Salford City 2
Hunter 10, 47
Bradford City 0
Written by Gareth Walker (images by John Dewhirst)
If you or I only turned up to work for 11 minutes every day then we wouldn’t have a job for very long. That’s what the Bradford City players did today – and they shouldn’t remain at our club for very long either.
There is little to say about the game other than what an incredibly poor display we witnessed. This was up there with the Mansfield and Oldham games under Gary Bowyer.
There were three changes to the team from the impressive home win against Plymouth last week with Callum Cooke, Dylan Mottley-Henry and Jamie Devitt coming in for Hope Akpan, Shay McCartan and Clayton Donaldson.
For the 85 minutes before I left, City created absolutely nothing against a side without a home win since Boxing Day and it looked like a match between two clubs currently heading in opposite directions in the football pyramid.
For the first ten minutes City were on the front foot and the ball was in and around the Salford box. It was the same for the very first minute of the second period. Unfortunately that was as good as it got.
That is because Salford scored with their first attack in each half – Ashley Hunter striking twice from long range having been afforded the freedom of greater Manchester by the City defence.
Each goal seemed to completely suck the life out of the Bantams; but they were both easily avoidable and so incredibly poor from a defensive point of view.
For the first, Hunter received a pass from Darron Gibson midway into the Bantams half, turned, took a couple of touches and lashed the ball into the top corner of Richard O’Donnell’s goal. It was a great strike, but where was the challenge from the visiting midfield and where was the closing down from the Bradford defence?
The second was almost a carbon copy in terms of the goal scorer and the distance of the strike but it was even worse from City.
This time, Hunter picked up the ball just short of the half way line and strolled towards the City goal. He advanced totally unchallenged and without having to break sweat to the edge of the penalty area and calmly passed it into the bottom corner.
It was embarrassing from City. Kelvin Mellor and Anthony O’Connor completely backed off all the way as Hunter came forward, so much so that they almost ended up in the terracing behind the goal. Jake Reeves meanwhile casually jogged alongside the on loan Fleetwood man as though he was out on an evening run with his mate.
However, to single out just those three players would be wrong because the whole squad today put in a pathetic and spineless display.
From the moment that the first goal went in their heads dropped and every single one of them lost their individual battle. We were second best all over the pitch.
Salford were unlucky to only be one goal up at half time. And the fear was that, once they got the second, the floodgates would open and we would face a massacre. In truth it was only the fact that they took their foot off the gas that prevented it from turning out that way.
There was a complete lack of quality on show from every City player. I lost count of the number of times that we gave the ball away and in particular the number of times that a simple five yard pass was put out of play.
Jamie Devitt being outsprinted by 35 year old Nathan Pond and at different times both Mottley-Henry and Dylan Connolly laying down on the floor after being knocked off the ball rather than getting up and trying to win it back summed up the ineptitude.
Stuart McCall and Kenny Black cut dejected figures on the sidelines. What a poor squad they have now compared to the one which reached the play off final in the division above just three years ago.
It is increasingly looking like a complete overhaul is needed yet again this summer. With not only the substandard players signed by Edin in need of moving on but also the substandard players brought in by Bowyer too.
Julian Rhodes has set an ambitious target of selling 20,000 season tickets. Home form isn’t bad and that, along with the feelgood factor of having McCall back, will probably help us to sell a respectable number. It’s a good job, because based on our performances away from home we’d be lucky to sell 20.
To those 14 players who played for the club today, without vast improvement please don’t bother turning up next season. Your services are no longer required.
Categories: Opinion
widthofapost.com 
Truly abysmal performance from which you could draw absolutely no positives. It is difficult to put into words how truly inept that was and how far we have to travel to be competitive. Even those who have overall put decent shifts in to date ( ie Woody/Connolly) were well short.
Can you please explain your statement about “the impressive performance last week”. First half last week I would agree. The second half no way was it impressive!
There needs to be a sea change from the club prior to next season. There is no excuse for the performance today. Totally outplayed and a performance compared to the worst of Bowyer’s tenure. Stuart is in charge and it’s clear that he cannot inspire this insipid team. Maybe he is not the second coming! I maybe criticised but he was not able to instil in the players tactics that stopped allowing opposition players to run at them without putting in a tackle. It is basic defending.
I worry that a complete rebuild will just result in the same player types we have now. This cannot continue. I and others have a massive stake in this club and we all want it to succeed. There needs to be a culture change within the club that’s objective is steady growth and avoid a situation of trying to buy us out of a problem. We need to build a team around a core of dedicated stalwarts. The road ahead is a difficult one and we all need to acknowledge this. Whether the build will involve Stuart I don’t know but it needs to happen.
Blame the spineless players but Stuart needs to learn you don’t change a winning team ,select your best team and stick with it ,he will know who he needs and the ones he needs to move on ,and the one he needs to keep, our owner needs to meet the fans and back Stuart with a top four Budget for next season or put the club up for sale and sell to a group with a vision and a plan to reverse the decline on and off the field which the fans can believe in.
The club is up for sale- at what Rupp thinks is the ‘right price’.
He was misled into ‘investing’ in us, he has no interest in the game, or indeed Bradford. He would gladly sell if someone was to give him a price around his total investment, now said to be £10m.
His alternative is further unwilling investment in an attempt to get us up a division to make us more saleable. That his is dilemma. Stick or twist.
The problem for us is when/if he decides “enough is enough”. He will now know that it’s not easy to get of of this league.
Our rate of decline has been so much over the last 24 months that I can genuinely see a relegation fight in the summer if we have another poor transfer window.
And why wouldn’t we after the last few years? Despite being told we had money to spend this January yet again it looks like we conceded the season and threw in the towel. Good luck trying to sell season tickets with that type of approach.
Our infrastructure throughout the club is so weak and under invested in and we have such little in the way of assets that we could be another Chestefield, Notts County or Stockport if the rot continues into another season.
Meant to say –
*relegation fight next year if we have another poor transfer window in the summer.
The major worry is whether we have any form of a scouting network to effectively replace these misfits in the summer. How damning was Stuart’s comment that this lot struggle to carry out the basics of being a footballer, like passing the ball or keeping it in play? Edin left a mess and Gary Bowyer seems to have tried his best to emulate him. The club continues to be a PR disaster, with very little encouragement forthcoming for fans to buy season tickets. Indeed, nothing comes out of the club. Several weeks ago, Jason replied to me that the club would be making an announcement on Martin Drury’s position in the near future. I’ve not seen any announcement. Shouldn’t he have been granted the respect of a press release to clarify his situation? Currently, we don’t exhibit the attributes of a professional football club – more like a tin pot outfit. At this rate, we’ll be heading for the National League
Roll on April the 25th..then give Stuart and Kenny the proper financial backing they need to build a squad from May until the end of July that can get us out if this league. Until then hold on as it will continue away from home. At least home results have held up well so we can attend those to say goodbye to almost all of the current squad.
Unfortunately it seems that any player we have signed over the last couple of years seem to view us as a bit of a golden ticket. They seem individually to think “I can take it easy” and the rest of the squad will carry me through and I would still be a hero when we get promoted.
Trouble is, ALL this bunch of SPINELESS,LAZY,WASTERS think the same way.
DO US A FAVOUR HAND YOUR NOTICES IN AT THE END OF THE SEASON.
You lot OBVIOUSLY don’t want to be here.
GUESS WHAT……. WE DONT WANT YOU HERE EITHER.PATHETIC 😡
All I can add to the above is rid us of this set of cowards. Put the under 18s in,they couldn’t do any worse.
Do we have an under 18s?
This club has all the hallmarks of one that’s going under. We have nothing, absolutely nothing to cling to.
The ground? Its knackered, we dont own it or anything in it. The pitch is a disgrace, the changing rooms an embarrassment, the area totally unwelcoming, a redundant stand at one end, tired and scruffy stands on the other three sides.
The infrastructure? Haha, what infrastructure? No chief scout, no training ground, no board of directors, no plan, no idea.
The owner and CEO? Neither want to be here, promises of money to spend are bullshit, track record is one of penny pinching and making do. Why would that change now? Rupp was conned, he needs to write it off and walk away. Anything is better than the slow death he’ll preside over if he doesn’t.
The fans? Too many are just happy to have a club to support, and eagerly lap up the dross they are served week after week, year after year. But other than that theres certainly not enough who are prepared to pay the going rate to watch the club.
The players? I like Connor Wood. The rest can get lost. But we’ll lose him to a team like Fleetwood, who are now a step up from VP.
