The man who has escaped blame this week....

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Bradley Johnson. Sorely missed yesterday. One of the few leaders that drives the team forward. One of those players who never hides when the going gets tough and is missed when he''s not there more than he''s appreciated when he is. Straight back in next week for me.

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

its come to something when we needed Bradley Johnson to have beaten Reading at home?!

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary"]its come to something when we needed Bradley Johnson to have beaten Reading at home?![/quote]Absolutely GJL. NN, are you seriously saying that, given our self-styled ''best squad in the league'' status ,we are really reliant on a player as limited as BJ to get something out of a game against a struggling, injury hit Reading side ?

[ZLF 334]

Tettey played well yest as the def mid shield.

so not sure what elements of BJ game would have prevented the defence not marked at set pieces or what chances his incisive passing would have created compared to those who did play?

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Second half we didn''tget in their faces at all. There was no driving force. We were bullied by Reading and BJ would have made a difference. It ddoesn''t have to be Tettey or BJ. If we didn''t miss him what was the difference between the last 2 home games?

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,035]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Second half we didn''tget in their faces at all. There was no driving force. We were bullied by Reading and BJ would have made a difference. It ddoesn''t have to be Tettey or BJ. If we didn''t miss him what was the difference between the last 2 home games?[/quote]

well we let 3 in against Brighton??

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Second half we didn''tget in their faces at all. There was no driving force. We were bullied by Reading and BJ would have made a difference. It ddoesn''t have to be Tettey or BJ. If we didn''t miss him what was the difference between the last 2 home games?[/quote]Aw come on Nige. I know you have a Doctorate in straw-clutching, but that is just silly.Both performances were abject. There were subtle differences, but in the final analysis they were both poor, regardless of whether Johnson featured.

[Tim Dawson 0]

Have you been on the pop Nigel? 30k a week and struggles to pass to someone ten yards away, 1 good game in ten, you must be watching a different player !!!!

[nutty nigel 7,902]

You seriously think we were better yesterday than against Brighton?

[nutty nigel 7,902]

And you must just follow the ball.

Why do you think every manager picks him?

[Year of the tiger 66]

Of course most Norwich fans know better than our last 3 managers who picked him week &week out & the Premier League managers who wanted to sign him in the summer. Why am I not surprised.

[Tim Dawson 0]

You two are seriously deluded, i am not doubting you get a 100% from Johnson, but he really is sunday league standard !!!

[Year of the tiger 66]

so you don''t believe there were Premier League sides after him in the summer? Clearly Paul Lambert was similarly deluded whilst at City

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Seriously deluded or not we missed him and I hope he comes straight back next week. We need strong players who take responsibility and stand up to be counted.

[Tim Dawson 0]

Maybe a team at the bottom who wanted someone to do the ugly stuff and didn`t mind his lack of skill

[mrs miggins 0]

It was nice to see us without him in the team, we moved the ball a lot faster in the first half and didn''t get cut open, their goals came from corners from poor marking from turner

[Year of the tiger 66]

So a team at the bottom of thePremier League with all the money that brings would sign "a Sunday league standard player" oh dear

[nutty nigel 7,902]

There was a huge difference between the two games when we fell behind. Second half we needed BJ.When the going got tough yesterdays midfield didn''t get going like when we fell behind the previous week.

Anyway, the tiger roared in favour so that''s good enough for me ;)

[mrs miggins 0]

can''t argue with that, we were sh1t in the second half. (although its not like BJ would''ve helped the tempo)

[lake district canary 4,823]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]There was a huge difference between the two games when we fell behind. Second half we needed BJ.When the going got tough yesterdays midfield didn''t get going like when we fell behind the previous week.

Anyway, the tiger roared in favour so that''s good enough for me ;)[/quote]

And when the going got tough against Bolton and we needed to counter their growing midfield confidence, BJ came on and our midfield all but disappeared.

[Year of the tiger 66]

Whilst we are on the subject of our midfield it''s interesting that our post Shrewsbury slump seems to have coincided with the return of Johnny Howson. I sometimes wonder if he avoids the BJ style criticism as he manages to disappear.

We all have our favourites & scapegoats.

[nutty nigel 7,902]

Again the tiger roars. Howsons interview yesterday was akin to Ruddy''s tweets. Howsons found it hard since his injury but its difficult to believe he was captain at Leeds.

[Horse Renoir 1]

I need BJ much more than this team does!! :(

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Indontboften agree with NN ,,, but it has to bebsaidnthatbwe seriously lacked someone to put a foot in yesterday BJ would have supplied that .

All you posters who claim he can''t pass I doubt you have actually been to Carrow Road ,, right ?

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

B*llocks to writing on this I pad ...!!!!!

[mrs miggins 0]

I know it sounded like you suggested that Johnson is actually good at passing.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]Again the tiger roars. .[/quote]I think you''ve been listening to that Katy Perry song too often, NN !

[Yellow Wal 315]

The problem is that BJ isn''t always good at passing ............. not as good as Howson is.

However, I cannot remember Howson winning one tackle yesterday and I cannot remember him winning one aerial duel, and I was actually looking for the tackles and duels.

If you haven''t got the ball you can''t pass it and Howson very rarely wins a tackle and very rarely wins an aerial battle. He may intercept a few passes but as NN has said, there are times when you need a midfielder to make his presence felt.

The tempo of a game is often set by the central midfield players, those whose physical presence lifts the rests of the team. Yesterday Alex Tettey had a massive job to do with little help. I felt he was as good as we had, but also feel he would have been far better with a bit more help in the most competitive part of the pitch.

I am afraid Jonny Howson flatters to deceive.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

I think I would rather have BJ out there than Howson to be perfectly honest. It comes as no surprise a Leeds side with Howson and BJ in the middle of the park never threatened to finish above mid table in this league.

I would rather we had a player with the passing prowess of David Fox in the center somewhere.

[lake district canary 4,823]

BJ was a revelation at the beginning of the season.  Why?  Because teams were standing off us, unsure and trying to deal with the excellent movement in the team with Grabban, Lafferty, Wes and Redmond in it.  That gave BJ and Tettey so much more time, it made them look better too.  In short we had a good formula.   So why did Adams abandon it?  Because teams sussed us out and stopped fearing us.  Brentford were all over us in the first half there.    Jerome came on and staked his claim - and since then we have not only changed the system, we''ve made it worse, not better.   4231 was always going to be more solid than having two forward strikers - but we changed the system for the worse.  Johnson has lost the time he needs to be able to spray the ball around like he did against Watford and Blackburn, so he is ineffective when in the present formation - and as I said earlier in that formation, his performance when he came on against Bolton was imo bordering on the reckless.   So he is not immune from criticism, but neither are any of the others, nor is the manager who sets the team up.