Archive | 2011/12 season review RSS feed for this section

2011/12 review: three managers, one season

23 May
Our final Width of a Post 2011/12 season review ‘essay’ sees Mark Scully look back at how the Bantams went through three managers.

With the Bradford City players away catching some sun before Parkinson gets them back for pre season training, ahead of what is hoped will be a far better season than the one that has just finished, I thought a reflection on the previous campaign from a managerial perspective was in order.

Throughout the course of the 2011/2012 season three managers took charge of the famous claret and amber. First up was Jacko; I was enthusiastic in the summer when he landed the job permanently following his interim spell towards the end of the previous campaign. The noises coming out of the corridors of power at Valley Parade were nothing put positive. The youth development squad with Archie Christie was set up and – between him and Jackson – signings were coming in and looking impressive. On the face of it, a successful season ahead was on the horizon.

Unfortunately though, as we are all aware, the Jackson era was hardly a vintage success. A poor start to the season meant both he and the players were under immediate pressure. Following what appeared to be a routine board meeting towards the end of August, Jackson resigned. Whatever happened in that meeting still remains cloudy, but it appears that the board felt (and rightly so) that the squad wasn’t good enough and it needed strengthening. Whether Jacko felt he wasn’t the right man to do that or if he felt undermined I’m not sure, but it was a statistic that City didn’t want as they became the first club of the season to start the search of a new manager.

Following the sudden departure of Jackson, his No.2 Colin Cooper took over the reins for a short period. Personally if Cooper had of landed the job permanently I wouldn’t of been too disappointed, sometimes it’s too easy to go for the same merry-go-round managers that get sacked from various clubs rather than taking a chance on a new up and coming manager. We’ve had the most success in many years by going down that route when Paul Jewell took us on the unbelievable journey to the Premier League, and many other clubs have had success following a similar managerial route.

During Cooper’s only game in charge he guided the side to a brilliant 4-2 win over Barnet, arguably one of the best performances witness by the City fans all season! As it turned out, Parkinson arrived shortly afterwards and, after that, Cooper left to re-join his home town club Middlesbrough in their coaching set up.

Finally, our third gaffer and our current one – Parky. I’m sure I’m not the only one saying that hopefully he will be in the role for a long time coming, because that would mean the good times are heading back to Valley Parade. Granted, it hasn’t been the best in terms of results under Parkinson’s tenure thus far; but it was a very difficult campaign that he had to oversee. Parky signed numerous players some struggled whilst others did well, as he essentially built a brand new side during the course of the season.

The home form from November onwards was impressive – only Crawley took all three points away after Rotherham beat us back in the dark winter months of 2011. The much needed clear out is well and truly underway, and I’m sure his recruitment drive is in full swing. Going forward into the next season, I do firmly believe that as a club we do have the right man in charge. Given the opportunity over this summer to bring in the right type of player, both mentally and ability wise, we will have a decent chance of doing well – being the biggest club in the league by a mile needs a certain type of player to enable to handle the pressure that comes with the ‘big team’ tag.

Once the squad is finalised, I’m confident that it will stack up against the other teams considered to be in line for a successful 2012/2013 season. I might even stick a few pound on us being successful – here’s hoping!

Tags: , , , ,

2011/12 review: the joy of cups

20 May
For the penultimate article of the Width of Post’s 2011/12 review ‘essay’ series, Jason McKeown looks back at the Bantams cup adventures.

There are three minutes of stoppage time left at Vicarage Road last January and – at the opposite end of the ground to us – Ross Hannah has headed the ball into the net to seemingly make it Watford 4 Bradford City 3. A linesman’s flag cuts short our celebrations and sudden hopes of an improbable comeback. And now it really is game over – all good things come must come to an end.

An end to the Bantams’ outstanding cup exploits, which during the first half of the season provided a very welcome distraction to the difficulties on everyday life in League Two. City acquitted themselves superbly in all three cup competitions, while we supporters seemed to relish shedding our uncomfortably held identity of ‘big fish in small pond’ to instead adopt the status of underdogs.

Here’s where probably three quarters of the club’s best moments of this season came about.

Living the moment

Elland Road in August personally provided two of my greatest moments supporting City for several years – the celebrations triggered by Jack Compton and Michael Flynn’s goals against Leeds United. By admitting this to non-City football fans at the time I was ridiculed, but I really didn’t care – to be in amongst the packed away following which was going absolutely mental each time we scored is something that will stay with me for a long time.

They were both out-of-body experiences, where for a few seconds the ecstasy is so great that you have no idea what you’re doing or who you are hugging. After Flynn’s magnificent strike that put City 2-1 up, I eventually ‘came to’ at the bottom of the stand – around 15 rows from my seat. This was truly special.

Leeds won the game in the end – they always do on these occasions – but it almost didn’t matter. Two divisions below our neighbours, we had turned up expecting little – only to witness an outstanding attacking display from the Bantams. We were so proud of our team, and so proud to be part of this special atmosphere.

Defeating those who could not be bothered

Half time in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game with Sheffield Wednesday, and I am in the concourse of the Valley Parade Main Stand watching the Sky coverage of our match on a nearby monitor. The main talking point from the first 45 minutes was the bizarre decisions of the Sheffield Wednesday manager, Gary Megson, substituting his goalkeeper after just 30 seconds and making his other two allowed changes on the quarter of an hour mark. As Sky pundit Peter Beagrie talks about it at half time, we see pictures of Megson’s smug grin and substituted players laughing on the bench.

Megson had got around the JPT rules of having to field six first team players, or be fined, by picking a sufficiently strong starting XI and then making these early substitutions. He had no respect for the Bantams, or the competition, and it set the tone for an evening where his team could not be bothered and allowed City to boss them.

Under caretaker manager Colin Cooper for the final time, the Bantams dominated the second half and were very unlucky not to win the match. Penalties ensued, and Oscar Jansson – incredibly in what turned out to be his last game for the club – was the shootout hero, saving two spot kicks. Jansson raced to the touchline in celebration, with his team mates piling on top. Meanwhile the Wednesday players walked off disinterested.

I guess it all worked out for Wednesday in the end, although not for Megson.

Beating the dog botherers – at last

If the Leeds game did not provide us with the right result, getting drawn to play Huddersfield in the next round of the JPT ultimately made up for it. Like Wednesday, Town probably didn’t take the game as seriously as they might have – though Phil Parkinson’s decision to play a number of fringe City players showed we had other priorities too. After a first half where we were second best, shortly after half time City took the lead through an own goal. We were pegged back, then Luke Oliver scored, then we were pegged back again.

The celebrations for the two City goals – Oliver’s especially – were not far off the experience at Leeds. As is usual when we play Town, the atmosphere inside the stadium had a nasty edge with home fans attempting to charge into the away section when we went 1-0 ahead. In the end we were hanging on for penalties, hoping for another memorable spot kick success.

We weren’t disappointed. This time Matt Duke was the hero, while Nialle Rodney netted the decisive penalty that put us through. Cue bedlam in the packed away end, with the obligatory hugging of strangers. We always seem to have such a poor record against Town, so this evening meant a lot.

The never-ending shoot out

Bramall Lane – like Elland Road and the Galpharm – holds miserable memories for City fans. But once again it was worth the Tuesday night trip, and once again the Sky cameras captured a thrilling City performance.

Sheffield United took the lead, but Flynn equalised on the stroke of half time with a long distance strike. We were giving as good as we got, and could easily have snatched the win. At the other end Jon McLaughlin – brought in for his first game of the season as Duke’s form got worse – made a crucial late save, to trigger penalties for the third round in a row.

Part of another huge City away following, I personally felt that we were surely due a shootout defeat after all the successes of this season and two years before; and when Flynn missed early on that seemed likely to be the case. But McLaughlin had made a great save from the first Blades’ spotkick and it eventually went to sudden death. It seemed to go on forever, but the City keeper made two more outstanding saves which set Chris Mitchell up to score the winning penalty. Bedlam again – this doesn’t mean as much as beating Huddersfield, perhaps, but it’s a great feeling nonetheless. Just two rounds from Wembley now.

The Boy from Bermuda

I love going to Rochdale, and I’m personally delighted one of the best away trips of the season is back on for 2012/13. Back in November, when the Valley Parade clock showed there were five minutes to go in this FA Cup 1st round tie and we were drawing 0-0, the prospect of a replay at Spotland held plenty of appeal to me.

Then up stepped Nahki Wells. Introduced from the bench as City recovered from a slow start to dominate the match, the Bermudian picked up the ball just inside his own half and drove forward with energy and poise. 40 yards out, Nahki looked up and decided to shoot early – the ball flew into the top corner at considerable pace.

What a moment. A star was truly born, with a goal that would be repeated on TV many times over the next few weeks. Wells’ goal won national attention, and the regard with which he was held at Valley Parade was on a steep, upwards curve. We did not get a night at Spotland, but a place in the 2nd round draw was a far greater prize.

Fagan’s rubbish penalty

Boundary Park has a reputation for always being cold, and it’s not hard to see why when one of the sides has been knocked down – inviting in the wind and the rain. It is a horrible wet December night for football, but with 2,500 City fans having made the trip over the Pennines for this JPT quarter final, it’s only place in the world you would want to be.

The atmosphere is fantastic, we give the players tremendous backing. Tonight, however, they finally fall short, with a mid-table League One Oldham side, clearly taking the competition more seriously than our previous conquests, deservedly 2-0 up by the midway point of the second half. We have our moments, but are second best. Such a shame.

