| Bradford City 1 |
| Smith 58 |
| Accrington Stanley 0 |
By Jason McKeown
With the mood so sour, the tension so high and the arguments so fierce, respite was found here through Tyler Smith’s beautifully taken flick and goal. From a tight angle, the in-form striker lifted the ball over Accrington’s Jon McCracken and into the net – and lifted the spirits of everyone connected with Bradford City.
A truce was found, for now at least. At full time, a heavy fog of collective relief hovered over Valley Parade. There were actually smiles on people’s faces. Bradford City’s first league victory in six weeks does not fix the mounting supporter frustrations towards the club, but it should make everyone feel that little bit better about the situation. Because at a time where there are so many differences to overcome, the mutual pleasures of enjoying victory can dampen hostility levels and offer evidence that happier times might yet lie ahead.
It felt like this could be a pivotal afternoon in Bradford City’s season – in its modern history even – where things could have got extremely ugly. The pre-match talk of tennis ball protests did not manifest itself into action on the day, but all it would have taken was for Accrington to go in front, and the lid would be opened up on weeks of rising supporter frustration. If you’re Stefan Rupp and Ryan Sparks, you must be so grateful for the way the players approached such a high-pressure moment and ultimately calmed everyone down. The team turned up when its football club absolutely needed them, and ensured a potential flashpoint afternoon became one of peaceful positivity.
In truth, this game itself isn’t going to live long in the memory – but the result might well do. It’s too premature to talk about turning points and recoveries, but the hope that half time at Meadow Lane a week ago was the rock bottom moment in the Bantams’ season does feel plausible for now. From the beginning of the second half at Notts County to the final whistle here, via Tuesday’s Barnsley thrashing, City have transformed themselves into a competent football team.
The 3-5-2 tried in the second half in Nottingham continued here and once again proved successful. Up against John Coleman’s 4-2-3-1, this quickly became a war of attrition in midfield where both sides cancelled each other out for long spells and neither team could assume control, in the first half at least. City had the odd uncomfortable moment, but they were not outgunned in the manner they had been in their previous two league games under Alexander. The naivety has quickly given way to shrewdness.
This has all allowed Alexander to stick with an early tactical principle that had seemed questionable – playing two up front. With the midfield issues it created, and lack of decent striker options available until Jake Young can be recalled, two up top seemed like an ideal he might have to park for the moment. But now it’s making sense. Andy Cook and Smith are undoubtedly showing signs of forging an effective big man-little man partnership. They’re benefiting from a set up that means the team gets the ball up to them much sooner and much more often.
Smith’s goal – amazingly his sixth in six games now – was the perfect example of how this revised approach is beginning to pay off. Ciaran Kelly received the ball deep in his own half, and knocked it long towards Cook. With Accrington centre half Jay Rich-Baghuelou marking tightly, Cook could not get on the end of the pass. But the ball bounced through towards Smith, who had gambled on his partner winning a flick on and made the run into space. He stole half a yard on Brad Hills, giving him space to finish expertly with a clever lob.
Kelly gets the assist, but Cook’s role cannot be underestimated. He is being asked to play a slightly different game of coming deeper to win headers, with Smith playing on the last shoulder and working to get on the end of flick ons. For the first few months of the season Smith has looked a bit of a lost cause – a striker who just doesn’t contribute enough in the build up play to merit having a starting role. Alexander is clearly coaching Smith very well, and the 24-year-old is now showing what he is truly capable of. Cook is also looking sharper and more involved. He did miss a really good chance at 0-0, but his link up play was very good all afternoon and it drew appreciation from the crowd.
It’s early days still, but in Cook and Smith you’re starting to see a partnership in a very similar mould to James Hanson and Nahki Wells a decade ago.
That’s not the only place where similarities between Alexander and Phil Parkinson’s approach can be found. In many ways this was a performance that reminded you of the Parkinson days. Not epically entertaining, and the team riding their luck on the occasions. But a clinical edge of taking a chance when it does fall your way, matched with a streetwise approach of seeing the game out with some comfort. In the closing stages, all that was missing was a Tony McMahon winning multiple throw ins, winking to the crowd, and taking an age to restart play.
