opinion Damien Johnson

[tomphil]

49 minutes ago, philipl said:

Always had an issue of Johnson taking Grabbi's goal v West Ham slamming in a ball that was clearly going in when Grabbi was desperate for the confidence boosting goal.

Minority view here but Grabbi's issues were more mental than anything else and he could have become the player we spent all that money for him.

Funny he crops up whilst we are talking about fitness etc from academies as that was the very thing missing from Grabbi a bit like Dack he always looked like he should have been fitter and worked harder.

He did though show flashes of skill and good touches you could see there was talent there but it was a hell of a leap from the Italian second tier to the cut and thrust of the Prem.   Some of TMs famous easing them in and hitting certain fitness targets before being ready to be selected wouldn't have done him any harm.

In reality though i think English football at that period was always going to be too much for him.

[Amo]

1 hour ago, Amo said:

Haha glad I'm not the only one. I was re-watching that game the other month and felt sorry for Grabbi. 

Having watched that goal again, Damo points to himself afterwards like "Yeah that was me!"

You tapped in a header on the goal-line that was already going in, dude. ?

[47er]

1 hour ago, Miller11 said:

I mean we are never going to get a no nonsense type while the lions are here. So I’d be as happy with Johnson as anyone.

Fair enough!

[bluebruce]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Always had an issue of Johnson taking Grabbi's goal v West Ham slamming in a ball that was clearly going in when Grabbi was desperate for the confidence boosting goal.

Minority view here but Grabbi's issues were more mental than anything else and he could have become the player we spent all that money for him.

He had some kind of disease or condition affecting his foot or something, which only came out years later, if I'm remembering right.

[47er]

41 minutes ago, DE. said:

I'm not seeing any post hidden and we don't delete posts. Are you sure it went through?

Thanks for responding DE.

I'll respond off the Board to you if it happens again.

[47er]

As for Johnson, what he did as a footballer doesn't really matter does it? He had a successful career after he left us and he's made a terrific contribution to the Youth set-up now he's returned.

Faced with what the Raos are likely to come up, I suspect he's the best we'll get.

Looks like he's being groomed for it doesn't it?

 

[tomphil]

what title have they actually given him now he's running around with ipads and helping matchday warm ups ?

Edited October 10, 2019 by tomphil

[Guest]

On 10/10/2019 at 12:33, tomphil said:

what title have they actually given him now he's running around with ipads and helping matchday warm ups ?

iPad Assistant Manager???

[LeftWinger]

On 10/10/2019 at 09:57, philipl said:

Always had an issue of Johnson taking Grabbi's goal v West Ham slamming in a ball that was clearly going in when Grabbi was desperate for the confidence boosting goal.

Minority view here but Grabbi's issues were more mental than anything else and he could have become the player we spent all that money for him.

I didn't think he was that bad, but I did go to an evening with Flitcroft and Jansen at Ewood once and these questions always come up about the best player they've ever played with. The usual names always get a mention - Jansen, Duff and Tugay. They were also asked who the worst player was, and while they wouldn't 'directly' answer, they said if you'd had a bad game/training session, it was referred to as 'having a Grabbi'.

[tomphil]

9 minutes ago, LeftWinger said:

I didn't think he was that bad, but I did go to an evening with Flitcroft and Jansen at Ewood once and these questions always come up about the best player they've ever played with. The usual names always get a mention - Jansen, Duff and Tugay. They were also asked who the worst player was, and while they wouldn't 'directly' answer, they said if you'd had a bad game/training session, it was referred to as 'having a Grabbi'.

At Chorley Fc ?

I remember that being mentioned there alongside a bit of a hint that they wondered about the size of the fee and where it all went !  I seem to think it was Craig Short who had the biggest issue with Grabbi and his laid back attitude.

[LeftWinger]

20 minutes ago, tomphil said:

At Chorley Fc ?

I remember that being mentioned there alongside a bit of a hint that they wondered about the size of the fee and where it all went !  I seem to think it was Craig Short who had the biggest issue with Grabbi and his laid back attitude.

No it was in Blues Bar I think the one I went to. Sounds like it's been mentioned a few times though.

[Amo]

Poor Grabbi. He obviously wasn't cut out for Premiership football but he didn't catch a break either. Goal stolen by Damo, legit goal disallowed against Manure. And I expect his laissez-faire impression coupled with the overinflated price-tag didn't endear him to his fellow team-mates. Technically, he was far from the worst striker to have our books in recent memory.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

If that goal against the red rats hadn't have been disallowed he may have gone on to be a hero. If that had have been Cantona doing that it would have been a goal.

[bazza]

I thought Grabbi came on as a sub against Liverpool and scored a great header at the Blackburn end. Surely that's not the disallowed goal, is it?

