By James Chamley

And so it begins. After a run of poor results and frustratingly predictable performances, the first grumbles of a change in manager have appeared on social media from, at the moment at least, a small minority of the fan base.

However, this time, maybe it is us who need to change our approach by allowing a manager time to learn from and rectify issues within the club instead of digging out the shot gun.

Every supporter is of course entitled to their opinion; however, you would have to be very numb to the failings of the last few years to believe another change in manager would breed any different results.

I’ll begin by saying I was never initially convinced by the appointment of Derek Adams as Bradford City manager. His overall demeanour, coldness with supporters and style of play weren’t particularly traits I felt I wanted as the manager of Bradford City. His success elsewhere could not be doubted, however being successful with Morecambe requires a much different skill-set to managing Bradford City.

My personal highlights whilst being a Bradford City supporter were the Parkinson era, followed closely by McCall’s first season in his second spell. These were times where I genuinely loved our manager and felt I could support them even if performances or results slipped. This was due to their personalities and identities reflecting the same values I wanted my club to have.

Although Parkinson’s direct style of football wasn’t always pleasing on the eye, I always felt his teams had a go and performances would represent the fan base. These were the qualities I wanted to see in the next Bradford City manager and I had doubts whether Adams would bring that. However, I am absolutely not amongst the few in the ‘Adams Out’ camp.

Whoever the next manager was after the debacle of the last few years was always going to be somewhat fortunate in the fact that we had to give the next man time no matter who it was. The fact that it is a proven winner at this level we appointed, just stresses the importance of this even further.

Not since the 2016/2017 season have the club started and finished a season with the same man in charge and with each mid season managerial change, (a short upturn in form under Trueman and Sellars aside) we have got progressively worse. To keep changing managers every season in hope that things will improve is not only unsustainable but also neglecting other issues present at the club.

So far, Derek Adams has failed to get a response from the players after a bad performance. This probably says more about them than it does him, however. Aside from Yann Songo’o and maybe Niall Canavan, are there any other players in that dressing room who lead by example, demand better from themselves and from their team mates, who take pride in clean sheets or making sure they score that all important second goal in a match? It doesn’t seem so.

One player who City could have done with having around is Oliver Crankshaw. Given the injuries especially to Charles Vernam and Abo Eisa, City are without genuine pace and energy in the forward areas. Coupled with the fact Crankshaw has been scoring for fun whilst we, in Adams words, are not scoring enough goals from around the team, it does seem a very strange decision to let him go especially since we did not replace him.

Some supporters have also questioned whether Adams has been right to openly criticise his players in the media recently after he questioned their winning mentality after they threw away a first half lead at Tranmere. It seems he has been proved to be right in his claims given exactly a week later, the same group of players threw away another half time lead away from home by giving away an early goal after missing more good chances. A carbon copy of the Tranmere game. They did not heed their warning.

Whilst it is easy to criticise Adams for his post-match interviews given it did not get a response from the players, it is important to remember in the early months of the season he did try a different approach. After what most fans would agree was a pretty average performance (at best) at home to Barrow in September, Adams defiantly backed his players, stating he was happy with the performance and his side undoubtedly deserved the victory. This was not the only occasion he was forthcoming with praise for the team’s performances despite them not getting the desired result.

However, the ‘arm around the shoulder’ approach in the early stages of the season did not work as performances if anything began to get worse and the players continued to repeat the same mistakes. They seem to be doing the same thing now after being criticised openly which suggests no matter what approach Adams takes with these players, unfortunately not much is going to change until new personnel is added.

I mentioned earlier the importance of having a certain identity and personality to be a successful Bradford City manager. The same can be said for being a successful player. There is talent in this squad and players whom you could imagine having successful careers elsewhere at this level, if not slightly higher in some cases. However, as a fan base we have certain expectations which sometimes go beyond simply having technical ability.

It could be argued for example, Elliot Watt has a better passing range than Gary Jones, Paudie O’Connor has better distribution than Rory McArdle, Alex Gilliead has a better first touch than Kyel Reid or that Oscar Threlkeld has a better hairstyle than Stephen Darby. However, we all know who we would prefer representing our club week in week out.

Derek Adams must now be given time to bring these types of players into the football club. He has cited the issues within the playing squad recently and they are ones I believe we can all agree on, which shows he is aware of what needs fixing and his managerial record proves he is capable of success.

Adams was given a three-year deal at the start of the season so unless things get drastically bad (like they did for a spell under Stuart McCall last year) his job safety for this season I imagine will not be in question. I don’t think Ryan Sparks can afford to sack a fourth manager in less than a year of being CEO.

In addition to this, Adams has brought in his own recruitment staff so it would be ridiculous to release him of his duties before he has even had at the very least one transfer window working alongside his own men.

As a fan base we might need to grit our teeth and bite our tongues for a while as things may get worse before they get better. But for our own sanity and for the future prospects of our football club, we need to try our best to support and get behind the manager in hope that a more sustained approach can breed similar success to what Phil Parkinson brought to the club, after similarly not getting off to the best of starts in his reign.

Besides, if things don’t work under the stewardship of Derek Adams, where do we go next?

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC