Should Glen Johnson get a new contract?

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Sexual tension in here.

[Jairzinho]

MF Mongs.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I'd rather you stay a little bit longer and answer the last question about Gerrard

If you explain the relevance of Gerrard's contract, which is commensurate to his status as long serving club captain, England captain, club legend, and brilliant performer, then I'll be happy to answer some idiotic, totally irrelevant bullshit about Gerrard being as good as in 2005.

 

and in particular the mong suggestion that we motivate our rightback by offering him a pay deduction on his current contract.

What are you talking about. I said I'd be happy with him to stay on a reduced wage, which is what he'll be offered, or to be sold. It's really quite simple. He's dramatically overpaid at the moment, and if we're looking at payment going forward, I want those years to be at a much reduced level. For me, he can accept it as part of his lessening quality and status, or he can fuck off.

[RedRazor]

He has been drifting from poor to inconsistent for two seasons. At his best he's a really good player. The issue is, we see that very rarely. We need depth and quality there. That's not meant to be original or insightful, it's just what we quite obviously need in that position. If he halves his wages, I've no issue with him staying. He's 29 and not been performing and on huge wages. Come on, think about it. People like TK are swayed by who they like and don't like, those things don't matter - it's what they consistently offer the team. I like Johnson, I think he has been good for the club. For the last couple of seasons we've been looking at a very inconsistent performer. Giving him another few seasons - into his 30s - doesn't make a lot of sense unless it's at a reduced amount.

He is 29 and will be looking for one final decent contract to see out his playing days. Any offer that falls short of his expectations - which will not be half of what he is on now - will see him seek pastures new. If you think we should offer him a reduced contract you are saying that you want him to leave the club. We would lose a quality player who has performed well for the length of his contract bar the four or five months imo. How much of this was down to him carrying an injury only those inside the club will know.

 

I thought he put in an excellent performance against Cardiff. He had a hand in three of our goals and none of their goals came down our right. In fact they got nothing at all on the right. The only blemishes on what I thought were a near perfect performance were when he needlessly gave away a free kick in a dangerous position (but we were 5-2 up) and the communication (or lack of it) between him and Skrtel that lead to the third Cardiff goal.

Rodgers is setting the team up for the full backs to push on so this does leave holes at the back. I am not sure that there are many defenders in the world who could do much better in a side as attack minded as Liverpool. If there are full backs out there who can defend better and attack better and run faster and read the game better - then fine. In reality we might end up paying a lot of money for someone who only ticks a couple of those boxes and will probably end up paying them a lot more than we are paying GJ.

[Jose Jones]

He is 29 and will be looking for one final decent contract to see out his playing days. Any offer that falls short of his expectations - which will not be half of what he is on now - will see him seek pastures new. If you think we should offer him a reduced contract you are saying that you want him to leave the club. We would lose a quality player who has performed well for the length of his contract bar the four or five months imo. How much of this was down to him carrying an injury only those inside the club will know.

 

I thought he put in an excellent performance against Cardiff. He had a hand in three of our goals and none of their goals came down our right. In fact they got nothing at all on the right. The only blemishes on what I thought were a near perfect performance were when he needlessly gave away a free kick in a dangerous position (but we were 5-2 up) and the communication (or lack of it) between him and Skrtel that lead to the third Cardiff goal.

Rodgers is setting the team up for the full backs to push on so this does leave holes at the back. I am not sure that there are many defenders in the world who could do much better in a side as attack minded as Liverpool. If there are full backs out there who can defend better and attack better and run faster and read the game better - then fine. In reality we might end up paying a lot of money for someone who only ticks a couple of those boxes and will probably end up paying them a lot more than we are paying GJ.

 

Yeah agree with that.

I think Johnson's a good player, he does make mistakes at times, but he's decent enough at defending, has good height and  is decent in the air and is really good on the ball - receiving and passing it well in small spaces and can also take on a player.

  

He was one of our best players last season and started this season well.  I'd offer him a two year extension to take him to 32.  Even if you think the wages are a bit of an overpay he would quite easily get them at another club in my opinion were we to release him or make him available at a small price, and if you are looking at trying to get someone better you would be paying similar wages plus 10 million odd in transfer fee.  Don't see the financial justification for it really.

