Articles written by Jason Mckeown
Accrington Stanley 0 Bradford City 2 – League Two 2007/08
Being of a more cynical nature, I find the hopes and promises made which coincide with the turn of the year bemusing. Vowing to stop smoking or start exercising is commendable, but expecting things to suddenly change just because we start using a new calendar is unrealistic. It’s traditional for the last City matchday programme of the year to be filled with contributions about how we should hope that the year ahead will be better for City and, of course, that the home form will improve; but not everyone’s life can change for better or worse on the same day. It may happen at any point during the year ahead, but January 1 and what this signifies isn’t on January 1 for all of us.
For City, New Years Day was really Saturday 11 August and events since will dictate what sort of year 2008 will be. According to an ever honest Stuart McCall after Saturday’s defeat to Hereford, it’s unlikely to include a trip to Wembley. This is due to the efforts of the first half of the campaign, or since City’s New Years Day. Results over the last couple of months have been largely decent, but it’s the infamous five successive defeats of September/October that have cost us and may predetermine what sort of a year 2008 is for City.
In my heart, I’m quite angry at hearing Stuart effectively write off the season with five months to go. Stuart’s post match interviews are notoriously honest but, when I think back to Stuart the player performing heroics, I don’t recall him ever giving up. In my head though, I grudgingly know that Stuart is correct in stating it’s highly unlikely City can make the play offs and is looking to the future. After years of treading water, City have the stability to build again and we need to be patient. Stuart the player had a brilliant football brain and it is his judgement that we now trust in carrying out that rebuilding.
As if to emphasise that the turn of the year doesn’t instantly herald change, City’s opening 45 minutes of 2008, at Accrington, were as average and frustrating as ever. We have the basis of a decent side, particularly at the back, but going forward we often fail to attack with purpose and provide our forwards with decent service.
Midway through the half City worked the ball into the penalty area but the home defence cleared. We picked up the loose ball and worked it back to Darren Williams, who then booted the ball aimlessly up the pitch and through to the keeper. Why is it that, the further we go up the pitch, the more the ball is treated like a hot potato? It’s as if the players are wary that, after stringing together four passes, they must be looking to test the keeper. Donovan Ricketts made a couple of easy saves in the mud, Peter Thorne and Paul Evans went close, the referee Barry Knight went off injured and that was the first half.
Straight after the break City took the lead. If the scorer was notable, Matt Clarke’s first in a City shirt, so to was how it came about. All season our set plays have been shocking but, when Stanley keeper Ian Dubavin weakly punched Evan’s corner kick, Joe Colbeck cleverly lobbed the ball back and David Wetherall headed it into Clarke’s path to stab home.
The goal lifted everyone’s spirits and from there City took control. With new signing Lee Bullock adding much-needed presence in the middle and catching the eye with some decent passes, City pressed forward at will. Two decent penalty appeals were rejected while Omar Daley should have done better after a brilliant mazy dribble left him with just the keeper to beat. Daley tried to be too clever and only succeeded blasting over. Barry Conlon, who received brilliant Andy Cooke-esqe backing from us fans all game, was played through one on one with the keeper and produced the tamest of shots which was easily blocked. As Accrington pushed forward towards the end, the fear was that City would pay for their wastefulness.
Then in the second minute of injury time, Daley broke away after City cleared an Accrington corner. With everyone in the City half, Daley was left with just the keeper to beat, he tried to take it around only for Dubavin to block, but Colbeck was on hand to gather up the loose ball and coolly slot the ball home. Cue wild celebrations behind the goal.
Colbeck walked off the pitch at full time still receiving congratulatory hugs from team mates and had City fans chanting his name. Since returning from the loan spell at Darlington he is looking a much more confident player. He was excellent all afternoon and his crossing caught the eye. In this sort of form Colbeck can have a big future at City and Stuart will no doubt be telling him to keep it up and not to get carried away.
City’s star performer was on the opposite wing though. Daley has begun performing much more effectively in recent weeks and he was in scintillating form against Accrington. I don’t get to every game, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play so well for City. He terrorised the Stanley full back and, crucially, is aware of what’s going on around him and doesn’t just run the ball down blind alleys. His work rate was equally outstanding and he helped the defence out on numerous occasions. I think we are belatedly seeing what a good player the Jamaican international is.
Indeed the second half performance left me thinking we’re a decent side at this level. There are areas to improve on, but the main failing in general this season is lack of consistency. If City could play like they did in the second half every week the play offs would still be a possibility. The problem is they probably won’t; I think well enough to enjoy a better second half of the season but, as Stuart said, the teams currently in the play offs are a long way ahead in terms of points.
