Exclusive: Bristol City want to bring in a midfielder in January to aid promotion bid Robins want to recruit at least one player but possibly even up to three depending on circumstances Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson is making preparations for the January transfer market. The Bristol Post has learnt that the Robins intend to buy a central midfielder in the next transfer window to boost their options in the middle of the pitch. Johnson has alluded to the need for another creative player in the middle of the pitch previously, and with Gary O'Neil still a fair way from a complete recovery following an operation to fix the hamstring tendons on the back of his knee, the club are looking for a central midfielder to add to the squad. With injuries mounting - such as Callum O'Dowda being out for several months - the need for an extra body in the midfield would be very handy, although Jamie McAllister explained on Wednesday that injuries would not affect the club's plans for the next window. Johnson has mostly used Josh Brownhill, Korey Smith and Marlon Pack in the middle of the pitch but has previously admitted his exasperation at being unable to break down several sides at Ashton Gate this season, such as Millwall, Burton and Preston, while City could not get a shot on target for 60 minutes up at the KCOM Stadium last weekend. The Bristol Post also understands that should Zak Vyner leave the club in January on loan the Robins are likely to bring in a right-back on loan. We understand that no decision has yet been made on several young prospects such as Lloyd Kelly or Zak Vyner as to whether they leave the club for more first team football in the second half of the season. However, it looks increasingly likely that one of those pair will go out on loan. If Vyner was to go out on loan, it could even be with a view to playing as a right-sided centre-back as Lee Johnson hinted to the Bristol Post recently. "We'll have to assess," said Lee Johnson when we asked the head coach ahead of the Sheffield Wednesday away game recently whether a new right-back would be brought in. "If we decide to loan him [Vyner] then probably we'll need a loan [to come in], because I wouldn't want to recruit somebody in that position when we've got Zak, we've got Pisano and we've got Bailey Wright who have been playing really well in that position who can cover him." Finally, should Milan Djuric need another operation to fix his groin then the club might then consider entering the market to look for another centre forward. However, with Famara Diedhiou set to return towards the end of December the need for another forward is less pressing and might depend on the right player becoming available. City do, of course, have Cauley Woodrow and Matty Taylor available to play upfront alongside Bobby Reid while one solution could be to recall Freddie Hinds from Cheltenham to use his pace to stretch teams. Steve Lansdown, Mark Ashton and co are unlikely to countenance the sale of any of the Robins' stars in January and it would be foolish to upset the apple cart with City currently well placed in the league. However, there could be several incoming players to bolster the squad for the second half of the season. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/exclusive-bristol-city-want-bring-850804
He did say give him 3 windows and lo and behold after 3 windows we are in the promotion play offs and in the Quarter Finals of a cup. Our top manager does know what it is all about.
More money, more coaches and staff, more players, more equipment and facilities, more time and yes all of you luvies are crowing about his successes,still ignoring his failures, none of this can be ignored and I admit he is running high but give me a list of his achievments. I could list what Alan Dicks, Terry Cooper, Gary Johnson and last of all Steve Cotterill achieved but Lee Johnson, so far nothing, no cups, no champions or runners up and no promotion play offs.
I know mate,I started off a perfectly honest thread and had the sarcasm thrown at me again and I bit, I should have shown the control I have used for the past few months, my apologies, that's all you'll get from me.
You are right Wiz , Lee has a long way to go to match any of the greats you list, & he may well never get anywhere near them , who knows . They all had to start somewhere though & each one had their critics in their time. The time to judge Lee against all previous managers , good & bad , is when his tenure ends & we know what he manages to achieve, in the meantime why can't we all back him & hope for the best for our great football club. COYR
Got to say Ashton, that is probably the most succinct assessment of how we all should deal with the situation as it stands, so I'm with you!!!
Cotterill and Cooper had their success at L1&2 level, so not a fair comparison. Nobody in recent times can match AD's achievements, although GJ came very very close, so yes LJ has some way to go to be held in that high regard by fans. Even then if we won this league there would still be doubters and knockers. LJ asked for 3 Windows, he got them and to be fair he appears to now be delivering, so does deserve some credit, even if that sticks in the throats of some you have to give credit where it's due. A big test of his ability coming up with a horror injury list and a lot of games in the next month. If we are still top six come the first week of Jan, I for one will be mightily impressed, and still in the cup would be the cherry on top........
I'm not trying to be funny or pedantic as you say this is a forum that thrives on peeps having varying differences of opinion ... last season we lost x amount of games which when you look at the bigger picture had us finishing in a position that was fairly close to where the majority thought we might AWAY we lost 14 drew 5 and won 9 Huddersfield lost 5 less and are in the prem ..... home we were as good as CARDIFF, and much better than WOLVES! We had a plan from the start, and in the face of all adversity we stuck to it ... we were told it would be tough and to get it right would be 3 windows because we had a run of 8 games is that a failure? W 0 D 0 L 8 GF 9 GA 17 GD 8 END OF 15 - 9 - 22 GF 60 GA 66 GD -6 ....... only 10 teams scored more and 8 teams had a worse GD we finished 17th bottom 8 just when most hoped for middle 8!
I'm not adding any more fuel to the fire, it seems every time someone expresses criticism or a negative opinion about Johnson a large element on here get their feelings hurt and object. What ever happened to the fair balance we all used to enjoy on here, If I have got something to say I'll say it, if you don't like it jack **** to you, it's your problem, I have said it before, I am proud to support Bristol City FC, I always have, always will.
No issues from me Wiz, healthy debate about everything to do with our club keeps this board alive. Imagine how dead it would have been this past year without the two LJ camps.....
We are all entitled to our opinion, and are entitled to express our views , just because someone expreesss a different opinion , doesn't mean
Sorry posted earlier than intended. To continue.. Doesn't mean the fair balance of this forum has been lost , it just means we have differing opinions and are free to express them , that seems healthy to me
I really don't know why people/haters are looking for the negatives to LJs management.....it's beyond me.. Don't really care how much he's had to spend blah blah blah, we could have had 3 or 4 managers come in and spent the same and fail. No, he's not won anything yet, but we are doing loads better than any of his predecessors since GJ. This day and age, what he's spent is pittance in my opinion.....we are one of a few clubs in the championship that's not seen the top flight since 1976, we've been a yo yo club with the bottom leagues and a lot of that is to do with changing managers every five minutes, the vast majority being very poor. At last, SL has played his trump card and stuck by a manager that he could see that would do well.. The haters are willing him on to fail......I'm willing him to do well for my club, to me that's all that matters..
