Roger Johnson may be a Wolves great
Tuesday 23rd August 2011, 9:01AM BST.
Wolves columnist John Lalley is starting to believe one of the greatest-ever club captain’s could have born in summer signing Roger Johnson.
Played two, won two, it’s difficult to remember the last time that Wolves got off to a flier and early points always stimulate levels of interest and confidence.
Blackburn may, even at this early stage, give hints of imminent disarray and Fulham offered virtually nothing from a creative standpoint, but the lack of opposition inspiration is no problem of ours and we will gratefully accept anything that falls to our advantage.
There has been a genuine sense of purpose in our play in both games, we have spurned the policy of ‘what we have, we hold,’ which circumstances dictated in previous seasons.
The fact that Mick McCarthy finally seems at ease with an offensive front running pairing, at the expense of a packed midfield, which indicates a desire to adapt a more expansive approach this time around.
Stronger opposition will no doubt test the manager’s resolve regarding positive systems and formations soon enough but, while the sun shines, let’s bask in it.
From the outset, it’s already abundantly clear just why Mick quickly decided on installing Roger Johnson as team captain.
Johnson is a dominant and forceful individual, physically imposing and clearly, a natural leader.
Last season, Wolves lacked a real focal point of inspiration, an individual who could galvanise his colleagues through his strength of character; a player who could command instant respect and demand relentless efforts from his colleagues.
This infers not the slightest criticism of Karl Henry, who wore the armband over a long period with obvious pride and with unstinting application.
Indeed, Henry was superb against Fulham last Sunday – neat, tidy and constructively destructive in denying possession to the frustrated visitors.
Maybe the crazy lunge and dismissal at Wigan and the running feud with Joey Barton last term were incidents symptomatic of his desire as captain to set an aggressive template as team leader.
Without the extra burden of responsibility, this season could turn out to be extremely productive for Henry.
The midfielder has endured his share of flak over the years but, whatever angle you view events from, the £150,000 we paid Stoke for his services resonates as one of the biggest bargains of recent years.
Good value? You’re not joking are you! As a local lad who demonstrably takes the greatest pride in his performance, Henry will have had his professional ego dented by losing the captaincy, but long term it could be the making of him.
Over the last two seasons, Jody Craddock offered his brand of leadership shaped from his vast experience, his unfussy efficiency and his unwavering commitment.
Jody was inspirational but never a voluble character or a demonstrative individual like Johnson. As Jody’s terrific contribution draws to its close, Johnson will surely become increasingly influential.
Christophe Berra, for whom this is a big season, already seems to be benefitting from Johnson’s influence.
The Scot still has much to prove to many Wolves’ sceptics but the solidity offered by his defensive partner gives Berra the basis for a fresh start and the opportunity to convince the doubters.
Johnson’s power in the air, his authority and physicality all combine to make life easier for his fellow defenders.
When Wayne Hennessey unnecessarily invited pressure with a short pass to play Berra into difficulty against Fulham, Johnson immediately remonstrated with his goalkeeper who was quick to make his apologies.
No great show was made by the captain of being in charge, there were no loud histrionics, he simply issued a firm and salutary reminder to a colleague to do his job professionally and it was good to see.
Captaincy of a football team is often dismissed by the cynics in the game as simply the process of one player tossing a coin before the kick-off before concentrating on his own game.
But positive leadership should never be underestimated; Wolves have been fortunate to have been led by some outstanding players with a winning mentality.
Stan Cullis and Billy Wright, two all-time greats, were followed by Mike Bailey, who proved himself to be a superlative leader.
During the dark days of lower league oblivion one Alistair Robertson, despite being in his dotage, was a towering figure whose influence in spiriting our revival was absolutely immense.
Whenever such players were missing from our line up, Wolves were immeasurably weakened as a team.
Johnson has the capability to become a catalyst for the present group of players,
he is approaching his peak years as a defender, oozes confidence and clearly enjoys the respect of his colleagues.
When the difficult times arrive this season, as they inevitably must, his real value to the club will become self-evident.
