A Mixture of Poor Finishing and Good Goalkeeping

Johnson admits it was tough to lay blame on his Bristol City side after defeat to Birmingham City
By a_stockhausen
Lee Johnson applauds the Bristol City travelling fans after the defeat to Birmingham City

Frustrated head coach Lee Johnson found it difficult to criticise his side following defeat at Birmingham.

The Robins' long sequence of games without a win at St Andrews continued. But Johnson felt unable to take his players to task after watching them dominate the contest for long periods.

"We played really well for most of the game and certainly deserved more than we got," he said. "I thought some of our attacking play was very good and it was probably our best performance for several weeks.

"But we couldn't quite take our chances and that was because of a mixture of poor finishing and good goalkeeping. We created plenty and, on another day, might have scored three or four.

"It is not one of those days when I've had to go in there and pan the players. They know they have played well and they are as frustrated as I am."

Birmingham's winner came against the run of play and Johnson was disappointed by what happened in the build-up.
He added: "We made five mistakes all in a row and it was a poor goal to concede. First off all, we lost the ball in our deep third, then we fluffed a few opportunities to clear it.

"We've then missed the header at the near post and left their player free to put it in the net. That is the difference between us and a side like Birmingham at the moment.

"They don't make those mistakes and we do. It's a bitter pill to swallow, because I felt we were the better side for most of the game."
Birmingham finished with ten men after Jonathan Spector scythed down Lee Tomlin and was shown a straight red card in the 89th minute. But Johnson took issue with referee Tony Harrington, who pulled play back rather than play an advantage when Korey Smith was in on goal.

"I don't want to talk about the referee, because people get upset when I do that. But these are the things that drive me insane," fumed Johnson.

 

Ol' leapy Lee is at it again, read his cliches, to many to copy. I just wish he would 'Bring the bacon home' for us and I'm on his side..

That is a good cliche...