that he has ever played with so why does Mr Johnson not give him a chance? Pretty much every City fan knows what the starting line-up will be and what subs will be made as the 60 minute mark comes around. Let’s change it up a little Lee. Next up is a tough away trip to what I consider to be the best footballing side in the league, Brentford. Griffin Park is never a happy hunting ground for City and we know that the Bees will play at a high tempo. We need to match them and whilst the international break will allow the players to recharge we have to use the squad. At the moment, we are not imposing ourselves enough, we are taking too many passes and playing too many sideways and backwards. I do believe that on our day we are a very good side but at the moment we are struggling to show it for 90 minutes. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/lee-johnson-doesnt-seem-trust-2085649
Good report, it hurts people to say or even hear it but it's time to look at ourselves and stop making excuses or passing the buck or are we just kidding and the press is hostile?
A bit of both , hostile is maybe a bit strong , unfashionable is maybe more accurate. We are neither “Up North” , nor London .
I know you cant really judge a player for a game or large handful of minutes in pre season friendlies but Walsh was one of those that showed signs of things to come. Mo Eisa, OK not available at the mo!... lol he showed some pretty deft movement and was not scared to fire off a shot or 2 and seemed to know where the goal was. WE want to play at pace .. and we can, we have shown that... but then when we get a couple goals in front either go for another or sit back on our laurels and hope they don't wilt before the end of 90 +10! we have at least 6 pacy up fronters at the moment Niclas, Andreas, Marley, Patto, Taylor and Callum. we also have a very strong back four especially when all 4 are fit but 6 to choose from generally. so in front of these we need 6 players, Brownhill and Pack leaves 4 … so Lee is then left with picking 4 players that compliment those on the sheet ……………… my opinion Taylor and Andreas that leaves 2 ..……………………….. we want pace so wingers / midfield wide players Callum and Niclas. 3 subs could be Fammy, if we are a goal or 2 up! Patto and Watkins with depending on score maybe Walsh /da Silva/ Hegeler GETTING GAME TIME. I would go with this until the game with MILLWALL and see where we stand. . . . I would hope for being on 30 points!
pretty much covered our season? Brownhill and Pack certainly fulfilled strong back 4 we certainly had WEIMANN & PATTO fulfilled and I guess Taylor had his moments da Silva got his game time but not as a sub! Niclas showed signs of brilliance and Callum "who did he upset?"
I think this is LJ protecting his players - just like SAF used to - and Neil Warnock does. LJ doesn’t want his players’ morale being shattered so he attacks the officials or ‘cheating’ opposition, thus taking attention away from our player who fkd up. He is even willing to be labelled as ‘annoying’ or a ‘whinger’ or ‘bad loser’ if it deflects criticism from his players. Having said that, the standard of refereeing has been extremely poor this season; 4 (at least) perfectly good Weimann goals disallowed - that must be a record in 1 season for 1 player(?) - plus we had an official apology from the EFL after the Villa game - maybe LJ is right???
this concensus is worrying … no consistency and poor quality we used to boast a whole raft of top quality [ maybe 10-15 in top 100 in Europe . . or more ] now we are likely struggling with just a handful with the odd finger chopped off! There is probably more consistent ref's in the 2nd division than Championship as they ply their trade hoping to make it to the top
