Sheffield Wednesday man opens up on fan criticism – and his desire to perform

The 31-year-old Owl put in a strong performance over the weekend to help the Owls get back to winning ways against Wycombe Wanderers, but it’s been a relatively tough start to the season for the experienced wideman – and he was left out against Morecambe as he missed out on a starting XI for the first time in 2022.

Now though, after an assist in the 2-2 draw with Ipswich Town and effectively another in the 3-1 Wycombe win, ‘Neymarv’ is proving his worth once more.

He has come in for a bit of criticism from supporters in the first couple of months, but he doesn’t get too stressed about that.

He told The Star, “It’s what your manager and your teammates think of you, really. Obviously you can’t judge fan who’s watching the game’s opinion - if they don’t like you they don’t like you, and if they do, they do. It’s football.

“One bad game or one good game and opinions change. All you can do is keep doing the team proud, keep doing your bit for them, and for the gaffer. If they’ve got belief in you then all you can do is perform.”

That doesn’t mean he’s not out to improve though, and that he doesn’t want more from himself.

He went on to say, “I always look back on the game, at things I didn’t do so well or could have done better, and I keep trying to push on again.

“Because I believe that if I’m on top form, and I can help the rest of the team, then they’ll be on top form too.

“When you’re picked, all you want to do is go out and perform… Because if you don’t, then you won’t play. That is good for the whole team, because it pushes everyone on.”

Johnson passed the 50-game mark for Wednesday recently as he reached a half century of appearances following his move last summer, and so far he’s picked up 14 goals and assists along the way.

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