Who wants a BJ?

Having stood on the Elland Road terraces for 20 of the 25 years of my life, it has become apparent to me that the majority of our fans like a scapegoat.

Those to wear the donkey's saddle have varied over the years, ranging from Michael Duberry (justified) to Jermaine Beckford (laughable). Regardless of talent, attitude, creed or colour, Leeds fans and probably fans of most other clubs, love to have an out ball, a go-to man when the chips are down. When you're 1-0 down at home on Tuesday night (and there have been a lot of those this season), there seems to be an intrinsic need for our fans to vent their spleen at someone.

When Beckford's goal earned us promotion against Bristol Rovers, he was finally relieved of the tag that had stuck with him for the best part of two years. His subsequent move to Everton ensured that he was safe for a long time to come. Without him in the team, everyone was in the clear and there didn't really seem to be anyone to blame.

The squad had cruised towards, and then scrapped for, promotion together and were, on the whole, a likeable, close-knit group who had finally restored a semblance of pride to our crest after a good few years in the doldrums.

And then.

"Johnson rejects Leeds offer."

"Leeds midfielder turns down new contract."

This was of course the news that midfielder Bradley Johnson had apparently shunned a new deal with Leeds. And off it went.

"How dare he smack the badge on his shirt," said one poster on the message board WACCOE, while other comments ranged from "he's shit anyway" to the predictable "no-one is bigger than the club."

Now. For one thing we don't know if he has refused to sign a new deal and secondly, I don't think he is "shit", which is this the whole point of this blog, really.

Johnson is in his third full season with Leeds now, but you could say that only since the August of last year has he made much of a contribution.

One of a number of players signed in the breakwater between Dennis Wise and Gary McAllister as the club panicked over throwing away a top-two place, Johnson, who moved from Northampton, had a relatively promising start although found himself lumped in at left-back for the play-off final against Doncaster.

The following season he quickly changed to the old schoolboy joke of left-back in the changing rooms and was farmed out on loan to Brighton. Rumours raged as to why, with some keyboard warriors claiming he had text Premier League managers from McAllister's mobile, asking them to sign Fabian Delph, the teenager that had taken his place in the squad.

Johnson scored goals for fun during his spell with Brighton, and a "Get Johnson back" campaign quickly spread as McAllister floundered from one Paul Telfer to another Mansour Assoumani.

Eventually, McAllister left the club and in came Simon Grayson, who decided to call Johnson back and give him another chance. What sticks out for me the most during his initial return, though, was his horrific 35-yard strike that flew into the stand with about eight seconds of our play-off defeat to Millwall remaining.

The next season, our promotion season, he was a different man. He had seven goals by October and made the left-wing spot his own. His strength looked to have improved, his heading was imperious (it needed to be as a standard tactic was Shane Higgs kicking to his wing) and for my money, he was starting to look like a real player.

The goals dried up for the rest of the season, a thunderous header against Norwich proved to be his last, (if you discount a dubious scuff against Yeovil) and I once saw him referred to as Bradley "South Stand upper" Johnson in relation to his hammer of a shot that had all of a sudden lost its direction.

But again, in my opinion, his performances remained high despite his drought - he was utterly exceptional at Old Trafford - and played a key role in getting us out of the division.

This season he's carried on in the same vein, running hard, strong, shooting wildly (sometimes more accurately as three goals so far will testify to) and essentially working his nuts off.

And then the story.
What's worth noting is that the initial story claimed that Grayson was planning an overhaul of his squad that would spell the end of Johnson, Neil Kilkenny, Andy Robinson and Tony Capaldi. Now, I know we all wish we were still seeing Capaldi's hopeless positional play at Elland Road, he left the club via a side door in January. Story credibility at a low.

Now, though, fans are less forgiving of the wild shooting and the stray passes. Last night's game with Hull saw him give away a free-kick that led to Hull's opener, equalise, miss a chance to put us 3-1 up and then score an own goal to make it 2-2 with a lack of concentration from a corner. It never rains eh, Bradders?

His hero to zero moment couldn't have come at a worse time, with fans already scrutinising his every money-grabbing-fuck-off-if-you-dont-love-leeds move.

But I don't subscribe to that. I want Johnson to stay, even if it does involve a slight budge in wages. He's become part of the fabric of the modern club, a key player in the promotion side and a vital component in the current renaissance we're having.

He's already said he wants to stay and I personally think his contribution is under-rated. For my dollar, he does a lot of work for the team off the ball and at times can be akin to a human wrecking ball with his strength and his ability to almost smash his way through defenders.
Don't forget as well that he's only 23. There could be more to come. There might not be, but I think we need to try and find out.

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I don't expect many to agree with this, but, let me know what you think of Johnson and who our of the others out of contract you'd want us to keep. Is Johnson worth a new deal and, if he wants more money, is it worth bending the budget for him? If he is going to go, who do you want to replace him?

Let me know in the comments below or get in touch with me via Twitter here.