By Jake Verity

This has been a big fortnight for Bradford City. There have been open letters, owner statements, fan protests and in the middle for all that – some football has been played. Indeed, it feels like on the pitch fortunes have become a secondary consideration in the battle for Bradford City. The search for the club’s soul.

Following last weekend’s result at Harrogate – things felt about as bad as they could. And we had reason to be angry. I tried to capture the essence of our feelings last weekend; at least things have improved a little bit on the pitch. It is so, so good to see Bobby Pointon back in the side, let alone scoring a goal.

But onto the most important matter at hand. Stefan Rupp’s letter is his first public piece of communication to fans in some time, which should be welcomed, but, there is a long way to go in repairing this relationship. Talk is cheap. Action is priceless if done correctly.

And that’s what I want to talk about. Just what this football club needs to do both on and off the pitch. Many of my ideas about how to structure the squad, or who we should sign may start debates, but I want to show it can be done and there can be a reason for us to compete next season. We will do so, if we take ourselves seriously and do everything we can to get it right.

This is the first of two pieces, in which I will try to outline how the club could look to structure itself ahead of next season. This piece will focus on the pitch and what the club can do; the next will focus on all things off-the-pitch that might help our club to thrive, rather than simply survive.

League Two in 2024/25

I’ll start on what the division might look like next year. The big positive is that it looks like three of the wealthiest teams will be out of the division. Stockport, Mansfield and Wrexham continue to occupy the top three with MK Dons sitting just behind them. With three of those four going up automatically, League Two should be a bit more of a level playing field next season.

You’re probably thinking it and you’re right. There’s no excuse to be made here. That we’ve not competed this season because of the budgets of other clubs is a lazy way to blame how this season has gone. We should have kicked on after Carlisle and we haven’t. The club has got its recruitment and some other major decisions very wrong.

Remember also that both Stockport and Wrexham failed to beat us this season (the victory away at the Racecourse stands out as one of few highlights of this year for me) so they’ve hardly run away with it like Leyton Orient did. But, it certainly helps us to lose the clubs who are destined for League One and have squads boasting a dearth of talent and cash to pay for good players at this level.

We can see at present there isn’t much to separate the best of the rest. And again, that’s why it is so infuriating we’re likely to miss out on the play-offs. The nine points separating 7th and 17th show you that the rest of the league is very mediocre indeed. All of these clubs will be around next year and we simply have to be much better than them all. Our inconsistency has harmed us significantly. If we’d have turned just one of the three consecutive losses we recently had at Valley Parade into a win, we’d be going into Easter Monday four points off the play-offs with a game in hand.

That is why there can be no mistakes made in recruiting players this time around. There must be squad depth to account for injuries (imagine if we’d had proper cover when both Walker and Pattison were out). There needs to be a range of players for different scenarios. Most crucially, there has to be no mercy shown in retention. If we are a football club that is serious about its fortunes and future, there is no room for passengers, or below-par players at Bradford City. Everyone needs to make us better.

Retention, Recruitment and Roles

The club should offer new contracts to Jamie Walker, Brad Halliday and Bobby Pointon. I don’t think there’s a single fan that can doubt their commitment to the club, or their efforts on the pitch. They would improve any other side in the league and you would think if they aren’t to stay with us, they will go on to do better things. This is the easy part.

The harder part is being realistic about what needs to come this Summer. If the club is to be successful next season, I would suggest there needs to be a decision on the formations we want to employ, the types of players we want to bring in, and the style of play that we want to adopt. There’s no need to fix these rigidly too. We should be adaptive to suit a properly balanced squad of players. The work begins now and no later. Here is what I think we should do:

1. Commit to a style of play for the Club

This should be set by a Director of Football (if as it seems, one might be appointed) so that our football decisions extend beyond the manager, both structurally and in tenure. It is not unreasonable to assume that over the next five years we will change managers. And if we haven’t done so, it’s because Graham Alexander has done a very good job.

Making this decision now benefits us when we look to recruit both players and managers in the future as we won’t be doing so based on either our, or their short-term interests. No changing tactics at the drop of a hat. That is one of the main reasons this season has been so disjointed. We saw a real difference in Mark Hughes’ formations and squad more generally between last season’s play-off defeat at Carlisle and this season’s opener at Crawley. Graham Alexander’s arrival represented yet another significant change.

Setting a style and key formations allows us to recruit managers who can play the system(s) we want to employ. The club can and should actively keep a list of managers who fit our mold once this structure begins, so we know exactly who we want to appoint next time we see a change in the dugout. We should never have to go through the nonsense we endured last October/November again. Structure leads to stability which creates success. Remember that.

2. Recruit players based on that style

Having a style certainly helps us determine the types of players we want to bring in. Thinking about the Parkinson-era, we rarely changed what we were doing. In the early days we focused on a more defensively minded right-hand side (Darby, Thompson & Atkinson then Morais & McMahon) and expansive left-hand side (Meredith and Reid). A balanced midfield of the box-to-box Jones with the defensively minded Doyle then moved nicely into a box-to-box Cullen and more defensively minded Evans. It was solid.

I personally think we have looked most comfortable as a club when playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation. We had success using this system under Hughes in the 2022/23 season and it employs a level of attacking football that we enjoy as fans. 4-4-2 is outdated and doesn’t work in the modern game; and a 4-2-3-1 structure allows us to focus on creating a strong midfield that could run a 5-3-2, if and when necessary.