We repeatedly sign players no one else wants yet seem surprised when they’re awful. We spend the same as other clubs but because theres no plan, no ability within the club, no knowledge, no skill, no idea, we spend it on rubbish. We trust our budget to a guy signing players hes worked with before, or someone he plays golf with has worked with before. Then when it inevitably goes tits up we do the same with someone else. We dont have a cogent, considered plan. We dont even have a stupid, batshit crazy plan. There is no plan.
McCall will get a reduced budget in the summer, we’ll sign another set of nobodies, we’ll be facing a relegation battle next year. Before you know it we’ll be Stockport.
At least Bury went out on a high.
Get a grip fella really.
Plenty of clubs don’t own ground or training ground etc in lower end of football leagues. The same scenarios inc changing rooms etc you state never stopped us getting to the Prem league and unreal cup runs and so on.
I agree as stated before no scouts, no visionary’s or leaders within the club etc. The reason Stuart is wanting to trim down the squad is to make way for some infrastructure. It’s recognised by JR and SMc what’s missing and what’s needed moving forwards. The sooner the majority of these contracts are up for much of the squad the better. Get this season done and move on.
O Donnel, A O Connor (just release him from his right now!) Akpan Reeves Mellor Henley Donaldson McCarten Riley and the fringe dross + All loan players all leaving in 9 more games so it’s not all bad mate! Some of the 8 mentioned are on ridiculously large contracts which has meant we’ve had to sign some average players on 1 year deals which never works well as a combination. Taylor, Gibson, Devine, Anderson, Ishmail, etc
Seriously I can’t believe how big our squad is at this level. Use some of the budget to Get a Cheif Scout in and a CEO with a vision such as Mason or Baldwin had and go again next year.
It’s not rocket science any of this. Just takes big hearts, right attitude and desire to get out of this league. Stuart will join the dots together and sort it. You’ll see….
You have far more faith in those making the decisions than I do.
Dont tell me to get a grip though m8.
Clueless response. Dream stuff. Get Baldwin in- he’s head of the EFL. Get Mason in- he’s head of the Yorkshire push. I’m sure they’ll come back to their £30k a year post. Get real. Clueless.
Ben, you talking to me or the other guy?
Sorry Ben, just re-read the other guys post.
Baldwin and Mason were examples, I’m fully aware they’re not coming back for various reasons.
Your post Leon was so negative that’s why I felt compelled to say get a grip . Apologies for the term used. Maybe should have said calm down a little.
It’s rarely as good as it looks or as bad as it looks at City. When the dust settles we all know that.
The Bury comment was probably not great either but all about opinions I guess.
Peace
A poor performance by most of the players today, except for Wood and Middleton who tried to make things happen when he came on after half time. Novak had no support. I’ve said it before this season, we need a quality central midfielder to link defence and attack.
Dear players – please refund my ticket price for today.
First and foremost going forward for the foreseeable future no player signed should be offered no more than a 12 month contract. If a player genuinely wants to wear the shirt he’ll accept it and bust a gut to be offered an extension. No more lucrative contracts for mercenaries.
McCall has managed to accumulate 7 points from his first 6 games. A statistic that arguably Bowyer would have matched or bettered.
Which leaves the question why?
Well, obviously the scouting system is not up to scratch. For too long we’ve bought mediocre. Mediocre is where we’ll stay unless we adapt a more professional approach to recruitment.
The changing rooms. Have you been in them recently. They were refurbished three seasons ago.
They are tiny. Also, claret and amber looks absolutely terrible on the walls.
Baldwin and Mason were examples, I’m fully aware they’re not coming back for various reasons.
Your post Leon was so negative that’s why I felt compelled to say get a grip . Apologies for the term used. Maybe should have said calm down a little.
It’s rarely as good as it looks or as bad as it looks at City. When the dust settles we all know that.
The Bury comment was probably not great either but all about opinions I guess.
Peace
Are you genuinely complaining about the colour of the changing rooms ? It was piss poor yesterday but there is still a lot to be proud of off the field . If you grew up watching City in the 70s you would not be complaining about the facilities. I would rather be watching at VP rather than a Subbuteo Stadium a la Salford. The model of affordable football for all is a commendable one and as many have said before the option is there to pay more ( I do). You do not need a mega budget or a large infrastructure to succeed ( look at the teams above us). You need to be well organised and motivated with a bit of quality.Criticism of Rhodes as a CEO is unfair given his demonstrable success in the past. There are a number of modest well run Clubs who are ahead of the curve compared to us given how the club was hollowed out by Rahic. We have no divine right to success. It is not meant to be easy that mate is the beauty of the game
Paul, I did grow up watching City in the 70s. Its not the 70s anymore. Raise your standards.
