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Katie Borkins

Bradley Johnson for PoTS

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If he''s suspended, he still has two bookings to go doesn''t he? Unless he''s been booked in the cup as well?

Perhaps he can get through the next five with only one booking and avoid the ban altogether? At least he''s guaranteed to not be banned for Leeds and Boro games which are probably our hardest in April and he''d have to go some to miss out versus Derby.

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[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="smooth"]Many of you will be aware of my posts and reviews of Johnson.

He has been a different player under AN.[/quote]No he hasn''t, he''s always been a good player. Just that some of you are now noticing thanks to recent rave revues and his goals. If you look back at team prediction threads, you''ll see very few wanted him in their teams....but the various managers always did. Bradley hasn''t changed........you lot have.[/quote]

It is too simple to say "he''s always been a good player" because performances do not lie.  If you shoot and most of your shots go well wide or over the bar, you will be criticiesd.  If you win the ball, but then give it away cheaply you will be criticised. That happened last season more than it should have done and if Fer/Howson/Tettey had been fit at the same time, I doubt if Johnson would have been in the team as much as he was, especially with Snodgrass being there.    Even earlier this season I was annoyed with him in a couple of games I was at, where he appeared to be too cavalier in attack at the expense of defending.  The key is the manager.   Adams started him out left in an attempt to make us more solid right across the pitch - and it worked up to a point and Johnson looked more comfortable there.  AN has come in and been much more assertive about roles that players have and Johnson has benefited from that too.   A player that has the confidence in his manager and the role he is being asked to play is always going to do better - and that applies right across the team. 

Last season I wanted neither Snodgrass or Johnson in the team because of their apparent inability to do basics well, like passing either early enough or well enough.      Snodgrass might have torn through this league, but I wouldn''t have been sure about that, given his inability to let go of the ball.   Johnson I wasn''t sure about either this season, but was encouraged early in the season when he and Tettey did well.  It has taken a crisis in terms of  defensive lapses and manager weakness to get the best out of Johnson - credit to Adams for putting him on the left, but credit and more to AN for getting the best out of him and galvanising the whole squad - and not least, credit to Johnson himself for his improvement.  He may have been a good player playing below par last season, he may be a good player now playing at his best, but criticism he has had in the past has been justified imo, just as much as the praise he is getting now is justified too.   

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[quote user="lake district canary"]It is too simple to say "he''s always been a good player" because performances do not lie....[/quote] And yet Lambert, Hughton, Adams and now Neil picked him regularly even though you thought he was poor. 104 Premier League appearances in 3 seasons, and an ever present this term (apart from a 1 game ban), those facts don''t lie.[quote user="lake district canary"]Last season I wanted neither Snodgrass or Johnson in the team because of their apparent inability to do basics well....[/quote]Once again, Hull paid somewhere in the region of £6m for Snoddy and David McNally confirmed there had been more interest in BJ from Prem clubs this summer than any other Norwich City player. Again, facts.Why is it all these Premier League managers can''t see how poor these two players are Lakey if your opinion of them was correct?Could it be that maybe YOU might be wrong?

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Johnson is a fantastic box-to-box midfielder. His aggression, work-rate, powerful shot and ambitious (if inconsistent passing) make him a great fit for that role. 
He makes a poor defensive midfielder. He struggles to track runs from the midfield, is far too inconsistent with with his passing and lacks the discipline to play a pure-holding role.
To get the best out of Johnson, you have to let him play box-to-box. For the first time in his Norwich career, he has been allowed to do this. Neil Adams started it by playing him in a double-pivot with Tettey that allowed him to go forward before eventually playing him on the left and Alex Neil has continued it.
A midfield trio of Tettey holding and Johnson and Howson (who is less agressive but more techical than Johnson) sounds ideal to me.

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Think Eddie has already congratulated him on his POTS award and think he spoke for us all, if he doesn''t win it this year I''ll be shocked

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[quote user="lappinitup"][quote user="lake district canary"]It is too simple to say "he''s always been a good player" because performances do not lie....[/quote] And yet Lambert, Hughton, Adams and now Neil picked him regularly even though you thought he was poor. 104 Premier League appearances in 3 seasons, and an ever present this term (apart from a 1 game ban), those facts don''t lie.[quote user="lake district canary"]Last season I wanted neither Snodgrass or Johnson in the team because of their apparent inability to do basics well....[/quote]Once again, Hull paid somewhere in the region of £6m for Snoddy and David McNally confirmed there had been more interest in BJ from Prem clubs this summer than any other Norwich City player. Again, facts. Why is it all these Premier League managers can''t see how poor these two players are Lakey if your opinion of them was correct?Could it be that maybe YOU might be wrong?[/quote]

I have opinions based upon what I see.  Granted I may not see every match, but those matches I''ve seen this season have been mixed for Johnson. Good to start with, poor in the spell where we looked to have been found out as a team (and the manager takes some blame for this too) and better once on the left under Adams and particularly under AN.  I don''t much care what premiership clubs think about Johnson, if they see potential all well and good.  The truth is he has 100% heart as a player, as does Snodgrass - and that counts for a lot - but it doesn''t absolve them from criticism if they play badly, or in Snodgrass''s case, selfishly.   A player can play well or he can play badly and his value to the team is based on that.  That is why players get criticism and that is why players get praise.  Being a "good" player or a "bad" player doesn''t come into it.  Its about performance and players developing.  Johnson has developed as a player and is atm virtually first name on the teamsheet.   I give him huge credit for that and am quite happy to say that I was wrong, if that is how you want to see it.   However, for me it isn''t about what I think, its about how Johnson performs and there is no question that he is doing better now than at any stage in his career and its great to see someone progress like that.  

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[quote user="Phillip J Fry"]Johnson is a fantastic box-to-box midfielder. His aggression, work-rate, powerful shot and ambitious (if inconsistent passing) make him a great fit for that role. 
He makes a poor defensive midfielder. He struggles to track runs from the midfield, is far too inconsistent with with his passing and lacks the discipline to play a pure-holding role.
To get the best out of Johnson, you have to let him play box-to-box. For the first time in his Norwich career, he has been allowed to do this. Neil Adams started it by playing him in a double-pivot with Tettey that allowed him to go forward before eventually playing him on the left and Alex Neil has continued it.
A midfield trio of Tettey holding and Johnson and Howson (who is less agressive but more techical than Johnson) sounds ideal to me.
[/quote]This is spot on. I have to admit that I have been very critical of BJ in the past, but he should never have been allowed to sit as deep as he did under Hughton. Time after time he would try to influence the game by either trying to play raking forward passes that he wasn''t technically gifted enough to complete (or not often enough to make it a worthwhile tactic, anyway, especially in the top flight), or bombing forward and leaving gaps behind him. He''s clearly finding his best form now he''s been given the licence to use his tremendous work-rate to not only muck in and win the ball back like the warhorse he undoubtedly is, but also to bomb forward and get into goalscoring positions.Currently I can''t see past him for POTS.

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