Knowledge is powerful

Lee Johnson and Tommy Wright

LEE JOHNSON is about to embark on his second full season of management with Athletic.

In a morning meeting at SportsDirect.com Park, the Chronicle’s Athletic reporter Matthew Chambers discussed a host of issues with the 33-year-old ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, which starts with the visit to Colchester United on Saturday.

Matthew Chambers: You are now the 43rd longest-serving manager in the English game. Does it feel like a precarious job?

Lee Johnson: It does, there is no doubting that. This is a good, stable club though. I have a good relationship with the owner and the majority of fans understand where we are expectation-wise.

Of course, we have always got the dream and we push for that every day. We expect to compete strongly in every game and we will see where that can take us. Who is to say it can’t take us to the next level?

But you only have to look at Leyton Orient to see what we are up against, signing three players in a week on huge money. It is soul destroying!

However, what we have got here is spirit and this is a good club.



MC: You have been here for getting on to 18 months now. What sort of affinity have you got for the club?

LJ: A very strong affinity. First and foremost I am very grateful to the club for giving me the chance in the first place and also the support I have had all the way through.

At all clubs, people will have a moan. But I genuinely feel that here, the fans want me and us to do well — and at some places it is the opposite.

I want to be the one to deliver what they want and it is a big part of my motivation to strive to achieve that.



MC: What sort of difference has Tommy Wright made since he came in?

LJ: I’ve enjoyed working with him and he has enabled me to manage better. He has a good knowledge of the players that are around, as he has spent a few years scouting in this area and has been to so many games.

What I have enjoyed is that we have very similar football philosophies and hopefully, we are learning off each other.

Importantly, I enjoy his company and he has added something to the team — which is why I brought him in.



MC: Has the squad-building process been a difficult challenge this time? You have helped balance the books with the sale of Korey Smith. How does it compare to last summer?

LJ: In one sense it has been easier, as our knowledge of player base around the divisions is better and we were able to formulate a real plan as to who we wanted to target.

There is no doubt we have got good value for the players we have brought in. They are better than the money we are paying them and we have worked really hard to do that.

It is not just me either — it is down to the staff, who I didn’t have last year when I was on my own. Paul Gerrard left and Tony Philliskirk went back to the youth team so I was left on my own then.

I don’t think we recruited badly last year. I just think we had a few too many ‘stocking fillers’ as opposed to players who would affect the team.



MC: How much of a blow was losing Korey Smith and how does his replacement Liam Kelly compare?

LJ: I wouldn’t say it is a direct replacement. They are different styles of player really. A midfield of Korey Smith, Mike Jones and Liam Kelly is for me a top-six midfield.

I was disappointed to lose Korey, who I liked a lot. But the club did well out of that move. And to bring a player like Liam Kelly in on a free transfer, getting a very good player for nothing, is massive.



MC: Jonson Clarke-Harris is someone who has the reputation as being difficult to control, but with plenty of talent too. What is he like to work with?

LJ: He is a lovely lad, which is why I put up with him. Deep down, he is a kind-hearted protector. He wants to look after people.

There is no doubt he came with strong lifestyle issues, which were always going to take time to iron out. But he is young. Though he looks like a man, it doesn’t mean his mindset has formed accordingly yet,

He is in good form. It has been up and down a little bit, but he has had three or four really good games and a couple of bad ones.

It is all part of his learning. At 27 years old, a club like ours wouldn’t have Jonson Clarke-Harris. We have got to really work with him and hope that with our help he can produce what we believe he can.

He has managed that to an extent. To think of where he came from, on the scrapheap of football where nobody wanted him, to where he is now, is a lot in 12 months.

Hopefully he can make similar improvement over the next couple of years that we have got him.



MC: Is a push for the play-offs realistic this season?

LJ: It is possible. You look at Sheffield United, Bristol City, Preston, MK Dons, Leyton Orient and Barnsley. Then you have Doncaster and Yeovil. What the budget gets those clubs is a big squad and strength in depth.

The key for us in achieving what we want to is getting a bit of luck or a favour. A favour would be a loan or two that really works at good value and the luck part is no injuries, which is a massive thing.

We are settled though and I am hopeful. Will the world of football think we can do it? Probably not, given what we have resources-wise. However, what everyone else thinks has never won a league or got anyone promoted.

I look at Burnley as an example. I was watching a television programme which stated that Burnley were sixth favourites to go down last year from the Championship and we are in League One.

I know Sean Dyche well. They had an outstanding year injury-wise and it shows how important that can be.