"Restricted us for many years" - Key Bristol City transfer failure highlighted Lee Johnson's 2019 signings burden Bristol City with lasting consequences: missed expectations, high wages, and underperformance. Failures like Sammie Szmodics and Han-Noah Massengo showcase the detrimental impact of misguided spending and mismanaged player recruitment strategies. The legacy of the 2019 summer transfer window at Bristol City serves as a cautionary tale of overspending and misplaced investments in football clubs. This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more... Lee Johnson's Bristol City side had their moments, but for many the misplaced spending in the summer of 2019, the impact of which the club have only just got over, is the lasting memory of the former boss. It proved to be a summer to forget for Johnson and a damaging one for the club. An expensive summer only equated to a mediocre finish of 12th and the Robins have only finished better off on one occasion since then – last season's 11th place under Liam Manning. 11 new additions walked through the door at Ashton Gate in that window – many of which came as a result of the Robins sale of Adam Webster to Brighton for £20m. A summer of failure with Chelsea loanees and the Championship golden boot winner Indeed, FLW's Bristol City fan pundit Tom Sandy has picked the summer of 2019 as one of the Robins' key transfer failings in recent times. Tom told Football League World: "We loaned a lot of players from Chelsea’s academy for a lot of money. "That damaged us a lot, these players didn’t push us to where we wanted to go. Kasey Palmer fell out with the manager and in the 2022/23 play-off final against Luton he came on, played 20 minutes and got subbed back off. He had great moments, but he wasn’t consistent. "Tomas Kalas was very injury prone for us, Jay Dasilva is a good player but is restricted by his height, and we were weaker when we had him in the squad. "Sammie Szmodics didn’t work out, obviously he’s doing very well now, but he was never that same player at Bristol City. Sammie Szmodics career stats in English Football - per transfermarkt (all comps) *No goal contributions at Bristol City Season......Team................................................Apps....Goals...Assists 2023/24.......Blackburn Rovers.......................................48...........33..........4 2022/23.......Blackburn Rovers/ Peterborough United..43.............7..........4 2021/22........Peterborough United.................................39.............7..........2 2020/21........Peterborough United.................................46...........16..........8 2019/20........Bristol City*/Peterborough United...........14.............4..........4 “Han-Noah Massengo, when he left, we only got around a million in compensation from Burnley, which is a small figure in comparison to what we signed him for. “Ashley Williams was on a lot of wages and only kept us stable. It was a very disappointing window and one that has restricted us for many years.” A Bristol City burden on transfer windows to come A difficult summer that saw the failure of many high-level championship players affected the club significantly. The following summer, the Robins didn't spend a single penny, with the likes of Chris Martin and Henri Lansbury joining on free transfers. Indeed many of the 2019 signings failed to flourish in Bs3 and have enjoyed better fortunes elsewhere. Szmodics, who is now linked with a move to Premier League side Ipswich Town, was sold to Peterborough United before signing for Blackburn Rovers and thriving while Palmer was loaned to Swansea City the following summer and is now at promotion hopefuls Coventry City alongside Dasilva. Massengo never met his potential at Ashton Gate and moved on to join Burnley for a compensation fee last summer. In Johnson's time at the Robins, he signed 63 players in just four years, which gives a good insight into an interesting and overactive transfer strategy – one that former CEO Mark Ashton certainly played his part in. The overspending of that pair, in wages as well as transfer fees, hampered City for seasons after and meant that Nigel Pearson was forced to work under a tight budget for much of his tenure. Thanks in no small part to Pearson's work and some sizable player sales since, things are a little brighter now and this summer Manning has been backed by the board – with the additions of Fally Mayulu from Austrian side Rapid Vienna and Sinclair Armstrong from fellow Championship side Queens Park Rangers, who've come in for a combined £5.5m. Even so, there can be no denying that the summer of 2019 proved to be a real burden for the South West club. https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/2019-summer-bristol-city-transfer-failure-highlighted/
Sign of the times back then, it was crazy spending right across the championship. We were a long way from the biggest spenders which says it all. At least we survived, a lot didn’t, Derby, Reading Sheffield Weds etc. Yes we made some bad signings, but where we did very well was player sales, that kept our heads above water.
one point is that during this period " 5 pillars" it was to pick up promising youngsters and mould them in the academy to play or sell on i think Ashton had a big hand in some of them and Lee had minimal input ... but was expected to find a place in the squad .... which was detrimental as you cant fit more than 11 on the pitch at a time!!!!
I reckon we could have sneaked a couple of extra on on Saturday I’m pretty sure that ref wouldn’t have noticed. He couldn’t tell the difference between a chest and an arm, so a couple of extra players wouldn’t have been spotted
Spot on Supcon. Whilst a lot of this article is stating true facts, it’s taking Bristol City in isolation and ignoring the ‘buy cheap, sell expensive’ trend that was all over the EFL leagues at that time. Anyway, hopefully those times are behind us now.
I don't think to read any article on Johnson. He was a failure.. .....Here......Sunderland.......Hibs......and Fleetwood Madrid...... everywhere. Now unemployable.
Football is a results and points business. It’s not a ‘value for money’ business - otherwise Man C would be bottom of the EFL. Please tell me which manager, apart from Dicks and Johnson Senior, has taken us to 8th place in tier 2 or higher, plus a semifinal in a major cup competition? Ultimately, like all before him AD aside, he failed, but my goodness he gets a ridiculous amount of vitriol disproportionately so. He wasn’t the worst player or manager for us - but he is probably top of the hatred charts… I agree he wasn’t the best player or manager for us, but he wasn’t the worst by a long shot. Plenty of ex employees have disrespected the club and the fans but never Lee Johnson. I can’t remember any other of our employees receiving death threats either, making him move house. Just shows the calibre of person the ‘haters’ are. Bizarre.
like I pointed out, this is not a critique of LJ, it's an article about a chapter in our clubs history, the facts are there and explained, you can read them or ignore them, I will continue to offer articles up if I can find them across the spectrum if they are connected with Bristol City FC. The legacy or the long-lasting impact of particular events, actions, that took place in the past are of interest to all, the truth doesn't hurt if explained, good or bad, large or trivial, regardless of individuals concerned, minority or majority thinking is of no consquence, a dose of the truth hurts no one.
like I said Wiz - true facts in the article - just without due reference to the common strategy of that time. Not in any way criticising you for posting
I think Tinnion did back in the day. It’s appalling behaviour from our so called fans. Neither Tins or LJ deserved this type of attitude towards them. Both always gave their best for the club as layers and non-players. Sadly there will always be bigots/bully’s in all walks of life.
as he did us, we just didn’t appoint a manager to capitalise on it, that was the biggest error in all this!
five pillars were binned by 2019 as financial stability and a low wage bill was chucked out the window.
Manchester City wouldn't be bottom of the league. Manchester City have the highest wages in the Premier league. Manchester City do not have the highest wages versus their income, its not even close to being one of the highest, its the reverse.
putting laughing emoji's is a sign of a in security / weak response ... especially to something that has links to what is not funny
