Not really the case. He was well liked and highly regarded at the club, by both management and fans alike. He did actually play for us a lot more than people seem to realise, and whenever he did play he certainly never got any stick from the fans. Mancini's intent was to always push him however - not so much by giving him stick, but rather by not praising him more than he perhaps should have done. Johnson's ideal game is playing out wide, with having the freedom to cut inside, which is what he often tried to do for us. Considering that we play with attacking full backs, it's a system that does suit Johnson, in that the full-backs can push up, thus allowing Johnson to cut inside, creating space down the wings. It was often the case that his decision making wasn't the best, and he can be quite selfish when better options present themselves, but in fairness to him, he was probably so eager to impress, thus trying to cement a more permanent starting place, that ultimately that became his own undoing. I do feel that if he is pretty much guaranteed to start week in week out, he'll thrive under that. At City, whereas like I say he did play more than people seem realise, he certainly wasn't a guaranteed starter, and his attitude and approach to games suffered because of that.
The irony is lost on me there, 'cause I didn't actually say "our players are better, do you agree" ... I said he was a great player who I was a bit jealous of, despite the fact I didn't know where he'd fit into our system (with Ben Arfa on top form), didn't actually ask anyone to agree or accept anything, and you came in with the 'D' word... Anyway, this is all tit for ****ing tat at the minute...You've signed a class player, congratulations!
Wasn't having a pop at the fans marra. I'm going by TV coverage and any time it didn't go right for AJ, they always seemed to zoom into Mancini scowling and throwing his arms up in the air. (And don't forget AJ will have seen that when he watched matches back later.) Not having a pop at Mancini either (after all how could you hate the guy who wrote the PInk Panther tune. ) but when your players don't do what is ever in his game plan, he isn't shy about showing his disgust.
Jesus was a Geordie Thanks for the info on Owen, end of he's past his best WAY PAST it. And for what he's reportedly asking in wages. He can kindly DO ONE!