When adversity rears its ugly head, Johnson will be leading from the front and proving in the process that he is one of the more astute signings made by any Premier League club this summer.
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Defensively Johnson was excellent against Fulham. I dont think he missed anything in the air all game. He made too poor passes that on another day could have cost us dearly, but im hoping that it was just a case of nerves playing his first match at our fantastic stadium with our fantastic support.
Judging by our first 2 games, he seems to have really improved the players around him, which is what many of us fans said he could do when we bought him. Obviously theres still a long way to go, and we will struggle in some games this season, but without doubt, we have started the season brilliantly.
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This article is spot on, while its still early days i have watched henry in the opening 2 games and feel he has renewed vigour by being released of the responsibility and added to this i feel henry is out to show he is a very capable midfielder at best and a nuisance to the opposition at worst.
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steady on mate he’s only been here 5 minutes.
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I don’t know if I am alone here, but the whole team seemed much more vocal in the Fulham game, than I have seen them for a very long while. All the players was talking and shouting a lot more. For me it was inkeeping with the uptempo game.
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good article from mr lalley,
most clubs have good players, and wwfc have been criticised on these forums for buying players from relegated clubs but what those critics dont realise is that if you dig around long enough you will unearth a gem.
and from the moment i saw roger jhonson at the pre season friendly at walsall, i had a feeling that wwfc had a bargain at thier disposal and the following performances against real zaragoza,blackburn,fulham, only confirmed my opinion.
of course villa,spurs,and the rest will provide a more thorough test for messrs,berra,jhonson,etc…but im hoping wwfc will prevail….utw
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When talking of leadership, let us also not forget the late, great Emlyn Hughes.
His legs had gone a bit by the time he signed for us but he organised the team with aplomb.
I am optimistic that Johnson can lead this team in a similar way, something we have lacked for such a long time.
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This team as a unit is greater than the sum of it’s individual components, they really work for each other! MM please do not sign Bullard, I have a nasty feeling he will wreck the team ethos and spirit. Bit of a BIG TIME CHARLIE thats never achieved anything really. leave well alone!!!!!! UTW
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3. make that 180 fantastic minutes
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Little early to be thinking of Johnson as a Wolves great. I’ve been impressed with him and the improvement in defence is clear for all to see but lets wait for a couple of months before we start calling for him to be inducted into the hall of fame. While Henry has played well in the first 2 games i feel he slows the play down too much at times which allows the opposition to get everyone back and means our attacks breakdown to often.
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Ey ooop, numpties.
I’ll thee what for nowt, too. I’m right chuffed, me.
Right grand to see others finally praising my massive Johnson, about time too. He was absolutely immense at the weekend, put in a right proper shift, bought a tear to the missus’s eye, I’ll tell thee. The lads on the park put in a decent shift too.
Another 36 games to go, still time to get involved in a good old relegation ding dong, mind. Love ‘em, me.
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What a load of rubbish by Lalley as useual,Johnson is a good player but to say he could be a Wolves great after 2 games is a bit over the top.
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Very early days although the article writer did say he “may” be a Wolves great not he will be before the Baggies fans start jumping all over the story.
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Agree with 3 – we may be a little premature yet. We’ve kept a clean sheet against a side yet to score in the Prem who were missing their main striker and we conceded one to a team that are in the top three favourites to get relegated. Not raining on the parade – merely being a bit more guarded – as pleased with the signing that I am.
I prefer to look at it as 15% of the way to the 40 points we needed last year after 2 (or 5%) of the games played. Or indeed, 19% of the points that we would have needed to survive in our first season in the prem.
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7. I too hope they don’t dream of getting Bullard. I can’t imagine them being daft enough – it just has to be newspaper talk …. surely?
I wouldn’t take him on a free even if he played as an amateur!
As for Johnson he’s made a great start and if he’s still at Molineux in, say, 5 years time, and showing the same leadership he could well go down as one of the clubs greats.
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10 merlin responds – PRAT!
