From May, 2007
There is a school of thought on message boards and forums that has it that Gordon Gibb is preparing to ride to the rescue of Bradford City with a huge financial investment which would see him take control of the club to protect his asset - Valley Parade - and catapult the team back to glory.
Frankly I wish I had some of what those people are drinking. Gordon Gibb is not the white knight riding to our rescue. In fact Gordon Gibb would not know one side of a white horse from the other and the investment he has in Valley Parade is as much his sister’s as his and belongs to a pension fund.
Nevertheless BfB understands that some kind of investment is coming and coming soon. Julian Rhodes has been in talks with a guy with a bob or two and the upshot would seem to be that his time as the man holding the weight of Bradford City on his own may be coming to an end. I doubt the phrase White Knight should be used - should it ever be applied to someone preparing for the thankless task of football ownership - but maybe Knighthood is a good metaphor to use.
For a long time Bradford City - as a whole rather than a group of directors or owners - have operated a kind of Quixotic belief that the club would flourish on the basis of a couple of decisions taken in popularist ways. For the La Mancha windmills read the managers of Valley Parade. Each one slain would prove something, would right some wrong, but never did.
In League Two we face up to reality and that reality is that any investment in the club from another owner needs to be matched by a reality check around the ground. I’ve spoken too long about atmosphere and development of players in that environment, about expectations and setting them to reasonable levels and about good old fashioned get behind the lads support. I honestly believe that without these things being addressed then money into City is wasted. I honestly believe that a very good start addressing these would be to appoint Stuart McCall.
It is a commonly held belief that McCall would have become City manager had we not been relegated this season and from what BfB understand this is the case but McCall has issued no comments
rather than denials and - as he faces up to trying to keep Sheffield United in the Premiership as assistant tomorrow afternoon - is torn between his head which tells him to coach at The Blades until a top two divisions job comes up or follow his heart back to Valley Parade.
For inspiration perhaps McCall will look ten years to his left tomorrow to Paul Jewell who took City and Wigan and made his own Premiership clubs. Had Jewell not taken brave decisions with his career then he would not be considered the manager he is today. League Two to anywhere is a huge ask but City need McCall and he knows it but without him City’s future looks bleak.
McCall’s thinking time has the same clock as the investment and Julian Rhodes’s desire to announce a new manager - read into that what you will - and those who are in the know say that it is not as cut and dried as he won’t come cause we went down
and in situations such as these the murkiness of uncertainty is better than assured defeat.
On the way to Leeds early Friday morning - 7:45 - and I call to pay respects at the memorial which I find behind a large truck being jet washed by a guy who meets my confused look with an entirely inappropriate beaming smile.
Around my the lawns of Centenary Square are being cut in the rain. The noise is loud against the morning quiet and I’m wondering why this day was chosen for these activities?
I’m wondering whom in Bradford Council believes it is a good idea to leave preparations for the service that would follow in the day three hours before and why they feel they can exclude people in the not unique position of going from Bradford to our neighbouring City for work from paying respect.
Ben Muirhead has been released by Bradford City bringing to an end a turbulent five year connection between player and club that say him signed, released, signed again and go from favourite to failure to favourite to great white hope before his career with the club petered out.
Muirhead was signed from Manchester United and wasted no time in impressing with his right wing play that recalled the buccaneering style of Jamie Lawrence. At Turf Moor he ripped Burnley apart in a 2-1 win and he looked a huge threat for Nicky Law’s team.
However for all his exciting front foot play Ben had a number of flaws in his game - he would give the ball away when charging forward rather than win continued possession, he would try the impossible cross rather than winning the odd throw in - and these problems soon saw him benched as Law’s team struggled and Nicky Summerbee offered more crossing.
Nevertheless his flair cameos made sure he stayed popular and under Bryan Robson one Manchester United number seven told another how to play and he returned a Ben all about the end product.
He was the Ben Muirhead of forcing corners and tidy football and for a while that seemed to impress some however as his game improved the tide seemed to turn and - as famously identified by The City Gent’s John Watmough - “Ben” left and was replaced by “Muirhead”.
“Muirhead” was released as the club’s money problem mounted and Bryan Robson exited - he seemed to show most improvement under the famously good coach/bad manager that was Robson - only to be signed again as the club exited administration and start the next season well loved for his loyalty.
However while Muirhead was a better player for the team he seemed to lack the excitement of the flying winger Ben and he was not a regular feature in Colin Todd’s teams. By the time Jermaine Johnson and Omar Daley - both of whom could stand accused of all the worst and best points of Ben’s early play - arrived at the club the sun had set on Ben’s career at City and he was loaned to Rochdale.
His release from Bradford City comes at the end of that season and no doubt Rochdale will be interested in signing him - he scored three in nine games - after which we will no doubt see him again next year.
At such point - with the distance of opposition - we may discover if that winger is “Muirhead” or “Ben” after all.