Innovative Johnson closes in on perfect 10
Wolves in way of in-form Bristol City as they chase Cup quarter-final berth, writes Molly Mcelwee
Bristol City’s nine-game winning streak makes them the most in-form team in the top four divisions, yet manager Lee Johnson says the only special treatment it has earned him is an extra Yorkshire pudding with his Sunday roast.
City, who have risen to fifth in the Championship, last made the play-offs in 2008, when Johnson’s father, Gary, was manager and Lee was playing in the first team.
They went all the way to Wembley, failing at the last hurdle to secure back-to-back promotions. Johnson says he has been unable to take advantage of his father’s wisdom recently as Gary, now Torquay United manager, is doing an impressive job of launching his own promotion bid, guiding his sixth-tier side to the top of the National League South thanks to seven wins from eight matches.
“I haven’t actually spoken to him about it, he’s busy,” Johnson says of his father. “But the Johnson Sunday dinners at the moment are going well, because we’re both on good runs. Mum always puts an extra Yorkshire on both plates.
“I do go to him every now and again and we share [advice], actually. But he’s been there and he’s done it. I was obviously playing during that time, so I had a front-row seat, and naturally you pick up things.”
Johnson is not getting carried away by the winning run.
“I think it sort of crept up on us a little, in terms of the media hype,” he says. “We’re still being consistent but it’s everybody else that raises the noise, the expectation.”
Johnson has managed the club since 2016, steering them away from relegation in his first season. At 37, he is the second-youngest manager in the Championship (Preston North End’s Alex Neil is two days younger). He says that despite his age, he combines his innovative coaching techniques, including creating an app for his players with play-books and video footage of training, with “old-school values”. This weekend, the league is not the focus however, as a fifth-round FA Cup tie tomorrow could provide him with the perfect score of 10 wins on the trot. A victory in the third round over Huddersfield Town and then against Bolton Wanderers brought them to this stage.
Now they host the team many point to as having prompted last season’s decline.
A pivotal December loss at home featured two red cards and Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo being sent to the stands before his team scored a stoppage-time winner. The result helped Wolves run away with the league, while City endured a steady fall.
That was the last time Nuno’s side visited Ashton Gate and Johnson, who completed his coaching badges with the Portuguese, is certain a top Wolves XI will be fielded for their return.
“We’ve done well in terms of Premier League teams we’ve beaten, but it will probably be different this time. Nuno knows a lot about me and he knows a lot about Bristol City, having come from the Championship. I’m sure he will pick a team that has got enough, in his mind’s eye, to progress in a tournament they think they can win.”
Another top-tier scalping would put them in the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in 45 years, but Johnson and his side are no strangers to cup runs.
Last season they made it to the semi-finals of the League Cup,