Sunday 6th December, 2009last year, at the start of December
A muted victory
Darlington 0 Bradford City 1 At Darlington Arena in League Two, 2009/2010
From a fixture Stuart McCall couldn’t feasibly win, at least the Bradford City manager was able to enjoy the satisfaction of three points.
Against an already doomed home team which has lost its last two games 4-0, only a similarly convincing scoreline for the Bantams would ensure victory would truly be considered a victory. That Steve Williams’ 23rd-minute strike was the sole occasion the ball found the back of the net will have done little to ease the darkened mood triggered by the midweek Rochdale humbling. Indeed the sight of City players’ blatant attempts to time waste long before the final whistle was due offered a clear indication that, while the win ultimately reduces the gap to the play offs, a vast improvement is needed for the season to conclude with a top seven place.
Not that Stuart seemed to be overly-perturbed after the final whistle. A victory is a victory and the points reward for winning 1-0 is the same as winning 4-0. Darlington showed a degree of spirit in the second half – on the evidence of this and City’s recent trip to Blundell Park, there is more hope to be taken from the Quakers’ efforts even if the League Two table makes it implausible to argue they can avoid relegation – and with City wasteful in front of goal for the game’s first two-thirds, the home side might have snatched a late point due to endeavor if not ability. In the end it was an afternoon for getting the three points, climbing back on the coach and moving on.
A more convincing victory still appeared on after a first half easily controlled by the visitors. Back to playing 4-4-2, Matt Clarke took the place of the injured Zesh Rehman, and a more solid performance from the former Darlington centre back alongside Williams was the platform for a 45 minute period where possession was dominated by claret and reasonable chances were readily created.
James Hanson came close early on with a shot deflected over, Simon Whaley almost scored direct from a corner, the recalled and impressive Scott Neilson might have done better after charging into the penalty area and seeing his low drive blocked by home keeper Nick Leversidge.
Lee Bullock, Hanson and Williams continued to go close and soon after Williams was rewarded after popping up at the back post to head home Neilson’s corner. It was a good moment for the former non-league defender after the difficult evening he’d endured midweek, it was also the third away league game in a row he’d netted. City continued to press and Hanson headed just wide.
At the other end Darlington’s efforts to pass the ball around on the deck were admirable but largely impotent. That the half chances they created almost all came on the counter attack said much about their lack of authority on the game.
But it was during the second half where the promotion credentials of the Bantams could again be doubted. City have held a 1-0 lead at half time in eight of their 20 league games this season, but the dilemma of whether to continue in the attacking manner which had earned that advantage or sit back and protect it is one which is leading to uncertainty and awkwardness.
Initially City’s intent was to get that second goal with Hanson again twice going close, but slowly the team began to drop back and ambition became limited. Stuart attempted to encourage fresh impetuous by introducing the dropped Gareth Evans from the bench for Michael Boulding, but the former Macclesfield striker’s confidence has clearly taken a dip of late, and he did little to reignite purpose to the attack.
Though questions must again be pointed at Boulding, who was well shackled all afternoon by former City defender and Quakers captain, Mark Bower. His introduction from the bench against Accrington helped City to pile on late pressure and he almost won the game late on with a shot that hit the post. Boulding can consider himself unfortunate not to have started the next game against Grimsby, but having got his chance at the Darlington Arena his failure to again take it was mystifying.
Often Boulding is excused for anonymity by relative poor service, and while he was provided few sights of goal, he must surely be prepared to work harder. Boulding looked unhappy to be subbed and went straight down the tunnel, where he was followed a few minutes later by Stuart for what may have been a tongue-lashing.
James O’Brien was shortly after brought on for Whaley – the on-loan Norwich midfielder again looking the best player on the park in terms of ability, but often failing to make the most of many opportunities to cross the ball with some poor deliveries. As the home side finally starting to exert some pressure, Simon Eastwood had to tip one effort round the post and blocked a shot from further out which was straight at him. By then the visitors’ time-wasting got too much for referee Neil Swarbrick, who booked Neilson for unsubtly kicking the ball away. City’s ball retention was poor and will not go unpunished if it continues during the next four league fixtures, all against promotion rivals.
When the final whistle was blown it was met by a faint smattering of boos in the away end, but the overall cheering and chanting of Stuart’s name suggested the general mood was that, while dissatisfied with the performance, at least a difficult week had ended in a positive way.
There are still plenty of issues for Stuart to ponder – the return to playing 4-4-2 may have made City look more solid, but the high work rate the 4-3-3 formation has been built around was curiously lacking. Little confidence can have been taken from the second half display, though the clean sheet is not to be sniffed at.