You mean modest, well run clubs that used to be in non-league, that are now established above us? And you think we should accept that?
In what way are we, or have we ever been in the past 20 years, well organised? Don’t forget, four relegations and one ‘sneak into 7th place’ play off promotion in that time. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t call that demonstrable success.
We are rank amateurs in every department, we pay peanuts and get monkeys. We are not where we are simply because of Edin. The 80s and 90s should have revolutionised this club. We should be regulars in the Championship, yet here we are, worse than Crewe, Plymouth, Exeter, Cheltenham, Colchester, one place above Salford and Forest Green, in the division below AFC Wimbledon, Wycombe, Accrington, Fleetwood.
What’s wrong with demanding better? Look at the Championship table and tell me we shouldn’t be able to compete with most of them. If you accept rubbish, thats what you’ll get.
Leon, we have had this discussion before. Other than a Championship size stadium and population base, what makes you realistically think City should be a Championship Club? First, we don’t have an owner willing to invest and lose a small fortune or a fan base willing or able to pay the average season ticket prices at £300 to 400.
Seriously, if City had any reasonable prospects for supporting a Championship Club, I can assure you Rupp would have no problem selling the Club.
I expect a seat/a roof/ and a trough to slash in. What more could you want? Football wise aspiration is a given but we have spent the vast majority of our history in the lower divisions and with clubs who run at a whooping loss like Hull/Town/Boro struggling to maintain Championship status we cannot compete without massive OUTSIDE investment. That usually comes at a price ultimately. It is no coincidence that last years promoted teams sit at the bottom of the table.
I am not sure given our history why you think we should be Championship regulars.Other than changing the colour of the changing rooms I cannot see that you offer any novel route to footballing success.
Competing at Championship level is a long way off without investment levels in the order of those made by Dean Hoyle at Town. He has now turned the tap off and Town will struggle to remain at that level particularly once the parachute payments cease. We are likely to remain an unfashionable club in the bottom two divisions (perhaps with the odd sojourn in the sun lit uplands)…I will enjoy it either way
I was not at Salford yesterday and feel sorry for those who were . Defeat was not unexpected but surely the manner of defeat was It is most unusual in my experience for a team not to try particularly when supported by a packed away end. But for some reason City manage it .
It cannot be the fault of McCall because he didn’t sign them and he watches then in training and must see them doing well there .
It is said that a fish rots from the head and failure in business and sport are almost always caused by bad top management. So therefore the problem at city is caused off field .
Rhodes has to get that right . Proper scouting proper professional analysis better fitness mentally and physically. Checking the characters of players before signing them .
But I believe there is a cancer in the playing squad. McCall must identify this and root it out .
If he does not then real disaster beckons .
Let’s get this in perspective from a supporter’s point of view, this is bad.
I can’t believe where we are in the league, let’s not forget we conceded last week with the opposition down to 9 men in the same way, they can not tackle, they just let forwards press them until they can get a clear shot on goal.
These get good wages and cannot do the basics, all I can say to all the players is that if you do not turn this around, you will have to go and play for lower league teams next season, because at this moment in time, your profiles look absolutely shocking, who would take you on board looking at recent footage, let’s put it this way I bet there are no scouts at Valley Parade watching City players next Saturday, most scouts would say we will wait until Leyton Orient are playing someone else then we can scout for both sides.
Thankfully we cannot get relegated, and the strange thing is we can make the playoffs, you would think any player worth His salt would want to be involved in the opportunity for a chance to play at Wembley on the big stage.
You have your own destination in the palm of your hands, go for it make sure you get to the promotion finals, even if you don’t want it for the Club, give yourselves a chance for a future, I will take that as a fan, even if you all leave City next season for whatever reason, put yourselves in the shop window now for your own individual moves, it’s a two way street now, we pay your wages and we provide the stage for you to use to show what your worth and if you succeed within a playoff promotion team how good will that look for your CV.
