The Situation
Striker
I was probably one of the most vocal against his appointment on here and whilst I still have plenty of concerns that were highlighted to us beforehand by Bristol fans, for example, too much chopping and changing for what seems to be the sake of it, previous for long winning followed by winless runs - I feel it would be very harsh to give him the bullet until we've seen where we are after the summer window and a few months into next season.
IMO the playoffs are gone now after tonight but I would still give Johnson more time for the following reasons.
He took over in difficult circumstances, the team was a mess after Parkinson, COVID then struck which did impact us hugely and his early preparation and that can't be overlooked. It also has to be noted and I think people are overlooking that we have suffered a ridiculous amount of defensive injuries that any club or manager would find difficult to navigate. For the vast majority of his time here at least 75% of our first choice back four have been out injured.
We still went on a superb run and although very disappointing in how it all ended, there have been positives in amongst the negatives.
If it's clear the manager isn't the right person I would gladly say get rid of him but I have seen enough positives overall to warrant giving him more time.
We have a new owner, new recruitment team, plenty of players out of contract - there's an opportunity.
Someone mentioned here last night that we tried to sign Simms on loan from Everton but he chose Blackpool due to proximity to home. That's promising as it shows we may have our eye in the right place going forward.
Overall I'm as gutted as anyone and I doubt anyone here who has read my posts would describe me as a happy clapper or anything close to it, but I'm happy to stick with it and see where we're at in say November/December and that's from someone who really, really didn't want him.
IMO the playoffs are gone now after tonight but I would still give Johnson more time for the following reasons.
He took over in difficult circumstances, the team was a mess after Parkinson, COVID then struck which did impact us hugely and his early preparation and that can't be overlooked. It also has to be noted and I think people are overlooking that we have suffered a ridiculous amount of defensive injuries that any club or manager would find difficult to navigate. For the vast majority of his time here at least 75% of our first choice back four have been out injured.
We still went on a superb run and although very disappointing in how it all ended, there have been positives in amongst the negatives.
If it's clear the manager isn't the right person I would gladly say get rid of him but I have seen enough positives overall to warrant giving him more time.
We have a new owner, new recruitment team, plenty of players out of contract - there's an opportunity.
Someone mentioned here last night that we tried to sign Simms on loan from Everton but he chose Blackpool due to proximity to home. That's promising as it shows we may have our eye in the right place going forward.
Overall I'm as gutted as anyone and I doubt anyone here who has read my posts would describe me as a happy clapper or anything close to it, but I'm happy to stick with it and see where we're at in say November/December and that's from someone who really, really didn't want him.