So a muted victory, and one which may be best judged retrospectively in a few weeks. The hope for Stuart must be that this the game acts as the springboard for a run of good form going into the second half of the season, rather than proving a blip which had more to do with the Darlington formbook. Perhaps, in a week where we at BfB have looked back to the last promotion season and how the team ultimately benefited from losing 3-0 at home to QPR late-autumn, this win will have provided the tweak which makes the difference.
The tweak being the change back to 4-4-2 and return of Clarke, who has surely earned the right to now keep his first team spot. It wasn’t spectacular, but the first game after the tweak in the 1998/99 season, a 1-0 success at struggling Oxford thanks to a header from a set piece in the 23rd minute, offered few clues of what was to come then.
Anything similar this time around, and this will be later judged a fixture Stuart won in more ways than one.
Jason
I think this is a fair assessment of yesterday’s game but, without wanting to appear pedantic,it was Simon Ramsden who took over the captaincy.
I thought Matt Clarke played well and agree with your comments regarding Michael Boulding,he doesn’t harass defenders in the manner of Hanson and Neilson who are prepared to put in challenges after a move has broken down.
The only boos that I heard at the end of the match came from the “home support”.
Thanks Alan – corrected my error regarding the captain!
I heard some boos from City fans at the end (I was near the back) and I was also very close to starting a heated argument with this middle-aged bloke queuing to get out just in front of me, who felt the reason we played poorly (and are rubbish in general) is because we have Wayne Jacobs as assistant manager who is “too nice”. This sort of clueless, embarrassing rubbish really winds me up.
I think I am the only one who appears to be happy that we have won 2 of the last 3 matches when in all fairness we haven’t played that well. I know we need to improve but was it not always the case that we wanted to be in and amongst the play off positions come January? Are we on target for that? The team will be stronger in the second part of the season as the younger lads will be more experienced and more acclimatised to pro football.Omar should also be back and playing again. I understand why some fans are disgruntled but is the extreme negativity displayed by some really necessary? This same bunch of players were being hailed as a new dawn a few months ago, they will come good again, just get behind them, it will all come good.
clueless it may be in your opinion Jason, but any supporter is entitled to their opinion – it would be nice to hear from Jakes once in a while as he seems to live in McCall’s shadow.
I’m not coninvced by the return to 4-4-2, maybe that was for yesterdays game – the next 4 or 5 will really test the squad and confirm if we are up to a challenge for the play-offs.
Hi Mark
But it’s not based on anything. it’s not as if we supporters have any access to how Jacobs is with the players and with Stuart, it’s not as if anyone can even provide a sensible reason for why he might not be up to the task (i’ve yet to read or hear one). I think Roland Harris hit the nail on the head when he wrote last September, “I’ve no respect for people who single out Wayne Jacobs. These people are cowards too scared to have a go at Stuart. They don’t want to comment on the hero so they act like they know the difference between what the manager and is assistant do and blame the softer target. Cowards.”
I have no idea if Jacobs is doing a good job, so I’m not going to make stupid statements arguing he is. That is in effect what the anti-Jacobs bridge are doing. I personally think it has a lot to do with the fact that, as a player, a lot of our supporters had no time for him and were desperate for someone to come in and take his slot. Jacobs deserve so much credit for managing to remain a City regular from Division Two to the Premiership, but with some supporters he gets no respect whatsoever.
There is this perception that Stuart and Wayne are too nice, which is a groundless opinion. It’s also a bit naive to believe the way to motivate a football is purely to shout at them and be horrible.
Totally – everyone is entitled to an opinion – but no one is entitled to an opinion without anyone else being able to question that opinion.
Considering the basis for the criticism of Wayne Jacobs is basically non-extant then anyone who wants to avail themselves of the right to express that opinion should be able to back it up with something.
I agree it is unfair to single out Jakes just on the basis of something we cannot know, but one thing we do know is that he is not an established (veteran) coach/asst manager. With this being Stuart’s first foray into management, it is maybe not unreasonable to hope for a more experienced right-hand man.
I’m not saying I agree with those who blame Jakes or even question the ginger-duo as a pairing, just think it isn’t necessarily cowardice to look towards Jakes rather than Stuart. After all, we all wanted to take a punt on Stuart – maybe out of nothing but blind loyalty, but by investing so much in an inexperienced manager, it may be that we cannot afford such an inexperienced assistant.
That said, in his autobiography, Windasss certainly seemed to suggest that Jacob’s new how to be ruthless in that short period when he was caretaker.