[G Somerset Rover]

7 hours ago, Amo said:

Poor Grabbi. He obviously wasn't cut out for Premiership football but he didn't catch a break either. Goal stolen by Damo, legit goal disallowed against Manure. And I expect his laissez-faire impression coupled with the overinflated price-tag didn't endear him to his fellow team-mates. Technically, he was far from the worst striker to have our books in recent memory.

Jansen describes in his autobiography just how terrible he was. When we bought him one of our coaches (Boersma perhaps) supposedly told the lads he would be a world beater. 

[frosty]

Just now, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

Jansen describes in his autobiography just how terrible he was. When we bought him one of our coaches (Boersma perhaps) supposedly told the lads he would be a world beater. 

Haven't got it to hand but yep sure he said that (and you're right, I think it was Boersma) but the other players soon thought he looked more like he cost £70k than £7m.

He obviously wasn't up to it but there was the odd moment that showed he had some ability, his first goal v Everton was very nicely taken then in the aforementioned West Ham game he played a lovely chipped through ball to Flitcroft to score.

Jansen's relief was clear though when Cole came in January.

[tomphil]

7 hours ago, Amo said:

Poor Grabbi. He obviously wasn't cut out for Premiership football but he didn't catch a break either. Goal stolen by Damo, legit goal disallowed against Manure. And I expect his laissez-faire impression coupled with the overinflated price-tag didn't endear him to his fellow team-mates. Technically, he was far from the worst striker to have our books in recent memory.

You could tell he had some ability in there but physically and mentally the leap from Italian second tier to English Prem was massive and he just wasn't cut out for it, then add in the weight of that fee.   Also he looked uncomfortable in the position he was trying to play ( where have we seen that before ? ).

Shame really as he'd notched about 40 goals or something the season before he came i think. There were plenty of his ilk started landing in the Prem around that time it was the era the Super Agent really began to take hold.  

Or the dodginess already rife in the game went up a notch in other words.

[Stuart]

44 minutes ago, bazza said:

I thought Grabbi came on as a sub against Liverpool and scored a great header at the Blackburn end. Surely that's not the disallowed goal, is it?

I seem to remember that being United. (The disallowed goal)

Edited October 16, 2019 by Stuart

[Doaksie]

1 minute ago, Stuart said:

I seem to remember that being United. (The disallowed goal)

Disallowed goal v United, robbing Barthez and lobbing it over him. Header v Liverpool which stood for a 2-2 draw?

[JacknOry]

He did have some ability, I actually remember him having good technique. He was just too lightweight and clearly not built for a more physical league. Wasn't the hardest worker either. As mentioned, he was also really unlucky on a couple of occasions. 

Better league, new country, massive fee and the luck never rolled his way.  

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 hours ago, Doaksie said:

Disallowed goal v United, robbing Barthez and lobbing it over him. Header v Liverpool which stood for a 2-2 draw?

Yep, Barthez had released the ball, Grabbi did nothing wrong. The goal should have stood. Just one in a very long list of bad decisions we got against the red rats in that era. The Wilcox " penalty " against them at Old Trafford being the worst in my opinion. The clearest penalty shout I saw all season just waved away by the ref !

For the goal against Everton he picked the ball up in the old inside left position before cutting inside leaving a couple of defenders beaten with a dipped shoulder and calmly stroked the ball into the far corner. It was a pretty good goal and he made it look really easy peasy. Why he never  did it again is a mystery. 

Edited October 17, 2019 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Amo]

Here's the game with Grabbi's equaliser. A certain little Boglin scores for the bin dippers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp39umWHTxI

[Amo]

Just now, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

For the goal against Everton he picked the ball up in the old inside left position before cutting inside leaving a couple of defenders beaten with a dipped shoulder and calmly stroked the ball into the far corner. It was a pretty good goal and he made it look really easy peasy. Why he never  did it again is a mystery. 

Is this the goal you're talking about (just after the 1min mark)

I'd post the Youtube link but it's blocked in UK for some reason

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Amo said:

Here's the game with Grabbi's equaliser. A certain little Boglin scores for the bin dippers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp39umWHTxI

Interesting to see that all four goals came from good balls being crossed in from wide positions. Yet we insist on our wide players playing on the " wrong " wing and coming inside all the time. Modern football ? They don't know what they're doing.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Amo said:

Is this the goal you're talking about (just after the 1min mark)

I'd post the Youtube link but it's blocked in UK for some reason

Yeah, I think that's the one. You don't get to see much of it though.

When you watch the whole clip and the football on show and then you see what's on display at Ewood today it's like they're playing a completely different sport.