Having Scott Banks and Tyriek Wright either side of Andy Cook with Jamie Walker in behind was a joy to behold. Let’s get back there. Based on the players contracted to next season and who I expect would stay, I would advocate for us building a squad around the following:

Walker

Halliday; CB; Kelly; New LB

CDM; CDM

Pointon; Walker; Young

Cook

Subs: Richards, Gilliead, Oduor, Pattison, Kavanagh

This is a reasonable nucleus for the start for a good League Two squad, but it is clear where weakness would lie.

Firstly, we must prioritise bringing in a ball playing centre-half to the quality of Tomkinson or Crichlow. My suggestion would be that we commit to buying one. For the failures during Edin Rahic’s time at Bradford City, our investment in Charlie Wyke paid dividends and if Rupp is serious about investing in the club next season, we should look to bring in players who can grow with us, rather than losing them at the end of the campaign. Kavanagh feels like a return to this strategy – more of that!

Secondly, we must add real depth, leadership and quality in central midfield. Both Smallwood and McDonald have limitations, though both have proven useful at times. Keeping one of them for the bench would be fine, but it is time we brought in a very strong midfield – that is where games are truly won and lost. Having an expansive passer like Elliot Watt coupled with a tough-tackling midfielder who will protect the defence would make a huge difference.

If Smallwood is to stay, he must become the latter rather than trying to do both. Either a 4-2-3-1; or a 5-3-2 requires a solid midfield – which realistically has been propped up by three players this year – Smallwood, McDonald and Gilliead. Nowhere near enough strength in depth for such a critical part of the pitch. It must change.

I think it’s fair to say we need to add additional quality at left-back too. Richards is young and raw and will grow over time, but having real quality at LB makes a huge difference. Just look how pivotal Ibou Touray has been for Stockport.

I’d also like to see us bring in a striker who offers something different to, and plays well with Andy Cook. The big benefit of Young and Kavanagh is they can both play out wide, or up-front, but we must bring someone in who knows where the goal is and can be relied upon. It feels like the trio of Matt Derbyshire, Vadaine Oliver and Tyler Smith are unlikely to be this player next season, but you never know.

Finally, start trialing a new structure and system now, before the end of the season. Until it’s mathematically impossible to qualify for the play-offs, it’s not over and we should be focused on winning games. But, when it is (which will likely be soon barring a miracle and luck), we have a few games to start trialling our current squad in a new structure. Especially if a Director of Football is recruited soon.

3. The character of players, and fitting a squad together

Give Alex Gilliead the club captaincy – and have Brad Halliday as his back-up. With over 200 games in Claret and Amber, Gilliead’s drive, tenacity and commitment can never be questioned. He gets the club and has a connection with the fans. There is always a place for him in our team whether it’s in the middle, at the back, or out on the wing. Because of his utility-player nature, I have left him on the bench above, as he can fill in wherever necessary. If he isn’t starting, Halliday has proven to be a more than dependable deputy – embodying everything our club is about in his performances.

Looking at Chesterfield, who recently won the National League and will play us next season, their recruitment style should be our blueprint. They have some great young talent (Dobra, Berry); experience (Jacobs, Grigg, Naylor) and then solid players at their level (Mandeville, Grimes, Oldaker). Their current squad will easily finish top-seven next season and we should aspire to a similar structure.

The fact that Stockport, Wrexham and to an extent Notts County (before Luke Williams left for Swansea City) succeeded in League Two with a strong nucleus of their National League squad shows the league undoubtedly has quality.  The gap continues to close between the two divisions and we should recruit more often from there.

From looking through our transfer history, I believe we have not signed a single player from the National League in the last ten years. That’s a huge failure as there are so many talents we have missed out on. Think about Macualey Langstaff and how good he has been for Notts County this season, his first ever campaign in the football league. There’s many others just like him who are now far higher up the pyramid.

It’s time we started buying players on their way up, rather than those on their way down. The frustration for so many of us has been the players who have turned up at Valley Parade while tumbling down the divisions, far too happy to take a wage and produce little for it. There has been speculation that some of our players cannot handle the pressure of the big crowds, which is why we’ve looked at those more ‘experienced’ players on their way down the leagues.

Frankly if somebody has lost interest in their football – it doesn’t matter if they’re used to 20,000 seater stadiums – they will probably be a bad signing. I am sure that if you went to some of the top scorers, midfielders and defenders in the National League and asked if they wanted to join Bradford City, they would relish playing in front of our crowds.

It is so important we bring the right characters into our club. Real work-ethic and desire to be here coupled with pride and passion for the club. More Gilliead’s and Hallidays from League Two and above; more hungry players from the National League who want to prove a point. Add them into the squad I mentioned above – we’ll have a team worth watching.

So, what about the other things?

Whether it’s pre-season friendlies, matchday experience or communication with supporters – many of us have ideas about what we would like to see from the club. I will be following this piece with a second article outlining some suggestions on what could be done to improve fan experience and create excitement around Valley Parade.

For now though, I hope this provides some ideas about just what we could do. I know there will be opinions about the players I’ve said we could keep, the formations we should employ and the types of players we might want to sign. But, I hope the general points I’ve made here resonate.

Create a structure. Recruit to it. Think about the personnel we want. And let’s get working on it now before this season is done.

Categories: Opinion

Tags: BCAFC