After several weeks on the sidelines, Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson returned to squad for the Reds' Premier League victory over Swansea, and according to LFC boss Brendan Rodgers, a new contract is very much on the table, but Johnson will have to fight hard to earn the new deal.
Johnson's current contract expires in the summer of 2015, and it's been widely reported that he'll have to take a pay-cut to stay at Anfield.
Arsenal and Manchester City are also reportedly waiting in the wings to make a move, which could force the club to tackle his contract situation sooner rather than later.
Over the last few months, Johnson's form has nosedived, but Rodgers claims that the 'excellent' 29-year old defender 'is a player we want to keep'. He told the Liverpool Echo this week:
“In terms of his contract, I am sure that is something that will be discussed between now and the end of the season. I’m sure it’s something the owners will take up when the time is right"
Rodgers also insisted that Johnson - who cost the Reds £17m - will have to prove his worth to get a new deal:
“We are all fighting to be best that we can be for the club. Whether that’s Glen, the manager or whoever, we’re all fighting to stay here.”
Do Liverpool even need to keep Johnson? During his injury:
* Liverpool lost just one of the last six games.
* The club was unbeaten in the league.
* The team smashed in sixteen goals.
Clearly, the Reds didn't miss Johnson whilst he was out. There are other things to consider, too:
* The rise of Jon Flanagan means LFC will have a strong bargaining position.
* Johnson is almost 30, so the time is arguably right to replace him.
* As a regular for England, Johnson can still command a decent transfer fee.
* If Johnson has a good World Cup, that could increase his transfer value.
Like Pepe Reina, Johnson is one of the club's big earners, and this could be an opportunity to save the club a shedload of money, whilst freshening up the squad at the same time.
It's possible that Johnson's suspect form over the last few months is a result of his injury, but against Swansea today, the same defensive frailty that has blighted the Reds over the last four five season was there again.
Additionally, I'm not convinced that Rodgers is being wholly sincere when he stats that LFC 'want to keep' Johnson. He said exactly the same about Reina - a similarly experienced player - and he ended up on loan, and will almost certainly leave the club this summer.
Perhaps it's just a man-management ploy by Rodgers to get the best out of Johnson over the next three months? The squad is not blessed with a huge array of quality full-backs, and if Liverpool are to maintain their charge for the Champions League, Johnson will need to contribute to the cause, but hopefully he'll play better than he did against Swansea.
Does Johnson deserve a new contract, or should LFC sell in the summer?
Author: Jaimie K
Johnson's current contract expires in the summer of 2015, and it's been widely reported that he'll have to take a pay-cut to stay at Anfield.
Arsenal and Manchester City are also reportedly waiting in the wings to make a move, which could force the club to tackle his contract situation sooner rather than later.
Over the last few months, Johnson's form has nosedived, but Rodgers claims that the 'excellent' 29-year old defender 'is a player we want to keep'. He told the Liverpool Echo this week:
“In terms of his contract, I am sure that is something that will be discussed between now and the end of the season. I’m sure it’s something the owners will take up when the time is right"
Rodgers also insisted that Johnson - who cost the Reds £17m - will have to prove his worth to get a new deal:
“We are all fighting to be best that we can be for the club. Whether that’s Glen, the manager or whoever, we’re all fighting to stay here.”
Do Liverpool even need to keep Johnson? During his injury:
* Liverpool lost just one of the last six games.
* The club was unbeaten in the league.
* The team smashed in sixteen goals.
Clearly, the Reds didn't miss Johnson whilst he was out. There are other things to consider, too:
* The rise of Jon Flanagan means LFC will have a strong bargaining position.
* Johnson is almost 30, so the time is arguably right to replace him.
* As a regular for England, Johnson can still command a decent transfer fee.
* If Johnson has a good World Cup, that could increase his transfer value.
Like Pepe Reina, Johnson is one of the club's big earners, and this could be an opportunity to save the club a shedload of money, whilst freshening up the squad at the same time.
It's possible that Johnson's suspect form over the last few months is a result of his injury, but against Swansea today, the same defensive frailty that has blighted the Reds over the last four five season was there again.
Additionally, I'm not convinced that Rodgers is being wholly sincere when he stats that LFC 'want to keep' Johnson. He said exactly the same about Reina - a similarly experienced player - and he ended up on loan, and will almost certainly leave the club this summer.
Perhaps it's just a man-management ploy by Rodgers to get the best out of Johnson over the next three months? The squad is not blessed with a huge array of quality full-backs, and if Liverpool are to maintain their charge for the Champions League, Johnson will need to contribute to the cause, but hopefully he'll play better than he did against Swansea.
Does Johnson deserve a new contract, or should LFC sell in the summer?
