Wednesday 29th September, 20102 years ago, at the end of September
The end of the beginning, or still something much worse?
The Team
- Jon McLaughlin | Zesh Rehman, Shane Duff, Steve Williams, Luke O'Brien | Lee Bullock, Tom Doherty, Tom Adeyemi | Gareth Evans, Omar Daley, Luke Oliver | Jake Speight, Lee Hendrie
The Byline
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Rotherham United 0 Bradford City 0 At The Don Valley Stadium in League Two, 2010/2011
It was easy to fear the worst tonight. The bubble of optimism that was growing after the Gillingham win had been painfully burst at Northampton three days ago. And a trip to a third-placed Rotherham side who had scored 12 goals in their previous four home games suggested only one outcome – a heavy defeat. Yet Bradford City put in a performance far beyond expectations to earn a draw that could easily have been more.
For the second Bantams visit to the Don Valley Stadium in a row, home keeper Andy Warrington was named the sponsors’ man of the match. This said much about the quality of the visitors’ display. It was no backs to the wall defensive job, with Warrington making stunning saves to deny Omar Daley, Tom Adeyemi (twice) and Steve Williams from snatching a priceless winner. City were comfortably the better side, and despite having to settle for a point will have returned back up the M1 with renewed confidence.
It was easy to fear the worst tonight. Following the Northampton defeat, word reached BfB that an unhappy City Board had told Peter Taylor anything less than four points from the next two games will see him sacked. Another source claimed the manager has been given a month to turn it around. Whether either rumour is true, the fear is that this situation can’t go on much longer without someone deciding on drastic action.
This could have been Taylor’s last game in charge, but if any of the Board were at the Don Valley tonight they would surely have taken great heart from the way the team performed which should carry beyond whatever happens on Saturday. City began on the front foot, with the returning Daley causing problems down the left flank and the midfield trio of Lee Bullock, Tommy Doherty and Adeyemi quickly getting on top.
Daley was one of the chief scapegoats for the Southend debacle almost exactly a month ago; and although he has been away with Jamaica for a short period, he has found himself shunned from any first team action. Yet if City are going to climb up the table they must surely utilise their better-quality players. And whatever is said about Daley, when on form he is just that.
As ever, tonight we saw a mixed bag from Omar and his decision making was familiarly poor at times. But he provided a spark that helped the team claim greater territorial advantage than we’ve managed on the road all season, and the first half ended with his fizzing shot from an angle forcing the best out of Warrington.
It was easy to fear the worst tonight. If Taylor was dismissed, where exactly would that leave the rest of the season? Sure we might bring in someone who can turn our under-achievers into world-beaters and climb the league, but City’s recent history shows such hopes are highly fanciful and never realised. Too often the answer to the problems has apparently lied in appointing another new manager, yet still the club’s decline continues.
More likely there would be a short-term boost from a new man, but in the longer-run the problems currently afflicting Taylor would remain. And as well as the cost of sacking a manager, there’d be a need to fund his replacement’s demands in the transfer market. All in all it’s a risk that could see the season written off with over three quarters of it to go. Is that really the best route to take?
But until tonight at least, there’s been a conflict of emotions inside pretty much every City supporter. Sure it’s a daft idea to sack a manager after 10 games…but what has Taylor done this season to deserve our support? There’s been very little for us to be impressed by regarding his performance since the season kicked off, and we’ve probably all scratched our heads wondering why the great things he was doing towards the end of last season suddenly aren’t coming off.
Tonight though Taylor got it right. Aside from a 20-minute spell before half time, Rotherham were completely neutralised by the 4-3-3 formation and strong levels of effort running throughout the team. At the back Steve Williams and Shane Duff were simply outstanding – the former so able in winning the ball from a forward’s feet, the latter never missing anything in the air.
On either side of them, Zesh Rehman and Luke O’Brien were contributing at both ends of the pitch. O’Brien in particular having a storming game which included recovering from a slightly rocky five-minute period where he’d made one mistake. What a talent Luke has become.
A perfect display? Not by a long shot. In the final third City continue to struggle to find the fluency levels that Taylor’s side were able to regularly achieve last season. Luke Oliver again gave his all as an emergency striker and had more joy winning flick ons in the second half, but the sooner James Hanson returns or a target man is signed on loan the better City’s ‘goals for’ column will look. Gareth Evans still appears short of confidence and high on indecision, but we should not forget what a good player he can be if he can recapture his form.
Early in the second half, City really got on top and were seemingly camped out in the Rotherham half. Warrington made his collection of breathtaking saves and other efforts were blocked or flew narrowly over. Several corners were won and the backing from the 605 Bantams fans was impressive.
It was easy to fear the worst tonight. On the message boards so many fans were saying they weren’t going to attend and, as me and my friend supped pints in a sparsely-populated empty away fans bar inside the ground with less than half an hour to kick off, it seemed as though we’d be short of company outside in the stand. Yet there was a good following in the end, and the noise levels were impressive too.
Midway through the first half a chant of Peter Taylor’s Bradford Army thundered across the empty Don Valley bowl. When Daley was subbed, which appeared unfair on the winger, there were no boos like in previous games. At Northampton there’d been reports of ‘Taylor out’ chants, but tonight not one word of dissent was aired his way – at least within my ear shot.
It was easy to fear the worst tonight. That it’d be a heavy defeat; that would then cause another managerial change, that would then split supporters, that would then end the season prematurely, that would then lead to falling attendances, that would then lead to the club’s downward spiral continuing, that would then lead to oblivion.
