Bristol City Season Preview: loyalty to Johnson

Bristol City finished 18th and 17th in their first two seasons back in the Championship. Are fans grateful to have retained the club’s Championship status, or disappointed to have lost the momentum from that wonderful title-winning campaign? The Football Lab speaks to The Exiled Robin to find out.

Relieved rather than grateful, I’d say. Expectations were much higher than the end result both times around and the lack of progression has frustrated pretty much everyone at the club. That team has now been largely disbanded with allegedly better players brought in (on significantly higher wages, no doubt!), but we’re yet to see the long-term benefit of that.

Many fans called for head coach Lee Johnson to be sacked during that eight-match losing streak over winter. Does he have preferential treatment due to the family connection? And does the subsequent turnaround vindicate the club’s loyalty?

Yes, it was almost beyond comprehension in this day and age how he kept his job at that time – almost a throwback to the olden days when you got two or three years at least regardless. The club will say the turnaround vindicated the decision, of course, but many remain very unconvinced. I think Lansdown’s relationship with the Johnson family does cause an issue, a conflict, but, ultimately, he’s the bloke who’s stuck £100m into the club over the last decade so it’s his call.

He wants Premier League football – he knows he needs the right manager for that, so he must think he’s got the answer

You signed three goalkeepers last season but none of them displaced Frank Fielding. Are you happy for him to remain number one?

Frankie’s OK but no, I feel we need an upgrade to progress. He’s a fantastic shot-stopper – one of the best in the league, but his command of his area is poor and his cross-catching decision-making is dreadful at times, causing uncertainty at the back which leads to mistakes all over the back line.

Of the others then Ivan Lucic was brought in for the future, a great prospect by all accounts, whilst the German we signed in January, Giefer, well, he’s one of those players where you’re not quite sure how anyone could have watched him play and thought “that’s the answer, he’s the one we want”!

You’ve taken the Pisano this summer – the right-back signing from Italian side Verona. An improvement on Mark Little?

Who knows?! He’s got good pedigree but has to adapt to the pace of the English game and the different refereeing style, which isn’t always easy for an Italian. Little was a good servant for us, virtually ever-present when we got promoted, but in all honesty didn’t quite look up to it at this level, defensively especially. But he’s a nice chap, clearly popular with the squad and we wish him the best of luck at Bolton.

Aden Flint started all 46 games last year, but there’s some debate as to whether Bailey Wright or Hordur Magnusson is the best partner for him. Your views?

That’s a tricky call. Mags came in and looked decent at the start of the season but errors had started creeping in through the early Winter and he looked in need of a rest. Wright is a funny one for me, he makes me really nervous and that isn’t a good sign for a defender, but our overall defensive record was undoubtedly better with him in the team. I think longer-term three at the back would be good but then Jens Hegeler comes into the equation too.

Jamie Paterson had some good games towards the end of last season. Could his left-sided partnership with Joe Bryan pose an attacking threat?

Definitely. Pato had flashes early on but was inconsistent and deserved to be dropped. When he returned he seemed to have extra commitment, passion and greater potency – if he can link up well with both the full-backs and the new main man up-front then he could be a key player. Bryan’s a bit of an enigma, better as a wing-back but a great threat going forward still as a left-back. He needs a good season in my view to truly cement his place and I still believe he’s got almost everything needed to become a Premier League player, he just needs to be more consistent and improve his defensive positioning.

Josh Brownhill did well on that right during the run-in too. Is he better there than in central midfield?

Another good question! To be honest we changed so much throughout the season it’s difficult to say either way on lots of these. He had a great end to the season, a real key element into our improvement and survival. And yes, he did play on the right but it was a tight, central-right – he’s not a darting winger – so with that you lose some attacking threat down that side unless Pisano is the Italian Cafu!

When Marlon Pack and Korey Smith started in central midfield together last season, you averaged 1.5 points per game. Do they compliment one another?

Definitely our best partnership in my view. Smith hassles and harries and is strong, whilst Pack remains underrated by many but seems to be a crucial cog whenever we have a good run. He was the most obvious example of Johnson’s strange tendency t leave players out for long periods last year – and when he played he made a difference. He can pass, spread the ball, and one aspect often overlooked is the amount of balls in he clears with his height, if it doesn’t get as far as Aden Flint.

Famara Diedhou joins as your record signing from Angers. Given that he’s a similar type of striker, can Fammy replace Tammy?

We sure hope so! As with many of these types of signings, I’ve only really seen YouTube footage so far but he’s certainly got hit the ground running, lead the line and score goals from the off or we could struggle. He’s come from the same club as Jonathan Kodjia and having played in Ligue 1 is theoretically further advanced than Kodjia was, so hopefully we’ve unearthed another gem!

Aaron Wilbraham has been given a new one-year deal. Does that make it harder for Matty Taylor to work his way into the team?

No, they have totally different roles. Wilbs will very much be a sub to mix things up and hold the ball up for 20 minutes if needed. Taylor enjoyed his best spell supporting the main striker (so presumably Diedhiou) and buzzing around the full-backs and back-line, working hard, unsettling them and creating space and chances. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this year with Djuric too as another big target man, who gets to play and when.

What are your thoughts ahead of the Championship season as a whole? Any potential dark horses for you?

I think it’s a strong league although perhaps not quite as good as last year. John Terry will naturally get a lot of headlines – it’s rare for a player who’s achieved what he has in the game to be playing at this level. England captain, Champions League winner, multiple league Champion – he’ll be a good challenge for the division’s top strikers to test against.

Middlesbrough and Villa are spending big to try and seal the top two, whilst Wolves obviously have high aims, along with the likes of Norwich, Fulham, Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham and the relegated Premier League sides.
In terms of dark horses, well I had Huddersfield at 40/1 last year so I’ll punt again and any team managed by Neil Warnock can produce the unexpected and if Zohore can continue the goal-scoring form he showed in the second half of last season, they could be the ones to sneak into the top six.

Where will you finish?

Somewhere between 10th and 14th – without a relegation scare – has to be seen as progress and I think we’d mostly all settle for that this year.

The Football Lab

Although Bristol City have lost Abraham, they soon replaced him with their record signing, Diedhou. Flint leads at the back behind a midfield with underrated technical quality. If some tactical consistency is found, Pack and Paterson will shine in a top half finish. 12th

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