Gary Johnson will be remembered as the best Bristol City manager of the past 20 years – possibly even longer.

When Brian Tinnion's City lost 7-1 at Swansea in September 2005, Johnson was the obvious choice to succeed him.

A double promotion with Yeovil Town made his move up the A37 to Bristol almost a formality and he started well with a 3-2 win at Brentford and a 3-0 thumping of Barnsley on his Ashton Gate debut to lift the club off the bottom of League One.

But City quickly lost nine games in a row to prove that Johnson was no miracle worker.

Carling and FA Cup exits sandwiched successive 3-0 defeats to minnows Chesterfield and Southend. A derby defeat at Swindon continued the run on Adriano Basso's debut.

But the rot stopped with wins over Huddersfield and Port Vale and steady progress was made throughout the rest of the campaign, although a play-off push was never realistic.

However, the confidence gained from rising from bottom to ninth place carried on after the summer as City began 2006-07 as one of the favourites to go up.

But that optimism was tested to the full when three players were jailed in September for their part in a nightclub fracas.

Steve Brooker, Dave Partridge and Bradley Orr served between two weeks and a month in prison.

It was then that Johnson's relationship with the press began to decline, but City's fortunes on the pitch were largely unaffected.

An impressive FA Cup run also boosted the team, Championship side Coventry were beaten and Premier League Middlesbrough only saw off the Robins on penalties after a replay.

A home defeat to lowly Cheltenham was a downpoint but not as bad as a 1-0 aggregate loss to Bristol Rovers in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy area final. Rickie Lambert's rocket on an emotional night at the Memorial Stadium was the difference.

However, City hit back to win three straight league games and then successive 1-0 away triumphs at Crewe and Doncaster helped push City into the frame for second place.

Derby success against Yeovil and a 3-1 win at Carlisle United left City in prime position and an unforgettable and glorious final day of the season saw Rotherham beaten 3-1 and the Gate pitch engulfed by celebrating fans.

An open-top bus ride followed by a civic reception at College Green with thousands of City fans celebrating in the May sunshine heralded the start of perhaps the best season under Johnson.

The Championship era began with a 2-2 home draw against QPR but sadly Lee Trundle's two brilliant goals in a 2-1 win over Scunthorpe proved to be a false dawn as the former Swansea striker failed to fulfil his potential.

But four straight wins over Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich, Southampton and Stoke propelled Johnson's men forward.

However, City always had an in-built crumple zone and so it proved when Orr was sent off at Ipswich and they lost 6-0.

But four victories out of five around Christmas offered fresh hope and they maintained consistency to finish fifth.

Johnson then had the better of the two-leg play-off semi-final against Crystal Palace, thanks to David Noble's first-leg winner and goals from Trundle and Michael McIndoe in extra-time at the Gate.

Once again, the Ashton Gate pitch was flooded with delirious fans, who this time had a Wembley play-off final to look forward to.

That final proved a game too far for City as Dean Windass' brilliant volley settled the game and left the Robins so near and yet so far from the promised land.

Johnson had taken the Robins from League One to being 90 minutes from the Premier League, and it was arguably the high point of his time with the club.

There was general optimism that City could build on their final appearance the next year.

However, a raft of draws at home proved to be their weakness as they struggled to tenth place.

It was during this campaign that the signs of dissatisfaction began to fester among supporters.

City played their most effective football after the January signing of Dele Adebola but were unable to keep him when he rejected the offer of another year's contract.

And they singularly failed to replace the big Scouser, signing no less than six strikers who were all unable to do the job during the course of the current season.

Johnson also spectacularly fell out with talismanic goalkeeper Adriano Basso. The Brazilian keeper refused to sign a new contract and was ostracised.

On the pitch the feeling persisted that City were nicking results they didn't really deserve – a situation never better demonstrated than when they beat Crystal Palace 1-0, with their opponents having a goal disallowed in bizarre circumstances.

City's concession of late goals cost them 15 points but the fact is they have been vulnerable this season due to hardly ever establishing a two-goal lead.

And on two occasions, it was far worse than that.

Cardiff arrived at Ashton Gate in January and thumped City 6-0 in the Robins' worst home defeat since 1923. Just over a month later Doncaster put five past City on their own turf.

A 2-0 defeat to Reading saw open dissent from the senior players towards the managerial bench and the rancour escalated in a 3-2 loss at Plymouth three days later.

Johnson will be remembered as a fine manager of City. But from his final 25 games, City won just four, drew 10 and lost 11 – relegation form. Hopefully it will not come to that when the season ends in May.