Author: Jaimie K
He was poor yesterday. At times I was hoping cissokho would been playing instead. Same again giving the ball away, swansea could of scored a couple more from his lost balls. New contract? Not sure really, hes been too weak lately, but also cant rely all on flano as hes too young still and not that great as people think. Id say sell johnson and get a new quality rb in.
ReplyDeleteSell instead? Nay, not instead, but most definitely must sell. Should also throw in the toilet seat cover for good measure.
ReplyDeleteJohnson should be sold.One new LB and RB should be priority this coming summer.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe how rubbish our defence was yesterday. No composure, no leadership, no nothing. Skrtel now needs to get rid of his bad habit or more penalties against us are on the way.
The only defender that looked comfortable yesterday was Flanagan. I am praying Sakho is back soon!
No question that Johnson should be sold. He's lost his mojo both defensively and offensively. When he loses the ball upfield (which is a lot!), the rest of the team has to scramble fast as the opposition counters at speed. He doesn't put a good ball in when he attacks and frequently loses his man in defence.
ReplyDeleteSell him asap.
He either earns a new deal or we sell him, the choice is his!!!!!.................where does he go from Liverpool?, playing in a fantastic team on the rise, Is he that stupid????.
ReplyDeletesell.
ReplyDelete- Flano still far from replacing Glen..i would say at least a season or 2 to release his full potential on reading game..Example look at Kyle Walker media push him too HI n now fall even more hurt ! Too early for flano !
ReplyDelete- Get rid of Glen now would be a bad idea if we back to CL
- We jump too soon to assume that his new contract will be INCREMENT, who know mayb owner is cutting his pay rite?
- But for my opinion Glen is best RM not RB ! He sucks on defending n giving away too much for his RB role is very danger
Agree any player who has been a good servant but then has a period of injury and poor form should be shown the door immediately. There is no room for sentiment or loyalty :-/
ReplyDeleteUntil his injury against Man Utd he was playing well and defending better. I personally think he should be sold at a decent price and hope for Rogers to make a shrewd, younger buy.
ReplyDeleteJohnson's becoming a bit of a sicknote, sell him in the summer and get in a younger stronger replacement.
ReplyDeleteI know hes supposed to be better than cissokho, but the fact we are comparing to him now makes him a misery, dont know if you get the point!
ReplyDeleteWoah woah woah... Yes, Johnson is struggling but at the start of the season he was one of our best players. Some of us have very short memories. I agree that his form is definitely not up to scratch but he's been injured and people have dips in form. I think we should hold off on this question until the end of the season and see how he performs for the remainder of it.
ReplyDeleteI think this depends on Johnson himself and what he's willing to accept.
ReplyDelete1. A substantial pay-cut, 2. Not being first choice RB.
The pay-cut is inevitable, a player on large wages hitting the twighlight of his career, he has to know this is coming, also he is not at the same level he was three years ago.
He cannot remain as 1st choice RB. Should we choose to invest in this position during the summer, anyone brought in will have to be at CL level football, Glen is not there anymore IMO, and any money spent will surely have to be on a first team starter.
If we do not spend, then Flanagan deserves his chance now, we cannot expect a rising star to sit behind a fading one in the pecking order. It may sound unfair to Johnson, but it would be detremential to Flanagan. His progress would be stunted and frustration would grow and i think end up with him looking for an out from the club. there would be plenty of suitors that's for sure.
I would prefer to see the latter option, Flanagan to be given the vote of confidence and start next season with RB as his own to lose. With the amount of money we would get for Johnson (probably 6m?) I really don't see the value in selling him. If he is willing to accept the situation, I think he would be a top player to have as competition and with CL next year he will no doubt be starting cup games and some league games. He could even do a JC and force his way back into the team.
If he decides that he can't live with that though, I really hope he heads to the states, gets a bumper pay-day and has an easy four years in the LA sunshine. Really hope I don't ever see him lining up against us.
There may be people of the opinion this is dis-loyal treatment of a player, but there's a big difference between loyalty and reality. At the end of the day it's his job, which he got well payed for, and now its time to step back a bit or move on, and I'm sure he realises that being a professional.
Coleman would be superb, but there's more chance of Steve Nicol lacing up again than landing Coleman.
ReplyDeleteHe is getting older sell him. Coming forward these days isn't good and he cant come back . Left wingback and right have to be athletes going forward and defending . Even Flanagan is good going forward but defending needs work.
