Bradley Johnson

[ramsbottom]

Don't you think it would be a good idea for someone to give Alex Neil a quick call and ask him how the f**k he managed to get good performances out of him???

It's that I don't like the fella as a person, and I think the amount of stick he gets is a little OTT & a self-fulfilling prophecy, but he just doesn't fit the system we played last year or the one we're striving to play now.  If there's any chance we can move him on, either by selling or loaning, we should do it for everyone's sake...

[cannable]

25 minutes ago, Duracell said:

Looking at those stats, it's difficult to think of any football team where he would be the right type of player. Has he tried rugby?

He's good in the air, strong, decent tackler, fit and has a good shot on him. He'd be good for a team that absorbs pressure and doesn't look to dominate possession.

Totally the opposite from what we were!

[Ashz09]

6 minutes ago, cannable said:

He's good in the air, strong, decent tackler, fit and has a good shot on him. He'd be good for a team that absorbs pressure and doesn't look to dominate possession.

Totally the opposite from what we were!

True doesn't help him playing on the wing though IMO. Didn't he score two in the center and actually looked decent before his injury at the back end of last season?

[jagerbob]

34 minutes ago, ramsbottom said:

Don't you think it would be a good idea for someone to give Alex Neil a quick call and ask him how the f**k he managed to get good performances out of him???

It's that I don't like the fella as a person, and I think the amount of stick he gets is a little OTT & a self-fulfilling prophecy, but he just doesn't fit the system we played last year or the one we're striving to play now.  If there's any chance we can move him on, either by selling or loaning, we should do it for everyone's sake...

Yes it is.

Before Alex neil ever arrived he was good at norwhich and good at leeds before that.

The rams fans sounding him out is outrageous iof you ask me.

the last full game he had when fit before last saturday he scored 2 goals and was decent.

I dont understand why fans sound him out for abuse and Ince gets away scot free, when Ince has been just as consistant in his performances here.

[jagerbob]

He scored 20 odd goals from midfield in a promotion winning side which didnt play a system like ours where midfield runners get the brunt of our goals.

he is also a physical brute of a player something we lack, in our tippy tappy football ethos.

Seriously he is more use to most sides than having bryson, hughes and butterfield in the same team who probably dont weigh 25 stone put together.

[cannable]

3 minutes ago, jagerbob said:

He scored 20 odd goals from midfield in a promotion winning side which didnt play a system like ours where midfield runners get the brunt of our goals.

he is also a physical brute of a player something we lack, in our tippy tappy football ethos.

Seriously he is more use to most sides than having bryson, hughes and butterfield in the same team who probably dont weigh 25 stone put together.

http://www.thelittleyellowbirdproject.co.uk/articles/2015/9/1/farewell-bradley-johson

[DCFC4LIFE]

Is Johnson leaving?

[duncanjwitham]

5 minutes ago, cannable said:

http://www.thelittleyellowbirdproject.co.uk/articles/2015/9/1/farewell-bradley-johson

"in a midfield full of ball-players and deft touches, Johnson was a pug among greyhounds."

It's very telling that a random internet blogger is able to spot what our highly paid and supposedly professional scouting and recruitment operation managed to miss.

[cannable]

3 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

"in a midfield full of ball-players and deft touches, Johnson was a pug among greyhounds."

It's very telling that a random internet blogger is able to spot what our highly paid and supposedly professional scouting and recruitment operation managed to miss.

Well that's the thing isn't it, I mentioned in an early post that we found out he was available the the night before, he arrived in Derby at 3 in the afternoon and was signed by 5 to 6!

I don't know if we'd even scouted him previously! 

[duncanjwitham]

3 minutes ago, cannable said:

Well that's the thing isn't it, I mentioned in an early post that we found out he was available the the night before, he arrived in Derby at 3 in the afternoon and was signed by 5 to 6!

I don't know if we'd even scouted him previously! 

I can't believe we signed him without knowing anything about him at all, especially considering what we paid for him.  I'd be amazed if we didn't have some kind of scout reports on someone was supposedly a top-level championship player.  We should have files on every player that plays regular football at this level, otherwise what are we paying our scouts for?  And even if we hadn't, we should have done some kind of due diligence (even if it's just speaking on the phone to someone who'd seen him play regularly).  I can only assume that we were counting on him doing enough damage (both goal-scoring and imposing himself on the other team) to outweigh his deficiencies, but no one ever thought it through enough to realise having a player like that in midfield is going to disrupt our style of play so much.

[Bris Vegas]

3 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

I can't believe we signed him without knowing anything about him at all, especially considering what we paid for him.  I'd be amazed if we didn't have some kind of scout reports on someone was supposedly a top-level championship player.  We should have files on every player that plays regular football at this level, otherwise what are we paying our scouts for?  And even if we hadn't, we should have done some kind of due diligence (even if it's just speaking on the phone to someone who'd seen him play regularly).  I can only assume that we were counting on him doing enough damage (both goal-scoring and imposing himself on the other team) to outweigh his deficiencies, but no one ever thought it through enough to realise having a player like that in midfield is going to disrupt our style of play so much.

We went from having arguably one of the best scouting networks in the Championship when NC was here to quite possibly the worst over the past 18 months. It's frightening how bad it has been.