This is not football for the purist, but it’s a style that can win plenty of games. Alexander was pushed out of MK Dons for playing an industrial way, but right now – with the situation at Valley Parade – it’s an approach that can quickly win him friends. The “get it forward” part of the fanbase can be happy there is little messing about anymore. Those of us who want to see attacking intent can also be satisfied that we’re no longer held back by cautiousness. This is what Mark Hughes should have been doing in September.
Ultimately the team looks more comfortable than it has pretty much all season. Alexander raised some pre-match eyebrows by sticking with Ash Taylor and leaving out Sam Stubbs. Since making his debut for City in last February’s 3-2 win at Stevenage, Stubbs has missed just one league game for the Bantams – when he was injured on the opening day of the season at Crawley. For City’s best defender to be left out is significant, but merited given his recent form. And the call to go with Taylor worked.
Taylor indirectly contributed to Accrington’s two best chances, which saw Harry Lewis have to make important saves. But aside from the odd occasional piece of questionable distribution, Taylor played very well and is slowly changing the minds of those of us who wrote him off.
Kelly is another player who has had an up and down season, but this was arguably his best game in a City shirt. He made some superb tackles, including one brilliant late recovery after Accrington had got free on the counter attack. Matty Platt was also assured, and now finds himself part of a backline instructed to launch the ball forwards rather than the over-cooked play it around at the back style of Hughes that left him struggling at times.
The wing backs were again terrific. There isn’t enough said about Brad Halliday, who is having a superb season and seems to be finding another level to his game in this more attack-minded 3-5-2. He gets up and down the pitch so well, but is also increasingly not afraid to drift centrally and become even more influential in driving the team forward. In Alexander – a stalwart lower league right back, who was later converted to central midfielder – Halliday probably has the perfect manager to develop him even further. Lewis Richards also had another outstanding game to build on his showing on Tuesday.
It was an afternoon for working hard and toiling, which is probably why Alex Gilliead got the sponsor’s man of the match. Quality on the ball was not necessarily the key attribute needed in such a battle, and that suited Gilliead who put in a huge shift. No player on the pitch came close to matching Gilliead’s 84% pass success rate. Richie Smallwood and Jamie Walker were also willing workers in the centre. Bobby Pointon was not even in the matchday squad and might find his chances are more limited with this set-up.
Accrington were far from impressive, and Coleman admitted after they were miles off it. “We got dragged into their game and let their style of play to be the dominant factor.” That is probably true, and it meant that in the second half especially City held the edge. At 1-0 up they controlled the tempo and displayed the dark arts in time-wasting their way to the final whistle. Stanley didn’t really test Lewis in the closing stages, and a first clean sheet in five games was achieved.
City are now up to 14th. It’s not much, but it’s some progress.
Let’s face it, supporting Bradford City this season has been horrible. The hangover of last season’s play off semi final defeat has cast a heavy shadow, with questionable recruitment, a dubious tactical reshuffle and a fast public losing of faith in Hughes putting the club in a difficult position. Mistakes have clearly been made, not least the muddled and drawn-out process of appointing a new manager. Communication has been appalling. It’s all contributed to a dwindling in confidence in the leadership and direction of Bradford City, leading to a fierce week of arguing about protests.
Whatever your personal feelings about the situation, were any of us actually looking forward to coming to Valley Parade for this game? Whereas last season this famous ground was loud, vibrant and full of positive energy, everything has become greyer and uglier this year.
But whatever our differences of opinions right now, we can all agree on one thing – wanting Bradford City to be successful. And so afternoons like this feel good. Because it just allows us all to take a step back and remember what we’re all here for. And how, despite the battle-lines that are being drawn, there is common ground too.
The problems have not gone away. The debates will continue. But Saturday afternoons should always be about what’s happening on the field. In the midst of such a fraught period, it was just nice to be part of a back-to-basics, fulfilling supporter experience again. Coming together and sharing in the communal joy of victory.
