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Daniel Johnson

Daniel Johnson

I thought for the first time he's been here that DJ pulled out of challenges and had a couldn't care less attitude. He looked like he was waiting for a move and didn't want to get injured.
Saying that there wasn't a good performance from anyone in the team.
 
I thought for the first time he's been here that DJ pulled out of challenges and had a couldn't care less attitude. He looked like he was waiting for a move and didn't want to get injured.
Saying that there wasn't a good performance from anyone in the team.
Some people have said that every single season he's been here. I just think in a poor starting xi, struggling for form, DJ generally struggles to make a big impact. He has shined more when the whole team is playing well.

He should have moved on two years ago. There was no challenge for him here. But maybe he liked playing under Alex Neil, or it was just that bumper contract offer. Who knows.

With the contracts handed out to Harrop and Maguire etc under AN, it's unclear to me how interested AN was in any of these players. He probably knew he wasn't gonna be around as manager for too long.
 
DJ has been poor this season. Don't get me wrong. Not a shot on target.
I wouldn't pick him on the strength of past glories after 3 years of - relative mediocrity then.

Should Player loyalty to any Club be rewarded, by being picked, if the player is either out of form or appears to show a less than 100% rate of application?
( And with DJ it appears to be a combination of the two )
I think the tactics and team selection are largely to blame for that.
He's even been called upon to play wingback occasion . ( actually he did okay imo )
We were not gonna offer him a contract renewal (on terms he'd accept) even if he scored 10+ goals and was POTY. The financial highlights dictated that.
Which came first - the form/effort issue - OR the reduced income issue ?
And you can guarantee his replacement won't ever match the highs DJ did whilst here. But he'll be cheaper. And that's what matters.
HEMMINGS OUT
RIDSDALE OUT

These are the things that matter, in the long run, & personally more important than any individual player who typically arrive as, peaks, and leaves. Eventually, and it's how they leave.

Meanwhile, Ridsdale should neve to have come, and it's Hemmings's dad who brought him here.
 
Yup 8.5 years service. That's the kind of reward you get at North End. Jeered of the pitch and suggestion for his chant to be cancelled.

DJ has been poor this season. Don't get me wrong. Not a shot on target. But, I think the tactics and team selection are largely to blame for that.

We were not gonna offer him a contract renewal (on terms he'd accept) even if he scored 10+ goals and was POTY. The financial highlights dictated that.

And you can guarantee his replacement won't ever match the highs DJ did whilst here. But he'll be cheaper. And that's what matters.
I always find it odd to contrast the twilight of DJ's time at PNE with Huntington's - Hunts largely sat on his arse for his last few seasons here, and made quite a few costly blunders when he did get called upon, but still got treated like a club legend, despite the "never lets us down" tag being more a sentimental slogan than a statement of truth by the end.

Whereas DJ - who came up with us from L1 like Huntington, but has been constantly around the first team ever since, hence he gets paid an average Championship wage these days, which some people still find shocking - is singled out for jeers and boos on a day when the pitch was filled with average hacks and cloggers who kept up their poor quality play for the full game after he'd been subbed, and who we'll be stuck with long after DJ leaves. At least they were all booed off at the end I guess.

And yep, DJ won't be replaced, and when we eventually do go down, some people still won't make the connection.
 
Look - everybody is angry and frustrated by what happened a week ago. It was a disgrace - no other word fits. There is little point reiterating the reasons but just for the record it was an unnecessary reversion to an unfamiliar formation with unsuitable players even for that formation aggravated by the absence of players who could at least have provided some character and leadership. Now there is no reason to assume it has put us on a downward slide.

It is just as possible to treat it as an aberration and though there was nothing good about it then if RL learns the lessons and does not repeat them - even if he won't quite acknowledge them - then at least there may not be a repetition though it has to be stated unequivocally there was absolutely no need for that experience in the first place. But today as with every match after a defeat is a chance for a fresh start and everybody -players, management, fans - has to approach it in that spirit. The first thing will be RL's team selection - it has to avoid the gross errors of last week. Then there will be the players - they have to be full of fight and enthusiasm from the start. There there are the fans - they have to behind the lads and full of voice.

