Michael Johnson

[johnno]

Any News on Michael Johnson?
Couldn't find anything!
is he still injured?
hopefully fit for the start of the season....

[Chinners]

He'll be on his way I reckon, been 3 seasons now

[Esky]

Hope Sven picks him up - took on Vassell, apparently looking at Michael Ball. A loan move would be great for everyone involved.

[ross.mcfc]

Im sure he signed a 4 year deal at the start of the Hughes first season. So by my reckoning he will be out of contract at the end of this season.

He is finished, certainly as a Premiership footballer. If I was him I'd sit on this ass for the rest of the season and pick up his substancial wages as it might be his last pay day from football all together. I wouldnt blame him either.

When fit he should go out on loan to a league 1 side and figure out if he his body and head is still up to it. I suspect neither will be.

[Blue Blood]

Hate to say it but Johnno is likely done.

I was a massive fan of his, still am but after so long out and injury after injury, it's likely game over for him.

Very sad, honestly thought he was going to be the next big city legend. :(

[HeyMark]

Hope Sven picks him up - took on Vassell, apparently looking at Michael Ball. A loan move would be great for everyone involved.

Very surprised Ball never got a club after being released by us. By no means a world beater but a solid fullback who'd do a job at low to mid prem level

[Mike J]

game over for him at the level imo. massive shame because he was a top player and came through the youth system. after being out for so long, no one comes back as good as they were.

as already mentioned id like to see sven make a move for him.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Hope Sven picks him up - took on Vassell, apparently looking at Michael Ball. A loan move would be great for everyone involved.

Very surprised Ball never got a club after being released by us. By no means a world beater but a solid fullback who'd do a job at low to mid prem level

Thought about him the other day when I went through some old line ups. England cap who was out of the game at the age of 29. I didn't think he was THAT bad either.

[mr_nool]

Hope Sven picks him up - took on Vassell, apparently looking at Michael Ball. A loan move would be great for everyone involved.

Very surprised Ball never got a club after being released by us. By no means a world beater but a solid fullback who'd do a job at low to mid prem level

Thought about him the other day when I went through some old line ups. England cap who was out of the game at the age of 29. I didn't think he was THAT bad either.

I read an interview with Sven-Göran where he said that Ball has been injured for 1.5 year, which sort of would explain why he couldn't find a club after he left us / was dumped by us.

Ball is now with Leicester during the pre-season as a sort of trail period, but Sven-Göran has been impressed with what he's seen so far.

[ronk]

Hope Sven picks him up - took on Vassell, apparently looking at Michael Ball. A loan move would be great for everyone involved.

Very surprised Ball never got a club after being released by us. By no means a world beater but a solid fullback who'd do a job at low to mid prem level

Thought about him the other day when I went through some old line ups. England cap who was out of the game at the age of 29. I didn't think he was THAT bad either.

I read an interview with Sven-Göran where he said that Ball has been injured for 1.5 year, which sort of would explain why he couldn't find a club after he left us / was dumped by us.

Ball is now with Leicester during the pre-season as a sort of trail period, but Sven-Göran has been impressed with what he's seen so far.

He was one of those guys who priced himself out of the market by default in some ways. He was on big money and had spent plenty of time out with injuries. Even if he was willing to come down it's not that easy to negotiate, sometimes teams are scared off before ever really getting into discussions.

In terms of ex-England fullbacks whose careers petered out early there's also the instructive case of Danny Mills.

[Goaters 103]

Johnson's City ship sailed 2 years ago, and sadly he wasnt on it.

Its finished, its over, and sad though it is, we have long since moved on from him being any factor at City.

[Blue Toy]

Amazing to think through all of his injured spell he's been picking up £50k a week. I seem to remember that was the figure when he signed his new deal.

[Wonderwall]

Amazing to think through all of his injured spell he's been picking up £50k a week. I seem to remember that was the figure when he signed his new deal.

we should have taken the Steven Gerrard and Anfield deal whilst it was on the table :-)

[Typical City]

When's Paul Lake back?

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Has there ever been a case of a player getting soooo much hype off sooooo little product?

Oh Yeah Bojinov. We love a myth don't we?

[twosips]

Completely disagree about the little product thing. It was always massively clear that he had so much potential. He was only a kid and he absolutely ran some games in the Premiership. Yeah, he did go missing every now and then, but even in those games he did showcase a fantastic ability to turn into space and retain possession. If he had been playing alongside the likes of NDJ, Silva, Tevez and so on he would have developed into the most technically gifted English passer of the ball since Scholes' emergence. I'm THAT positive. So naturally gifted and comfortable in possession.

[JonnyAsh]

The tragedy is it's most likely all to be speculation, and debate about 'what if?'
We can never say for sure how successful players will become, it's always a fine line, even with those who remain mostly fit.

There were times we thought Stevie Ireland would have fit the bill for years. I did think he may have had a chance to get back. remember when MJ was on the bench in the FA Cup tie, and we all wondered why he didn't come on. Instead I think Boyata did with 10mins left. Maybe he was never ready then, and now it looks further away than ever.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Completely disagree about the little product thing. It was always massively clear that he had so much potential. He was only a kid and he absolutely ran some games in the Premiership. Yeah, he did go missing every now and then, but even in those games he did showcase a fantastic ability to turn into space and retain possession. If he had been playing alongside the likes of NDJ, Silva, Tevez and so on he would have developed into the most technically gifted English passer of the ball since Scholes' emergence. I'm THAT positive. So naturally gifted and comfortable in possession.

I don't think anyone disagrees with his natural ability. He had it in abundance. He just lacked fucking backbone and mental sharpness (and had some unfortunate injuries as well). That makes it extra bad for me. I would have given my left arm for natural talent like that, I really would've. Absolute and total fucking waste of talent and there's no excuse for that in my books.

Oh, and he went missing basically EVERY game for long periods of time but he then there was ten minutes periods where he showcased kind of talent that if he had kept developing COULD have made him top class player. All that is long gone now though. He is 23 and has less than seasons worth of Premier League games under his belt in all his career. 23 in modern game is age where you already need to be close to your peak. Think it would be graceful to everyone concerned to let him go to his belowed Leeds for free and let him try and rebuild his career. It'd be tough even for player with great mental toughness. Never mind someone who seems to be struggling with himself badly.

I think it was Ant who once said that Club should've gave him some serious councelling and I thought that was where the Club made the mistake. Seems like a person haunted by his demons to me.

[john@staustell]

I knew the summer was missing something - a Jonno thread!!

[HeyMark]

Should have took that £8million Newcastle were offering a few seasons ago