Categories: Match Reviews
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Yes, i felt at half time that both teams were playing well and there was nothing to chose between them. For once, in reverse to what usually happens to us, it didn’t look like 7th playing 19th on match form. It felt like the game would turn on a slip up, or a moment of quality.
But you’re right, the most important thing here was the consistent effort for the entire game. High press…where have you been for the last x months?
I loved Graham Alexander’s honest after the Notts County game. I got the set up wrong, he said..it was on me. He took the public pressure off a team low on confidence. What a breath of fresh air on the leadership front. Although you get the clear sense the pressure is on in training to bring the best of themselves to the pitch.
Lets hope the green shoots of Spring really have come unseasonably early.
Before the game on North Parade it was obvious the crowd would be down from the massive buzz I was getting from my last match day experience against Wrexham. ( I was away for the Barrow game) trudging up to Valley Parade rather than bouncing up with a spring in my step. Wasn’t sure what to expect with the 3 5 2 set up as the last time I saw us play it was very negative, more like 5 3 2 but the difference between Hughes and Alexander is risk v reward, under Hughes it would be very negative especially after we’d scored, we would have sat back and inevitably conceded, loved the way Halliday and Richards looked more like wingers than full backs and thought all 3 midfielders played very well, long may this continue, I’m slowly warming to Alexander and believe he has the nouse to get us out of this league. Please let’s give him the chance.
We absolutely needed that. Find a way to get a result on Tuesday against Forest Green, take the FA Cup weekend to recover and suddenly things don’t look too bad going into big matches against Salford and Gillingham.
As you say above, it feels like there is a plan coming together. Smith & Cook seem to be in the early stages of forging a partnership and the back three is being utilised in a more rigid way that leaves us less exposed.
That’s why I think GA is actually a really good appointment. MH’s biggest downside was that he perhaps expected too much of L2 players, but you can see what he was trying to do with the 3-5-2 now.
Under Hughes, we saw the best out of higher quality loanees like Banks, Crichlow and Wright, as they could deliver what he wanted. Equally, that might be why some of our newer signings didn’t look at their best under him. GA can hopefully get more out of our squad as a whole. I think we’re beginning to see some of that.
I also note your comparisons to GA and PP. Again, it feels there’s something similar. A manager with reasonable EFL experience coming in with a calm head, talking in the right way and setting us up to play pragmatic football. He has a solid number two in the dugout, a good reputation and while he wasn’t a big name or anything fancy, he’s come in during a difficult spell and just got on with everything. I’m happy with that.
I said on another post yesterday, there’s some simple things I think the club can do to turn this season around. The big thing is obviously Jake Young. We need to either speak to him about returning & reintegrating, or if he doesn’t want to come back cash in and spend the money wisely. We’ve seen far too many windows where the club has got this sort of situation badly wrong and it’s not helped us. It might well define our season.
I don’t want to get too excited as there’s a long way to go. But, after a few tough weeks for us all, it’s nice to wake up on a Sunday & actually start looking forward to Tuesday’s game. Enjoy the rest of your weekends and three points!
All excellent and so glad you mentioned Young coming back but asking him first. Doyle made it obvious he didn’t want to come back but we brought him and I believe it was a big mistake.
This was an important win , no doubt.
There’s a way to go but you can see the tiny shoots of revival. Gillead ran his socks off but i couldn’t pick a mom to be fair , nobody played badly.
In my mind Stubbs has been terrific but over the previous 3 games had began to struggle , Taylor on the other hand has been pretty poor this season , however yesterday he hardly , apart from almost putting stanley in on goal , put a foot wrong , he won everything in the air and cleared up at the back like a good old fashioned centre half. Credit where it’s due .
My one overall criticism is that at times when defenders or midfield have the ball there’s not enough movement up front . All in all a job well done .
What a great result. Excellent performance in the troublesome defence. Taylor and Richards maybe the answer to our concerns? Midfield excellent too. still question marks over the attack, but fair play to them for sticking at it. I really enjoyed the game and a very welcome 3 points..
A hard fought result with excellent work rate. I thought that the team grew in confidence during the game and there had definitely been a good team talk at half-time. You also sense that for all the problems on the pitch there is a strong spirit and bond within the team.
