FRIDAY FEATURE: CARL JOHNSON

Friday July 04, 2014

MARK PLUMMER catches up with new Peterborough team chief CARL JOHNSON – and discovers he is no stranger to management of a different kind . . .

CARL Johnson can already claim to be a better team manager than a rider - and he’s only been in the job for just over a week!

By his own admission the new Peterborough chief had a short and not particularly sweet career in the saddle. His three official matches in Panthers colours back in the 1992 season failed to produce a point.

He also drew a blank in one outing for the Ipswich Witches, but 20 years on he has hit the ground running after landing a surprise appointment with the East of England Showground outfit late last month.

Johnson’s first five meetings at the Peterborough helm – which were all squeezed into a hectic Wednesday-to-Tuesday spell – yielded nine league points.

It’s a return that has lifted his team to the fringes of the play-off battle in their return to the second tier for the first time since capturing the title in 1998.

And Johnson's latest post has seen another box ticked in an eventful speedway journey which had previously taken him from the terraces to the track and back again.

“It’s a great job for me to be able to manage my hometown club,” said Johnson. “I’ve been a Panthers supporter since I was nine years-old.

“Everyone has dreams as a kid and mine was to be a speedway rider for Peterborough.

“I still feel lucky to have managed to achieve that, albeit briefly. My riding career didn’t really go to plan due to injuries and finances, and I went back to being a supporter.

“I got back involved as a Machine Examiner last season and it is an honour to now be team manager. I put my name forward when the job became available and was delighted to get it.

“I’d been involved in the Winter Series at Scunthorpe and had been asking around the National League for the opportunity to shadow a team manager and perhaps do a bit myself. I never expected an opportunity like this and I will do everything I can to make the most of it.

“I haven’t had the worst start. We’ve picked up a good number of points, but we know we could easily have had more.”

Johnson was thrown in at the deep end as, after a couple of home meetings shadowing predecessor and co-promoter Trevor Swales, he assumed control for a run of four meetings in as many days.

It was a successful spell bookended by big wins over Sheffield at the Showground and Berwick at Shielfield Park, and another point was added to the collection at Berwick when the controversial withdrawal of Lasse Bjerre scuppered their hopes of victory.

Panthers also pushed unbeaten table-toppers Edinburgh much harder than any other visiting side to Armadale had managed despite losing two-time Monarchs title-winner Ryan Fisher to injury in his second ride when suffering his second crash of the night. A 51-42 loss was of little comfort as they narrowly missed out on a point.

“You could say it was a baptism of fire to go straight into such a busy spell,” added Johnson. “But it was good to be able to spend so much time with the lads.

“I know them anyway from being in the pits at home meetings, but they often think the Machine Examiner is against them.

“Of course that is not the case at all, but I got to know them all individually and as a group while we were on the road for the Northern tour.

“A couple of things went against us at Redcar and we know we could have won there, but we gave Edinburgh a scare the next night and then rode Berwick off their own track.

“It was disappointing to then drop home points against Redcar earlier this week, but a long delay due to the sun really hurt us. You can’t compromise rider safety though and when they are telling you they can’t see going into a corner, you know it is bad.

“We’re making progress though and I’m sure we will be involved in the play-offs. I won’t be happy just to creep into the top-six because I believe we can finish in the top-two and the lads are aware that is the target.”

Panthers are not the only sporting club that Johnson will be managing in the coming weeks and months.

He will also be found taking charge of a local football team – Oundle Town Reserves – next season.

Johnson has had a previous foray into football management after enjoying a distinguished playing career in the local Peterborough football scene.

Johnson, a left-back with a sweet left peg, was even part of a history-making team when Eye United won the Peterborough & District League Premier Division title with a 100 per-cent record back in 2001.

How he would love a similar run of form from Panthers . . .

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