Then in the final minute we earn a penalty for handball. Too little too late perhaps, but if Fagan scores we are set for an interesting final couple of minutes. He blazes the ball over the bar and into the away end. Time to go home, though it’s been a fun ride in this competition – again.

The (lack of) luck of the draw

I couldn’t make it to City’s FA Cup 2nd round match with Wimbledon; but after what sounded like a comfortable victory, the following day’s televised 3rd round draw holds huge excitement for us City fans. As the balls are drawn out, we are offered the possibility of our name following a huge one. Man City will play… (sigh, not us), Chelsea… (nope), Newcastle… (oh come on!), Liverpool… (will play Oldham! That’s not fair), Sunderland… (even that would do). We end up with Championship Watford. Away.

What a let down. But still, once the game comes around there are 1,200 of us who descend on Vicarage Road hoping for further cup heroics. We quickly go 1-0 down, but a minute later equalise through James Hanson right in front of us. We can do this!

Sadly Watford score right on half time, then get two more goals in the space of a minute early in the second half. With plenty of time to play, the game is already up, but the atmosphere is still incredible and we are having a good time. Wells nets late on for 4-2, then there is that Hannah moment where we think it’s 4-3. The conversations on the supporters coach home all seem to feature the comment “I’m not sure Hannah was offside, you know”. It is our way of keeping alive the cup dream by bigging up the what-might-have-beens. But it’s all over – back to the bread and butter of League Two.

Postscript – Macclesfield Town at home

City are 1-0 up against the division’s bottom club in April, with the three points we are set to claim guaranteeing survival. But there are no wild celebrations at full time, there are no hugging of strangers and there is no buzz which lasts into the following morning.

Instead we have a soundtrack of moaning during the game and after. Hanson is ridiculed non-stop for 90 minutes, Kyel Reid is criticised whenever his runs down the flank don’t end up with a pinpoint cross, and Fagan is screamed at for being lazy.

Back at Watford in January, a bloke two seats from me stood up and started yelling similar abuse at Fagan. He was quickly shouted down by everyone around him. “They’re two divisions above us, support your team” was the cry from more than one person, and the guy shut up. The positive chanting from everyone else recommenced.

That seems to be the difference between the joy of our cup exploits and the normality of League Two life. We don’t like where we are division-wise, and we don’t consider staying in the bottom division – even if the alternative is something far worse – to be something to celebrate. We don’t get behind Fagan when he is playing against mediocre footballers, but do cheer for him when he faces players better than him.

That makes sense of course – Fagan leaves City this summer with both player and club tagged as underachievers, and we want far more than we have seen from City in League Two this season. But there’s a lot of fun in getting behind your players and seeing them exceed your expectations, and this season the cup competitions provided numerous opportunities for both of these occurrences to happen.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: Getting it right at home

18 May
Our end of season ‘essay’ review series continues with Ian Sheard attempting to explain how Bradford City have performed much better at Valley Parade – 1 defeat in 15 matches – compared to previous seasons.

I volunteered to write this article thinking that it would be an easy one to write as I knew the answer and, having written it, would lay claims to the myth that City cannot play at home. Like a Dan Brown novel, I would be showered with accolades and awards having solved the age old riddle.

Trouble is I haven’t got an answer, just a few musings as to why our home form has suddenly picked up this season.

I don’t think that there is one major factor in City’s sudden resurgence at Valley Parade, which hasn’t seen City fans return home with as many smiles on their faces since the promotion season of ’99, but I do think the fans have played a huge part in the success. I will not give away my seat, nor mention the name of the person that sits behind me (not that I know it!) but even he has been quiet. I think this may be true of everyone’s ‘fella that sits behind’ being rather subdued. The reason for this is unclear, but, as a whole, I believe that supporters have got behind the players more this season.

At times when we have gone behind there hasn’t been the same moans, boos and complaints that have ensued over the past few seasons, instead a quiet lull has descended over Valley Parade, almost accepting the fact that we are now, unfortunately, an established League Two club.

I could be wrong, there may be people who still think this is the case and perhaps I have been guilty of wearing claret and amber tinted glasses, maybe not.

Another reason for our recent home form has been the solid back four, which I don’t think anyone can argue about. I firmly believe that if Simon Ramsden, Luke Oliver, Andrew Davies, Marcel Seip and Jon McLaughlin had been injury and suspension free that we would be further up the league. This was proved over the Christmas period where they played almost every game.

I think that it was George Graham who, when asked about what makes a successful team answered, “start at the back and move forward”. He may be an ex-Beeston man, but this proved true with Arsenal in the early 90’s and beyond. There haven’t been silly mistakes, a lack of communication or lack of experience at the back, which has paid dividends for us. Fans aren’t frustrated by gaps at the back, and are therefore more lenient with the odd misplaced pass or ballooned shot at the other end. Just a theory, but one that can be considered.

Poor referees ironically have played a part in our home form. Mainly due to the fact that the negative cries from the terraces have been aimed towards them and not the players. I do think that poor refereeing decisions have united fans and players. Crawley was not the greatest end to a match by a long way, but it was clear for the 90 minutes of ‘football’ that both fans and players were united against the appalling officiating and the standard of football played by Crawley – reminiscent of that cheered by ‘Don’ and his boys in the 70s.

A lot of players have also had a point to prove this season. Ramsden, Oliver and James Hanson have all had their doubters over the previous season, but rather than taking the easy route of others (Paul McLaren and Tommy Doherty to name two) have rolled up their sleeves and proved the doubters wrong, again giving the crowd something to cheer about. Even fringe players have ignored criticism and got stuck in showing that they are worthy of a place in the team. I may have given him some stick on Twitter, but Guy Branston has epitomised the type of player we need at Valley Parade – as has one of favourite players at the moment, Lee Bullock. Whether Parkinson has been a catalyst for this attitude is a point to ponder, but whatever it is, it has worked.

Attacking football, offers on the gate and Zumba at half time may be further reasons why our home form has improved. I may have missed a glaringly obvious solution and merely scratched the surface in terms of City’s decent home form, and some may argue that my reasons are slightly tenuous. Whatever the reasons, I hope the form continues and improves slightly and City can utilise Valley Parade and use it a fortress in a hopefully successful 2012/13 campaign.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: what the club got wrong

14 May
The second of Width of a Post’s end of season ‘essays’ sees Jason McKeown share his personal views on where things might have gone wrong for City.

“We develop players. We don’t have them growing in greenhouses out the back because we don’t have time for greenhouses. We’re more of a microwave sort of club.” Aidy Boothroyd, January 2007

The current Northampton Town manager, Aidy Boothroyd, has so far had nothing to do with the professional football club from his place of birth. But the above quote – made when he was managing Watford in the Premier League five years ago – suggests he would one day fit in very well at Bradford City.

Especially after the season just gone. It started with one set of plans, ended with another, and each one of them was given 100% long term backing at the time. It seems that in the space of twelve months Bradford City were able to illustrate the problems that have bedevilled the club for the last ten years. A season where any greenhouses installed at Valley Parade were hastily covered up in favour of a microwavable ready meal…

“The finances are still tight however, so we are taking a different approach this season rather than trying to ‘buy success’ as we have over the last four seasons in League Two. The playing budget has been reduced but we have increased our investment in developing young players for the future.” Julian Rhodes’ programme notes, Aldershot (home) Saturday 6 August 2011

This above quote, from the Bradford City joint chairman, was typical of the understated approach adopted by the club during last summer, on the back of a dreadfully disappointing 2010/11 campaign which had involved recruiting a top quality manager on a hefty wage and giving him a large playing budget. That manager – Peter Taylor – failed to come close to the target of promotion, and eventually quit. Peter Jackson guided City to safety, but only just. The club ended the season claiming it could no longer afford to keep playing at Valley Parade and even paid the players’ wages late at one point. Something had to change.

Dagenham & Redbridge’s John Still was interviewed for the job of long-term replacement to Taylor. At the meeting with the two Chairmen, he brought along his chief scout and a man who had worked for him for almost 20 years, dating back to Still’s Barnet days. Archie Christie had helped Still deliver success as manager by finding him find untapped talent which were eventually sold on for a large profit – Craig Mackail-Smith and Paul Benson, for example – and would also come to Valley Parade with Still.

However, the financial problems at City – eventually partly solved by the chairmen agreeing a deal to buy the Valley Parade office blocks which the club was previously renting at a considerable cost – saw Still rule himself out of the running. Jackson got the City job he probably deserved, but Rhodes and Mark Lawn asked Christie to write a plan of how the Bantams could reverse their continuous decline.

The results of that report were striking if not exactly earth shattering: the continuous approach of throwing all the club’s resources on ageing footballers – which for four years in a row had not worked for City – was not going to deliver sustainable success. It was time to stop ignoring those off-the-field problems and build a more solidly structured football club. So impressed were Rhodes and Lawn with the plan, they offered Archie the job of Chief Scout and Head of Football Development.

Christie turned down the salary that was offered to him, requesting this money instead be used to fund a Development Squad – a new tier to the youth set up, to give players aged 18-21 the extra support that football clubs often fail to provide. Christie dusted off Tom Cleverley’s contract from when City sold him to Manchester United, and found the then-Premier League Champions technically owed the club a lot of money. Having secured this cash from United for the club, the costs of operating a Development Squad for the season – which worked out slightly lower than the 12-month contract City had been forced to honour for Lewis Hunt last April – were covered.