Thankfully there was no distraction from the much talked about tennis ball protest. The individual from Bingley who attempted to organise it anonymously on Twitter didn’t have the balls to reveal his identity let alone the balls to throw on the pitch. Comfort can be derived that for all the differences of opinion the protest was considered a futile and counter-productive measure. The fact that there wasn’t a single tennis ball thrown is a reminder that for all the noise on social media it actually represents only a small minority of supporters and that Twitter is not representative of the support base.
I was really disappointed at half time. I thought we had no guile, were too direct – clearly territory based football (long balls into the corners) and the spark from Tuesday, from notably Chapman and Oduor was absent).
However, from about 50mins on, we started to work the flanks and were more of an attacking threat. ASFC had limited ambition and were on the whole quite poor. Like I always say though, it’s a good game if you win – lots of positives to take forward.
I think Accrington were sitting very deep in the first half but we still created 2-3 very good chances.
Beautifully written as ever with the right amount of balance.
It’s not taken this manager long to work out a way of getting the best out of what he’s got. The players suddenly look fitter and stronger – and happier in their roles. That really was a brilliant finish from Smith, off balance and with his left foot. Taylor was roundly abused by the mindless mob even before he’d kicked a ball for us in the summer, deplorably on the strength of what their kindred spirits at a former club had said. The Twitter narrative dictated that he must be the replacement bogeyman for those who had stopped tearing into Gilliead. Taylor had a decent game – as he did, I believe, against Barnsley. Kelly too played very well in the main. But why single players out from a good all round performance. They all put in a shift. What pleased me perhaps most was that we were not hanging on at the end but attacking and penning the opposition in. It never felt like we were likely to concede the statutory late goal. Two or three high-quality signings in January, plus the return of Young … and there may still be something in the season for us. We are a now, at a stroke, a mere six points behind Accrington Stanley who are apparently riding high. A deficit of 6 points is nothing with more than half the season ahead. Only one of the loanees made the bench today: I assume they will soon be returning to their parent clubs. Let’s hope by the season’s end the Twitter boys will be hailing Alexander the Great.
Genuine question. I know that a parent club can recall a player in January. does it work the other way? Can a club send a player back in January if there’s a season long agreement?
I think we might get the answer to that question on or around the first day of 2024!
Not all deals are the same. It depends what the clubs agreed upon and whether a break clause exists in the contract. I don’t know about the lads we’ve loaned, but typically, PL teams insist on the option to cancel, so if they don’t feel their player is getting enough game time, they can recall them and send somewhere else. So, I would imagine/guess that Tulloch and the kid from Villa will have something similar. We want to send them back, but their parent clubs probably want to terminate the deal as much as we do since they’re not getting minutes.
Thanks for the explanation. Your reply suggests we may not have a recall clause on Young. Like Mitchell, I think the first day of 2024 will be interesting!
We do have a recall clause on Young. As I’ve seen it explained, we’d have to pay a fee. It’s almost a no-brainer that we’ll be recalling him – not least as some club from L1 might be daft enough to pay a big fee. We saw that, the other way, last season – when we lost Tyreik Wright.
I was under the impression that a club can send back a loanee at any time, but I assume that also would carry a penalty – unless it’s mutually agreed or there is a situation like say Kian Harratt’s.
The most pleasing aspect for me regarding yesterday’s game was the mindset of the players and management team. The reward was the first ninety minutes performance in a long time.
The commitment from the team was united. All the players
worked hard and unlike the previous regime when we went in front we didn’t retreat. Indeed we pressed on striving for our second goal and this positive attitude denied Stanley of any real threat.
I hope this performance is our baseline from now on and we go on to deliver graft and commitment on the pitch. Yes mistakes will happen as player confidence and belief grows; so will their skills and abilities. We fans need to support and applaud that as the saying goes. it’s not the trying that causes failure it’s the failure to try!
Personally, I don’t think you can put Cook and Smith in the same sentence as Hanson and Wells. Why not go the whole hog and say Mills and Blake? A good hardworking win though. Onwards and upwards to Forest Green.
