Lee Johnson full press conference transcript: Bristol City tactics, Lloyd Kelly's class, Eros Pisano injury blow Every word from the head coach after gritty home win. Bristol City matched their best winning sequence of last season when they won four games in a row on Saturday following the 1-0 win over Sheffield United. Callum O'Dowda crossed to Marley Watkins for the former Barnsley man to net the only goal. And after the game, head coach Lee Johnson discussed the contribution made by both of his substitutes and a whole lot more. Here's every word from the Bristol City press conference room on the first flloor at Ashton Gate. On the change in tactics It’s always difficult. I won’t lie, I had sleepless nights over it. But it was the right thing to do because of their quality. We’ve got the personnel to be able to do it. If you look at the statistics like we do, we watch the games and we don’t take a decision like that lightly. They create very, very good overloads down both channels - 4v3’s, 3v2’s and sometimes it’ll be a 4v2 against a 4-4-2 so we had to work on nullifying them, especially down the channels and going toe-to-toe athletically against your opponent. At times we looked good, I thought we stroked the ball around, we broke the line quite well, but the plan was always to get us back to where we are and the way we play but with rejuvenated energy. To be fair to the lads, they executed the game plan to perfection. On the clean sheet Sheffield United get more shots, more crosses, more entries in the box than anybody else. It was good. It was important that in that last 20 minutes we defended resolutely. We talked about having a depth in those defensive areas and we’re starting to get that now. It was a big performance and a big win. I know it was a little bit boring, I probably didn’t envisage it being as boring as it was in the first 55 minutes but then after that, it was always going to turn on it’s head. What got you over the line? Fitness is a key thing, we’re a fit team. But obviously we brought fitness on as well and we brought energy. What happens is, the backline then moves up a bit because there’s pressure being applied. We didn’t really give them too much to get hold of, I think that was the key. O’Dowda, Watkins, Matty Taylor causing the problems, it was nice to see. It wasn’t a classic but it was a classic result given the strength of the opposition. On Watkins’ goal I think he’s meant to score, to get a little touch on the ball - it was a good ball. He should’ve scored the header before when the ball came in and that’s the thing with Marley. You’ll learn to love him over the 46 games because he’ll score goals, he’s strong, he’s athletic and he doesn’t allow defenders to play one-twos on him and stuff like that. He’s not as silky sometimes as someone like Callum [O’Dowda] or Eliasson or Paterson but he’s got individual qualities and I always believe that Marley will chip with 6-10 goals from the right if he plays the full season. On his substitutions' impact I’m proud of the players because it’s the result that’s the key, do you know what I mean? And the trust the players have in me and me and the players, and to execute the game plan like we did today, I pass the credit fully onto the players because you can come up with any game plan you like but unless the players trust it and deliver. It was all the stuff that was unfashionable today that we did well. The tracking runners, filling those areas, stuff you wouldn’t normally see unless you were analysing it or you’d been a coach for two or three years. I was already sitting there, whether it’d been a 0-0 draw or whether we’d been beaten 1-0, I would’ve been proud of their players and their effort to nullify, contain and go the other way against a good side. And you’re a point off the top… It’s early days and we’ve been there before, haven’t we? The key is that it’s a new team and that we’re performing week-in-week-out and the depth is getting stronger. Last year we were unfortunate with quite a few injuries. This year we’ve got injuries and a strong bench, that’s a positive. Defence is strong, that’s three clean sheets from four and that’s got to be our backbone and our spirit, that defensive attitude. On the experiences last season We have but we’ve also got pretty much a new team, there weren’t many players that played today that were mainstays last year. But we’ve got a good group, we’ve recruited good lads, I think that’s important as well. That gives us a chance to stick-in in games, as a manager that’s nice because you can go home and trust that they’re at least going to give it a go, to execute a game plan and we’ve done that with aplomb today. On Marley Watkins. I signed Marley from Inverness, I remember going on a flight to Ireland with the late Patrick Cryne and we then flew from Dundalk to Inverness and there I was trying to convince him that I wanted to sign him. I then met Marley the day after Inverness won the cup and he could hardly speak where he’d had a too good a night on the celebration night! I thought I’d sign him anyway, he seems like a good lad and since then obviously, we’ve had a good relationship and I know what I get from him. He’s not beautiful on the eye, we know that he can be a bit scruffy at times. But when his confidence builds, he can be more fluid in the way he moves the ball and I thought coming on today, he was really effective in both his touch and in his physicalness. On Kelly’s transition to the first team. It’s taken a lot of work, from Lloyd and from the coaching staff throughout the club. Obviously, Lloyd’s someone we’ve kept our eye on, nutritionally and we’ve made sure we’ve spent a lot of money on him getting the right supplements and the right nutrition. He’s 6’3 and he’ll probably end up as a centre-half but at the moment he’s a very, very, very good left-back for us. Not only have we got a very strong back-line, it’s also quick. The speed of our back-line has improved this year and there’s a lot of times where we’ll snuff things out, maybe where we wouldn’t have done last year. How do you know when a player’s ready to move into the first team? It’s just the general improvement, you see it day-to-day. We didn’t allow him to go out on loan and that was a key decision really because it means he’s got the respect of the group. Last year, he would’ve enjoyed it, but it would’ve been frustrating because everyone wants games. We didn’t really allow him to play 23’s because we didn’t want any bad habits coming out. He’s had that seamless transition into the first team and people have probably forgotten about Joe Bryan for a bit. On Dean Henderson. I think Dean’s an excellent goalkeeper, he’s had an excellent year and an excellent start to this season as well. Listen, there are good goalkeepers in this division but you don’t go out there with the mindset of not trying to score. We went out there with the mindset of going toe-to-toe and eventually we ground a good opponent down. There won’t be too many teams I have to change for but today it was the right thing to do. On a player injured over the international break. Yeah, Eros Pisano. We don’t