Thursday 2nd December, 20102 years ago, at the start of December
Everyone loses as Zesh Rehman is transfer listed by Peter Taylor
The Byline
More Information
I’ve always been the type of supporter who takes the manager’s side in public fall outs with players.
Paul Jewell v Lee Mills, Jim Jefferies v Stuart McCall, Colin Todd v Lee Crooks, Stuart McCall v Chris Brandon. Sure, I often understood the player’s grievance, but the way the would have behaved or lack of acknowledgement of the bigger picture left me ultimately agreeing with the manager’s point of view.
But when it comes to Zesh Rehman’s falling out with Peter Taylor, I have to stick my flag firmly in the middle.
This evening on BBC Radio Leeds, Taylor confirmed that Rehman has been transfer listed and stripped of the captaincy due to comments he made in an interview for the same station on Monday. Rehman had spoken out about how unhappy he is to have been dropped on more than one occasion to make way for inexperienced loan players, despite playing very well for the team and helping City achieve some good results. Rehman’s comments can be read here, but in summary he stated:
I’m not going to lie, it’s left a bad taste in my mouth having to watch the last few games from the bench. I’ve led the team to good results and performances and then I’ve had four young loan defenders, with 10 league games between them, come in and play ahead of me. Now, no disrespect to them, but at times like this I think you need experience. I’m club captain, have played over 200 games in my career so far and I think my experience could help the team right now.
“It’s not just me that’s baffled as to why I’m not playing, but my team-mates as well and I’ve been stopped by a number of fans too. But, at the end of the day, the manager has to pick the team that he thinks can win and you have to respect that and get on with it.”
Rehman’s comments are far from out of the blue, a month ago he expressed similar comments to the Telegraph & Argus, after Reece Brown and Oliver Gill’s time on loan had come to an end and the Pakistan international recalled. Last week, a triumphant piece of reporting of Rehman’s Downing Street meeting with David Cameron on City’s official website initially included reference to the Prime Minister expressing his confusion of why he kept getting dropped – only for the offending paragraph to be removed from the page hours later.
Rehman was probably warned about his public comments, and one can understand why Taylor would be angry at having his authority questioned in this manner again. With his unusual background in football, Zesh is regularly sought out for interviews in the national media and has more opportunities than others to express his views. His latest public utterances appear very ill-judged.
On Radio Leeds tonight, Taylor, who had had been listening to Radio Leeds at home when Rehman spoke, explained:
There’s been a couple of situations recently he should have been disciplined for but didn’t. I think I’ve been very open…to say he’s very unlucky to be left out. Every time I’ve made a decision it’s been an honest one. I felt listening to him on your programme Monday night, that was very unnecessary…I think as a club captain he’s let himself down. The timing is poor, and I think he knows what he is doing.
But if it’s difficult to sympathise with Rehman’s actions, it is very easy to understand them. Of course Rehman’s City career has not been the success we hoped when he signed in January 2009. Last season the list of poor performances from City’s number 5 was disappointingly high. He was at times fortunate to retain a place in the starting eleven. But his end of season form was good under Taylor, and the manager could have easily got rid of him during the summer. We can all argue whether he deserved another chance this season, but in been given one he is surely then entitled to a fair crack of the whip.
Rehman would make few supporters’ best City XI when everyone is fit, but with so many defenders on the sidelines he has come in and performed commendably – including playing out of his best position, at right back. And the number of clean sheets and good results his precence in the team helped to earn was evidence of the positive difference he was making.
Then along would come another young loan player, and Rehman was back on the bench.
In such circumstances, who wouldn’t feel frustrated and angry at being forced to make way for young players who were hardly any better or capable? If, in our own jobs and careers, we were giving everything we had to the cause and knew we were making a difference, only for the person above us to decide to bring in someone else to do our job for a few weeks and force us into doing something less, we’d have every right to feel aggrieved. The right way of expressing that anger is a matter of debate, but Rehman’s choices doesn’t make his anger any less valid.
Rehman talks about younger, inexperienced players coming in – and we’ve all seen the struggles Reece Brown, Oliver Gill, Rob Kieran and, to a lesser extent, Rob Eckersley have endured when arriving at Valley Parade. But in some ways this isn’t really the point. Taylor could have brought in Glen Johnson on loan to play right back instead of Rehman, but if the general principle is the loan player is here for just four or five games and then departs back to their club what is the benefit in the medium to longer-term?
