So the new gaffer has been in just over a month now and after all our hopes for managers like rosler, Adkins or the return of Mel machin most fans were underwhelmed when lee Johnson was appointed. So after a month unbeaten and our team on the cusp of the play offs what do we think of him now. Apart from the results what are we doing different or better under Johnson ? What do you LIke or dislike about him ? Has he changed your opinion of him now he's been in charge for a month?
Like: Changes the game when needed, sometimes goes from playing on the floor to long balls from the back Dislike: Sometimes takes a bit to make subs. Although Danny was worse for this.
I will admit I was underwhelmed when it became obvious he was getting the job but I'm happy to admit that so far I am very impressed by him. I can't think of anything I dislike about him at this stage. Oh except for he keeps proving me wrong, the latest incident was Saturday when he brought Jambo on as sub. I said to the guy next to me that I thought it was a poor substitution and that we wouldn't get an equaliser.
Things I like so far (apart from the obvious performances/results): He seems like a humble guy which I think is refreshing. He always talks up Barnsley FC as a club and talks about us in such a positive way. (unlike Hill for example) Seems quite honest in his assessment of players and games in post-match interviews. He makes himself available to talk to the fans. An example of such was the interview on Radio Barnsley. Ben has suggested he might come on here and do a live stream Q&A with Ben. (Date to be sorted). The players seem to be working hard for him. Haven't seen anything to dislike so far. I guess it will be interesting if we hit a sticky patch (hopefully not this season)
I agree with most of that gally he doesn't talk us down and gives us a bit of belief that we can achieve things and we aren't just little old Barnsley. I liked the radio interview with him whether he was hopeful of being in the play offs and he replied with something like "I'm not hoping it I'm demanding it of the players"
Been impressed with how he comes across and seems to care about the club, town and the fans. Certain managers never gave this impression in recent years and I like it. I've seen no negatives as such but his cliches when being interviewed are frustrating at times! Lol Genuinely like the guy though. Tactically, I've been battered most of his matches so haven't really made an opinion in his strengths and weaknesses yet but he does seem to get his formations right for the game, whether that's a diamond, a simple 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 come 4-3-3
Heh, that'd be great, but I'm not sure if my heart can endure another playoff final only nine years after the previous one!
I was neither under or overwhelmed at his appointment. But so far so good. Certainly talks a good game and we've garnered 15 from 21 available points, unbeaten in seven under him, and certain players are now playing at a level you'd expect them to. Can't be coincidence.
Jury is out until we've lost two or three in a row...hopefully it'll be a long time before that happens but will he make excuses for the players or tell it how it is? Hopefully it's the latter.
He had John O'Sullivan which helped. A fit Sam Winnall. It's not doing LJ a disservice by stating the obvious. Danny had us winning very regularly at Oakwell. Ok, we then lost to Fleetwood, but so have many others. **** happens. Away from home under Danny we weren't good enough, although I think we'd just had a few tricky trips to Swindon, Donny and MK. I honestly think we'd have improved under Danny regardless. But not perhaps to this extent. Maybe the players needed a new voice, a new pair of eyes with fresh ideas and new enthusiasm? We had a similar purple patch when Flicker replaced Hill. Maybe after some months, our players fall back into complacency or become tired of the same mantra from the same bloke? I dunno. As someone already suggested, it'll be some time before we can make any kind of true judgment regards LJ and his impact. But in the short term, he's impressed me massively.
Oh, and our defensive qualities have improved very noticeably, we seem to have a good shape about us, less likely in recent months to fold and take a beating. Danny struggled on that score from the moment he returned. Although to be fair to him, he never really had his own defenders (all Hillcroft signings) save for the kids he promoted.
I was pretty much the same. Things weren't looking too good with Wilson in charge, and I didn't think that sacking yet another manager would really change anything. Then again, it didn't look like we were improving either, so I wasn't too disappointed. I had never even heard of Lee Johnson when we appointed him, so my initial reaction to the news was disappointment. I had secretly hoped that we could lure in some "bigger" name, and I was expecting Lee Johnson to be some old geezer who has spent their whole career managing Bury or Exeter or someone (no offense to any Bury/Exeter fans! ) without much success. Or just another Nigel Spackman. But finding out that Lee Johnson is a young guy (possibly the youngest manager in English football at the moment?) with a decent record at Oldham was a positive surprise. At least we'd try something different this time, maybe it might work! He comes across as a good guy in the interviews too. I still wasn't expecting any dramatic change, but the results speak for themselves... Of course it's still much too early to say whether this is going to work in the long run or not, but I want to believe that he'll be our next big "hero" who takes us back to the Championship. At least he saved this season from being the biggest disaster since the administration years!
I was happy when we appointed him as head coach because I'd backed him a couple of times, both times at odds over 15/1, I was also happy to give him a go, I always back the players/manager anyway during the games, and voice my concerns on here, train home, or the pub afterwards, if I see things I'm not happy with, as do I about the good things I see, I've been nothing but happy with what I've seen so far, we're limited as to what we can do at this stage of the season anyway and he's handled them limitations perfectly and produced the goods each game.
