That was rubbish, why did Lee Johnson think he could out-Warnock Neil Warnock?
Bristol Post
Monday 26th February 2018
That was total rubbish. I’m not going to apologise for saying that, it just was rubbish, plain and simple.
Against Fulham last Wednesday we witnessed what many thought was the best advert for Championship football, but at the Cardiff City Stadium we saw something more akin to pub football on a Sunday morning – and even that is doing an injustice to those Sunday morning footballers.
Why did Lee Johnson think he could out-Warnock Neil Warnock?
I have watched Warnock sides for the last 20 years and they are never any different.
They are physical, break up the play and take every opportunity to go down for fouls, disrupting the opposition.
And yet Johnson decided to change the team that had performed so well against Fulham and try to match Cardiff.
Bobby Reid and Josh Brownhill of Bristol City look frustrated after a late 1-0 loss
The gaffer said that we didn’t set out to play Cardiff’s game and picked a team to win individual duels. Sorry Lee, that’s just semantics. We did try to mirror Warnock and Cardiff and that cost us the win.
Johnson opted to give Lois Diony his first start up front alongside Famara Diedhiou. I’ve seen nothing in Diony during his cameo substitute appearances, but he is obviously showing something different in training and Johnson gave him a chance.
But what on earth is Johnson thinking when that chance for Diony means dropping Bobby Reid, our top-scorer and most consistent attacking threat, into midfield?
Cardiff City 1-0 Bristol City - reaction
Johnson got this badly wrong and Diony offered absolutely nothing. I can’t sugar-coat it, at the moment the loanee is miles away from being good enough for the Championship and our position in the table means we cannot afford the time for him to learn.
For me, only Reid and Korey Smith came out of the game with any real credit. What disappointed me most was that we seemed afraid to get on the ball and pass.
Diony and Diedihou just couldn’t hold the ball, while Josh Brownhill and Joe Bryan were shadows of the players we know they are. We didn’t have enough width in the team and just couldn’t get anything going.
The players have to get their mojo and confidence back. This is the same side that ran Premier League champions-elect Manchester City close over 180 minutes. The coach also has to learn quickly and play players in their best positions.
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