Do not worry about Bradford City, we will recruit again, we are a Big Club maybe too big for the responsibility, but forget that now and just think about yourselves. We would all be happy with promotion and knowing you all got good moves out of it, let’s clear the air and push all the negatives to one side and come together as individuals including Bradford City.
It’s back scratching for all concerned now for individual destination.
It makes you very angry and frustrated that a lot of the hard work that Rhodes, Lawn and Parkinson did has gone to waste, and it has turned full circle, where we are in the position before the latter joined, playing teams who raise their games against us, and quite simply want it more.
You are not going to get out of League 2 unless you have a committed and physical side, then you try to add a bit of creativity on top of that.
Next season we desperately need a 6 foot plus holding midfielder to make the blocks, tackles and interceptions, as every week particularly away from home, we seem to lose the battle in the middle of the park.
Until then Stuart has to find a way to add some more physicality to the side, if that means playing 3 centre halves then so be it, as the wing backs will get forward far more than Bowyer, or play Anthony O’Connor in midfield to give us some height and presence.
I wouldn’t even have O Conner on the bench . He can’t tackle in defence so why do some think he could tackle in midfield?
I’m not sure how much humour was intended in your post, but who would you start in midfield then? Even with playing 3 in the centre yesterday, we still lost the midfield battle, and at least O’Connor should add some physicality in there.
I also don’t know what you have been watching, and while the bar not have been set particularly high, I would say O’Connor has been one of our better players this season.
Ant, I respectfully disagree, City are not a Big Club. Currently, they are a Mickey Mouse Club led by Sleepy and Dupey in the poorest EFL league in the country. I think John Wade’s analogy of the rotting fish starting at the head is spot on. City are a small business who are being poorly managed with no business plan. Getting out of this League is not going to be a romp or quick fix. We’ve just wasted a year and in all honesty City are spinning their wheels and going no where. City are realistically looking at three to five years to reorganize and achieve promotion, so plan accordingly. This likely means a reduced player payroll, so be it. Personally, I would prefer to see more professionalism and structure to the non-play staff and significantly improved transparency and communication with the fans. Hiring a Director of Football to work with Stuart would be a good start.
I don’t know if it’s happened at city before but I think the time as come to terminate some players contracts if this is not done the new players will soon get fed up playing alongside people on more money it’s human nature it breeds what we are seeing yes they try a bit at valley parade but on the road they revert to form.
I appreciate it might cost a bit but what’s worse they stay and poison the minds of the incoming players I have said before on here the club is damaged now is the time to clean up before it gets to late I believe in McCall and given the support from the club and the fans we can turn this around but it will take time.
It’s time for Rupp/Rhodes to make some bold decisions it’s no secret the club is for sale but £10 million come on really let’s get real we are in a far worse state than when they Rupp/Rahic bought it for far less
very dangerous times at the moment for a lot of clubs in footballs basement and that’s where we are get real the sky pundits are not concerned about the likes of us I saw and heard a lot of supporters choice for manager of city recently on the panel telling funny stories of clubs he’d been with why an earth would he swap that comfortable seat for the managers seat at city.
McCall is for me the last throw of the dice and I fully support him he overachieved with what he had before and will do so again.
Yesterday Bradford City managed to somehow achieve perhaps the worst level of nothingness l have ever had the misfortune of witnessing in my 45 years of supporting BCAFC.
Yes l’ve endured similar away horror no-shows and actually some of those involving seriously frightening and embarrassing drubbings. Most recently and now seared into the psyche, are nightmare outcomes at the likes of the mighty Yeovil, Blackpool, Mansfield and Oldham. However, sadly yesterday reached an altogether new level of nothingness in that we actually managed to achieve the unenviable feat of producing absolutely nothing in a game of professional football. Yes that’s right, nothing! Not a decent tackle, ball clearance, pass, or god forbid an actual significant passage of play and ensuing attempt on goal.
Some no doubt would point straight to a Docherty side, Todd’s charges prior to the hapless Wetherall shambles. Maybe a Taylor outfit, Jacko lineup or the Collins & Hopkin setups of last season. All these, we’ll be told were well capable of more than matching this latest Bowyer assembly of weak willed cohorts in depths of nothingness. But no yesterday was, in my opinion an altogether new level of nothingness although on this occasion being disturbingly churned out in a league the standard of which is the must awful we have the misfortune to encounter in recent memory.
