Should we keep Johnson?

[THEoriginalCHIL]

Apologies if this has already been discussed but I just wondered what everyones thoughts were on AJ. I know that he has had injuries but has he really paid back his transfer fee and is he really likely too? Yeah, it did take a while for Bobby to start performing for us and I was one who thought that we should have gotten rid of him a couple of seasons ago (thank God that Woy didn't think the same as I am well and truly happy to eat my words.) Just wondered what the thoughts of the forum are.

[Tom]

Yes, we are going to need depth for Europa this next season and he played well towards the end of the season. He is finally getting healthy I believe.

[nevzter]

AJ needs to stay.  I don't think he'll feature much in Europe, but he's an asset in the league.

[RidgeRider]

that will depend on how our next manager wants to approach the Europa League and the Prem next year.

[Tom]

that will depend on how our next manager wants to approach the Europa League and the Prem next year.

What are you talking about, we aren't losing our manager!  :tom:

[Lighthouse]

Until we buy in a player that can stretch defenders and makes them scared of the space behind them.  083.gif.

He deserves his place because we simply don't have a player who can do what he can.

[RidgeRider]

that will depend on how our next manager wants to approach the Europa League and the Prem next year.

What are you talking about, we aren't losing our manager!  :tom:

I hope you are right but I think the moment after MAF did the the little cheek slap thing when he announced Hughes last summer, like you would a small child, Hughes has wanted out of here. I'm hope, like I am with many things, I am wrong.

[HatterDon]

as I said on a different thread, I like AJ, but  :tom: do I know.

[finnster01]

I have decided to keep mine although it doesn't work that well any more

[RidgeRider]

I have decided to keep mine although it doesn't work that well any more

Brilliant!  :011:

How did I miss that one??????? It was a watermelon waiting to be smashed.  :005:

[clint23]

If I were Hughes, AJ would be a starter alongside Bobby.

[Blingo]

He's lost pace and direction. IMHO it's time to sell him on.

[Basil]

I like the guy as a player and also very likebale as a bloke, would be sorry to see him leave. Hughes rates him too.

[richie17]

really don't rate him. Every game I look for this pace, every game he fails to outrun defenders not famed for being quick. I appreciate the odd good game where his movement really does pay off, but as noted before, the fact that two of his goals this year have been deflected speaks volumes to me: not quick enough to get that necessary yard, not technically skilled enough to pull away from defenders.  He's Robert Earnshaw with a Premier League contract.

[THEoriginalCHIL]

If I were Hughes, AJ would be a starter alongside Bobby.

So would you start him instead of Dembele then? I think that Dembele has a great future ahead with us.

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

No, as our channels are nice and clean .................

...he should be allowed to work  some fresh channels.

[nevzter]

The real question should be: will Fulham retain Eddie Johnson?  :hook:

[clint23]

If I were Hughes, AJ would be a starter alongside Bobby.

So would you start him instead of Dembele then? I think that Dembele has a great future ahead with us.

Dembele may have a great future with us, but I like more the AJ-Bobby partnership than Dembele-Bobby. AJ works hard. His shooting is better than Dembele's. Dembele dribbles too much sometimes. I don't say he will not become a good player in the future, but at the moment, AJ is better than him. Plus, Dembele for me is not a striker.

[HatterDon]

If I were Hughes, AJ would be a starter alongside Bobby.

So would you start him instead of Dembele then? I think that Dembele has a great future ahead with us.

Dembele may have a great future with us, but I like more the AJ-Bobby partnership than Dembele-Bobby. AJ works hard. His shooting is better than Dembele's. Dembele dribbles too much sometimes. I don't say he will not become a good player in the future, but at the moment, AJ is better than him. Plus, Dembele for me is not a striker.

building our attack around Dembele is a good short-term idea, but I think he'll be here with us for no more than another full season. I still think he's an attacking winger -- in the mode of the young Thierry Henry -- and that our best partnership up front is Bobby and AJ.

Yet another possibility, however, is that I'm wrong about Dempsey leaving us and that Mark puts Dempsey up front as an out-and-out striker to partner with Bobby. If you turn your head slightly and squint, there's a lot of the striker Mark Hughes in our Texan.

[ImperialWhite]

If I were Hughes, AJ would be a starter alongside Bobby.

So would you start him instead of Dembele then? I think that Dembele has a great future ahead with us.

Dembele may have a great future with us, but I like more the AJ-Bobby partnership than Dembele-Bobby. AJ works hard. His shooting is better than Dembele's. Dembele dribbles too much sometimes. I don't say he will not become a good player in the future, but at the moment, AJ is better than him. Plus, Dembele for me is not a striker.

building our attack around Dembele is a good short-term idea, but I think he'll be here with us for no more than another full season. I still think he's an attacking winger -- in the mode of the young Thierry Henry -- and that our best partnership up front is Bobby and AJ.

Yet another possibility, however, is that I'm wrong about Dempsey leaving us and that Mark puts Dempsey up front as an out-and-out striker to partner with Bobby. If you turn your head slightly and squint, there's a lot of the striker Mark Hughes in our Texan.

Yes! I think Demps is a much better forward than he is a midfielder. I'd love to see Dempsey up front next season.

PSG are now 70% owned by a Qatar group and promise to spend big. No offense to Dempsey intended, but perhaps now that PSG are loaded they'll be interested in a bigger name? Let's hope so.