Exactly that. Said far more succinctly than I managed. I never took any notice, so I can't comment. The only thing I would say is that, considering how low Oldham's attendances are, his budget must have been very small and managers with a small budget tend to set up their team to contain the opposition as they can't afford the flair players. Gudjon did it to great effect when working under a transfer embargo. The Greek national side, who don't actually have a budget but certainly lack players with natural talent, managed to win the European Championships by adopting such tactics. Wilson didn't like. He chose to attack. In his first spell with us it produced the best football team and the best results we've ever seen. But when he tried that again this time around, although we were creating plenty of chances and scoring lots of goals, we were conceding way too many. After losing both Winnall and Williams to injury he had to conceded defeat and settle on much more defensive tactics, which Johnson simply continued. Next season, now that all the Championship wages are off the books (other than Jennings) we should have a budget comparable or better than the majority of the teams in the division. Wigan will blow us out of the water and Sheff Utd get big gates, but other than that... With one of the biggest budgets we should be able to attract some of the better players, which should allow Johnson to be more adventurous.
I think we've been far better with Johnson than with Wilson, we look far more composed and less frightened. But football is an opinions game. We'll know who's better by Xmas.
Strange that, because that was the website I used and I used the 24th as the end/starting point. But whether it's 7th, 8th whatever, I found it interesting and positive. Not many defeats in there either. LJ rules.
I can't listen to the southern cu'nt, everything he says makes me cringe, not listened him since his first week in charge though, so he might have changed but can't see it. Comes across like a spin doctor, telling you what you want to ear and doing opposite,
I saw very little difference between the sides set up by either Danny or LJ. The results were arguably no better either. And I was heartbroken when they sacked Danny, I typed up a very sweary blog. But that's nowt to do with Johnson. And whilst it wasn't the amazing turnaround that some suggest, I have seen and heard that things that give me confidence for next season. And, as pointed out by EN, that wasn't Lee's squad so it's only fair to judge him properly next season. But there'll always be the Danny comparison, like Jay has offered up. The board have made that rod for their own back although you always get folk comparing managers, as you do players. There just seemed very little enthusiasm on the forum so I tried to encourage some. Looks like I failed.
I think it's simply withdrawal symptoms of the early close season, old mate. You're always going to get some who are critical of the club, no matter what it does. Over the coming weeks there'll be complaints about no signings being made, then complaining about the actual signings. Quickly followed by not liking the new home kit, the new away kit, the FL Cup 1st Round draw, the season's fixtures, pre season training (especially if it involves a training camp), the pre season friendlies, the manager, players, coaching staff, office staff, owner, chairman & board, CEO, the official site and scoreboard!
And therein lies my error. I'd got 24th in my head, which is why he's got three extra points in my reckoning up. My bad reckoning up. Ah well, LJ, I tried mate.
i guess we just have manager fatigue. I'm sure most reasonable people will support LJ and hope he's successful. Let's hope the vocal minority doesn't manager to hound yet another good man out. All I hope is that we attempt to play reasonably attractive football and win more than we lose. I suspect board expectations will be top 6 given our budget.
I have to say, I actually don't feel anything at the minute but abject apathy. And though typically, June and July are great healers, I doubt I'll feel any different until the words and actions of the club become congruent, til we learn the concept of breaking even and we create some real foundations that allow us the slightest chance of getting it right on the pitch.
I think it's up to the board to show they have a spine, backing their own judgement & man, even if things don't go exactly to plan.
The majority on here who posted every five minutes wanting Danny out, are now nowhere to be seen. I'm sure they'll resurface if LJ isn't any more successful. And I too hope for some exciting, vibrant, attacking football from us next season, with some solid defending and graft throughout the team. Win more than we lose etc. LJ told me, Hicksy and Roy that he knew he had to be in and around the top six by the new year otherwise he'd likely be next in the firing line. Our budget dictates that. He spoke of getting the core recruitment done as early as possible so that we stood the best chance possible of starting the new season with a bang. He kept repeating just how crucial a good start was, not just for the season, but for the fans, for the players, financially too. If we set off like a house on fire, the players will be buzzing, the fans will be and lapsed fans might be tempted back. Momentum is huge in football. He even referred to our 96-97 start under Danny as the perfect way to kick off a season. It's just talk though. He can talk brilliantly. But the walk starts now. I'm backing him. And should we be having a similar season to last, where we were 7 points off the drop zone and 7 off the playoffs, I won't be calling for his head either. I think it takes a manager more than one season to have a true and lasting impact.
I'm underwhelmed too. There is no doubting he's a brilliant speaker as our head coach. However the results on the pitch under him didn't really back it up. Now he's got to learn from his past mistakes (players out of position, poor signings, negative tactics etc) and make sure we start next season firing in a positive manner like we played against Rochdale, or as you say the vultures will be out wanting another managerial change.