Born on this day in 1981 is football’s answer to David Brent, former Sunderland manager and expert in philosophy Lee Johnson.
Before coming to Wearside, Johnson had seen relative success with Bristol City. He went to Ashton Gate after spells with Oldham and Barnsley. At Bristol though, Johnson masterminded an EFL Cup run where they got all the way to the semis, defeating Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United along the way. It is testament to his excellent footballing philosophy that he could cause such a cupset.
He split opinion massively at Bristol, and it was there when he was first given the nickname of ‘Streaky Lee’. He revealed that after the signing of Matty Taylor from bitter rivals Bristol Rovers, he’d received death threats and was forced to moved house after his address was leaked online.
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