Yes yesterday was without question the most abject of nothing footballing efforts l have had the misfortune to witness in many a year and most certainly under the precedence of Stuart McCall. Quite frankly all us might just as well have not bothered with it at all and self isolated for the afternoon instead.
The soothsayers out there will no doubt point straight at Stuart and say that after all he is ultimately responsible for preparation and selecting the squad and that this latest dismal failure is entirely his doing. Even to the extent that he should now never have been given the opportunity to return to the club for a third spell as manager. But in answer to those looking to call Stuart out, whenever, in all honesty, have we witnessed a Stuart side who whilst perhaps lacking individual ability lacked anything in the departments of passion and sheer determination to compete and win. Such attributes after all being deeply embedded at the very core of our leaders own very long and. most distinguished footballing career at all levels.
Stuart without question will have prepared the side more than adequately and equipped the players with all the right messages to cope and hopefully succeed in a game in Dirty Old Salford. In hindsight the side selection might have been questionable but one thing we can certainly be assured of with Stuart is that there is always as an absolute minimum demand to demonstrate a certain pride and professionalism in everything he does himself and likewise the same is expected from all those around him. I certainly can’t ever recall a Stuart side lacking in leadership out there and which yesterday we were so desperately crying out for.
No this nothingness is all about a group of players who seem to embue the worst of nothingness, No personal responsibility no commitment, no interest, no pride, no passion, no determination to win their own personal battles, no ability, no skill, no daring, no confidence, no leaders, no creativity. l could go on and on, we lacked the lot and collectively they simply just heap more and more embarrassment on themselves the club and more importantly ourselves as long suffering loyal supporters.
No don’t tell me Stuart sends a side out like that he never has and never will. It simply has to be that the buck stops firmly with the players in all this. Looking top to bottom we must have the worst collection of weak willed, woefully equipped underachievers in this entire dismal league and surely Stuart will be looking to pull the plug on pretty much all of them barring perhaps Wood who, to be honest, is probably the only one who can reasonably be absolved of any criticism.
No roll on seasons end now and when Stuart can properly get to grips and rout this bunch of misfits once and for all. The one thing everyone can rely on with Stuart is to assemble a side cast in his own image with the right mix of good pros, leaders and youngsters hungry for success. Stuart sides have never ever lacked those qualities.
Sadly this is yet another season that’s been totally wasted, so we must all now put our total trust in Stuart to make the right on pitch decisions to lead us out of the void with a side we can all be justifiably proud of and with each and every player being fully capable of giving their absolute all for our great club!
Short of selling up & casting us yet further into the lap of the gods then Rupp has totally responsibity to back Stuart in delivering a squad not just to compete at this god awful level but to dominate and march us out of this league the only way we should. As total as winners!
Whilst I agree with every word of this about the “players” I do not subscribe to the messiah – like qualities attributed to McCall.
A sense of reality is needed. I fully accept that McCall was a great player for City plus Everton, Rangers and Scotland. But, McCall has failed as a City manager on 2 previous occasions – he was sacked in 2018 following 5 straight defeats – and at Scunthorpe. He is not a good football manager.
Clearly, he was brought back to sell the cheap season ticket deal for Rhodes.
In my view he was the wrong choice to sort out this mess of a season..
Ok – if not Stuart then who??
We’ve tried the lot at City. The young rookie, the seasoned pro, the exceptional candidate, the ex internationals. Who do you think we should plumb for next.
In my experience the most successful City sides have all had the advantage of a supportive boardroom with stable back room staff.
Think Parky / Parkin, Cherry / Yorath.
Other sucessful sides have had a bit of cash. Think Jewell, Kamara.
Some were lucky to have had both.
In the absence of lots of cash, a stable off pitch set up who do you think would be more suitable to manage the Bantams???
For the porcity or any obvious alternative I’ll happily stick with SM.
“rout this bunch of misfits” and “assemble a side cast in his (Stuart’s) own image” would be great, but do tell me how he’s going to achieve this before his own contract has expired given that we already have 4 centre backs and 4 centre forwards (assuming Donaldson takes up his option for a years extension) contracted for next season!
What changes? Leon always wanting to blame groups of fans for not being as good as him and questioning their commitment to the faith. It undermines his rant.
Not really sure what that even means but ok.