LJ.. growing on me.

LJ quoted from the Mail..

"Armed with inside information, can the rocking Robins succeed where all others have failed? ‘Probably not, but we’ll die trying,’ Johnson says. ’Who knows? We’ve beaten four Premier League teams so far. What I would say about our lot is that it will be a different game to most of the Premier League games they’ve had. We will find a way to press them"

Yeah, I know.. I wasn't his biggest fan. But he's growing on me big time.

 

one of the most dissapointing sackings last week was CARAVALHO ... he did quite a bit for SW and is/was due a bit of leeway, My own personal opinion is that they now drop into the bottom 6 which wont be hard as they are only a couple games from that ....

 

Wiz, I love you to bits.. but even you have to be coming round to him now.

Has has taken all the flack with good grace and proved us all wrong, I was wrong about him and I am glad I was and happy to admit it.

Embrace him Wiz.. you know you want to really.

 

I’ve always liked Johnson as a man, even when we were **** his interviews were always worth listening to, unlike SO’Ds and cotterills, that’s not to say I didn’t want him sacked, I was red him out the door! But Lee talks with such passion and intelligence and I’m so glad Lansdown ignored the pressure and stuck with him. If he chopped and changed I think we can gaurentee we’d be fighting relegation again now. This is 100% LJ’s team and style and it’s a ****ing pleasure to watch and it’s been a long time since we’ve been proud to be a Bristol City fan. Last Wednesday marked our spot on the football map, it’s not big but people are looking at us and more importantly better players will be looking. That’s ALL down to Johnson and his staff. No matter what happens this season, if we fall off and finish mid table, I’ll still be proud of our boys. We’ll only get better!

 

He's a feisty little lad but he will have to watch his ways with the officials because today he was berating a throw in decision on the half way line and then looked as if he made contact with the 4th official. I love his commitment to the cause but I don't want him to become another moaning minnie like Warnock, or maybe that's not so bad (EH Sparkey). Last Wednesday was my highlight reel and whatever happens from here on out is gravy in my boat, and as Shiny says "it's all down to the man Lee Johnson" and I don't have any issues with that being the case. The New Year is almost upon us and I know what I am having for my one wish - but I'm not allowed to tell you.

 

What more can the man do to please you Wiz, 2nd in the Championship, defeated four Premiership sides, including the so called mighty Man Utd,remember all those disgusting things you called LJ, I think you owe him an apology, and get back down the gate and support your team.

 

I never disliked him as a player, not the most gifted but always gave 100%........One of a few on here I know, although a surprise appointment by SL, I could see what he was trying to do as a manager and have backed him ever since even through last season.... The man has done well..VERY WELL.

 

It's a pleasure watching us this season, LJ and the coaching staff deserve all the credit, never in a million years would I believe we would be sitting in 2nd place after 24 games.

 

Spot on Shiny - players and clubs looking to do loans in Jan will now very much have City in their thoughts. LJ has proven last season withTammy Abraham he can develop players and this season shown he can get a team playing in a great style and with success against some of the better sides in the country.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a few clubs are asking about his availability in the next month or so.

 

I'm somewhere between Banksy and Wiz

He's proved me very wrong so far and long may it continue....

 

I wanted Lee gone last season weirdly just after the Reading game one year ago today, but the one thing that was niggling me was what Onefor kept saying. Who would we have to replace him, and we wasn’t getting blown away by teams bar Preston which I think kick started the revival.
I wanted LJ to have his three transfer windows, and thought it may of been league one time. But the run to safety last season changed my mind about LJ as I saw the difference once someone left.

Funny enough LJ keeps getting knocked for the eight game losing streak but we’ve gone on longer streaks without defeat since them twice I believe without much praise.

If the haters or doubters are not happy and still not going, then in my honest opinion it’s more fool them as some of the football at times is the best I’ve seen down the gate in 40 odd years. The first goal yesterday the highlights don’t show the whole passing game that created that goal.

And after the Flint fiasco in the summer of will he be gone or not. The man management to get his head back in the game as after one sub appearance Flint looked miles away, was superb. Some will say it’s Flints character but it wasn’t all down to that. Looking at the table now I bet Aden’s giving his agent a massive boot in the bollocks. As things for him would not be looking so rosy now at Brum.

 

Good post Wiz, everyone's opinion is just that - theirs. Instead of bickering over LJ, let's all get over on the Cardiff board and take the pi$$ out of overtaking them for second spot!!