 

[cannable]

5 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

I can't believe we signed him without knowing anything about him at all, especially considering what we paid for him.  I'd be amazed if we didn't have some kind of scout reports on someone was supposedly a top-level championship player.  We should have files on every player that plays regular football at this level, otherwise what are we paying our scouts for?  And even if we hadn't, we should have done some kind of due diligence (even if it's just speaking on the phone to someone who'd seen him play regularly).  I can only assume that we were counting on him doing enough damage (both goal-scoring and imposing himself on the other team) to outweigh his deficiencies, but no one ever thought it through enough to realise having a player like that in midfield is going to disrupt our style of play so much.

It always amazed me that to try and outthink the opposition who were man-marking Thorne we had him and Johnson rotating when that role would be perfect for Butterfield! 

[duncanjwitham]

Just now, Bris Vegas said:

We went from having arguably one of the best scouting networks in the Championship when NC was here to quite possibly the worst over the past 18 months. It's frightening how bad it has been.

I'm not so much convinced it's the scouting network, as the communication between the scouts, recruitment and management that's the problem.  The players themselves aren't necessarily bad, but we seem to sign them with no idea how they are going to be used or where they fit in the team.  Signing Weimann and then never really playing him because he's only really effective as a second striker (when we play one up front) sums it up for me.

[cannable]

1 minute ago, duncanjwitham said:

I'm not so much convinced it's the scouting network, as the communication between the scouts, recruitment and management that's the problem.  The players themselves aren't necessarily bad, but we seem to sign them with no idea how they are going to be used or where they fit in the team.  Signing Weimann and then never really playing him because he's only really effective as a second striker (when we play one up front) sums it up for me.

The odd thing for me is that Clement supposedly had the final say on all transfers. Is that not true? Did Clement just totally underestimate the limitations of Championship players? 

[Nuwtfly]

If Johnson's departure means JB might get more of a look in, then I'm all for it. Really astounded that Butterfield doesn't play more for us. Some of the best passing I saw last season came from him, and he loves a goal too!

[NewhallRam71]

I was in the North East corner on Saturday and thought that it must have been some LMA convention or ex Brazilian players get together judging by most of the ill-educated moaning that I witnessed. The first pass astray and the moaning begins, its not just grumbling either, its venomous noise directed towards one or two players. Bradley Johnson a target simply because we chose to spend so much money on him.

I can recall Paul Trollope making his debut at the BBG and he looked like Bambi on ice to begin with. There were a few groans until a guy at the front of the popside turned round and reminded everyone he was a young lad and needed our support. He went on to have a good game and did well for us.

Sadly those days are gone, there seem to be very few 'supporters' nowadays, but lots of fans who having spent £25 on a ticket expect to simply sit back and be entertained like a West End Show. 

I'm a third generation season ticket holder who followed the Rams in the third division. Quite simply the atmosphere at home games is awful. I am seriously considering wearing ear plugs before I totally lose my rag with some of our lot.

I don't think its just us though, many other teams appear to have the same problem. Sadly the high and publicized salaries of players nowadays seems to have had the result of detaching the players from the fans to a level where they aren't looked on as people with feelings and confidence, more as commodities who are expected to perform come what may.

I would imagine that Bradley Johnson would be a nervous wreck the next time he is at the Ipro. Instead of taking risks he will feel he has to play the safe ball or else getting the boos again.  

 

[Casio]

59 minutes ago, jagerbob said:

The rams fans sounding him out is outrageous iof you ask me.

the last full game he had when fit before last saturday he scored 2 goals and was decent.

I dont understand why fans sound him out for abuse and Ince gets away scot free, when Ince has been just as consistant in his performances here.

Erm... No. Ince creates and scores most of our goals along with Chris Martin (who also gets unfair criticism like Ince) and certainly does not get away 'scot free'. Maybe if he was more of runner like Russell or Weimann, he wouldn't face criticism despite his positive output ever since he has come to Derby.

Johnson however, has not offered a great deal in his time here. Feel like you must be watching a different Derby to me!

[catram]

14 minutes ago, Nuwtfly said:

If Johnson's departure means JB might get more of a look in, then I'm all for it. Really astounded that Butterfield doesn't play more for us. Some of the best passing I saw last season came from him, and he loves a goal too!

Agree, thought jb best player for us sat

[duncanjwitham]

16 minutes ago, cannable said:

The odd thing for me is that Clement supposedly had the final say on all transfers. Is that not true? Did Clement just totally underestimate the limitations of Championship players? 

It's hard to know really, and it's probably a mixture of everything.  I do think Clement really struggled with assessing players strengths and weaknesses and with how to actually construct a team - having Chris Martin running the channels for most of the season, rather than dropping off and linking the play up for example.  And repeatedly starting lineups with pacy, dribbly forwards but then dropping all of the midfielders who could pick a pass, leaving no one to provide through-balls to feed the forwards.  There seemed to be some expectation that he could just ask the players to do something and they would be able to do it (which probably does follow on from working with world class players at Real etc).

[Animal is a Ram]

Butterfield and Hughes are too similar for me. Think they'd face the same issue as when Hendrick and Bryson are in the same midfield.

Johnson is a curious case. He was just what we needed in that midfield with both Hughes and Bryson injured. Played a decent few games and was effective. The game where we stuffed Hull 4-0 at home was one of his best in a Derby shirt. Then he got injured and was never the same since.

There's a decent player there, and I'm disappointed it hasn't worked out for him. Maybe fans never warmed to him after the "Derby City" incident. Maybe, like others have suggested, he's never taken the club to heart. 

Whatever the issue, he certainly doesn't deserve being cheered sarcastically from the field of play.