11 Roy – can you read! it say’s “could” now go back to crappie land there’s a good boy?
3&13 – it is just an observation like many others that have said the same, take your negative comments and shove them were the sun don’t shine.
We are are Wolves………..you ain’t.
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Leaving aside the suggestion that Johnson could be one of the greatest club captains (only time will tell), the rest of the article probably reflects most Wolves supporters view at the moment.
Karl Henry can quite rightly be proud of his tenure as Wolves captain. And he still has a valuable part to play as demonstrated against Fulham last sunday.
However, we have now moved into another era. Both Johnson and O’Hara are far more vocal. Johnson’s presence at the back has already had a dramatic effect in marshalling the defence. O’Hara is also not shy in letting his teamates know if they not doing what they are supposed to be doing.
The overall effect is a far more cohesive team in which everyone is contributing. In the first two games nobody had a bad game.
Early days, but the signs bode well.
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Steve Hunt is the difference for me.
What an attitude this guy has.Just love him.
Its way too early to be talking about RJ as a great.
He’s had 2 decent games.Thats it.
Dont get carried away.
Karl Henry has looked much better,he certainly couldn’t have looked worse than he was last season.
Early days yet.
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The team has a better balance with Johnson ,we have the makings of a good Prem team.It was nice to see MM confirm that Doyle was going nowhere and this will be crucial to a succesful season
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As someone old enough and privileged enough to have seen a truly great, commanding centre half -that’s Frankie Munro, who else?- grace the famous Molineux turf, I think I’ll reserve judgement on Roger Johnson until he’s played way more than just a paltry two games for our wonderful old club. The signs are promising, admittedly -but no more than that at the moment.
Glad Henry’s been relieved of the Captaincy, though. No doubting Karl’s commitment but he just isn’t natural material. There again, few are. Hopefully, Karl will be all the better for it, long term, as Mr. Lalley says.
Wish we could find another Mike Bailey or Paul Ince for the engine room. Yow cor beat a strong spine, can yer?
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Roger Johnson was regularly in the England provisional squads, when at Blues. If he keeps up this level of performance, he will be in the full squad. Both he and a fully fit Hunt and O’Hara make a massive difference to the team. What else needs to be mentioned on here is that Ward – with successful international caps under his belt – is getting better all the time at left back. Yes he might struggle against better opposition to come but he has had two top class performances. I would still like to see us sign a left back and a challenger for Henry but the squad is taking shape. This is how I see it with squad cover?
Hennessey (De Vries) Stearman (Foley) Johnson (Craddock) Berra (Zubar) Ward (Elokobi) Hunt (Kightly) Henry (Edwards) O’Hara (Milijas) Jarvis (Hammill) Doyle (SEB) Fletcher (Vokes)
Subs: Ikeme, Guedioura(injured)
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Johnson is a huge signing for us and the defense seems a lot more certain about what to do under pressure with him organizing and communicating. his aerial ability is extremely good and I feel he will become a better player with more games under his belt. I would prefer Foley starting at full back rather than Stearman but I think that will come.
I am not a big fan of Henry but he definitely stepped up his game on Sunday and if can keep delivering that kind of performance then fair enough. I am a shade disappointed that MM seems firm on not bringing anyone else in as I do feel we lack depth in quality at midfield and perhaps another striker would not be a bad move. Knightly coming back is a good thing but the jury will be out if he can replicate the form he had before all of his injury problems.
Overall we are already looking a more effective and confident team – the schedule has been kind to us as Villa will be another step up in quality opposition. if we can keep up this level of play I feel good we will get something out of this match.
Come on you Wolves!!!
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I think its too early to say johnson will be a wolves great, mr lalley mentioned wright, cullis and bailey and he is correct they were great. But he forgot another wolves great who was a good captain also, ron flowers. The days when these guys played loyalty was a big thing, in this day and age its different.
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As others have said, only time will tell. Certainly he has made an excellent start. Bullard? Surely not.
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Roger Johnson is a good player and he will do good for us, but what happens if we do get relegated, he has no loyality for the club and he will be the first to jump ship. that is not what a captain should do, look at scott parker, west ham got relegated and hes stayed to help them regain there place in the top league, johnson will not do that.