Even by recent standards it’s been such a dark time for every Bradford City supporter, and we’ve had little cause to believe we should expect to feel anything but miserable.
But the worst didn’t happen. And although a home defeat to Morecambe on Saturday might bring about all that we fear, perhaps we should begin to believe the corner is being slowly turned. It’s now one defeat from four, and the Northampton debacle aside there has been a steady improvement to performances. The poor start has been a colossal under-achievement, but that huge capacity to do much better means it’s not yet time to give up – on the players, on Taylor, on that promotion dream.
The season is still only at the beginning, but now we’re praying for that beginning to end.
The Team
- Jon McLaughlin | Zesh Rehman, Shane Duff, Steve Williams, Luke O'Brien | Lee Bullock, Tom Doherty, Tom Adeyemi | Gareth Evans, Omar Daley, Luke Oliver | Jake Speight, Lee Hendrie
The Byline
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Decent game, good performance, cracking result.
I still am left scratching my head about why Oliver is being selected up top, but tonight the lads resisted the urge to go long all the time and we looked better for it. Luke O’B has had a decent start to the season and I think that we look better with him than without. Also completely agree regarding Zesh; of course we’re all waiting for Ramsden’s return, but until then he’s the right man for right back.
Warrington was quite simply the difference between one point and all three.
Agree 100% with everything you say. Apart from the obvious changes at the front I’d like to see the same team out on Saturday. Time to start rewarding the lads for a good performance by keeping their place for the next game, that way confidence will slowly build.
Considering this morning’s signings of Gill and Brown that seems unlikely.
If I had any faith in the City board I would be amazed to read that Taylor is facing the sack. But the man (men) who sacked Todd, and have presided over 9 years of misery are, sadly, incapable of learning from their own mistakes. Taylor was the best manager we could have got. He has not suddenly become no good.
Anyone can surely see that he needs time but so did McCall, Todd, Law, Jewell, Kamara, right back to Jimmy Wheeler and Peter Jackson (1950s version). If you have supported City as long as I have, you could weep at the ineptitude of the board, and, sadly, there seems no end to it. I see nothing but continuing decline, and believe Taylor is our only chance of ending that decline, but expect that he will not be given the chance. A study of City’s history tells me that. How utterly sad.
I suppose it is inevitable that managers will come and go in all walks of life on a fairly regular basis. I don’t however, think that should be an excuse for the existing culture to be ripped up and the battle to install a new one begin. I think to peter Taylor’s credit he was prepared to keep and learn about the existing ‘culture’ from Wayne Jacobs. What is required down at VP, maybe, is a plan that identifies to everyman and his dog what we, as a Club, are about. Our ‘vision’,our ‘mission’ and what process and principles we are going to STICK to in order to achieve our goal. Our goal may simply be to consistently improve. The above will be familiar to anyone who has come across Total Quality Management philosophy. My point is that with a ‘strategy’ in place that can be seen and understood by EVERYONE. The direction and the purpose of Bradford City isn’t purely and simply about getting promoted is it? Would the Chairmen and Directors stand up and claim that it is the aim of Bradford City to get into the premiership in ‘X’ no of years even if it bankrupts the Club and we go out of business in the following year or two? How many of us would go along with THAT Vision? So what is our SHARED Vision, Mission, strategy etc? Can that Vision be achieved by changing Managers regularly or not? Maybe, depending on whether they come up from within the Club or whether they come from without but work within the Clubs existing culture? Changing Managers should be for reasons of developing and continuously improving on what we have already achieved, and not about giving the new Manager a blank piece of paper for a year or two before we sack him and give another blank sheet to the next incumbent.
If we don’t know where we want to go, does it matter what road we take?
Not sure that complaint can be made over recent years. McCall had a fairly decent crack at the whip. He would have gone much earlier at other clubs (I wanted him to stay longer). Dont get sucked in to the Taylor is about to be sacked based on internet rumours. I am baffled by the loan signings. The defence was excellent last night. Mind you, an attacking right back would go down well, but a centre back would disrupt the blossoming partnership between Duff and Williams, unless he plans on playing 5 at the back? Gill is meant to be excellent
It should be noted that McCall managed 133 Bradford City games which is four more than Frank Stapleton and six fewer than Colin Todd neither of whom had any reason to be retained by the club for longer than they should have been out of an affinity. There is not the evidence in Bradford City’s records to suggest – no matter what one thinks of his management – that that McCall got a longer tenure at the club because of his status as a player.
Peter Taylor is a good proven manager but i’m getting increasingly concerned about how much this team is getting chopped and changed. My view is that the we had a decent team at the end of last season, a team that was capable of challenging for promotion (playoffs or automatic). I know there have been some key players out through injury and bringing in 2 or 3 players would probably be a good move for back up but i’ve now lost count of how many we’ve brought in. How big is the squad now? How does this chopping and changing affect morale?
On another more controversial note, how will the bringing in of 2 more defenders affect Zesh Rehman? He is constantly wheeled out as the face of Bradford City and probably does more ‘community work’ than other players yet he moves further and further down the pecking order. It’s expected of him to do this and i think its insulting to him as an employee and as club captain.
Unless there are injuries, I’d personally be very angry if changes are made to any of the back four after how well they played together on Tuesday. I expect to see these two Man U loanees beginning life on the bench at least. Zesh deserves a run in the side, even though he is not the most comfortable at right back.