Should Glen Johnson get a new contract?

[MLB]

I thought he was alright. Better than last week.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

The problem is we're now judging him by a much lower standard. He's an established international player who we're viewing in comparison to a youngster and Cissokho. The bar is now whether he didn't look poor rather than whether he excelled.

[spider-neil]

Glen had a poor game? FUCK OFF this this agenda driven bullshit!

[Pureblood]

He did a great job out of position today. 

[Adebisi]

Wasn't terrible, but a lot of their attacks came from down his side. Was watching a compilation vid on him the other week and was reminded of just how good was going forward at times. 

I wouldn't keep him though, let's get someone young and hungry. 

[ZonkoVille77]

Fuckin hell. he was bad today. no point in pretending otherwise.

[Pureblood]

He had zero protection in front of him and was playing on his wrong side. 

[Sweeney287]

Thought he done ok.

 

Had a couple of crap touches but some of the passes to him put him under pressure straight away so, for me, made it look much worse than it was.

 

See how he fairs in his favoured position by the end of the season but hope he sees sense and takes a reduced wage for an extra 3 years.

 

Flannagan isn't the answer so we would need to but another player in the summer when then one that we have, when on song, is very good.

[KMD7]

He looks like he's lost a few pounds and played well today, especially second half.  

[Paul]

Poor first half and much better second - just like everyone else.

[The Golden Eel]

Much better tonight. Let's see if he keeps it up

[The Golden Eel]

Fuckin hell. he was bad today. no point in pretending otherwise.

He really wasn't.

[robbiefowler9]

I thought, unlike the rest of the team, he had a decent first half and a terrible second half.

 

I think he takes too many touches and is hesitant on the ball, which results in him being closed down and giving possession away cheaply.

[The Golden Eel]

I thought, unlike the rest of the team, he had a decent first half and a terrible second half.

 

I think he takes too many touches and is hesitant on the ball, which results in him being closed down and giving possession away cheaply.

Yeah I thought he was better first half too. He was still ok second

[Aldonose]

He's definitely polarising opinions. I thought he was a bit ponderous, a bit rusty, and overall lacking a bit of confidence. Full backs are a priority for us in the summer.

[xerxes]

I thought, unlike the rest of the team, he had a decent first half and a terrible second half.

 

I think he takes too many touches and is hesitant on the ball, which results in him being closed down and giving possession away cheaply.

Fair coment.

 

Could we get better value for £120k a week? I think so.

 

GJ is an excellent footballer, but there are better defensive full backs, and better wide midfielders.

[ZonkoVille77]

our full backs should be flanno and Enrique. get 2 in to cover those 2 and let Glen go. He's too inconsistent and on big bucks.

[robbiefowler9]

Fair coment.

 

Could we get better value for £120k a week? I think so.

 

GJ is an excellent footballer, but there are better defensive full backs, and better wide midfielders.

He has excellent technique, yes. But it's wasted on him as he doesn't have the intelligence to implement it. Attacking moves break down with him, as he dawdles on the ball and gives it away more often than not. And don't get me started on him cutting inside and shooting at every available opportunity.

 

He undoubtedly has the talent but he's arrogant and lazy and his decision making is terrible. Never mind 120k, we could significantly improve on that position for around half that wage.

[JermainePennant]

He has excellent technique, yes. But it's wasted on him as he doesn't have the intelligence to implement it. Attacking moves break down with him, as he dawdles on the ball and gives it away more often than not. And don't get me started on him cutting inside and shooting at every available opportunity.

 

He undoubtedly has the talent but he's arrogant and lazy and his decision making is terrible. Never mind 120k, we could significantly improve on that position for around half that wage.

I disagree if you are talking about him based on one game yesterday then you are right on a couple of things but looking at how he has played over the years here you are wrong imo.

 

Saying his decision making is poor, he dawdles on the ball and that attacking moves break down with him is bollocks imo.

 

He is one of the best players technically in our squad and is given the ball as much as anyone as players trust him in possession, as for attacking moves breaking down he has been one of our best attacking outlets over the years.