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I think the blog has stated what most are thinking and confidently hoping for.
Its clear for all to see the improvement Johnson has brought to the squad, and yes, it is still very early days.
I can honestly say that i have never been more pleased with any wolves team and the club as a whole as i am currently.
The club from top to bottom has never been in a more healthy condition, the squad, management, owners, the ground, the youth academy, the finances etc etc.
All the building blocks are in place for a bright future, a continued premier league status, a state of the art bigger molineux and a prosperous club with sound finance and management.
For the first time in a long time our club now has the ability to reach its genuine potential, in time, with patience and gradual improvent. This is arguably the best time to be a Wolves fan for many a year, and i mean that sincerely. Make no mistake the Wolves now have the potential to be on a par in the future, with the likes of the spurs, evertons, villas etc. It will take time and effort from all involved with the club, but, its genuinely possible.
With everyone pulling together in the same direction this famous old football club can continue to rise back to where it once was.
In the meantime…lets enjoy what its all about, the football, the singing, the banter, our days and nights out, following the boys in gold n black. :-)
The future is bright, the future is GOLD!
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24. The only reason Scott Parker is still at West Ham is because they have priced him out of a move to a Premier League club not because he has chosen to stay. But he is not the type of player to throw his toys out the pram because he hasn’t completed his move, but i guessing he will be back in the Prem before the transfer window closes.
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Johnson is a good player too good for Wolves.
£10 million for doyle is that a joke liverpool have been paying way over the odds for there players ie Downing and Henderson, Doyle is worth £3 mil max! Dont forget he is now the understudy to Long in the Ireland starting 11.
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24) Firstly it is highly unlikely that we will get relegated as there are 6 more realistic candidates – Swansea, QPR, Norwich, Wigan, Blackburn and Everton. Secondly, who says that he would not stay? Blues were forced to sell all of their assets due to being run by a crook!
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wolvesfan4ever – Parker would have jumped ship in a second if a club came in for him with a bid that west ham would accept. Fair play to the lad for not having a strop and putting in a transfer request, but as soon as a prem club comes in for him, probably a london club, he will be long gone. Johnson also didnt make a song and dance about wanting to leave, but we came in with an offer and Birmingham accepted.
I dont think its disloyalty why players now leave because of relegation. It is simply the way the game has gone, Players now know that in order to get recognition and play international football, they need to be playing at the highest level to get noticed, Its not very often that the england scouts will be at championship matches, the players know this so they have to move on. Dont blame the players, blame the clubs that have made it impossible for anyone else to compete at the highest level now.
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Can the numpties on here, that stil continue to moan about opposistion we have played so far. Please shut up. You obvisouly dont know FA about football and do not watch us play week in week out. If my memory serves me right did we or did we not fail to beat these two teams,last season. Which surely means we are progressing as a team and getting better each season. if you’ve got no better to do than slag the wolves off.then go over to the smethick albion and watch them and do us a favour and slag them off!!!
Sorry rant over….
UP THE WOLVES
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wolvesfan4ever – I love your optimism. Right now is a great time to be a wolves fan. Savour it.
Wolves will never sign bullard. someone desperate to fill column inches there i think.
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Also, what about Bill Slater?
I think where Johnson will really shine and help us pick up points is when we play away. THAT’S where you really need your leaders to step up to the plate. Blackburn away is the first away premier league game where we went behind and went on to win..
An excellent start, but it is only a start. Still, am looking forward to the rest of the season now. Bring on the Vile!
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25: Navy Wolf, what a superb comment, I think you are spot on. I believe the building blocks are in place for steady improvement. Wolves have proactively restructured to be ahead of the game as the UEFA -mandated fiscal responsibility measures begin to bite. I also think Henry will benefit from being relieved from the duties of captaincy. Looking forward to an acid test at Villa, but with the spirit evident in the team, wouldn’t be suprised if we share the points..or even further improve our “Champions League qualifying position”!
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