 

If we don't think Flanno is up to the task to take over long term, then we should look for another young and promising full back to get in as competition.  Then pick whichever of Johnson/Flanno/new guy plays best.  If it works out that Flanno/New Guy develop to become a top class player and Johnson then becomes an expensive squaddie we'd still have the option to sell/release him if we need the cash.

[ZonkoVille77]

he is fuckin shite. a useless shite.

[Hades]

Brendan talks him up and he plays like shite. Pattern repeated as infinitum.

[Phoenix]

There should be an autopost feature on the forum. Choose your player and hope for a bad game.

[Gym Beglin]

Lazy twat.

[robbiefowler9]

Johnson is not good at the football. Anyone who says otherwise is not good at the looking of the the football.

[Boss]

He's alright, that's about the extent of it. He has a few solid games, a few were he can't be arsed and the occasional howler and the cycle repeats itself. We could replace him quite easily with no net loss to the teams performance. That can be said with the entirety of the back line though (maybe not Skrtel) so he's in good company there.

[Pureblood]

Harsh words above on Glen again, I reckon.  Second tough game in a few days and he improved in the second half.  He supported the attack well at times, albeit he was dreadful with his use of the ball in the first half.  He is every much part of this title challenging team and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make decisive attacking contributions in the run in.  He's a big game player after all...

[Jose Jones]

Harsh words above on Glen again, I reckon.  Second tough game in a few days and he improved in the second half.  He supported the attack well at times, albeit he was dreadful with his use of the ball in the first half.  He is every much part of this title challenging team and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make decisive attacking contributions in the run in.  He's a big game player after all...

 

Nailed on for the winner at West Ham.

[magicrat]

Harsh words above on Glen again, I reckon.  Second tough game in a few days and he improved in the second half.  He supported the attack well at times, albeit he was dreadful with his use of the ball in the first half.  He is every much part of this title challenging team and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make decisive attacking contributions in the run in.  He's a big game player after all...

 

Some understatement there. He was fucking dire and it wasn't as though he only had a couple of runs at their defense every attack seemed to get channeled though him in the first half . It was embarrassing watching him repeatedly trying to beat a couple of players and tamely giving the ball back . Its all very well getting in great positions to support the attack but there has to be some end product which doesn't regularly end in an opposition counter

[Pureblood]

Some understatement there. He was fucking dire and it wasn't as though he only had a couple of runs at their defense every attack seemed to get channeled though him in the first half . It was embarrassing watching him repeatedly trying to beat a couple of players and tamely giving the ball back . Its all very well getting in great positions to support the attack but there has to be some end product which doesn't regularly end in an opposition counter

 

I agree that he was criminally wasteful in possession in the first half.  He wasn't alone but he was the worst culprit in the first 45.  I can't argue with that.  But I think he improved as the game went on and I really like the security and calmness him and Henderson give us when they combine on the right flank.  

[the chimp]

On his day he's a superb footballer, but there just aren't enough of them to excuse the number of poor performances he has, and I don't know if I trust his form enough to believe we couldn't do better if that's what the manger sees. I genuinely appreciate that by trying things and being more adventurous the propensity to lose the football is heightened, but he's just so fucking wasteful at times it's infuriating. I'd love him obviously to have a storming end to the season, as a Glen Johnson at the top of his game would have a real positive impact on this run-in, but if Rodgers decided that it's time to look elsewhere in the Summer I wouldn't be that surprised or disappointed.

[xerxes]

If there are full backs out there who can defend better and attack better and run faster and read the game better - then fine. In reality we might end up paying a lot of money for someone who only ticks a couple of those boxes and will probably end up paying them a lot more than we are paying GJ.

GJ looks good and is a stylish footballer, qualities which have always gone down well at Anfield.

 

Any objective analysis of his game reveals that there are quite a few who can defend better than him. It is the other qualities which redeem him.

 

Whilst we were on the up, that was fine. Now we are in the territory of winning things.Lack of concentration,being caught out of position, conceding possession are not what we need at full back. His attributes as an attcking midfielder are useful, but we are not short of midfield options. We are short of options when it comes to closing the back door.

