Striking the right balance

James Wilson

ATHLETIC manager Lee Johnson has high hopes for the coming season with Athletic.

Confident in the players he has added to his squad, part two of his in-depth interview with the Chronicle’s Athletic reporter Matthew Chambers, Johnson discusses the scoring difficulties of last term, the fans’ desire for a crowd-pleasing genius and exceeding the expectations of pundits outside the club.


Matthew Chambers: How conscious were you in planning for this season of the lack of goals at home last term?

Lee Johnson: To bring in a guaranteed goalscorer is a little bit unrealistic for us at the moment. Of course, we are always looking for better. But if anyone gave us examples of players we should sign, we will have a story of why we wouldn’t take him or why we can’t afford him.

We have intel on every striker going — even across Europe. There have been a couple who could raise our standard, from abroad. But that means a top wage and it is a risk.

justified

At the moment, I don’t think that risk is justified given that we went 10 games unbeaten at the end of last season.

Jonson Clarke-Harris came into form then and though Danny Philliskirk petered out a little, it was his first full season in men’s football.

We definitely have a finisher in Philliskirk. And we have pace and power in a front three now should we want it in Amari Morgan-Smith, Clarke-Harris and Jonathan Forte.

We have tweaked little things as well. We’ve brought in the pitch by a yard either side, which will probably produce more goals.

Last year as well, a lot of teams came here for a draw. It is difficult to break down teams in this division when they are generally very well organised.

Last year was the most successful for five years in terms of where we finished, so it was a progression.

Of course, I would love to entertain as we did when we beat Notts County 5-1 at home, but there is a reality that we want to play good football but also get results.



MC: Can we expect a few loan players from Newcastle this season, given the Sports Direct link?

LJ: It certainly hasn’t been talked about on my part as being different to any other club. We are always in the market to give experience to players on loan if they are better than what we already have.

Sometimes, you may get a free loan. A manager may say, ‘we have a striker who will fit into your system, would you like to look at him?’

We have got close links. We had a couple from Manchester City last year and while they didn’t work out as we would have hoped, they were very good to us and we were appreciative.

It is difficult though, as under-21s football is totally different to men’s football. It can take lads time to adjust.



MC: Do you ask your dad for advice still and if so, to a lesser extent than a year ago?

LJ: We talk and it is natural to run players by each other. We both put each other off certain players because of the trust we have and we genuinely want each other to do well.

I would be mad not to tap into the experience form time to time, but I also have to make my way on my own and not be clouded by a coach or manager who may be set in their own ways while I try to break new ground personally.



MC: Have you left room in the budget for the special player you talked about earlier in the summer, one who can unpick defences through individual brilliance?

LJ: If I look at the players we have had who are like that in this division, Gary Harkins and Jose Baxter are the two you would describe as ‘mavericks’. But neither of them could particularly run — and football these days is a running game.

David Noble is probably the best out of the three of them, as far as quality and vision and manipulation of the ball. But you have to find a spot in the team to play those men.

Noble should have played in the Premier League, without a doubt. He is in the top three players I have ever played with. He is another one who didn’t fulfil his talent. He trained like a World Cup winner but outside the game he played hard too and in my opinion, that cost him.

I have a feel for what people want now and because we have been in this division a long time, those sparks of genius go a long way.

Some teams would hate a Gary Harkins or a Jose Baxter, others would idolise them. It would be the same if — and I am not saying we are — we went for Noble or someone similar.



MC: The bookies have Athletic down as one of the favourites to be relegated. Does that frustrate you?

LJ: It is irrelevant, other than spurring us all on to go and achieve. Last year we were favourites for the drop but ended up in our best position for five years.

This year, we look to improve on last year as a minimum.

I know that we have recruited well. We have brought in ‘moneyball’ players — ones we have really selected carefully for what we require.

In our side, we have internationals from Angola (Genseric Kusunga), Scotland (Liam Kelly), Wales (James Wilson), Barbados (Jonathan Forte) and Northern Ireland (Carl Winchester) and Jonson Clarke-Harris was called up by the Republic of Ireland’s under-21s but turned it down.

We are no mugs by any stretch of the imagination. But we are flying under the radar and that is where we have to act.

As a club, we should accept that and create a siege mentality against the rest of the league.