Meanwhile Lawn and Rhodes partially addressed the training ground issues, and Christie set up a new scouting structure. The club spent pre-season talking of a building campaign centred upon ensuring we could challenge for promotion in 2012-13. As David Pendleton summed it up last week on this very site: “Here is the crux: if a football club cannot offer genuine hope, it must offer a vision and one that can be bought into.”

“We knew there were problems after the first game when we lost to Aldershot. Mark Lawn and I were talking afterwards and we said, ‘Hell, what are we going to do?’ We really were worried. We were honest with Peter and said, ‘We have to strengthen’. Peter decided he wanted to resign. That was his prerogative. It was our intention to help him but maybe after a few more games we would have had to act anyway.” Julian Rhodes, speaking to the Yorkshire Post in January 2012

So on the very same day that Rhodes’ matchday programme notes were published, he and Lawn began to panic and doubt the approach which they had chosen. Jackson would manage for only three more league matches (the last of which, Dagenham, saw home fans give the players a standing ovation for the performance), before resigning for reasons he has yet to make public. Width of a Post has heard very credible stories on why he left, from different sources, which all match up and suggest that – while Jackson had his own personal problems – the pressure from the Boardroom was greater than he considered to be fair or reasonable. I was also able to ask Christie straight if he had helped move Jackson out, and he made it clear that he had not always agreed with Jackson but had always supported him.

The Board acted quickly, with Rhodes, Lawn and Christie appointing Phil Parkinson barely three days after Jackson had walked out of Valley Parade. His brief was to keep City in the Football League – six weeks later, Lawn would go on record describing the squad Jackson had built over the summer as the worst in the division. Another wind of change was in the air.

It is remarkable to note that the only previous examples of genuine success at City over the last 20 years – promotion from Division Two via Wembley in 1996, avoiding relegation the year after, promotion to the Premier League in 1999 and top flight survival in 2000 – all featured slow starts to the first quarter of the season, where panic ensued in some quarters. Only this weekend, Rhodes has criticised a number of summer signings on the basis of their performances in just four games (the Leeds, Barnet and Sheffield Wednesday games, featuring these same players, conveniently ignored). All I can say is that it’s a good job Geoffrey Richmond had a calm head and strong leadership skills when sticking by Paul Jewell in September 1998, as the club languished second bottom.

“The point is that football clubs, prompted by media and fans, are always making financially irrational decisions in an instant. They would like to think long term, but because they are in the news every day they end up fixating on the short term.” Why England Lose, by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

It is a surprisingly tropical Bradford morning in September, and I am sharing a breakfast table with Christie, Peter Horne, Andrew Burns, Scott Brown and Terry Dixon. In the privileged position to be interviewing the three young City players for an article, listening to their confidence about forging a successful career at the club is uplifting. I’d seen and been very impressed by Burns and Brown in pre-season, and all three were expected to be in the first team this season.

Indeed Brown was 45 minutes away from making his debut for City against AFC Wimbledon a week before (Michael Flynn passed a late fitness test in the end) – he would end the season frozen out of things, playing a practice match at Leeds United, where the Elland Road coaching staff would apparently state their surprise that he is not in the City first team and that “he could do a job for Leeds”.

Burns was supposed to be breaking into the first team in January as cover for Simon Ramsden, when Liam Moore’s loan spell from Leicester expired. Yet Parkinson opted for the short-term fix of signing Rob Kozluk for the rest of the campaign – having released Hunt in October at a sizable cost to the club. Burns has ended the season on loan at Harrogate Town, then told he can find a new club (Kozluk has been released).

City seemed to believe themselves to be embroiled in a relegation battle long before they ever really looked to be. Those of us who witnessed the outstanding, attacking football displayed in Parkinson’s first home game against Bristol Rovers in mid-September would have concluded that – with the help of a couple more signings – it was simply a matter of the team getting going results-wise. Three days later City lost 3-2 to Vale in heart-breaking style, with home manager Micky Adams saying he believed we would challenge for promotion that season (“I’d like to bet they will be there or thereabouts”). There seemed to be no need to panic, but we were doing so anyway.

Rhodes stated at the weekend that the whole season was hindered by Jackson’s summer signings – an attack presumably levelled at Martin Hansen, Moore, Guy Branston, Chris Mitchell, Jack Compton, Mark Stewart, Ross Hannah and Nialle Rodney. Under Parkinson, “The worst squad in the league” was been quickly replaced by new signings. The reduced budget Jackson had to work under significantly increased. Who can really blame Parkinson for spending money rather than trusting in what he had in-house, and the potential of the Development Squad? Hand me your money and a budget to buy a new sofa for my house, and I will happily spend it all to get the nicest one.

There is no disputing that Rhodes and Lawn were right when they spoke to Jackson just before he quit – the squad that started the season did need strengthening. However, there is a difference between fixing a few problem positions and overhauling everything. The long-term benefits appear to be slim – just three of 16 signings Parkinson has made since joining as manager are still contracted to the club.

“If the manager has not got the commitment to do it, it means nothing. A scout can scout them, bring them to the club. The youth coach can develop them and put them in the reserve team, and the reserve coach can help him on his way and recommend them to the first team. But if the manager won’t play them in the first team, it’s a waste of blinking time!” Sir Alex Ferguson on Manchester United’s youth system

Christie left City abruptly in November – the day before he officially became the new Chief Executive – for reasons yet to be shared in public. And with it the Development Squad idea was allowed to diminish quietly without anyone left in the building taking responsibility for the idea of bringing it in. This apparently included the Chairmen, yet the same September day that I chatted to Burns, Brown and Dixon was also the last time I spoke to Lawn; and he made it very clear how much he supported the Development Squad concept and how highly he valued Christie (two weeks before his “worst squad” comment). Rhodes was also known to be a big fan of the idea.

The Development Squad was criticised publically in October by none other than Michael Flynn; and in November its coach Wayne Allison departed for a new job – with Parkinson opting to spend the money this freed up on strengthening the first team, rather than recruiting a replacement to coach these players. Everything about the club became here and now, ‘building’ was suddenly an ugly word. The same month that Christie left ended with City lining up a six-figure transfer deal to sign Benson. It fell through on medical grounds, but a statement of intent was made. One wonders what Jackson made of the switching of the goal posts.

As Sir Alex Ferguson’s quote says, the Development Squad was only going to work if it was backed by the manager. Not by him throwing loads of these players into the first team – no one should have been expecting a 100% success ratio from these kids, the departure of Dixon was an inevitable side effect and others would/will follow – but through trusting and handing those who were progressing with opportunities when they came up because of injuries and suspensions. And in time this approach could really pay off: back in March, I watched City lose 1-0 to a Crewe side where 9 of its 11 had come through its ranks. They made the play offs.

Instead Parkinson has apparently spent a huge sum of money – multiple times the cost of the Development Squad – stock piling loan players. What was the benefit in signing Charlie Taylor, Andy Haworth and Will Atkinson, rather than giving Dominic Rowe – a home-grown winger who featured in all but one of the club’s pre-season friendlies, awarded a two-year contract last October and part of the Development Squad – an opportunity? Beyond the Development Squad, in March Hannah was shunted out to Halifax so City could sign Chris Dagnall on loan to the end of the season. Good player Dangall is, but the benefits were purely short-term. Then you consider that the likes of Luke O’Brien and Robbie Threlfall – players City have spent years developing – have also been let go.

And that’s the problem when you look back at this season. We stayed up, and so you could argue that Rhodes and Lawn’s decision to ditch long-term planning because our position looked desperate was the right one; but all we have done is repeated the strategy of the past four seasons in throwing a lot of money at players, again with only marginal success. This year’s League Two is unique in that the clubs with the highest budgets – Swindon, Shrewsbury and Crawley– have gone up. Rhodes says City’s budget ended up around the 5th highest: is 18th place therefore a fitting return for the level of money parted on short-term signings like Craig Fagan, Kozluk and Atkinson, with little gained for the future because it has been ignored? Again we come back to this stat – just three of Parkinson’s 16 signings as City manager are still at the club.

Because from my viewpoint – which has included the performances from quickly discarded players against Leeds, Huddersfield and Sheffield United – I’m not convinced we were doing much wrong at the start of the season. It was obvious we needed to give it time, not judge things on a couple of games – just as City’s promotion winning squad of 1998/99 was not judged on its poor start. As well as Parkinson has done (and he has), significant improvement on the pitch is not obvious. For Rhodes to attempt to blame all of this season’s problems solely on Jackson is extremely unfair.

In Why England Lose, Kuper and Szymanski wrote: “At most clubs the manager is treated as a sort of divinely inspired monarch who gets to decide everything until he is sacked. Then the next manager clears out his predecessor’s signings at a discount.” It is such an accurate reflection of the last few seasons at Valley Parade that it is painful. Can Parkinson break this cycle?

“Archie’s ideas and plans were excellent but they were what should have happened years ago and I remember me and Dave Wetherall highlighting this in a presentation to Julian and Peter Taylor a few years earlier. Development squads 18-21 are massive to any club and so many good footballers get neglected at these ages because their club (s) can’t afford to employ the necessary staff but if you do invest in one it must provide results. Between the ages 18-21 is a massive time for any player to develop in more ways than one and I firmly believe that we’ve let a lot of good players go that would have been good enough for us. Let’s just use Jake Wright who is captain of Oxford as a sample example although I could probably name 10.” Peter Horne’s programme notes, Swindon (home) Saturday 5 May 2012

With relegation successfully avoided in the end, over the last couple of weeks we have seen a return of the long-term thinking rhetoric. Nahki Wells – the first and so far only successful graduate of the Development Squad – has proven the value of the RIASA link up, after a series of outstanding performances and stunning goals. As a result, Mark Ellis has been appointed new youth coach for the 18-21 age group. The Development Squad is, apparently, back up and running.