I really enjoyed reading your post (as always), though I thought the comment about how “the football now is not football for the purist” was a little harsh… true in the sense that yesterday’s game was a tough watch, riddled with sloppiness and route one football, but I think we’re a long way off seeing the type of football that GA wants to play.
It’s first about getting a tune out of the damaged vehicle, just enough to get it to the garage, when the major repair job can be done, and only then will we see what kind of mechanic he is, once he’s had chance to pimp up his squad… before then, he clearly needs to pimp a few out!
So yeah, I agree and disagree with that comment, which felt like you’d already decided on team branding, before identity has been selected.
I don’t think we’ll see a fast fluid passing game under GA, but that isn’t a disaster because of his approach which is aggressive with an ‘in-your-face’ pressing game, and the remit to attack and place the opposition under pressure, which is fine by me, and unless you have a billionaire budget to afford ex-Premier League footballers who can actually pass the ball, then it’s unfair to expect players at this level to play in a way which is beyond their capabilities.
GA is working with what he’s got, he’s trying to put some quick points on the board to put a smile back on our faces which if he succeeds will automatically remove a lot of negativity and relieve some much needed pressure, which almost feels tangible to all of us right now, not least the players, and I don’t think you’ll ever see a better visual demonstration of how important moral is to a football team, than the first half at Meadow Lane last week, as the lads looked scared witless, afraid to play football, and a long way from their standards.
I know we’re not all in agreement about their qualities/attributes or whether some of them are good enough to take us to our next destination, but the nucleus of the team were in the play offs last year, many of whom have played at a higher level… but regardless of their strengths or shortcomings, I’m sure we can all see that they were a long way off what we know they’re capable of.
Which is why I’m sure GA has made it his priority over everything else, to try and lift the mood around the place and repair broken confidence ASAP, and there’s no better way to do that than winning matches, which requires creating chances, scoring goals, while keeping them out. He can only work with what he has in front of him, and that’s a squad recruited to play as many centre backs in the team as possible.
It’s the smart play but transition takes time, so it’s gonna be a while until they all attune to the tweak in tactics… their individual instructions… and their collective understanding of each other’s game.
I feel a lot better now though than I did a week ago.
I mentioned somewhere yesterday that I saw parallels between PP & GA, so I agree with the comparison, but I think there’s even more than what Jason pointed out. Obviously, I don’t have the inside scoop, so I’m reading between the lines somewhat, but I read one of the players (might have been Gilliead but I forget), saying they’ve been doing a lot of running. And if there’s one thing that defined PP for me, was his insistence on the team being fitter than the opposition because he believed it was a telling factor at the end of games.
I was almost as disappointed at losing Nick Allamby as I was PP, because you don’t get success these days (as any kind of athlete) unless you’re in peak physical shape. It’s the small margins that add up which equal success… and it would appear that GA is of the same mindset which means we should be stronger at the end of matches to prevent late goals being conceded – a MH specialty, while on the flipside we’ll nick more games at the end. Either way, it’s a good sign GA is serious about pressing the opposition…
I lost count of the times I heard MH say we want to press teams but I rarely saw evidence of it, and it was one of my biggest frustrations. Put a team under pressure, regardless of how good they are, and they’ll make mistakes… simples! However you need a fit team to keep up the pressure over 90 minutes, and this indicates unlike Hughes, GA isn’t hot air and false promises.
And that is another shared trait with PP. He was straight to the point, and clear with his instructions… he knew exactly what he wanted but more importantly, he was a master at getting that across to his players. The squad were in it together, they understood the minimum expected of them every time they pulled on the shirt, and on the rare occasion when the team were off it, they knew exactly why and what was needed to correct it.
Obviously, there’s a long way to go before City fans will ever consider GA & PP in the same breath, and it’s a little premature and probably some wishful thinking too, to be drawing comparisons, but we’re literally back to where we were when PP arrived and we’re at our lowest ebb since the Gloom of Rahic, so admittedly, things are feeling a little desperate at the moment which forces you to clutch at straws somewhat, and there’d be no greater tonic for our suffering supporters, than believing we have another PP in the house… all hail the new messiah!