[Aldonose]

On his day he's a superb footballer, but there just aren't enough of them to excuse the number of poor performances he has, and I don't know if I trust his form enough to believe we couldn't do better if that's what the manger sees. I genuinely appreciate that by trying things and being more adventurous the propensity to lose the football is heightened, but he's just so fucking wasteful at times it's infuriating. I'd love him obviously to have a storming end to the season, as a Glen Johnson at the top of his game would have a real positive impact on this run-in, but if Rodgers decided that it's time to look elsewhere in the Summer I wouldn't be that surprised or disappointed.

That's pretty much How I feel. Whatever his problem is (fitness/attitude or a bit of both), regardless of his wages, he can definitely be improved on. At the same time, so could Flanno. The difference being that nobody could question his desire/attitude.

[Josef Svejk]

Should the club give him a new contract?

 

The club should take out a contract on him.

[JermainePennant]

Poor and nervy performance from him last night like most of the team, more needed from all of them in the remaining games.

[Jairzinho]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDLpKrTVJKc

[RedRazor]

GJ looks good and is a stylish footballer, qualities which have always gone down well at Anfield.

 

Any objective analysis of his game reveals that there are quite a few who can defend better than him. It is the other qualities which redeem him.

 

Whilst we were on the up, that was fine. Now we are in the territory of winning things.Lack of concentration,being caught out of position, conceding possession are not what we need at full back. His attributes as an attcking midfielder are useful, but we are not short of midfield options. We are short of options when it comes to closing the back door.

How much of this is down to the midfield diamond though? It does seem to leave both full backs isolated at times. I'm sure that if we told both full backs to not push on or overlap for 90 minutes then the perception would be that we were a lot more solid defensively. But then we would lose something going forward and that is not something the BR wants to do.

 

My view is that most of our defensive frailties are down to the way BR wants the team to play as much as the quality of the individuals. I'm really enjoying watching us play the way we do at the moment so I'm happy to take the negatives that come with it. If we can find an upgrade on any of the back four then of course we should go for it but I'm not sure that there are too many out there who will do a better all-round job than GJ at this time.

[magicrat]

GJ looks good and is a stylish footballer, qualities which have always gone down well at Anfield.

 

Any objective analysis of his game reveals that there are quite a few who can defend better than him. It is the other qualities which redeem him.

 

Whilst we were on the up, that was fine. Now we are in the territory of winning things.Lack of concentration,being caught out of position, conceding possession are not what we need at full back. His attributes as an attcking midfielder are useful, but we are not short of midfield options. We are short of options when it comes to closing the back door.

I must have been watching a different game. Johnson was generally OK defending . Better than Flanno who switched off for the Sunderland goal. His attacking attributes as they are these days amount to getting up with the attack , getting the ball and running into to a couple of players . At which point they take the ball off him , he is out of position and Henderson then has to cover his arse ( which he does very well) on the opposition counter.

 

It's a risk having your full back regularly positioned at the edge of the opponents box. The reward is that he creates chances or scores the occasional goal, With Johnson these days its all risk and no reward.

[Ne Moe Imya]

I honestly think all of Brendan's recent quotes praising him are just really obvious attempts to unload him.

 

Our fullbacks are the weakest part of our team right now, and Johnson's 90k/week salary must be target number one to dump.  I'm sure if someone makes us a half-decent offer (more than a pittance, basically) he'll be off in the summer.  West Ham can usually be relied upon to do us a favour, maybe we can give Big Sam a call and say "England's starting right back, top quality player for just £4 million, what do you say?"

 

Wisdom/Flanagan are probably at least at the same level and wouldn't cost us half what he makes even if you added their salaries together.  Use them for cover and then buy a better right back in the summer.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

I must have been watching a different game. Johnson was generally OK defending . Better than Flanno who switched off for the Sunderland goal. His attacking attributes as they are these days amount to getting up with the attack , getting the ball and running into to a couple of players . At which point they take the ball off him , he is out of position and Henderson then has to cover his arse ( which he does very well) on the opposition counter.

 

It's a risk having your full back regularly positioned at the edge of the opponents box. The reward is that he creates chances or scores the occasional goal, With Johnson these days its all risk and no reward.

 

This