Promising season ahead for Lee Johnson and Bristol City please log in to view this image by Mike Holden / 07 August 2017 Mike Holden (@Ratings_Mike) looks at what we can expect from Lee Johnson and Bristol City during the 2017/18 Championship season. Background Lee Johnson put his foot down on the accelerator last season then lost control of the steering wheel, as Bristol City slumped to 11 defeats in 12 matches following the October international break. Prior to that, they had been looking comfortable in the top six. Owner Steve Lansdown stayed patient and was eventually repaid as the Robins extinguished serious relegation concerns with an impressive late flourish. Senegal striker Famara Diedhiou arrives from Angers, the latest wild card to emerge from the manager’s impressive personal scouting network. Personality Johnson is an enigmatic brainstormer, a bright innovator with an unquenchable thirst for new ideas and potential avenues of inspiration. So far, though, the execution has failed to justify the intelligence, possibly due to a lack of continuity and consistency. He’s like the scatty inventor, always on the lookout for a major breakthrough but with a tendency to leap from one thing to the next, in a way that some players might find unsettling. He is also a keen contacts man and one of his biggest mentors is Kenny Dalglish. Quote "I think the single biggest lesson from last season was the need to get that clarity, that simplicity, that repetition across to the players – particularly for this group because they're quite young. We chucked together a lot of new players and personalities and, at times, maybe we overcooked it and overcomplicated it. We can’t compete with the real big fish. We’re doing everything we can to sign those young, hungry footballers we can grow together with, nurture and try to be successful with." Verdict Bristol City are a progressive club and Johnson is the kind of progressive manager they need to bridge their budget deficit on most of the division. His tenure has been a rollercoaster but their chances of hooping the distant peg and bringing Premier League football to Ashton Gate would arguably be reduced under a safe pair of hands. The stadium is looking resplendent since renovations and the Robins now look like the big club they’ve always professed to be. This season should be less turbulent, building on last. Prediction: mid-table http://www.thesackrace.com/news/7th...season-ahead-for-lee-johnson-and-bristol-city
All supposition at this point and only results will seal the fates of the managers, Lee included. When you look back at the history of firings you don't always see common sense come in to play and sometimes you ask why a specific manager is still employed whilst others seem to get the axe for no good reason.
I've got to be honest Saturdays result and performance was brilliant, I missed it and it pissed me off I wasn't there but whilst I felt the miss I will still wait before I change my opinion on Jnr. I want City to win as many games as possible and finish as high in the league as they can. Up the City.
I was lucky enough to watch the live feed and was generally pleased with the performance by just about all the players. We attacked with power and it was nice to see some new names on our score sheet and we took our foot off the gas in the second half and gave up another late goal which hopefully ticked off all concerned. There is no doubt we will face stiffer opposition than Barnsley and the test of our newly built squad will come in those matches but we need to focus on the weaker teams when it comes to gaining points and nip the odd surprise here and there. By around the five game mark will give us a better idea as to whether the rebuild has given us a stronger squad to consolidate our status in the Championship.
Saw the highlights of the Fulham v Norwich game - that was pacy and I think we might have our work cut out against either of those sides. Still a win is a win and 3 points in the collection
You can only beat who is in front of you. It's the first game of the season and one swallow don't make a summer but one thing always sticks in my mind. Was the other team poor, or did you make them look poor? I felt we did take our foot of the peddle in the second half, but watching the highlights a lot of them were second half action and barring their goal all us. The only time we looked in trouble was that loose ball where they scored. But I felt the defensive pairing of Hegelar and Wright looked far more composed than when Flint came on. Time will tell if Barnsley are poor, but that should mean if we are poor then most should bear them more than. 3 goals to 1?
I think a cool head is needed here by LJ, the players - and us. Lets all be in no doubt; we are going to suffer defeats and when we do there will be the usual analysis of tactics/team selection etc that there always is. Undoubtedly a few of those defeats will have us all scratching our heads wondering how it happened - like when we totally dominate a team for 90 minutes but their keeper plays a blinder and they nick a scrappy winner in the 96th minute - we've all been there. After the dismal run that happened in the middle of last season it would be understandable if we all cry that the wheels have come off again after one defeat - we must try and believe in ourselves and bounce back otherwise we will talk ourselves into a repeat of that debacle.
This. There are few certainties in football - the best team doesn't always win. Sure, if this scenario happens time and time again, then there's cause to question whether there's a root problem (i.e. bad finishing & inability to maintain focus), but a certain amount has to be chalked up to happenstance. Certain individuals will say that dominating a game but being sucker-punched by a fluky goal boils down to the manager being 'out-smarted' by his opposite number... (was that veiled enough? ). Ultimately, it's the final league table that doesn't lie. Last season, with it's extreme peaks and troughs, probably ended as slight underperformance by a couple of positions. I'd like us to achieve maybe 15th, though keep my fingers crossed that we could be a dark horse for more...
