The Severnside derby is building up nicely it seems. Lee Johnson’s recent outburst has certainly got the attention of Cardiff City fans. It will certainly fire up his own fans I suspect. All part of the package of the hype and the build up. Boy don’t we love it? This article drew my attention partly due to the emotiveness of the derby, but also because it had me smiling from my observation of Johnson as a coach. But before we come to that let’s take a look at a few other things, before I come to my own conclusion. Let’s look at Lee Johnson’s background, his track record, and the context of his statements. It reveals a lot about the man, and why he should have his outburst at Cardiff City fans. Once that is understood is becomes very transparent what his recent statement is all about.

Playing career
First up, Lee Johnson’s playing career. Most of us are familiar with the player from his fallow years with The Robins. Failing to progress at Arsenal and Watford youth, he ended up being with lowly Brighton, achieving little of note. He bounced around the basement clubs such as Brentford and Yeovil. Following a stint at Hearts he arrived to play for a struggling Bristol City. Note the appearances on his record. 405 in all. 192 at Yeovil and 174 at Bristol City, largely thanks to the blessing of his father. Outside of the professional clubs managed by his father, he only made 39 professional appearances. Make of that what you will. It is fair to say that his playing career was deeply unremarkable. Similar to the often-heard boarding school / private school kid who gets a legal job in The City because of father's connections, it is reasonable to ask would he have made that many appearances were it not for a little daddy-nudge? Debatable, but given the statistics, a very fair question. A bang average career would be a compliment of sorts.

Managerial Career
As a manager his track record is flatters to deceive, and far from spectacular. After an unremarkable playing career he did his qualifications and like most managers he took up a stint with a lower club to ply his trade. Oldham to begin with, taking them from relegation to safety, and in the next season into the top ten. He then moved to Barnsley, taking them from 22nd to 12th. Nothing revolutionary to learn here. All publicly available information. With a love for the Robins, the ambitious manager jumped ship again and moves up the greasy pole to Bristol City. Again he takes them away from relegation, and what happens next is an open book. No confirmed play-off positions. No promotions. So far, a bang average manager. But why no success to speak of? The reason is that yes, he is a meticulous manager. He is organised. And he is a modern coach in the sense that he better informed. There are also elements of doubt from players around him, both at Bristol City and at former clubs, that he is something of a textbook manager. Whether it is his average playing career or lack of gravitas I cannot possibly tell. One quote I was given was that he is a “Bargain basement Villas-Boas.” Lots of hype. Lots of phraseology. Lots of flashy presentations. Good at clearing up failure but not a natural born winner, and doesn't know what it takes to get there. His record shows that he jumps quickly when a better offer comes. Nothing bad about that, and possibly reflects amibition. But hever completely finishes the job. Could it be that he moves quickly before he gets found out? Andre Villas-Boas is a fair comparison. Difficult for me to prove, but plenty of anecdotal evidence. It could be argue that there is no smoke without fire.

Current Form
So does the historical evidence of Johnson’s managerial career lend itself to the current? It certainly does. Every time Bristol City get near that top two position they drop and fade away. It is as if they suffer from football’s equivalent of vertigo. It has happened three times this season. They get close. Then they crack. They get close. Then they crack again. Either his methods and his substance should be called into question or his ability to create winning teams. Their recent record is pitiful. One win in six games, conceding 7 goals and nearly half of them to the shambolic Sunderland. Isn't this the sign of a manager that cannot take the heat? Or is it the players that cannot take the heat? Either way, the finger points straight back at Lee Johnson. It is his job. He was expected to be the man to get promotion. Yet every time he and his boys get close they crack and fade away.

A classic, yet unoriginal outburst
So why the outburst at Cardiff City fans? Well if we accept that he is a man that is unsure of himself due to the lack of credible track record, that he has form for not being a proven winner, and his current record is repeating what history tells us, we now have the perfect context for his recent outburst. He is simply feeling the heat. And he appears unable to deal with it internally. So he points the finger at Cardiff City’s crowd. Ah, the good old-fashioned distraction methods. Shankly used it in the 1960s. Ferguson in the Nineties. Mourinho in the Noughties. It is what a manager does when feeling the heat - attempt to deflect the attention elsewhere. Hold your nose at our own stink and point fingers elsewhere. A technique as old as the hills, and a reflection of his lack of originality. Thankfully Cardiff City fans have recognised the classic wheeze within hours of the WalesOnline article being published. Who is the biggest fool here? The ones who he tried to fool? The fans in Bristol believing this fool? Or the fool that thinks he is fooling the unfooled? I am sure you will be the better judge.

My view is that Bristol City are in freefall and cracking again under pressure. Unable to create a winning team he is taking heat from his fans, and probably doubts from his own players. I believe that Lee Johnson is a man of self-doubt and this behaviour is how that self-doubt manifests itself. That is what this outburst is about. Here's my predicition. Warnock’s win against these perennial failures will kick Johnson and his mob out of the top six. It is only then a matter of time before he once again skulks to the exit before questions get asked of him, or Bristol City begins to ask serious questions of its "Bargain basement Villas-Boas".