This season is still full of potential but it needs the right attitude from everybody. Who knows - if we make the Play-Offs we may come up against last week's opponents again and that would provide an opportunity really to set things to rights. But the necessary changes in selection, motivation, performance and enthusiasm have to start today. I won't be at the match today but I did my bit earlier in the week by driving from London to Gillingham to support the Youth team - a great bunch of lads and some of them not just that but also full of really exciting potential. The future starts now - let's get on with it.
 
Look - everybody is angry and frustrated by what happened a week ago. It was a disgrace - no other word fits. There is little point reiterating the reasons but just for the record it was an unnecessary reversion to an unfamiliar formation with unsuitable players even for that formation aggravated by the absence of players who could at least have provided some character and leadership. Now there is no reason to assume it has put us on a downward slide. It is just as possible to treat it as an aberration and though there was nothing good about it then if RL learns the lessons and does not repeat them - even if he won't quite acknowledge them - then at least there may not be a repetition though it has to be stated unequivocally there was absolutely no need for that experience in the first place. But today as with every match after a defeat is a chance for a fresh start and everybody -players, management, fans - has to approach it in that spirit. The first thing will be RL's team selection - it has to avoid the gross errors of last week. Then there will be the players - they have to be full of fight and enthusiasm from the start. There there are the fans - they have to behind the lads and full of voice. This season is still full of potential but it needs the right attitude from everybody. Who knows - if we make the Play-Offs we may come up against last week's opponents again and that would provide an opportunity really to set things to rights. But the necessary changes in selection, motivation, performance and enthusiasm have to start today. I won't be at the match today but I did my bit earlier in the week by driving from London to Gillingham to support the Youth team - a great bunch of lads and some of them not just that but also full of really exciting potential. The future starts now - let's get on with it.
Paragraphs.
 
That's far too Woodsish.

What a thing to say. But whatever you think of Woods - and I have no idea who he is - at least be shows some enthusiasm and that is what we need today along with pride, determination, drive and organisation.
 
I always find it odd to contrast the twilight of DJ's time at PNE with Huntington's - Hunts largely sat on his arse for his last few seasons here, and made quite a few costly blunders when he did get called upon, but still got treated like a club legend, despite the "never lets us down" tag being more a sentimental slogan than a statement of truth by the end.

Fair point, but I bet there was a £780,000p/a wage difference between the two.
 
I don’t think any player should be above criticism.
DJ has been predominantly shit for a long time so I don’t get this constant defence of him.
Also I’ve thought for a while that he looks like he couldn’t give a toss.
He strolls around putting very little effort in and don’t give me that bollocks that that’s his style.

Should he have been booed/jeered off?
Definitely not

But one thing is certain, he needs to take a good, long look at his performances and effort levels.
 
Fair point, but I bet there was a £780,000p/a wage difference between the two.
I bet there wasn't, but as long as people keep peddling that narrative - cheap players good, average Championship wage bad - we'll always be left with a team of predominantly low-cost hacks after every transfer window, and they'll always give fans plenty of justification to boo them off.
 
I bet there wasn't, but as long as people keep peddling that narrative - cheap players good, average Championship wage bad - we'll always be left with a team of predominantly low-cost hacks after every transfer window, and they'll always give fans plenty of justification to boo them off.

Hunts wasn't a regular and knew his limitations. Whenever he came in to the side he never let anyone down and earned his money. It's unfair comparing a reserve centre half to one of the top two earners in the club's history.
 
Hunts wasn't a regular and knew his limitations. Whenever he came in to the side he never let anyone down and earned his money. It's unfair comparing a reserve centre half to one of the top two earners in the club's history.
I'm comparing long-serving club legends, and their markedly different treatment by the fans.

It's ironic that if DJ hadn't played much the last 2 seasons, he'd likely get more respect, even though we'd've finished lower in the table as a result.

"Top two earners in the club's history" is just a Hemmings narrative. We should be able to afford more than 2 or 3 players on average Championship wages by now, but because of the way they run the place, we can't, and an average wage still stands out to gullible fans as if it's something special, requiring extra-special super performances from them despite the L1 players they are surrounded by.
 
Don't think that Browne and Johnson have been the same since Pearson and Davies left.

Everyone probably has a theory as to why but when they were allowed to get around the penalty area they scored some great goals, wish they could find that form again.

Maybe they both need a new challenge?
 
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