Meanwhile the club has announced plans to further improve the training facilities at the request of Parkinson – an eerie familiar situation to what Taylor demanded but did not get two years ago – and a couple of City youngsters made the bench for the final game of the season.

This all sounds great, and one would like to believe that the club is finally getting to grips with issues that appear to have held it back for the past few years. But the actions witnessed over the course of season give little confidence that this will actually happen. A bad start to next season, and Parkinson will go – with him another ripping up of the strategy. Failure for the RAISA tie up to reap Nahki-level benefits next year and it will probably be dropped (remember the Belgium link-up?). When the chips are down and strong leadership is required to think not just of the here and now, but of long-term building plans, we revert to type and sign an ageing right back.

That, speaking personally, is the biggest damage of this season – I no longer have confidence that the two Chairmen know how to take this club forwards. Promotion to League One has never looked so far away than it seems right now. That Parkinson is still manager and obviously has a plan of action is the only comfort I can take from this season, but Jackson will happily be able to tell his predecessor how quickly Parkinson might lose the support he needs from Rhodes and Lawn.

“For a club’s whose only priority should be climbing out of the basement division, it looked a case of trying to run before they could walk. That’s how Parkinson saw it when he came in, and he wasn’t the only one. Michael Flynn, the skipper, soon publicly questioned the wisdom of putting money into something that might never bear fruit when it could have been diverted towards strengthening where it matters.” Simon Parker writing about the Development Squad, February 2012

The questions remain: was the club wrong to appoint Jackson in the first place? Was it wrong to ask Christie to write a blueprint for the future? Is the Development Squad a bad idea? If not, was it wrong to abandon it mid-season? Whatever your view, Rhodes and Lawn were behind these decisions and have to either accept they have made mistakes or back up past words with actions.

Just like previous years, the local media is now helping to fuel this constant message from the club that things are better than they were and we are moving forwards. Yet as supporters, no one has ever bothered to tell us why Jackson left the club. No one has either admitted the Development Squad was a mistake, or come out to back it, post-Christie. We deserve better than to be kept in the dark.

What we need is not a new vision – the Parkinson path is the one we are on now, and we need to continue it – but belief that any vision adopted will be backed by the club. That a month ago Lawn backed Parkinson in public is commendable only if he truly means it, but over the past three years the club has repeatedly lost sight of what it wants and – when it has changed direction – has often destroyed much of the good work that had gone on before it.

Parkinson’s plan of action has seen short-term pain for this club, and if that’s justified by rewards in long run then it’s well worth going through the season we have just had. But if we go into next season ready to chuck all of his good work away at the first sign of trouble, then we will probably repeat the same mistakes all over again.

And even less people will be willing to believe in the next vision the Board places in front of us.

Tags: , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: what the club got right

12 May
Like sitting an English Language GCSE exam, a number of Width of a Post writers were handed a topic heading relating to the 2011/12 season and asked to run with it; taking whatever direction they choose and writing as much or as little on it. The result is a series of ‘essays’ reviewing this season, which Width of a Post will present over the next fortnight. Kicking us off, Alex Scott answers the question of ‘What the club got right this season’.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Things that Bradford City got right this season? This is either going to descend into a joke column where I progressively come up with funnier ways to say ‘nothing’, or an in-depth review into the sensational array of kits the club featured this year. It’s neither I swear. (And before you start, that pink kit was fantastic.)

Detaching yourself from the emotion of a long (and depressing) season is almost impossible, but in the cold light of day, it wasn’t all bad. No, really.

At the beginning of the season were we sold an idea; we bought into the long-term. This was set to be a year of transition. Last season ended on a low note with a 5-1 home thrashing by Crewe. The squad was old, underperforming, not ours, or some futile combination of the three. There was little to build around. The arrow was pointing up on David Syers. That was about it. The first year midfielder was the only building block; morale around the club had bottomed out.

So the owners decided to rip it up. Blank slate. Archie Christie was installed as a Chief Scout and Head of Football Development with a remit to revamp the club’s squad and build towards a better future. This year was immaterial really. Just don’t get relegated.

We as fans were willing to accept this deal, we were sick of the status quo, and at least investing in youth afforded us the ability to grab hold of the potential. It was something at least.  Just don’t get relegated. If this season left us struggling, but with a core of five or six young starters to build around, that would be just fine and we would be better off for it next season.

Well here we are. Jon McLaughlin (24), Ritchie Jones (25), David Syers (24), Kyel Reid (24), James Hanson (24), Nahki Wells (21) all represent above-average starters at this level, who are all on the upswing. Not to mention the establishment of a new club captain in Ricky Ravenhill and a breakout star in Luke Oliver who has been universally anointed Player of the Year. We would have taken that at the beginning of the season. So why is the fan base so disgruntled?

It’s not him, it’s us.

Our expectations were raised with the perceived ‘substantial’ capital invested in the team after Parkinson’s arrival and the lofty projections emanating from within the club. But that is all in our minds. Expectations are in the eye of the beholder. For all we know, Phil Parkinson (who signed a two season contract) was under the same instruction as Jackson to ‘keep us safe for this year whilst building for next season.’ If the board decided that more money needed to be invested to achieve that end, and were more comfortable with Parkinson investing it rather than Jackson or Christie, then that is their prerogative. It is their money.

It has been a bumpy ride at times, and the club may have overspent, in capital with the fans as much as the banks, but the target has been achieved. If instead of the rhetoric of ‘Top Half by Christmas’, the club instead stuck to its early season target, only with a different triggerman, would we all be as pessimistic? (In a season of many mistakes, the mismanagement of expectations seems like a big one.)

We can argue on the merits of the identity of their chosen man, but frankly, they know more than we do. We can complain that the club has wasted money in achieving this end, but that’s their money to waste. There is no certainty the apocalyptic scenario foreseen by Lawn would have been realised, but who are we to criticise him paying for his own peace of mind?

The owners decided on a plan, and then quickly assessed it wasn’t working and changed it. Many times in football, fans complain of owners driven by their own ego, in fact that is a criticism readily levelled at the Bradford City ownership. But if you are going to do that, you must credit them in this case. They felt their decision was wrong, and changed it quickly before the damage was too deep. They owned up to their mistake. They knew they would look stupid, but had the courage in their conviction to do it. We can argue on the merits of that decision, but we have incomplete information. They know more than we do.

Furthermore, the owners have provided both regimes complete autonomy in their management. The curious aspect of George Galloway’s comments about the club is that finances aren’t the problem, and haven’t been for a while. We as fans are hyper-critical of the ownership, but you have to credit them with providing their managers with whatever they wanted.

Beyond the owners, the fan base has also been critical of Parkinson’s tendency to rely on loan players and short term contracts. Andrew Davies aside, they haven’t all been stars (I’ve never been sure why we expect them to be), but the majority of them represent potential permanent signings this off-season. If Parkinson knew he was building toward next season anyway, why not spend a section of his first-year budget on ‘advanced’ scouting?

He’s been able to spend six months looking at Deane Smalley, Will Atkinson and co, with almost no risk, and decide with certainty whether he wants them for next year. If they don’t perform (Haworth, Taylor), fine, strike them off the list. If they have obvious talent but negatively affect the dressing room (Devitt), isn’t it prudent management to establish that now, instead of signing them on multi-year deals in January or the summer? If the manager felt Mark Stewart wouldn’t be in his squad next year, but Chris Dagnall could be, wouldn’t it be logical to find that out now? We may not agree with his decisions, but at the same time we wouldn’t want a manager hamstrung by outside influences.

He must be his own man, and we must let him be so.

At times this year it seems the manager and fans have been on different wavelengths; we’ve been criticising him for something he’s not even trying to do. If you view every decision he has made as one for the betterment of next season, they take on an entirely different complexion. There are a lot of things that the club has got right.

I’m not arguing that the club hasn’t underachieved this season; I’m not arguing that Parkinson has done a great job. But, if we judge him by the same criteria as we were willing to judge Jackson and Christie, then he’s doing just fine.

On a slightly less controversial and divisive note, one facet of this season which has been an unqualified success has been the emergence of club captain-elect Ricky Ravenhill.

Fans are difficult beasts to please universally. Our demands on players are discrete and prejudiced. Even top scorers can be widely derided. Whilst each fan wants different things from their players, a common theme highlighted by Ken Dryden is that “We want them to prove beyond even unreasonable doubt that they’re not in this for the money, but for the love of their/our sport and their/our team, and demonstrate that at every moment by being willing to do whatever it takes.” This generalisation stands as a good jumping off point for every fan, and Ricky Ravenhill epitomises as much. People can criticise certain facets of his game, but they tend to pale in comparison to the overall package.

Next season’s presumptive captain, the tenacious midfielder flourished alongside Ritchie Jones down the stretch, and will be a fundamental component of next season’s team. For a player acquired initially on loan, then on a free transfer, this stands as a primary success story of the Parkinson administration. With two years to run on his contract, his manager will likely utilise Ravenhill as a tone setter, moulding the squad in his image. This can only be a good thing.

A cynic may wish to retort about broken clocks, but on the whole, the impact of Parkinson’s signings has been positive. Andrew Davies just about kept the club in the division. He was head and shoulders above every forward he faced, and infuriating suspensions aside, he must go down as a success story.