City badly need to have a settled team and a settled squad, who are realistically all equal and where the victors of the first team jerseys on a Saturday achieve their places on merit. For sure City have had injuries lately and, after Steve Williams was injured at Colchester last month, Taylor had no choice but to bring in a loan defender with Williams joining Shane Duff, Simon Ramsden and Lewis Hunt on the sidelines. But he did not need to bring in two defenders and drop an in-form Rehman. He could have signed just Kiernan and kept Zesh as right back, he could have signed just Eckersley and moved Rehman to his natural centre back position.
The point is that City’s reserve players should have the clear motivation of a first team opportunity to push for if there are injuries or loss of form; but if Taylor rules those reserve players are not good enough then why have a squad at all? And why the philosophy of having two players for every position if the back up guy can’t be trusted? If Taylor wanted to be so reliant on the loan market, he could have signed fewer players during the summer and targeted higher quality over quantity.
Rehman talked about other players not understanding why he was dropped – a favourite line used by players who speak out against their manager and one which frankly does him no favours. But it is worth pondering what message Rehman’s continuing dropping from the team for young loanees sends to the rest of the squad fighting for opportunities. What if Luke O’Brien was to get injured in training tomorrow, would Taylor bring in Robbie Threlfall or sign a loanee who is better at attacking than the more conservative-natured former Liverpool youngster?
But let us not pin the blame for this situation on Taylor, for it is a deeper issue running through the club which has led to this public bust up. 2010 has been the year of short-termism for City. The dumping of McCall, the trialling of Taylor and, most damaging of all, then only offering him a one-year contract. This season is all about promotion, and as things stand Taylor will be joining Rehman in leaving Valley Parade just a few months later. We had the outstanding candidate, he told the club what was needed to deliver success. That advice was rewarded with just a short-term contract and then failed promises – and it will be Taylor who carries the can for it.
And so Taylor has to focus all efforts on getting the club promoted this season in order to keep his job. So he has no time for short-term poor results and for developing players like Rehman, when his job will likely depend on very thin margins. He has to get a result on a Saturday, and another the Saturday after. If the best chance of doing that is bringing in a kid from Watford for a few games then who can blame him. Worry about a few weeks time, when that kid departs, later.
If Taylor had been handed a two-year deal and the buffer that this season was not promotion or bust, he could have channelled his efforts wider in developing a squad that would grow and improve over time and City would be all the stronger for that, rather than get rid of players who can’t quite do what he wants and needs in an instant. We are, in many ways, wasting Taylor’s talents by the pressure all of us force him to work under.
It is a great shame that Rehman is going to be departing this club. He is a clearly a fantastic person, who has done a great deal for Bradford City, even if you argue most of it has been off the field. He may not have boosted Asian attendances to Valley Parade in the way some hoped, but the manner of his work in the community and in acting as an ambassador for the club have been outstanding and could have significantly born fruit over time.
But sadly we are a club which has turned to quick wins over long-term thinking. And right now it seems nobody wins.
The Byline
More Information
14 Comments
Comments Closed
- The article could be over fourteen days old and have had comment turned off automatically.
- We might have turned off comments on the article believing that it needs no more further discussion.
- We may have decided the article will not be subject to comments. Sometimes a statement is a start of a debate, sometime it is simply a statement.
- On rare occasions we are not able to respond and approve comments owing to time pressures and we may have turned comments off for a period of time.
Jason, thanks for the article. I was hoping you were writing about this as it bent me out-of-shape when I heard it and I wanted a little perspective before I added my thoughts. I think this is something the club have been wanting to do for a while. Yes Zesh spoke out about not getting in the team which is against the etiquette rules, but I think this all could have been handled much better.
