Football management is always punishing, but the past year has been more testing than most for Bristol City’s Lee Johnson.
Even with a mini-collapse ahead of a tough test at Leeds United on Sky Sports Football on Sunday, City’s run to the Carabao Cup semi-finals and their best league campaign in a decade have brought the feel-good factor back to Ashton Gate – but less than 12 months ago, things looked very different.
As he swung a ballboy round in delight after a historic Carabao Cup win over Manchester United in December everything looked pretty rosy for Johnson and Co, while their performance in the last four impressed Pep Guardiola so much he reportedly considered a partnership for the Robins to take potential young Manchester City stars on loan.
But rewind back to January 22, 2017, the day after an eighth league defeat in a row for City, and the mood around the club could not have been more contrasting to this season.
As Johnson drove into work that morning, his eyes were drawn to a large banner hung next to the stadium calling for his sacking, which summed up the mood of an increasing proportion of the club’s fanbase.
Even those who still supported him would not have been surprised if owner Steve Lansdown had pulled the plug, with City’s Championship position looking increasingly precarious.
Highlights of the Carabao Cup match between Bristol City and Manchester United.
It was the first of several strongly worded signs the head coach would spot as his Robins side stumbled through the winter months, before six wins in the last 10 games gave them a flattering league finish of 17th.
Even with the managerial axe hanging over his head, though, on-pitch matters were secondary for the young head coach when his father Gary, in charge at Cheltenham and a former City manager himself, was admitted to hospital for a triple heart bypass.
To say that perfect storm of pressure would have been difficult to stomach probably doesn’t do it justice. But Johnson has shown how to react in the perfect way, channelling his frustrations into becoming a better manager, and neither he nor the Robins have ever looked back.
The 36-year-old is the fifth-youngest boss in the Football League but has already been in management for approaching five years, first with Oldham, then Barnsley and now at Bristol City.
Johnson has never done things the easy way. He had to shrug off accusations of nepotism as a player when playing under his father, first at Yeovil Town and then for most of a six-year spell at City, before taking his first managerial job at cash-strapped Oldham – who haven’t been as high in the league table since the day he left in 2015.
But that desire to improve, and prove his doubters wrong, has never waned. There are few people better placed to assess Johnson’s development than midfielder Josh Brownhill, who played under him at former club Barnsley, and has evolved into an excellent Championship midfielder under his guidance at Ashton Gate.
“He improved me massively in the short time we were both there,” he told Sky Sports. “That was the main reason why I came to Bristol City because of how he’d developed me, and I think he’s improved a lot as a manager in the time he’s been here.
“He’s changed a lot since the Barnsley days and he’s still young and hungry to improve, as everyone is, but you can tell with the detail he goes into in every game. Last year there were some ups and downs but he had the backing of the players and staff, and up high. He’s proved why, because he’s a great manager.
Bristol City after 31 games
| 2016/17 | Season | 2017/18 |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Wins | 14 |
| 5 | Draws | 10 |
| 17 | Defeats | 7 |
| -4 | Goal difference | 9 |
| 32 | Points | 52 |
“When I first came into Bristol City, I needed a lot improvement to my game and I still do, but he quickly helped me turn into a Championship midfielder. Hopefully, I’m still improving as every game goes on.”
Johnson’s attention to detail includes recording City’s first-team training sessions on drones for a bird’s-eye view, installing an MNF-esque Sky Pad at the training ground and in his own home, and giving players a smart phone app to record as many aspects of their daily life as you could imagine.
But their push for the top has stuttered in recent weeks, and Sunday’s game with Leeds is a chance to end a run of one league win in seven – although it should have been two, but for throwing away a 3-0 lead over Sunderland last weekend.
To say that rankled in the dressing room is an understatement, and City are well and truly out for revenge against a bogey side who have won their last six meetings at Elland Road.
Brownhill said: “The Sunderland game was gutting. We were very disappointed sat in the dressing room, knowing we’d had such a good lead and shipped three in the second half.
“Two of them were bad luck with own goals but even still, we should have seen it out. When it went to 3-1 we should have seen it as a warning sign, because they had nothing to lose. We looked at the game on Monday, saw what we could have done better, and now we want to put it right at the weekend.
“They’re not in the best of form, but neither are we so we need to make sure we’re on top of our game, because we can compete with anyone as we’ve shown this season, getting some big results at some difficult grounds.”
For a city the size of Bristol, top-flight football has been at a premium and the Robins’ nine years at the top, the latest in 1980, is all City or their cross-river counterparts Bristol Rovers have to show in their entire histories.
If the Robins can get themselves back on track, the club which owner Steve Lansdown has pumped hundreds of millions of pounds into over the past 15 years could finally be close to realising its potential.
And while Johnson himself has all but banned mention of promotion at Ashton Gate, Brownhill sees no reason why the Robins can’t shake off the city’s tag of the largest to never host Premier League football.
“A lot of teams are either looking at staying up or pushing for promotion at the start and as the season goes on some teams are still there, and we’re one of those looking for promotion,” he said.
Leeds vs Bristol C
February 18, 2018, 4:15pm
Live on
Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass
“We’re a little away from the top two but it’s still in our minds to push for automatic, the season’s not over and there’s a lot of games for things to turn around. If anyone goes on a bad run, which I’m sure they will, we want to be there.
“The results have been nothing more than I expected with how well pre-season went and the players we’ve got. We did a lot of planning, and the lads all get on very well which is important.
“We knew it was going to be tough, but we’ve shown in some of the games where we’ve beaten some great teams, got some points from difficult places and we deserve where we are.
“Hard work has been the key. Everyone puts in 100 per cent in every game, and we’ve got a lot of energy. That’s what’s underpinned the season.”
Don’t miss the Sky Bet Championship clash between Leeds and Bristol City on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football and Main Event from 4.15pm
Also See:
Sourse: skysports.com