ReplyDeletemaybe not at his current wages, which I suspect is the issue here. if he can be kept in the right wage bracket and he wants to stay i think it would be silly to sell him. players like that who can defend (I don't agree that Johnson is a particularly bad defender) and yet be so good on the ball in attack are rare. he's has a poor run of form but at his best he's very good. he beats his man, sets up others, scores goals ... he's an experienced version of Luke Shaw who is being touted at some ridiculous price. I just think it's silly to think we can just go shopping and magically find a highly skilled wing back for a reasonable amount of money. every transfer is a risk and quality wing backs are rare. keep the quality we've got and make him work a bit harder for his wage.
ReplyDeleteHe has never played Champo has he? This is his chance but he needs to work on it and probably take a pay cut too.
ReplyDeleteYeah I've never seen a senior pro recover his form after struggling through injury and a loss of confidence, ever. We should definitely always sell experienced players as soon as there's a dip in their performance levels. Definitely. That is unquestionably the route taken by every successful side in history, bar none.
ReplyDeleteI know what you're trying to say and ordinarily i'd agree with you but in this instance selling him would be the best option - he may still command value and also he would have to accept a lower valued contract. On the balance of it, Johnson is best sold to be replaced by someone younger.
ReplyDeletePraise in public, punish in private. People need to understand that team chemistry is extremely important and little things...even mentioned in passing...affect team chemistry. BR is just following a time honored leadership technique. GJ should be intelligent enough to read between the lines about his future given his age, his injuries, his performance, his contract, and the market forces that put these factors into order over time. He is the not the performer he was even two years ago...it's not good or bad...it just is. He has really just two choices: play better or seek a better deal elsewhere. The same choices will befall SG soon too. Except he has a third option...retire from active play. It happens...best to deal with it. Simple fact, Flanno plays better than GJ now.
ReplyDeleteYeah agree after all he's only a current England International it's not like his experience will be much use to the team and younger players.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I would take Flanno over Kyle Walker any day. Walker usually makes the wrong decision. It's like clockwork...looks great until the pressure is on...then he wilts.
ReplyDelete'Short memories' is cold but honest. A championship team can't baby-sit...even SG has had to adjust his perception of worth to the team. Frank Lampard has had to accept a reduced role...and deep down he is grateful for even that chance. He doesn't have the legs to run up top any more. He is still useful in a DM role that he has to accept in order to help the team with his set piece and PK abilities. So Johnson either regains the form or he sits. The difference between GJ and a younger player is the younger guy is getting better and waiting for his chance while GJ won't get better.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree when talking about players like SG & FL but Johnson isn't at this age yet and still has the legs. My point is that we shouldn't sell someone who was performing very well at the start of the season just because he's not been great before and 1 game after an injury. Hendo was nearly sold because of poor performances and look at him now. I think it would be wise to give GJ at least more than 1 game back from injury before hammering the final nail in his coffin.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree Johnson will be replaced in the next few years. It's quite important, I think, that he stays while he is being replaced, for two reasons: firstly in order that his replacement can benefit from his experience in training; and secondly so that he can get a sense of competitive accomplishment in legitimately displacing Johnson from the starting line-up for big games.
ReplyDeleteI think that replacement will likely be McLaughlin, by the way, who looks to me an outstanding prospect at full-back.
Yes, i like your suggestion actually. Quite constructive.
ReplyDeletePlayerClubPosWon TackleAppsMinsLiam RoseniorHullDF7190Glen JohnsonLiverpoolDF5190Sylvain DistinEvertonDF4190Jon FlanaganLiverpoolDF4190Ron VlaarAston VillaDF4190
ReplyDeleteIt's dead simple. As long as this season runs, Johnson needs to stay motivated. After that, as long as there is no player who would improve on Johnson is brought in, Johnson needs to stay motivated. So BR is sending out exactly the right message. If you make sure we can't improve on you, you have nothing to worry about and we want to keep you. If you slack off or think you can not be replaced, think again. Great man management.
ReplyDeleteDon't think we can compare that. His performance with 7 tackles (the most in the game), winning 65% of duels (the 2nd highest in team), better distribution accuracy than Flanno, maybe he's poor by his standards but certainly better than Cissokho anytime of the day.
ReplyDeleteI agree... and keep in mind as well that BR admitted Johnson was playing through a bunch of injuries, which is to help explain his dip in form.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the season, he was definitely helping to push us up the wings.
Two things to take from his not-so-stellar performance the other day:
1. It was his first real action back in over a month since he was injured.
2. He was playing Left-Back, which is not his natural position.
Let's see what he does as he gets some rust off. I think we'll have a quality option down the flank once again.
Agree...I think I said up above that he has to play better or sit/seek a better deal elsewhere. But Flanno was all over Sunday and the difference between the two was obvious.
ReplyDeleteVery true,Walker seems all shapes and no substance.
ReplyDelete