The main problem I have with all of this is that I think he has been put in this position by the club in the first place. The work that he does in the community has become high profile and the club has ridden this profile to improve their image. A natural progression when someone gets more recognition is that they get asked more questions by higher profile commentators. This includes questions about what he thinks about football, the community, his foundation, and this naturally goes on to questions about – well, why aren’t you playing. How, I ask is he meant to answer this? If he says he is happy sitting on the bench it is a lie and it doesn’t help the foundation. If he says nothing the media can say “well the results when you were in the team are better than they are when you are out of the team…” Commentators are going to get the answer they want to make a story (well done Radio Leeds) out of him eventually. I am surprised it took so long to be honest. If it was me I would probably have given him some extra leeway for all the positive press he was bringing in, chatted with him and said – cool off on the interviews a bit now Radio Leeds has their story and let’s get down to work.
I know I don’t have all the information, but from what I see I don’t like it and think the club should reconsider their stance, but that is just my opinion.
Zesh would have been better talking to Wayne Jacobs about how you get back in the starting eleven. I lost count of the number of players bought to replace Wayne. Can’t remember him once compaining about it to the Prime Minister……
We do not know the full story but what has been made public, I feel Zesh has been very harshly treated here. How often do we hear managers crave their players spouting off when they are subbed or not in the starting 11? I agree fully with Zesh’s assessment that it doesn’t seem fair he has been cast aside for young loan players from other clubs. My assessment is that he will not set this division alight, BUT he is good enough for the 4th division and on his day was well worthy of his shirt and boots. The most interesting quote from Taylor is “There’s been a couple of situations recently he should have been disciplined for but didn’t”. Could these be the reasons why he hasn’t been getting into the starting 11? With only knowing what has been made public – a great shame and wish Zesh luck when he moves on.
To be fair, I agree with everything Zesh has said, but the way he has gone about it is wrong. Ultimately if he has an issue he should raise it with the manager and then work double hard to get back in the side.
Im sure that many other league 2 team would snap Zesh up – you cant buy experience like that at this level. I have been very vocal of my dislike of Oliver – yes he can win headers but the rest of his defending is shoddy. Rehman should be in the team ahead of Oliver in my opinion, but only when Williams is alongside him.
This is a well trodden path for virtually every footballer. They are all dropped at some point and are nearly all asked how they feel about it.
The answer is generally some platitude along the lines of “nobody is happy when not playing but the boys are doing a good job and I’ll have to work extra hard in training”.
What you don’t say is “the Prime Minister asked me and I said I could do a better job than all the other players and the manager is an idiot”..or words to that effect..
The action seems harsh – but Zesh is in the wrong. The point made about Wayne above is exactly right !
I think at times like this you’ve got to back the managers decision and move on..the last thing BCFC needs is more disruption.I don’t see this a big deal and in fact this sort of stuff goes on at all football clubs,upset the manager and your days at that particular football club are numbered, I’m sure Rehman knew the consequences of his actions and maybe a new start else where will benefit the player.
Stuart McCall was wrong to publically criticize Jim Jefferies, Rehman was wrong to say what he said. The big difference is that what McCall said was wrong and what Rehman said is right. His short term replacements have not improved things on the field, if anything they made things worse.
On the other hand Rehman has been marketing Bradford City to a massive section of its potential audience that the Club has, at best, ignored. All the community outreach stuff has come from the likes of David Ward and other outsiders; apart from Rehman the people at the club seem to think it is 1972 and they are characters in On The Buses.
Taylor has every right to sign aging donkeys that played for him in the small number of successful teams he has managed, or to give Premiership make-weight’s a chance to play for no better reason than to save wages. Taylor also has ever right to get rid of Rehman, but he is an idiot if he does so.
Let’s not forget that Zesh signed for City to play football not be constantly wheeled him out by the club as their representative for the asian community.
I think Zesh has been playing well and is a good footballer. I don’t think any talking to the manager would have got him in the side – his on the field performances were enough for him to feature.
I think the manager and club have handled this poorly, Zesh deserved better.
I don’t like this football etiquette about keeping everything in house. Clubs will use the media to suit their needs; City wheeling out Rehman, Ferguson speaking about the Rooney business. Listen to so many top managers, especially after a defeat, and they are full of bullshit and platitudes which smack of the media training which many of them have probably been given. When a player speaks publicly, in Rehman’s case after being put on show to suit the club, it all gets a bit difficult for the club if they don’t like what he has to say. Fans are not stupid and Rehman is only stating the obvious. Is it any surprise to anyone that he feels this way? A lot of fans seem to agree with him and his team mates probably do. Credit the supporters with a bit of intelligence City and let plain speaking have its place, especially in Yorksha.
