I noticed on that behind the scenes video that LJ went over at full time and gave him a big hug, the lad looked proper pissed off to be honest, looked like he was expecting a run out and didn't get it, which I can kind of understand as LJ kept his penalty takers on the field. I'm sure as other have mentioned that he's just getting up to speed, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a lot of game time when he's 100%. I hope we use him and Sanderson as much as we need to, these are the types of next level players we'll be looking for next season whichever league we're in, but players won't come in on loan if we don't give them some kind of assurance of game time. I'm sure LJ knows this, and his injury list gives him a real problem in keeping our shape and keeping players happy.
Hasn't stopped him from playing others who are blatantly not up to speed, and or 100% match fit , trying to get Jones on the pitch in the 98th minute of the game was a complete nonsense, and an insult to the lad imo.
There's a Bristol City fan on RTG the other week talking about Johnson, apparently he has form for bringing players in then not playing them.
LJ literally had him ready to come on the pitch, how degrading must that be as a footballer, especially live on sky sports. Terrible man management imo, let’s hope Jones proves a point with his next run out.
It'll go either way, he'll either bust a gut or just go through the motions, hope it's the former, we need to become a club where players want to come to and play, this is just one of a huge list of things we need to start to get right going forward. The 'new' SAFC.
Johnson's job is to win football matches by whichever way he sees fit, not massage players egos. We have a decent squad and people should know they have to fight for a place. They can't just walk into the team because we all want to see him ... .... look what happened with Matthews.
I hope this would apply to Leadbitter as well, cos he's been absolute ****e for the last few games, but he seems to be bombproof because he's 'Grant'..... He can't just walk into the team either.
Just as Rodwell found out today, if you don't fit the height restriction you can't go on the ride ... ... we're the Ryanair of football now, won't be carrying passengers.
He was finally removed from the team and shock horror we steam rolled Doncaster. He’s been part of the problem this season, should be used no more than as a squad player.
Very short sighted view IMO. Leadbitter was key to us early season and was a big part of us winning games. He’s a calming influence on the ball, and very very rarely gives it away which is key in this division. Yes he’s getting on, yes he’s not been standing out recently, but still a very valuable player to us in the run in, and definitely not a part of the problem as you put it. Fans have a tendency to write players off judging their last few games and forgetting dozens of other performances during the season. He’s been good, and will be good again, whatever minutes he gets on the field.
He’s different to any other midfielder we have . Experience in higher leagues, keeps the football, leader to the younger lads. And most importantly, loves our football club and is desperate to get us promoted.
Every player is different and need to be managed differently, things aren't as straight forward as you claim.
We steam rolled Lincoln a short while ago with him in the team. It takes more than one player to play a part in a good team performance. That said I'd like to see him on the bench more, he's not got the legs to keep up and things can slow when he's on the ball (it can go backwards with some of the others mind). I just prefer mobile players who can pass and move a bit more sprightly. He's definitely a player that can change things later on in a game though both building attacks from the back or just helping hold onto the ball so he's still a very important player.
we changed formation against Doncaster to 3 in the middle. That was a bigger game changer. You've got a very short & selective memory of Grants, who has had a huge input to us winning matches. He cannot play every game, thats for sure, but he is important to us as an option in our midfield 3 - esp as we play 2 games a week.
What I like about Johnson is that he clearly thinks about the game. I read a quote from someone (forget who now) that said that real innovators in football tactics come along once a generation and all their contemporaries just end up copying them. You see so many managers who just adopt the latest fashionable approach and stick to it doggedly. I'm not saying Johnson is an innovator but he is much more of a student of the game than some. The 4222 wasn't great but you could see the logic behind it. He wasn't too inflexible to move away from it- he'd clearly been thinking about it. The same with Jones being ready to come on and then not- Johnson was clearly reacting to what was happening in the game and making quick decisions based on that. That's a good quality imo
Why yes, according to Lee Johnson: “Pep Guardiola said to me that we played better than most of the Premier League teams that come to Man City,” Johnson revealed. “We will take an awful lot from it and learn a lot. It is not over. It will be an interesting game at Ashton Gate.” https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...-city-lee-johnson-pep-guardiola-a8150656.html