 

He lost the ball a few times yesterday but he is just back from injury and I rate him for trying to play the way he knows hes capable and try dribbles and not just choosing the easy pass and playing backwards and sideways.

 

Some are making a big deal about his wage but a player of his quality should be on 80k minimum, sagna is two years older then him and is getting 100k offers.I have a lot of arsenal fans and this season aside glen has been better then sagna for a good while, the previous 2 seasons sagna was very poor and nowhere near glen.

 

People are also making out its easy to replace him but only decent player Ive heard mentioned is montoya who will not want to leave barca and would also command big wages.

[robbiefowler9]

Like I said his technique is great. If he had the mentality to boot he would be a good player. He gets a couple of good goals a season, but his chief job in this system is to offer width and cross the ball. How many assists does he have over the last, say, five seasons? How many of those from crosses? How many shots for every goal? Because when he's got the ball high up the pitch, nine times out of ten he cuts in on his weaker foot and shoots from a ridiculous angle. That doesn't strike me as good decision making/attacking influence.

 

He's paid too much money for what he delivers, any claims to the contrary are nonsense.

[Ne Moe Imya]

our full backs should be flanno and Enrique. get 2 in to cover those 2 and let Glen go. He's too inconsistent and on big bucks.

 

Don't think your sights are set high enough, personally.  I don't want us building for a top-4 place next season.  I want us building to win the league.

 

For me, that would require 2 new fullbacks, or a first choice left-back at the very least.  Flanagan and Enrique are perfectly good as second-choice options, but if we want to win the league we need better for the first XI.

[razor]

Agreed, he was very good if still not as his best, how anyone could seriously think flannagan is better then him is beyond me.

 

I fear so. 

 

I fear so.

[Trumo]

Sometimes, an older player can justify a new contract because he's a consistent performer in the team, isn't injury prone, and is capable of maintaining a consistently high level for another 2-3 years, or is a key dressing room presence as somebody who is extremely well-liked and commands respect amongst his teammates for what he brings to the club overall. Somebody like Carragher basically.

 

The thing is, Johnson isn't getting any better, he seems to be injured quite often, is wildly inconsistent at times, and doesn't give the impression that he can the experienced older pro that the youngsters will look up to as they're developing. These factors mean that his current salary doesn't match what we can hope to get out of him, and it's unlikely he'll want to take a drastic pay cut and extend his contract.

 

For me, the shrewd move would be to sell Johnson in the summer and invest the time and resources on his replacement. Whether that replacement is already at the club is up to the manager. 

[ZonkoVille77]

Don't think your sights are set high enough, personally. I don't want us building for a top-4 place next season. I want us building to win the league.

 

For me, that would require 2 new fullbacks, or a first choice left-back at the very least. Flanagan and Enrique are perfectly good as second-choice options, but if we want to win the league we need better for the first XI.

Don't get me wrong, I'd defo upgrade them both if possible so I agree with you there.

 

But there's a couple of reasons I've said that...

1 - Top class full backs are difficult to find, especially attack minded ones that can provide width and defend, 2 - We're not likely to spend the money required to get those type of players.

So Enrique and Flanagan are good enough for the moment.

 

I think Flanno and Enrique are very good players. Flanno will only get better and Enrique is pretty good at what he does.

I think we need a more settled back line overall though, one that doesn't include Johnson.

[DanDanShaw]

It's easy saying lets get rid of him but you need to look at the cost of a replacement.  He earns £5m a year, but if we let him go for free we will need a replacement which to match his level in today's market is going to be at least £8m (at the very least) and then they'll be asking for a minimum of £2.5m a year. 

 

All in all, we've barely saved any money, and they could turn out to be shite.  I'd just bite the bullet and give him a further 2 years on the same money.  I can't imagine we will have unlimited money to spend in the summer, so we don't really need to be wasting it.  He loves the club, he's a good player - better to address the issue 2/3 years down the line when he's getting on a bit.

 

(P.S - does anybody think we have addressed our left back issues with him?  I really do think he's a better left back than a right back)