know actually know the extent of it yet but he felt one of his tendons get a bit tight and cramp up, so we’ll get that scanned. We have had it scanned but I think the specialists will get back to us Monday when they’re in next. It’s high up, sort of hip flexor. Will you be up there with Sheffield United come to the end of the season? I don’t know, I think it’s early days, I really do. You see the Championship and it’s honestly crazy. The results today are quite interesting, aren’t they? A lot of the bottom teams have picked up some good results and it’s amazing for us to have gone four wins on the spin. You can only dream of that sort of form given that it’s a brand new team. We haven’t really been behind a lot yet and that’ll be the test. Can we react when going behind? How do we react to a loss? At the moment, why not ride the momentum, enjoy it and it’ll elevate the player’s confidence. Only the second win in eight against Sheffield United. They’re all big results and there’s always statistics isn’t there? But today the most important stat was the result, by hook or by crook. I think there’s a lot of respect between the two clubs because there’s bigger club in terms of the finances they chuck at it. We’ve lost key players and replaced them well with a big profit and I think they’re a top team and they don’t go and sign superstars. Their recruitment has been solid and sound and they’re outperforming so many quality teams in the Championship. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/lee-johnson-full-press-conference-2009091
Do you know I have read the words carefully LJ spoke on about at his press conference today, I really was going to upset the apple cart by saying he only creeps out of the shadows whenever there is a whiff of success or good headlines about and how whenever there is a chance of future failure or a bad result Holden or McAllister gets wheeled out. I have to admit I would have been wrong, I am really impressed by the knowledge he obviously has on tactical play, opposition ploys, fitness, diet and nutrician and all the modern gizmo's ,the progression of young players, respect for opposition players and his respect for general humanity, I'll try to explain this by his signing of Marley Watkins, he knows the man's capabilities, his background and even made his decision when the guy had a size 10 when having been out celebrating, his knowledge of Lloyd Kelly and his development and pathway to the top, the way he knew of Eros Pisano's injury, where and what it was and the plan he has put in place to deal with it, his respect for Dean Henderson, also, just to add the way he signed Tammy Abraham by gaining the confidence of the player and his family and how everything discussed was we and us and teamwork. I know I have said he had never won a promotion, cup final or anything to prove his status but I am understanding there is a lot more to this pocket dynamo than I have given him credit for, I have jumped back on the fence and am reconsidering my opinion of this fella. I just wanted to say we don't have to rave about this guy to express a deserved respect for him and we all have the right of criticism and I retain mine, some don't like that but life can be tough.
As a person I like him, I always have. I like his values and the way he behaves and presents himself. I’ve obviously never had dealings with him , but he appears not to be underhand and says it the way he sees it. I’m no expert , but he appears to know his stuff and he does seem to generate trust with people, and amongst the team. I do think he came here too early in his managerial career , but that’s old hat now, but I do believe it lead to some mistakes , he is still learning his trade. I think at times he’s a bit tactically fussy and niave , and in the early days he looked a bit out of his depth compared to more experienced championship managers. I do believe he cares about us , is a fan as well as our manager, that has ifs pluses , and it’s minuses at times. One of his strengths in my view , and possibly what kept him in his job when times were hard, is his willingness to bring through young talent. To summarise I like him , didn’t think he was the right person when he came (too early in his career), think he’s a good coach , & is good at bringing youngsters through and generally improving players. I think he is now at a similar level to us and hope he, and us, carry on progressing together. My only concern is his inability to stop a bad run , if and when we get into one. If he can learn to do that then I think both he , and us , could go a long way.
There is nothing wrong with criticism, and I’m not suggesting you Wiz , but what I object to , not against LJ specifically, but in general is when it becomes personal.
There is nothing wrong with criticism, and I’m not suggesting you Wiz , but what I object to , not against LJ specifically, but in general is when it becomes personal.
I have never taken Steve Lansdown for a fool even though I have expressed my discontent with many of his decisions which would include the hiring of Lee Johnson. After I had finished with that scenario I turned to the obvious failings of a young inexperienced coach/manager way out of his depth with very little understanding of the game he played. I also had difficulty understanding why he was still employed after taking us through 2 record losing streaks (check that one) and appearing to cock a snook at the fare paying public safe in the knowledge that his boss had some mythical belief in his ability, and that by some freak of nature after being given the keys to vault to make it his team, he might get us to some distant promised land. I know it's early days in the season but I am almost a true believer that we now have a squad more than capable of sustainability and perhaps even more. The thought of sending our best 3 players down the road with our best wishes for their future rocked my faith in our club and it's future so when the replacements showed up with their resumes in hand I went downhill even faster and wondered if I could believe my eyes because at the same time I was hearing the usual corporate guff come down the corridors of Ashton Gate as in years past. I truly think that LJ has indeed performed some early miracles and I now see a resilience and depth of character like something out of a superhero comic and even though I think it is way to early to book your tickets to the EUFA Champions League Final at the Mem I am really excited about what has happened with Bristol City and I suppose it has to be partly down to Lee. Not that I am too demanding or anything but 2 away wins are vital to our season and WBA and Wigan must be shaking in their collective boots. Wake me up please and tell me it's not a dream, and by the way all you 606ers out there in the fog it's now clear enough for your return to home base. Enjoy.
Nice to see your coming a little way to giving LJ some credit Wiz, hopefully the next step will be going down the gate again.
I thought the 2 lengthy losing streaks were both records but, as you see, I asked for someone to check my statement. Wait for it, I could be wrong.