Kyel Reid is a star. Convincing him to sign a two-year deal with the club may go down as Parkinson’s crowning glory. For long spells of the season he was the club’s single attacking threat. A plethora of midfielders on the opposite flank headlined by Craig Fagan failed to generate any sort of impact offensively, and Reid spent the entire season being doubled-up upon by defences. Yet he starred. Week in, week out.

Before his injury, Marcel Seip played an integral role in the side’s defence, playing all three positions at one point or another. For a free transfer recruit, he far outperformed expectations. Ravenhill, Fagan and Smalley all played their roles. Even players we didn’t get to see all that much of in Dagnall, Devitt and Atkinson impressed in spells. Not all of the signings have paid out, but it would be inaccurate to portray Parkinson as a poor recruiter, batting .500 is accepted as a decent ratio on signings, and under that prism, he’s done pretty well.

The undoubted high point has been the discovery of Wellson. (Or Hanells, delete as appropriate) A legitimate strike partnership, Nahki Wells and James Hanson combined for 43% of the club’s goals this season. They have notched 13 goals in the 16 games they have started together whilst 16 of their 23 combined goals in the league have been with both on the pitch. Beyond their goal scoring impact, they look an actual partnership. Their strengths mesh well together. Whilst often seen reductive in the modern game, their little man-big man partnership has been a revelation. They have both shown a knack for scoring goals, and should go into next season as a focal point for the team.

Whilst the emergence of Wells has been something of an accident (Jackson didn’t want him, Parkinson showed a continued reticence to start him), the commitment to Hanson at the beginning of the season has proven a great decision. Regardless of your view on the target man, three respected managers have seen fit to make him a focal point at the club. (Granted, Parkinson has attempted to replace him, but he has only benched Hanson twice as a managerial decision, at Plymouth and at home to Rotherham, the club lost both those games.) Promoted to number nine, James Hanson has blossomed in his third season as a professional, again leading the goal scoring charts whilst playing with a drive and incisiveness not before seen from him. With an injury free off-season ahead of them, Wellson will be looking to hit the ground running next season, providing they are both still here.

Does the end justify the means? This season has met with the familiar oxymoronic incandescent malaise. ‘Twas ever thus. It has been an ordeal at times.  But looking at the component parts of the squad compared to last year (including the manager), the club are in a far stronger position going into next season. Wasn’t that all we were after this year. Has this not been a successful ‘transition’ year?

And that pink kit was great.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: highlight/lowlight – part two

9 May

The Width of a Post asked various Bradford City supporter organisations to share their highlight and lowlight of the season.

Alex Scott, Concentrate on the League

Highlight – Half time of League Cup tie at Leeds. This was an easy selection for me. It’s all been downhill from here. As I walked down the spiralling staircase into the bowels of Elland Road’s South East Corner, you couldn’t escape it. That buzz. The locals had made the (probably correct) decision to not serve alcohol during the intermission, so fans congregated seemingly as one, talking with a irrepressible Sorkinesque velocity of the miracle being witnessed.

After the Aldershot debacle, my expectations were low, as everyone’s were. The country was enveloped in a nihilistic haze that week and the heavy handed police presence allied to the almost symbolic descent down the hill from Beeston bus station toward the cauldron of Elland Road left me fearing the worst. However the performance of the team, the young enthusiastic team I was so excited about, found me beaming. Whilst those euphoric moments initiated by messrs Compton and Flynn were difficult to discount, that feeling inside as I entered the concourse at half time is up there with my favourite moments supporting the club.

That buzz. From the bracing low of the prologue to that moment felt a lifetime away. And we got to savour it. For fifteen minutes, we were on top of the world.

Lowlight – Cheltenham at home in November. This is when the exasperation finally got the better of me. From the departure of Archie Christie, the revamping of the first team squad, the abysmal performances on the field, the vociferous backlash onto the club’s owners, everything was spiralling. Extra security was brought in, police horses abound, fluorescent jackets blinding.

I wrote above about ‘that buzz’ of the Leeds game which left us top of the world. That buzz. This was similar, except there was a pit in my stomach instead of a smile on my face. The game was humiliating. Completely outplayed by a cohesive team in Cheltenham, Bradford represented anything but. The atmosphere was hostile in the beginning and only got worse from there.

Beyond the horrors of the day, and it truly was harrowing, this was the day I, and many others, turned inexorably away from the ownership, and some the club itself. And they brought it all on themselves. My relationship with this iteration of the club changed that day. For good.

concentrateontheleague.tumblr.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike Harrison, The City Gent

This season was one that fully proved the saying that the game is full of opinions. The 2011/12 season marginally ousted the previous season for dividing opinions between fans. Players, managers, heads of development and even the fans themselves had vociferous supporters both for and against this season.

As someone whose task it is to comment not only on the games but also the off the field activities, sometimes I wondered if I’d seen the same game as some fans or if I supported the same team? If there was ever a season where the younger generation (and sometimes the older ones too) vented their frustration at City’s position in the lower reaches of League Two, then this was it. They found their voice via Twitter, which suddenly seemed to be the only place to really be able to let off steam and praise under-performing players at the same time.

And like the genie released from the bottle, now there is now no going back. Tweeting for me showed the best and worst of this season, in which I played my part and which, for all its faults, was at times laugh out loud funny, sycophantically near vomit inducing, maddeningly frustrating but enjoyable all the same and always absolutely fascinating.

Highlights – for me there were more than many might imagine from a team that finished 7th from bottom in the entire Football League. For a change, City had cup runs in two out of the three competitions and in the third (or first in order of playing) the performance at Leeds just a few days after the damp squib of an opening day defeat to Aldershot was beyond expectation and gave City fans something to be proud about, even in defeat.

The JPT penalty shoot out wins with unlikely heroes such as Oscar Jansson, Nialle Rodney and Chris Mitchell – and what can one say about Nahki Wells’ thunderbolt to beat Rochdale in the FA Cup 1st round? Surely one of the best goals ever seen scored at Valley Parade in 108 years! If you opted to miss that game, boy was that a mistake. I didn’t and I can say that I was there!

In the league, the poor start was followed by a stutter, as just when the ‘new’ team hastily brought in and cobbled together by Phil Parkinson would one week look like they’ve cracked it and the next would look hopelessly out of touch. Any kind of real momentum didn’t finally appear until late November, just as City closed in on 22nd place and far too close to the two relegation places. The return of Andrew Davies following his suspension sparked the revival, as City’s defence finally looked solid and capable of cutting out the basic mistakes made by the defenders used up to that point.

City fully deserved their first away win of the season at Southend on December 16th and it was a pleasure to be at Roots Hall for a change. The Christmas wins over Crewe and Shrewsbury showed City fans what Parkinson could do when his best players were all available to him. In the second half of the season the highlights were the successive away wins at Torquay and Barnet and the magnificent hat trick for Wells at Northampton which confirmed that City would be safe, though I for one never really doubted it.

Talk of relegation was talked up by the doom mongers with little regard for the merits of both City’s playing staff and management, as opposed to the paucity of the squads at the disposal of the bottom three teams.

Lowlights – Well going to Accrington and getting beaten again wasn’t pleasant (again!) and the shock news that Peter Jackson, for whatever reason, just upped and left once again had the club in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

A couple of months later and Archie Christie, who had earlier being hailed as almost a man with magical powers also left in mysterious circumstances which set a chain of events that would see the much loved Boy from Brazil disappear from the ‘net, which then caused Jason to set up Width of a Post which led to The City Gent losing one of its best regular columnists.

Lowlights in the 2nd half of season seemed to mainly comprise of the team losing key players to injury and/or suspension (Reid, Oliver, Ramsden, Syers, Hanson and Flynn), conceding last minute equalisers and erratic referees. The lowlight of them all, the way that Crawley came to Valley Parade with their spoiling, time wasting tactics, and who ended the good home run City had been on; but the brawl after the game threatened to plunge the team into chaos with the loss of key players who got caught up in a moment of madness which once again got the club into the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Perhaps if the snow hadn’t fallen and the temperature plummeted at the beginning of February the outcome of the Crawley as well as the AFC Wimbledon games would have been very different. The game at Wimbledon (Kingston) was another lowlight not only for Craig Fagan’s stupid antics which saw him red carded, but for the way I came away from the game feeling completely cheated by the referee. March was a real slog going to 5 away games, almost a quarter of the season played in just one month. Total madness, but that’s the Football League rules for you!

In conclusion, it’s been a strange season both on and off the field and now it’s over I can look back on it as being one of the most interesting seasons we’ve had for a while. It’s been a season of narrow margins, as City’s goal difference can attest. There’s been probably more pros than cons, but one thing I know for sure, there will be plenty of City fans on Twitter who’ll disagree with that statement, but hopefully just one or two will agree.

Roll on next season because, as we know, it’s never dull being a City fan and just about anything can happen between now and the start of the 2012/13 season, and for me #inparkywetrust*

*just as long as enough City fans buy their season tickets, or 50/50 Flexicards and the Board has a sufficient budget that allows Parkinson to keep the players he wants and attract the ones he needs to add to the core team #justsaying

thecitygent.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mick Shackleton, Friends of Bradford City FC

From a Friends of Bradford City perspective this, our first season, has been a very positive one off the field – with better results on the field, we expect next season to be even better.

The main aim of our group is to contribute to ‘our’ club. This is in any way we can – whether it be from raising funds to purchase something that we believe will benefit the club, to even helping with the maintenance within the ground. Our group numbers, through Claret and Amber memberships, have steadily grown throughout the campaign - something we’ll be looking to re-launch for next season very soon.