 

NO not nonsense, level headed positivity, that has got us to here so far, no rashness no stupidity, no trying to please some at the expense of others .............

The season is 46 games long after game 46 the record will show how well a team did over that time

WON** DREW** LOST** GF**- GA** GD**. . . . AND MOST IMPORTANTLY . . . . PTS **
At various times other teams will improve or go into meltdown maybe over just a half dozen games or so ... "Sheff utd" as an example .. City will be no different, whether it is winning 4/5/6 on the trot or picking up just 8 points in 7 games.
to state a mid table finish is by no means a bad statement, only 2 of a dozen who predicted the final outcome had us above 10th ..[ 9th 8th ] so it is likely most of us will be extremely grateful with 8th/'9th which is upper mid table.
I for one will be ecstatic if we finish above 10th and should we finish 12th very very happy ....
there are 22 games to go 66 points another 28 points will do me fine .....
should we finish in top 2 ... super calli.......
promoted super calli...
top 6 beaten finalists very x3 happy and looking forward to next season which would be even harder than this because of the disappointment of failure
off on 626 mile journey now see you all next year when hopefully we will be a happy band of merry men!

 

This is my opinion. Had it been a someone else in charge other than LJ with what we are currently doing, he would be hailed a hero by the haters & doubters!
The job LJ's done towards the end of last season and so far this season is second to none.......These managers, others wanted last season, where are they? The hero of ours in LEAGUE ONE, Cotts, how's that going?
I see Redprintt's gone missing on here, weird as we're doing well!!!
Yes it's his job.......Yes he's had the backing.....so bloody what? Many managers have had the same and failed.......We know, no matter what he achieves for us as a manager, will never be enough for the haters, all because of who he was........Sad..
Happy New Year Guys!!

 

I was a Happy Clapper

However - much of that is based on that I don't think chopping and changing Manager all the time does much good

 

I definitely think that changing managers is often only a short-term measure at best - the perceived 'new manager bounce' is maybe as much down to players feeling like it's a fresh start/fighting that bit harder for a starting spot to impress the new guy and being more difficult for opposition to prepare tactics against as they don't know what changes will be made.

That said, I did say in the past that, as admirable as sticking by a manager is, if you're hitching your horse to the wrong post then that's not going to do you any good and whilst I held out longer than most, when we blew a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 at home to Cardiff last season, that was when I turned on LJ.

I am absolutely delighted that he and the club have turned it around though and we're seeing the benefits of planning for the longer term above short-term gratification. I've read in a handful of places how much the entire management team seem to discuss things - there seems to be a united vision of what the club ought to be doing and where it is headed. I was also impressed that last season, during our slump, LJ apparently suggested to SL to get the player's opinions and they (for the large part) backed him to stay. It's obviously a results driven business, but they must've thought that they were on the cusp of something and it was worth persevering, rather than scrapping it and starting from scratch.

There's a long way to go - a memorable Cup run aside, we've not achieved anything yet. Reaching the playoffs would probably be a year ahead of schedule, but we have the rare opportunity of challenging for the automatic spots so hopefully we can keep it going as there's no guarantee we'd be in a better position next season (look at Sheffield Wednesday as an example). Getting players back from injury and possibly adding one or two in January could be just what we need to push on.

 

Wiz, totally respect your opinion and will absolutely defend your right to express it, I was in the same camp as you during the bad run and thought there were some bad decisions being made but I have to say I was wrong. they turned out to be good decisions.

Pemberton moving on.. I was wrong about this completely, team spirit has been transformed since he left and for the better.

Tomlin leaving.. best days work done this year, I was discussing this with some friends who went out to the training complex in Tenerife for a few days, I won't tell you details of what was actually said but lets just say it came from those who know, it appears he was difficult to get along with to say the least an didn't fit the 'team ethos' and I have sanitised that big time.

Lee Johnson himself... Has massively impressed me with the way he has dealt with the extreme insults and apparent death threats, some of the treatment he received was despicable and this during a time when his Dad was seriously ill. he is self deprecating with enormous humour, great with the media, honest in a professional way and great with the fans. He has made us the current 'media favourite' and is well liked in the industry, he has a natural talent for making new friends too which bodes well for us.

And above all he genuinely loves this club as I may have said I saw him speak at a golf club dinner last year I can attest that he was gutted at the clubs form at that point and it was really hurting him.

Bizarrely for LJ that bad patch and awful treatment may turn out to be god sent as the same critics won't be nearly so quick to jump on any bandwagons next time.