This is a great article with plenty of objective responses. Everyone is trying to see this situation from both sides.One thing that has to be questioned is how Taylor has reacted to the situation. Put into context the fact that Rehman has played well when asked this season, the fact that his replacements have clearly blundered points away with inept performances, Zesh has worked hard for the profile of the club (How many other players spent their spare time promoting multi-cultural football) and something else that is very important – Zesh is a good professional. All the above need to be considered – and yet Taylors reaction screams insecurity and poor man-management. But then again, this is the guy who man the early statement that ‘players at this level are not consistent, that’s why their playing at this level.Either that or they are on their way down.’ Now, you don’t have to be the team’s best friend, but mutual respect is the foundation of any successful organisation.It appears that Taylor’s style of management does not put an arm around players that are unhappy and take all of their efforts otherwise into consideration. It’s all a bit old school, I mean, were not exactly talking about Lee Bowyer are we? When Zesh left for downing street, he wasn’t unhappy about the fact that he wasn’t playing, but the way that he wasn’t looked after, considered or even respected. This would not have fitted Taylors style, but yet it’s what makes a great manager. OK, don’t play Zesh, but keep him happy, talk to him and explain your actions. If Taylor has a bigger picture and can explain why he signed poor loanee’s, then he needs to share it, otherwise we can only share Zesh’s confusion as to why he was treated badly on and off the pitch.
Zesh brought city some welcome publicity. Our town only ever get’s news related to murdered sex workers and race riots.For once we got some national, positive race relation publicity, shattered by our managers insecurities.Our fans are not stupid (See the kops resonse to Luke O’B being dropped). They know fairness. I hope that Taylor stays and does a great job, but with humility. This will not help his popularity.
Best wishes Zesh.
Obviously Taylor doesn’t rate Rehman as a central defender or fullback,putting aside Rehman’s comments on Radio Leeds,i simply don’t see the sense in keeping a player if he’s just a bit part player,i would imagine Rehman is one of the higher earners on the playing staff so it makes sense to let the player go and replace him with someone who will help BCFC get promoted this season.
I’ve got my doubts as to whether anyone can get the Bradford asian community interested in BCFC,we did see an increase in Asian support in the first season in the Premiership but i believe most of that disappeared the following season.I believe BCFC have played games against a combined Bradford asian team in the past with very few of that community turning up to watch the game.Obviously the club should keep trying but in my opinion that isn’t a case for keeping Rehman as a BCFC player.
I and I am sure in common with others really welcomed the signing of Zesh a ‘Pakistani International’ because I would also like to see the ground filled with Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian fans. Zesh’s efforts in handing out the free tickets to Pakistani kids has been unrelenting. I would be very unsure as to how many extra paying customers this has attracted but really well done for trying. I certainly realised by Taylor’s second game, away at Accrington last season that Zesh was nowhere near good enough, I would have cancelled his contract after that game. This speaking out hokum is all smoke and mirrors.He isn’t good enough even for our hopeless 10th rate outfit.
The Accrington game was Taylor first game in charge. Cancelling Zesh’s contract would have not saved the club a penny, but would have cost them the player who played well in the last half dozen games of last season.
I, personally, think the behaviour of Peter Taylor has been disgusting. He has orchestrated this scenario with the poor handling of the situation. It is okay for him to say, “I think I’ve been very open…..to say he’s very unlucky to be left out”. I’m sure that would make Zesh feel much better at being constantly left out.
However, what made me more angry is the fact that Taylor has not treated the sitution consistently. Zesh spoke out about being left out of the team for young, inexperienced loanees and that he didn’t agree with Taylor’s reasons for doing so. I’m sure he would have had similar conversations directly with his boss, but that didn’t make a difference.
Speight on the other hand, came to the club under a cloud and a warning from Taylor that he was being given another chance. On joining Port Vale on loan, he spoke out against our coaching & training methods and claimed we weren’t as fit as Vale. Instead of treating Speight with the same ‘hard-line’, Taylor quipped to the local press “if he (Speight) wants, can have more running when he returns”. Hardly treating two counts of ‘breaching club rules’ consistently and it is for that reason that I am disgusted with Taylor!!!!