As a supporters group we ran an online Man of the Match voting system after every home game. This was supported by Shipley Bantams who used the return journey from every away game to collate the votes from their travelling group. We’d like to think the overall result is a fair representation of supporters’ opinion…

The return of the recently held Player of the Year awards (hosted by FoBCFC) saw 300 people packed into the McCall suite – let’s hope that come the end of next season with City flying high we can fill both McCall and Hendrie’s!

Regarding the PoTYA’s, Luke Oliver (98pts) topped our voting charts closely followed by Kyel Reid (97) with Andrew Davies (72) in third and Nahki Wells (49) in fourth.

For me this season, I’ve seen some good displays in the league away at Northampton along with Southend and Torquay at home and some great performances in the cup, especially against our two local rivals. So we know we are more than capable – with that I look optimistically to next season and the countdown to fixture release.

friendsofbcfc.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian Lockwood, Skipton and Craven Bantams Supporters Club

Highlight– In a season of relatively few highs and a lot of lows asking for the best and worst moments proved far trickier than it seems at first sight. When I asked a few Skipton Bantams for suggestions, there was a mixture of furrowed brows, vacant stares and long pauses. Talk forever on the failings of Gary Locke (a frequent topic of conversation among the Skipton Bantams), but pick a special highlight and answer came there none. From the list of low points there was too much to choose from (unless one goes down the obvious route of that minute of madness after the Crawley game).

Quite a few Skipton Bantams take consolation in the early season cup run, including a win at Huddersfield. But for me the JPT is always a pointless exercise – unless you get to Wembley. Who after all can remember this year’s winners, never mind last year’s?  Penalty shootouts, victories over bigger sides are all very well, but the JPT is one more game where a key player might get injured in front of a sparse crowd on a wet night in Oldham. I cannot look back on the JPT run as a fond memory – more an entertaining diversion from the real business of promotion/relegation.

No, my highlight of the season is just one game: Southend, home. This was the game which banished the depression; this was the game where City’s survival in the division was, in my mind, guaranteed. True, there remained work to be done, but after a long run of spirited performances but few points, it seemed that the tide had turned.

The air of relief among the fans as they trudged up the hill towards Manningham Lane at the end was, if not euphoric, then one of intense relief. It was like taking off a pair of ill-fitting shoes after a long march – the blisters were there but things could only get better. It wasn’t just the result but the manner of it. On the back of the losing run, the doom-mongers were in full voice and even the optimists were beginning to lose faith. Goals from Hanson and Fagan, a sparkling cameo from Mr Wells and a referee who for once seemed on our side were not the full story. It was as comprehensive a victory for City as any this season.

In a season of few highlights, this was as good as it got.

Lowlight - Plenty of low points season but one that is becoming increasingly annoying is the negativity of the message boards. Within minutes of a match finishing, the vitriol comes pouring down from people who clearly have not been at the match but whose Playstation experience tells them that Parky has got the wrong tactics. Every development at the club is a sinister or incompetent move, every possible sighting of a player shopping in Rotherham/Rochdale is proof that he’s about to go there; every friend of a friend of a friend who was in Wetherspoons at 2am is a club “insider”.

Chief targets of abuse are the manager (as always) and one of the co-chairman (the one who can be bothered to talk to the fans). This low point shows no signs of going away. Like little children seeking attention at nursery (but often with lower grammar and spelling skills) they have to be heard, their assessment has to be shared, their abuse has to be broadcast as wide as possible. Debate about a player or team is part and parcel of football, but the abusive nature of the negative boards means that I rarely look at them now after the reasoned reports of Mr Parker and Mr Widthofthepost.

If I can trace it back to one particular point which stopped me reading message boards it was Andrew Davies’ second sending off which sparked a torrent of abuse about him being a liability, an example of Parkinson having poor judgement by sticking by him, he should be sent straight back to Stoke etc.

skiptonbantams.tumblr.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alan Carling, Bradford City Supporters Trust

Highlight - The high point occurred for me very early on, one-up at half-time on August 9 2011 at Elland Road in the Carling Cup (no relation), after a scintillating first-half performance that deserved a bigger lead. The spirit of the side was typified by one of David Syers’ surging runs into the box after the interval. He just failed to beat the keeper to the ball, and took a knock that – again, typically – he tried to run off before it became clear that he could not carry on.

It did not seem possible at the time that this injury would keep him out of the side for most of the rest of the season. But there was an air of inevitability as Leeds got into their stride in the second half, and pegged back a magnificent City effort in the closing twenty minutes.

Lowlight – My lowest point of the season came on Terrible Tuesday, March 27th 2012, or to be more precise, about twenty-four hours later. Tuesday began with the news that the Bradford Bulls were in deep financial trouble, launching an emergency appeal to fans for half a million within a month to keep the club afloat. My heart went out to my opposite number in the Bulls’ Trust, Bullbuilder’s Chris Hardstaff. This is the kind of situation that is always at the back of your mind as the Chair of a Trust: that some disaster will befall your club – or be revealed in any event – that requires emergency action at a moment’s notice to stave off the unthinkable. And then in the evening came Crawley Town.

The Crawley side played the most obnoxious game of football I have ever witnessed in my life. Their players were full of sneaky fouls and cynical ploys, and fell when touched as if pole-axed. It speaks volumes for their tactics that they collected six yellow cards – a majority of the team, including one for the goalkeeper for time-wasting – but no reds. Manager Evans’ order of the day was obviously for players to take it in turns to commit crimes and misdemeanours just short of a sending off.

The referee did not handle the game well, but you had to have sympathy for the problems he faced in controlling a match in which one side was mostly disinterested and disengaged. The fact that Crawley Town have been promoted means at least that we will not have to play them next season, though we will still face a Steve Evans side, after he showed his loyalty to Crawley by leaving soon after our match to join Rotherham. I notice from the web that he has just ‘culled’ the squad he inherited, presumably to dispense with the services of those who wish to play football.

The most serious consequence of the Crawley game only became clear a day later, however, with the news that Andrew Davies, Luke Oliver and Jon McLaughlin had been dismissed in the dressing room for fighting Crawley players on the pitch just after the final whistle. The core of our defence had been taken out at a critical moment of the season. I will not condone their actions, but I could understand why they lost their heads under Crawley’s shameless provocation.

And this is why my worst moment of the season came on Wednesday March 28th. Relegation suddenly seemed a possibility that could not be wished away, especially as an FA points deduction was not out of the question. I knew that if we were relegated, the survival of the club would be at stake. The first priority would be to keep the club alive, and if possible still playing at Valley Parade. But if the latter option proved impossible, there would be one obvious escape route – for City to play at Odsal. Yet it also seemed that Odsal might now be closed for business within weeks, leaving a relegated City with nowhere viable to play. I contemplated this future with real dread.

Luckily, events have not turned out that way. The Bulls’ Quest for Survival appeal has reached its initial targets, although the Bulls’ longer term future must remain in doubt. And City rallied after Crawley, with three vital wins in six games. Players like Lee Bullock and Guy Branston deserve great credit for stepping in to save the day on the pitch. Yet no-one wants to repeat the experience of not being safe from relegation until a couple of games before the end of the season. And this is by now a long-standing problem. City has averaged fourteenth place in its five years in the Fourth Division, and the trend is downwards if anything, not upwards.

It is true to say, of course, that this is not good enough for a club of our size. But it is more helpful to think how fans can work together with everyone at the club to make a difference in the longer term. I hope that the Supporters’ Trust will be able to announce a fans’ investment plan before the start of next season that will strengthen the club, and help take City in a new direction – onwards and upwards.

bcst.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phil Woodward, Shipley Bantams

Highlight - Winning at Huddersfield away. The JPT isn’t a cup I really have much interest in, yet this season it provided us with our best wins, some great performances and some fine displays of penalty taking and penalty saving.

I was too young to witness the hatred and rivalry between City and Leeds, so for me the rivalry when I started watching City was with Huddersfield. There has often been quite a nasty atmosphere when we play the “Terriers” and plenty of crowd trouble. I’ve not witnessed many wins over Town, so this JPT victory was great to see. A good performance, great atmosphere and lots of banter – woof woof!

Lowlight –  The negativity around the club. Threads on the message board as early as October calling for Parkinson Out. Over the top criticism of Hanson, Fagan and others. Hanson is a local lad done well out of non league football; the fairytale of kid from the Co-op making it as a professional footballer, yet so many seem either jealous, envious or just angry to see him do well. You can almost sense the disappointment from some when he scores, the slamming shut of the laptops as his critics wait in anticipation to have another go at him.

The PR from Mark Lawn does nothing for the club either, he’d be better off not speaking to the media and the claim that we have been successful by staying up is fooling no one. The Archie Christie saga was embarrassing for all involved and the way people were quick to stick the knife into Jacko was a disgrace.

Expectations for next season: Play offs

I don’t think we are a million miles away from being a good side. We are not getting hammered every week but we struggle to grind out 1-0 wins. A couple of additions and a decent pre season could see us fly out of the blocks if the fixtures are kind to us. I’m more optimistic now than I was last season with a squad lacking quality.

theshippers.co.uk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Pendleton, Bantamspast

See here for David’s views.

Bantamspast.co.uk

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: Highlight/lowlight – part one

8 May

The Width of a Post writing team provide their personal highlights and lowlights of this season.