We’ll see!!!
However, you can also say they had relatively similar (and moderately successful) careers. They were never gifted ballers who stood out or gave memorable, match-winning performances. Instead, they were industrious, hard working, determined, and performed the dark arts so well, which goes unnoticed but it’s so important to have players who get in the faces of the opposition, break up play and rhythm, make fierce tackles, and sniff out danger.
Both too were role-model professionals, and built their careers around a strong work ethic…
So, little/large pairing up front… getting the team playing to their strengths… big on work ethic… down-to-earth and clear instructions… emphasis on strong fitness levels… like to get the crowd involved through hard work and goal mouth activity…
It’s not a stretch, but at the same time, we shouldn’t get carried away… however, it let’s us hope and after the last couple of performances which have shown purpose and a clear strategy… the gloom and doom, which has been like a thick suffocating layer of fog dulling our senses and weighing heavy on our shoulders, may slowly be starting to lift, and it wouldn’t matter if Klopp was in charge right now, there’s only so much anyone can do, and progress won’t be an over night fix.
It’s a promising start though, let’s see if they continue their improvement on Tuesday!
Very good post.
I think that there are too many fans who put the quality of football too highly up their list.
Stevenage are still playing the type of football that would leave half our fans complaining about the quality – but are now more than 30 places above us.
Maybe, I’m just old, because for all my 61 years – D4 (L2) has always been about attrition. That’s why Accrington, the team leading the fouls league are in 7th. And I’d back them to end up above Notts County – IF County persist with their ‘total footie’ philosophy.
Very few teams have been promoted, over 46 matches, in previous season by been pleasing on the eye. Exeter stands out – but that was a philosophy started by Paul Tisdale, that was years in the making. And the other is the MK Dons 2019 promotion winners, led by Tisdale.
Completely agree. I’m not even sure these football purists actually exist.
There are only two types of game for me, games I enjoyed and games I didn’t. The constants in the games I enjoy are goalmouth action and effort, the football they play is almost an irrelevance. I couldn’t care less how the ball got to Tyler Smith, the ball ended up in the net.
It’s true that L2 is easier on the eye than in the PP days, but there’s still an element of pragmatism required to be successful. You rightly mention Stevenage, and Steve Evans understands that you don’t score goals from your own half, it’s that simple really.
Loved the bit about Tony McMahon!
Really liking what I have seen of Alexander so far.
Good result but difficult to watch. I hope a Hanson an Wells relationship is developing. We were the better team but efforts on goal were low (2 for City and 3 for Accrington). It’s early days. I hope we can switch formation to offer variation to our style. Why Pointon was not on the bench was a mystery to me. He provides options up front. A win is a win so Alexander got the result he wanted and that makes me happy.
I think Pointon having a small spell away from the first team / or not starting, will do him the world of good. Remember, how it reinvigorated Wells in the latter stage of the promotion team.
Pep often leaves his fans scratching their heads, with how he often doesn’t give youngsters long runs. We’ve got a potential thoroughbred here – so let’s treat this potential great race horse with care.
I utterly condemned GA for the way he set up the team against Notts County, so I’m delighted with the way he out-thought the very wily John Coleman yesterday.
This was exactly the way you play, in L2, against the team that has (or had) the most fouls with FIVE players in the Top 30 (significantly we’ve got just one – and no surprise that it’s Jamie Walker).
You could have seen all four promoted teams from last season approaching this match in the same manner.
I’m not a fan of the system. I still think we’d suit a 4-3-3 better. But if it shoots us up the table, who cares.
Nice to see City on front foot in the final minutes and not hanging on for dear life. A word for Richie who went about his business quietly but effectively. Richards looks the part (shocking recruitment from Gent ?!). Taylor did not deserve the over the top criticism. He has his limitations but at this level he has something to offer.
Richard last two full matches have now both been excellent. Now let’s hope he looks after himself off the pitch and gets his fitness up, so he has run of games like Halliday has.