Bristol City’s Nicky Maynard might need to lose his clean-cut image and start appealing for penalties if he is to haul in the goals - according to his manager Gary Johnson.
The Robins’ summer signing failed to make a mark against his former club Crewe in midweek and his new boss highlighted the 21-year-old’s eagerness to stay on his feet and battle for every ball as part of the problem.
He said: “I thought Nicky Maynard could have gone down and in his honesty stayed up.”
Johnson is a fan of honest endeavour though and conceded that, had his new ‘fox in the box’ hit the deck and slotted home from the spot, Crewe would have been hard done by.
He said: “If we’d have gone into extra time we wouldn’t have deserved it because we only played for 10 minutes and they outplayed us for 80.
“We certainly didn’t have enough quality going into the box, whether it’s crosses or shots, we didn’t really work their goalkeeper much until the last 10 minutes.
Maynard, partnered by fellow Crewe old-boy Dele Adebola, did find the net in the second half, only to be confronted by the linesman’s flag for offside.
It was one of several good chances for the youngster at the Alexandra Stadium. A fierce shot was well blocked and his speciality, a swivel on a sixpence to shoot with either boot, was well collected by Crewe keeper Steve Collis.
Maynard’s pace was kept in check by a well marshalled Crewe backline who caught their former teammate offside on several occasions.
In response to the home side’s opener, captain Louis Carey dribbled deep into the opposition’s half and let fly a speculative rocket which was well blocked but fell to Maynard on the edge of the 18-yard box.
The City fans rose to their feet in expectation but the linesman’s flag rose as well, indicating an infringement. The talented striker will have to learn to outfox the linesman as well as his opponents, but his record of 32 goals in 52 league games for his former club is a clear indicator that goals will come, whether he goes down or not.
The Robins’ summer signing failed to make a mark against his former club Crewe in midweek and his new boss highlighted the 21-year-old’s eagerness to stay on his feet and battle for every ball as part of the problem.
He said: “I thought Nicky Maynard could have gone down and in his honesty stayed up.”
Johnson is a fan of honest endeavour though and conceded that, had his new ‘fox in the box’ hit the deck and slotted home from the spot, Crewe would have been hard done by.
He said: “If we’d have gone into extra time we wouldn’t have deserved it because we only played for 10 minutes and they outplayed us for 80.
“We certainly didn’t have enough quality going into the box, whether it’s crosses or shots, we didn’t really work their goalkeeper much until the last 10 minutes.
Maynard, partnered by fellow Crewe old-boy Dele Adebola, did find the net in the second half, only to be confronted by the linesman’s flag for offside.
It was one of several good chances for the youngster at the Alexandra Stadium. A fierce shot was well blocked and his speciality, a swivel on a sixpence to shoot with either boot, was well collected by Crewe keeper Steve Collis.
Maynard’s pace was kept in check by a well marshalled Crewe backline who caught their former teammate offside on several occasions.
In response to the home side’s opener, captain Louis Carey dribbled deep into the opposition’s half and let fly a speculative rocket which was well blocked but fell to Maynard on the edge of the 18-yard box.
The City fans rose to their feet in expectation but the linesman’s flag rose as well, indicating an infringement. The talented striker will have to learn to outfox the linesman as well as his opponents, but his record of 32 goals in 52 league games for his former club is a clear indicator that goals will come, whether he goes down or not.
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