Mark Scully

Highlight – There haven’t been many high points throughout the course of the season but the few memorable moments came in the Johnstones Paint Trophy. I’d have to say the highlight was beating Sheffield United, a great night at Bramall Lane. Jonny Mac proved to be the hero with an excellent stop from Billy Clarke with the last kick of the game, before becoming the penalty saving king again. It looked like the run was coming to an end when Matty Phillips scored a superb first half goal for the Blades. However, just like at Leeds earlier in the season, Michael Flynn scored a stunner from outside the area which sent the away end barmy! In the second half both sides had decent chances before penalties decided it….McLaughlin saved three spot kicks in the shoot out, before Chris Mitchell calmly slotted home to send the Bantams into the next round.

Lowlight – It’s not a game, but more a situation that developed and became a problem – which stemmed from the departure of Jack Compton. I wasn’t personally a big fan of Compton, but he gave us good balance with him on one flank and Reid on the other. Following his departure he was never adequately replaced. Young Charlie Taylor from Leeds wasn’t up to much, neither were the likes of Deane Smalley and Will Atkinson – whilst Fagan was playing out of position. With all that in mind the pressure on Reid to create was too much. Teams got wise to our only threat and would nullify him. Hopefully the penny has dropped with Parkinson that we do need two out and out wingers, something which has been missing for a long time at Valley Parade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke Lockwood

Highlight – the Huddersfield Town cup win. In all my visits to the Galpharm Stadium I have never seen us win, but all that changed with the dramatic penalty shoot out victory in the Johnstones Paint Trophy this season. After twice experiencing the heartbreak of a Town equaliser, a City side, which had been labelled the worst in League Two by our joint chairman, knocked out one of the finest sides from the division above! Liam Moore, Robbie Threlfall, Luke O’Brien, Chris Mitchell, Jack Compton, Mark Stewart, Nialle Rodney and even Guy Branston, Matt Duke and Ross Hannah wouldn’t feature much more over the course of the season, but they provided one memorable night for the travelling 2,500 Bantams. Thank you Rodney and co.!

Lowlight – the David Syers injury. Another memorable evening – Leeds away – which was 20 minutes away from being my personal high of the year. But then Syers was left in a heap by the touchline just yards away from me and would not play again until Boxing Day. The 2010/11 player of the season had put in his finest performance to date and in front of the Sky Cameras; how would we keep the vultures at bay now? But his night ended prematurely and with it so did City’s fight. I had dragged along a friend of mine who was a Huddersfield Town fan and a number of my other friends were in the opposite end supporting the Dark Forces. For the rest of the evening they would debate among themselves whether it would be Leeds or Huddersfield signing our superstar in January. Ten months on we are now playing hard ball over his contract – how fickle football can be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gareth Walker

Highlight – My highlight of this season takes me back to a fixture that I look forward to every year – Morecambe away. The fact that it was Parkinson’s first match in charge added a little bit extra to a fixture that was already bubbling nicely. When thinking back to the game, I don’t think that I have celebrated a goal like that of Ross Hannah’s for quite some time. I was grasped round the neck by the complete stranger stood next to me, while jumping up and down with my hands in the air. It was one of the mad celebratory moments that we all hope for when we attend a football match.

It is easy to remember why. City had bossed the second half, yet had still fallen behind to a 57th minute Morecambe goal. Jamie Devitt had come on to make his debut alongside Kyel Reid and Matt Duke and looked a real threat. Morecambe had brought everybody back as they desperately tried to keep City at bay and hold onto the three points. However, despite the avalanche of pressure, it just didn’t seem like it was going to be our day. The referee gave a goal kick in the 92nd minute when the whole ground knew it should have been a corner, and it seemed like City’s chance had passed.

As I slumped over the crash barrier in front of me, aghast at the referee failing to give the aforementioned corner, I just couldn’t help thinking that we were leaving the Globe Arena empty handed. That all changed in the blink of an eye as desperation turned to joy. We were stood right behind the goal and suddenly I looked up to see the ball being crossed in and falling at Hannah’s feet. He swivelled and he scored. Unbelievable! The feeling as we walked away from the ground in the pouring rain just moments later was definitely my season highlight.

Lowlight – Defeat away at AFC Wimbledon in March. When City began to fall foul of the winter weather, as well as having had a run to the 3rd round of the FA Cup, it became apparent that March was looking like a “make or break month” due to the backlog of rearranged fixtures. One of these postponed games was away at AFC Wimbledon. It was a match that many City fans, myself included, had been looking forward to for most of the season due to the links between the two clubs from the year 2000 and of course the romantic tale of Wimbledon’s climb back up the non-league. Having bought our tickets well in advance of the original fixture, my friends and I decided to attend the rearranged game.

We booked to stay over down in London and made a long day of it. When we got to the game, it seemed that we weren’t the only ones who had done the same thing and the turn out for a long Tuesday night trip from the City faithful was quite impressive. Throughout the early exchanges, City were well in the contest and it was only an extremely dubious penalty, given by Referee Mr Darren Deadman, that saw us fall behind. We all know what happened next. Craig Fagan who was captain on the evening kicked the ball into the crowd for a second booking and saw red, not long after we had equalised.

His actions on that night at Wimbledon were inexcusable and they cost us dear. It wasn’t entirely his fault, as we all know that the performance of Deadman was extremely questionable, not least in giving Wimbledon a second controversial penalty. The comments made by Parkinson afterwards showed that it wasn’t just the supporters who questioned the referee’s performance in what was ultimately a 3-1 defeat. Unfortunately, this did little to help lift my spirits that night as we walked back to our Travelodge. City were edging towards a relegation battle and it felt like we had lost not only to AFC Wimbledon, but also to Mr Craig Fagan and Mr Darren Deadman.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian Sheard

Highlight – Toss up between Huddersfield Town away or Southend away and home. In fact the Christmas period was excellent and I would have all those if I could.  However, I will go for Southend at home on Good Friday.

Lowlight – Away to Wimbledon: horrendous ref again, Mr Deadman. And then away to Plymouth, when relegation was a definite fear!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim Roche

Highlight – The back-to-back home wins vs Crewe and Shrewsbury over the Christmas period. Thanks to a shock win away at Southend, City entered the final stretch of 2011 brimming with confidence. The Boxing Day 3-0 drubbing of Crewe Alexandra was swiftly followed up on New Year’s Eve by a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town, which was especially memorable for a fine goal from Nahki Wells. Two of the finest Bradford City performances in many years were tinged with frustration that such excellent football hadn’t been displayed earlier in the campaign. ‘Normal’ service was resumed two days later as City crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Rotherham.

Lowlight – Hearing that Andrew Davies, Jon McLaughlin and Luke Oliver had all been red-carded for their part in the ‘Battle of Valley Parade’. To witness those scenes was shocking enough, however confirmation of the inevitable punishment left me seriously believing we were heading for non-league football. The antics of Crawley Town were disgusting that night; however, I was so disappointed and angry that our players had allowed themselves to be dragged down to their level at such a crucial time in the season. I honestly believed that losing our centre back pairing and goalkeeper for at least three games would be the final nail in our coffin. Thankfully the performances of their replacements, particularly Guy Branston, were generally fantastic and played a huge role in ensuring our survival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron Beaumont

Highlight – The away win at Northampton. It secured our League status and listening to it on the radio made clearing out the garage bearable.

Lowlight – The brawl against Crawley; I always stay to the very end of games, but wish I hadn’t seen this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damien Wilkinson

Highlight – City 1 Torquay 0. For my money this was one of the best matches of the season. It had controversy with a straight red card in the first half for Andrew Davies for an alleged two-footed challenge, Craig Fagan’s first City goal, and a heroic and dogged determination from all of the City players, especially substitute Guy Branston, who showed immense leadership and the form that tempted City to acquire his services pre-season. City were simply not going to surrender the lead, and the atmosphere within the ground was electric. The crowd also fired up by the abject performance of referee Carl Boyeson, who made many questionable decisions throughout. So Parkinson’s first league win for City at the 7th time of asking led to genuine belief, at the time, that we could go on and climb the league.

Lowlight – Rotherham 3 City 0. The season’s lowest point for me is probably the away fixture at the Don Valley stadium. A truly wretched venue, freezing cold conditions and City managed to undo all the momentum from a season-best three match winning run established over the festive fixtures. Somehow it all felt too predictable for the large City following that made the trip, in a season marked by all too familiar disappointments. Jon McLaughlin particularly had an afternoon to forget, but no one came away with any credit, and despite some improvements in performances afterwards, including the subsequent FA Cup tie at Watford, it wasn’t until 18 February when City finally managed to win again, with an unexpected away win at Torquay. Perhaps this Millers defeat was the start of the spell that set the tone for the fruitless second half of the season, and our almost magnetic attraction to 18th place in the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rob Craven

Highlight – Progress. There has been a general feeling for me this season that we have started to move in the right direction. Sure, if you look at the table we haven’t done marvellously this season and the turnover of players and managers is nowhere near desirable, but it has been a step forward from recent years.

We have looked better all over the park and have had players which have sparked more joy than they have frustration, which is a first for many seasons. That feeling of looking forward to the game and knowing we are a capable team, instead of watching through my fingers, is definitely the highlight of my season, and I can’t wait for the next. The spine of the team is there, they have the best part of a season under their belts and a full summer of stability and regeneration ahead before the next season. Fingers crossed we can continue to progress.

Lowlight – I could have chosen the high turnover of players and the changing of management. But in all honesty this is something we have become used to in recent years at City. I could have chosen our own fans flippancy and ability to jump from the feeling of joy about being “play off contenders” to instantly being doomed for relegation after a few bad results, but again we all know and feel frustrated by this.

