No panic as Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson works on "three or four" transfer deals please log in to view this image HEAD coach Lee Johnson insists his recruitment strategy is firmly on track, despite Bristol City having not signed a player for nearly two weeks. Since the summer window opened earlier this month, the Robins have landed midfielders Josh Brownhill and Gary O'Neil from Championship rivals Preston North End and Norwich City respectively. Fearing a repeat of last summer's difficulties in the transfer market, some City fans are taking to social media to express concern at what they perceive as a lack of activity on the part of their club. please log in to view this image But recourse to statistics shows that only Huddersfield among the 24 Championship clubs have recruited more players than City since the window opened, while 10 second tier sides are yet to make a single signing. And Johnson sought to reassure Robins supporters when telling the Post there are "three or four" potential deals on the go and one that could happen before the end of this week. He said: "It may seem as though things are a bit slow right now, but that is usually the case at this time of year. "If you look around the Championship, you will see that there has not been much movement yet. Only one or two clubs have signed more players than we have at this stage. "We have three or four deals on the go at the moment and, in an ideal world, we will be in a position to get another one done by the end of this week." please log in to view this image City's recruitment policy is governed by the need for financial sustainability these days and Johnson and chief operating officer Mark Ashton are wary of paying over the odds in what is currently an inflated market. Aware of the club's recent history, Johnson is warning against a situation whereby players might be persuaded to move to Ashton Gate for financial reasons alone. Aware of the risks of buying in haste and repenting at leisure, City's head coach is prepared to bide his time as he seeks the best possible deals for a club that harbours ambitions to compete in the Championship's top half next season. please log in to view this image He explained: "You can always get your business done early, but only if you are prepared to over-pay. There tends to be a pecking order in all of this, with the top clubs taking their pick of the available players first. "Now we can try and compete with them, or we can wait in line and compete on a more even footing with the other clubs for those players that are left. "The key phrase in all of this is we are only interested in players who want to be here for the right reasons. "If you over-spend, there is always a risk that you will end up bringing in players who are not here for the right reasons. We've seen that before and we don't want it again." His comments are sure to elicit accusations of lack of ambition among a minority of fans who expect City's billionaire majority shareholder Steve Lansdown to splash the cash without consideration for the club's future well-being. Johnson has a ready response for those who contend he and Ashton are planning to conduct their business on the cheap. please log in to view this image "Of course, we are prepared to pay for players, but we don't want to be paying over the odds when we are quoted inflated fees," Johnson told The Post. "Some people will say we are not ambitious enough. I say that we are. Those people should come and see how we train. Everything we do is ambitious. "But when it comes to transfers, it is about being clever rather than spending big for the sake of it. If you are clever about how you do your business, there are some real bargains out there." As the following list of transfers shows (See in link below), City's business so far compares favourably with the overwhelming majority of their Championship rivals. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/no-panic-as-bristol-city-head-coach-lee-johnson-works-on-three-or-four-deals/story-29425958-detail/story.html
