last year, mid-October
Why Barry Davies should not come to Valley Parade any time soon
I never really cared for the commentary of Barry Davies preferring the more factual style of The Motson but Davies has one riposte that comes to mind in City’s current situation.
When asked who he thought would win a match Davies would give the same cheery reply of “If I knew that I would not be here.”
Davies believed that the beauty in the game was the inherent unpredictably. The fact that anyone could win a game was - for Davies - the game.
He would have a shock at Valley Parade where the Bantams chances have been declared done.
All over Bradford the defeat to Darlington has seen City’s hopes for the year consigned to history as if the season had already been played out and this were just a rerun. As if from these past six games a season could be extrapolated.
Perhaps such a bit of sooth-saying is possible but my quarter of a century plus watching City has told me otherwise. I’ve seen City roar to the top of Leagues which they later finished 17th in - 2001 under Jim Jefferies springs to mind - and I’ve seen City get two points from the first seven games in 1998/1999 and we all know how that ended up don’t we?
The Bantams have played a dozen games which at the moment seem to be split between the good half dozen and the bad ones - although at BfB we call them the pre and post-Paul Arnison eras - and it seems to have crystallised in many supporters conciousness that the poorer games are some how more of a representation of the players true abilities than those good ones were.
All of which requires you to believe in the idea that teams and players are either “good” or “bad” as if they could be given numerical ratings and quantified. Teams either play well or they do not. There is nothing else. The City team that celebrated at Wolves in May 1999 were no better footballers than the one that kicked off the season at home to Stockport County they just played better and by that one could qualify with the words got better results.
Today phrases like “dire” are being thrown at City - nothing is ever as bad or as good as reactionary opinion says - but after the round of League Two matches on the evening the Bantams sit in a play-off place in seventh four points off the lead and two off an automatic promotion slot while some supporters are saying that the Bantams are doomed to another season in this bottom division. One doubts that Gillingham and Darlington fans - whom have both got results from City in the last four days - are considering all to be lost and they fill the two positions below us.
Like the team of 1998/1999 Stuart McCall’s team need to build the confidence to minimise defeats and the mental strength to move on to the next three points which are no less available the next time the team takes they field as a second head is on a coin that has just flipped a first.
It is somewhat upsetting though that those players have to build that confidence without the assistance of supporters who are so used to negativity that they look at a play-off place as being an indication that the team will not be promoted. Perhaps it is a self-fulfilling prophecy? Certainly no one could accuse you of looking at the situation with rose tinted glasses if you suggested that a team that is in the play-offs might get promoted.
Why predict at all? Barry Davies would not have because the game is at its heart unpredictable - yes Hull City we mean you - and to be honest saying that a club will not get promoted is a little like betting that any given horse will not win the Grand National. It sounds smarter than it is.
Where did this negativity come from? Why has it taken a grip at Valley Parade and all over football? Moreover though why is it that when given to predictions supporters indulge in this negativity?
Why not look at these six games as the blip and the six before as common form?
October 21st, 2008 at 22:49
Reading this back it seems to suggest that Barry is no longer with us. He is still alive unless he went in the night and has yet to be discovered by the maid…
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:05
The sad part of Monday to me is how far our expectations have fallen . I do not know if City will be promoted , no one does . We might win our next 10 games , we did in 1978/9(?). But on Monday we were dire , we were outplayed by a very poor team . That is the sad thing , how poor we were , and how we have come to accept it .
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:26
The last 6 games reads 1 win 2 draws and 3 defeats - contrasted to the first 6 of 5 wins and 1 defeat.
That in itself has brought ut the supporters apathy of seeing this season crumble away - I was really deflated after watching the team play with seemingly lead boots on Monday night - everything was ponderous and hesitants bar a few bursting runs from Colcbeck, Daley late on and some impressive passes from Furman.
The next 3 games could see the situation reverse - who knows, but a defeat against Grimsby will have the toys coming out of many more prams - mine are already on the floor out of reach
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:47
What people dont relise is that at this stage of the season results are not as important as performances. In the 98/99 season even when we were struggling the fruits of what was to come were evident in our displays, particularly in the early home games when we drew with Birmingham. Although we didnt get the three points it was clear to see we had been unlucky in many games and performances at that level would see us climb the league.
This season is in direct contrast. Away at Stanley we were lucky by any reckoning and we were poor against Luton, and Gillingham. Even against Macclesfield early on in the campaign we did nothing other than a spell in the first 20 mins when Macc were absolutely dire. Again, against Rochdale at home we were lucky to get the three points. I dont mean to be negative, I’m just calling it as I see it.
On recent displays, I would say we are marginally, ever so slightly, better than last season. I would imagine we will scrape a play off place at best. The performances are the indication of this, not the fact that we are seventh, because at this stage it doesnt tell us much.
For the record, Barry Davies was in a different league to Motson. I miss his commentary which was guided towards the football fan rather than Motson’s commentary which is littered with stats, and facts that anyone who pays a weekly attention to the football news stories will have heard a million times before.
October 22nd, 2008 at 16:07
I too am of the Barry Davies school of thought, epsecially having watched City for nearly twice as long as our esteemed author. You have to expect the unexpected at Valley Parade.
I don’t do open-ended forecasts. But what I do do is watch the present and the recent past performances. From them I think it fair to say that, if City keep playing like they did on Monday, they will lose more than they will win.
I thought it was their worst 90 minutes of the season so far, especially at the back, where the last few games have shown a steady deterioration.
In short, they need to improve (hardly rocket science!), to get back what they had with the same squad in August and early September and then, perhaps, the promotion hopes will be realistic again.
Who knows what will happen on Friday? Don’t ask me!