The lowest point of my season came away from the pitch and I have to say that, although I am chuffed to bits that Jason has started TWoaP since, and long may it continue, losing Boy from Brazil was a terrible moment. The BfB website kept us fans in touch with the real going on at the club with honesty and integrity. We can all read the BBC and the T&A websites knowing what is going to be said before we have even clicked the link. It is a standardised format. BfB was an amazing website that served City fans worldwide with a real football fans passion and opinion of what was actually happening at our club from 60, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 miles away.

I was gutted the day it went down and would like to personally thank both Michael Wood and Jason McKeown for all of their hard work and dedication over BfB’s 12 year history, for keeping me and the many BfB followers closer to our club than the club itself could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David Lawrence

The low point of the season for me came not on the field, but on the internet; though watching City lose again at Hereford came close.

As a City exile, the web is vital for feeding my enthusiasm for my hometown club. This was dealt a real blow when Boy from Brazil had a disagreement with the club and thought it best to close down. All parties lost out. In the void that was left following the closure of the widely read website I was staring at the very real possibility of having to rely on either the party-line website or several injudicious forums. To paraphrase JFK, too often those sites enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. However, there was a resurrection of thoughtful opinion out of the ashes of the Boys from Brazil in the form of the WoTP. This has been my high point. Thank you to all that have contributed, especially Jason for his efforts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason McKeown

Highlight – A sunny afternoon in September, where myself and former writing partner Michael Wood were fortunate to be invited to spend a day behind the scenes at Bradford City by Archie Christie. Getting to experience first hand what happens on the training ground and in meetings was something I will never forget, as was getting to meet and chat openly to several players, Parkinson, chief scout Nigel Brown, Peter Horne and of course the larger-than-life Archie. As a writer, being able to produce articles on what we experienced – which were very well received by City fans, other football fans and even national newspaper football journalists – was a dream come true. We helped to change people’s minds on what the club was trying to do, and that felt good.

Lowlight – I saw 40 of City’s 54 matches this season, but only one of the four away league wins (Northampton, probably my highlight on the pitch this season). So I endured a lot of fruitless away trips, where occasionally you questioned your sanity in making such an effort. The nadir of this was the midweek defeat at Crewe in March, where an accident on the M6 lead to a very stressful journey down to Gresty Road and missing kick off; only to witness a tame display from City that was hindered by Parkinson picking an unbalanced midfield. A night where patience was in very short supply.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2011/12 review: The Width of a Post Player of the Season

7 May

By Jason McKeown and Alex Scott

Every Width of a Post writer was asked to name their top five Bradford City players of the season (11 writers responding), which saw 10 different players receive votes and a very clear top five. Our winner is no real surprise, but here’s the countdown anyway…

In 5th place – James Hanson

Hanson remains the figurative (and perhaps literal) lightning rod for the squad, as he will likely always be, but this past year we have witnessed him grow in stature into something resembling a talisman. Only he could lead the team’s scoring charts, whilst remaining under the radar (definitely figurative this time) and still a figure of ridicule for an unfathomably large section of the City support.

This season has seen Hanson mature into a far more effective forward, his link up play coming on leaps and bounds in addition to his movement which is a far cry from the ungainly, statuesque figure he represented at times last season. He has developed into a legitimate target man at this level, competing and succeeding against the best in the division. As the second half of the season unfolded, his burgeoning partnership with Nahki Wells proved fundamental to any success the club witnessed.

Beyond his development as a player, Hanson has also grown as a character. When in previous seasons he showed the tendency to shy away from the ball, this year he demonstrated a rebellious streak, careering around the field with a gigantic chip wherever he shoulder used to be. He has had to withstand a lot in his short career, from vicious character assassination from within the club, to repeated public speculation on his replacement, all on top of the omnipresent vilification he receives from his own supporters.

This season Hanson has been able to harness that frustration, evolving from the derisory figurative into the invaluable literal, an easy target.

Other comments from Width of a Post writers included: “Considering the stick he’s had from some quarters, including Jacko publically treating him like a schoolboy in the media and a mid-season injury, he’s done well to keep developing his game. His return of 14 goals and the most fouls in the team shows he’s toughening up.” “Perseverance and More Perseverance.”

In 4th place – Nahki Wells

The impact of Wells at Valley Parade was both immediate and slow in coming. An impressive cameo from the bench against Barnet back in August included a well-taken goal and hitting the post, while his FA Cup stunner against Rochdale in November easily wins goal of the season. However, international commitments for Bermuda during autumn meant Wells did not become a first team regular until Christmas.

But what a player. Nahki quickly became a crowd favourite and has netted a range of wonderfully taken goals, including a hat trick at Northampton which virtually guaranteed survival. Results and performances were notably better when Wells was on the field, and scouts connected to higher league clubs have come flocking to watch him.

Wells has a terrific low centre of gravity in that he thinks with his feet quicker than those around him, particuarly opposition defenders. The raw side to his game occasionally leads to mis-control or the wrong option taken, but more often than not it triggers a positive contribution with either the ball ending up in the net or a chance on goal created. Few City players in recent years have had such a magnetic effect on your eyes and generated such a buzz of expectation when they receive possession. You dare look away when Nahki is on the ball.

Other comments: “One of the most exciting young talents we have seen at Valley Parade for a while, Nahki should be a key player next season.” “This fella has got it in him to be a seriously good player in this league and higher. He is the most natural finisher I have seen at VP for a good few years. His ability to beat a man and strike the ball has given us some real excitement this season.”

In 3rd place – Andrew Davies

It looked a real coup when Parkinson announced the loan signing of Andrew Davies from Stoke last September. Although his near-full season spell at Valley Parade has featured some low moments, no one would argue with Davies’ ability and the difference he has made. Andrew has been rock solid in the centre of defence and proven well worth his high wages. Three red cards have seen him miss 12 games through suspension, but that would be an unfitting way to remember what he has given the club this season.

Davies is a Championship player, performing like a Championship player. He gave a defence that was creaking badly early season with greater assurance and composure. He puts his body on the line in a manner that completely blows apart the theory loan players do not care as much. We know in our heart of hearts that there is no chance of Davies remaining at Valley Parade next season – and, in truth, the remergence to form of Guy Branston means we need him less - but his contribution to the cause has set an impossibly high benchmark that future loanees will be judged against.

Other comments: “His future obviously lies at a level higher than League Two. Disciplinary issues aside, he has brought a touch of class to our team.” “His strong performances are not only determined by his quality but also by his attitude. No other player for Bradford City has shown quite as much drive and determination right up to the final whistle.”

In 2nd place – Kyel Reid

Surely Parkinson’s most impressive signing to date, Kyel rocked up at Valley Parade virtually the same day the new City manager was installed, adding pace and trickery to a team badly lacking on both fronts. Reid’s performances during the first half of the season showed strong promise; but after returning from a six-week lay off at the turn of the year, the 24-year-old really found his rhythm and destroyed several opposition full backs with devastating wing play they couldn’t live with.

Wingers by their nature are inconsistent and Reid is no different, but on a good day – and he has had more good days than bad – he is unplayable. What’s all the more remarkable is the pitiful support he has received from his fellow full backs. While Marcel Seip did work well with Reid, after he was ruled out injured for the season Reid had to contend with being double or triple marked and having no full back to provide him with an option for the short pass.

Yet Reid has carried on, unfazed, and now Parkinson goes into this summer surely looking for another Reid to play on the opposite side, to give greater balance to the side. Regardless of whether he succeeds with this aim, we can’t wait to see what further damage Reid can do next season.

Other comments: “Unpredictability and Productivity.”  “His energy and desire to run at players makes watching Bradford City fun and exciting.” “A look at the team’s form when he was out injured and the fact that he’s got the team’s most assists tells us why next season he’s a key player.”

And so, the Width of a Post Player of the Season 2011/12 goes to – Luke Oliver

What more can you say about the 6ft 5inch defender? Having cleaned up at the official player of the season awards, the accolades for Luke have been plentiful in recent weeks – and rightly so.

Oliver’s 2011/12 campaign began in a Development Squad friendly at Silsden, where he and the other senior starters – Michael Flynn and Robbie Threlfall – were seemingly surplus to requirements. But Oliver kept his head down and, after injuries opened up the opportunity to start at Oxford in August, he never looked back. A mistake-prone defender in 2010/11, Oliver was the model of consistency this season, producing outstanding performances week in week out.

They say that footballers are at their peak between 27-30, and there is no doubt that 28-year-old Oliver is playing at the top of his game right now. With a superb ability to read the game and make timely interceptions, while also having the clear confidence to know when to go in for a tackle and when to stay on your feet, Oliver looks comfortable and happy in his job. He also provided the team with a stability that has been badly needed this season.

To turn around his Bantams career so impressively makes Oliver the biggest success story of a poor season for the club. Now we just need him to sign a new contract.

Other comments: “His transformation from last season to this has been nothing short of incredible.” “Oliver is a City Legend in the making. The fact that he has been the outstanding player of the season from as early as Christmas is testament to his performances this season.” “Proof it’s never too late to be who you might have been.”

The Width of a Post Player of the Season 2011/12 was judged by Jason McKeown, Ian Sheard, Tim Roche, Gareth Walker, Rob Craven, Alex Scott, Damien Wilkinson, Ron Beaumont, Luke Lockwood, Mark Scully and David Lawrence.

The Width of a Post player of the season, Luke Oliver

The Width of a Post player of the season, Luke Oliver

Tags: , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,443 other followers