In the programme, Accrington manager John Colman wrote that he thinks Stanley can make the play offs this season, so to see City easily beat such a poor side who believe they can go up is frustrating. If only City could have started the season better we could now be looking forward to 2008 with more relish. Instead the rest of the season will seemingly be about building for the next one and ensuring that, for City’s next New Year’s Day in August, we hit the ground running.
Bradford City 2 Lincoln City 1 - League Two 2007/2008
For as long as I have been going to watch Bradford City, there have been two basic types of player adorning Claret and Amber.
The first type is the hard working and committed footballer. Always giving 100% to the cause and battling to the end. They may not be the most talented often possessing limited skill, but when the chips are down they can always be counted on to give their all.
Then there’s the second, more skilful type of player. On their day they have the ability to decide a match with the quality to do things that others cannot. They can have you on the edge of your seat, but unfortunately are invariably less consistent and liable to underperform in some games. They frustrate as often as they excite and can’t be trusted to always try their hardest. Are they as committed to the cause as the other type of player? And why do they seem to think they’re above tracking back?
The fortuitous Boxing Day win over Lincoln was ground out by a mixture of both types of players and showed that, as much as most of would prefer to have 11 players sweating Claret and Amber blood to the cause, not selecting players who can produce those moments of brilliance will only get us so far.
Omar Daley is undoubtedly the second type of Valley Parade player. It’s just short of a year since he joined from Charleston Battery and received the huge build up before his debut, but the Jamaican winger has so far flattered to deceive. We know he has the ability to be a match winner for us, but it’s not seen often enough. Daley was largely disappointing during the second half of last season and his miss in that vital game against Leyton Orient still makes me feel angry. He has improved this season, particularly of late, but his inconsistency leaves some fans wishing we could replace him with someone who will always give their all.
Against Lincoln Daley was both typically brilliant and typically terrible. Not everything he tries is going to work and it is frustrating when he loses the ball, but he’s often behind our best attacking moves. He stretched the Lincoln defence and regularly beat defenders; but also largely knew when to pass the ball and bring others into play, even if the ball doesn’t always reach its target.
Midway through the second half Daley had a fantastic opportunity when he broke clear and had two players to square the ball to in the penalty area, but his pass found neither player and the ball was cleared. Then as the match moved to injury time, Daley had an opportunity to charge forward again after been brilliantly found by Joe Colbeck. Again he was running at a back peddling defence and again there were City players rushing to get into the area. On this occasion Daley took his time, slowed down the ball before beating and twisting the defender one way and then the other. With others now in better positions, he delivered an excellent ball across the area which substitute Barry Conlon was able to bundle home at the far post.
It was this piece of brilliance that made the difference and earned City the unlikely win. On an afternoon of high emotion which saw unforgettable scenes before kick off, it was a fantastic way to end the day. Over the last few weeks results and performances have improved, but there have been too many draws and progress up the league table has been slow. Once again it seemed that City’s huff and puff wasn’t going to be enough after Lincoln’s Lenell John-Lewis had cancelled out Peter Thorne’s early opener. Passing moves broke down too easily and corners and free kicks were wasted, service to the front two was again not great and a winning goal seemed beyond City. Cue the moment of brilliance.
More of the hard working but limited players are Joe Colbeck and Kyle Nix, who also both played equally significant roles in earning the victory. Making his first Valley Parade start for three months, Joe got off to a flyer wonderfully setting up Peter Thorne to fire home the opening goal in less than a minute. Ask supporters around the stadium for their views on Joe and you’re likely to receive largely negative responses. Joe is certainly a confidence player and has struggled in front of the Valley Parade glare in the last 18 months, but I don’t think he can ever be criticised for effort.
Joe began this game in flying form although predictably struggled with his final ball. Watching him perform by the Midland Road stand during the second half, it was noticeable how aware Joe seems to be of the crowd. You can seem him glance up when he’s receiving criticism and it seems to affect his game. I believe Joe can become a very good footballer for this club, but he needs to find that mental steel to block out the reaction of the crowd.
Joe’s return to the team has enabled Nix to move into the centre of midfield where he looks a better player. The former Sheffield United midfielder is not the quickest and struggles to beat full backs for pace when whipping in crosses on the wing, but his work rate and ball winning ability is admirable. Moved into the centre, his battling abilities were hugely effective and his passing also really caught the eye. Nix will soon be out of contract at City but there seems to be no question he will earn a more permanent deal. The centre of midfield has been a problem area all season but Nix’s recent performances mean Stuart might prefer to concentrate on improving other areas of the team when he can make new signings in January.
City’s flying start to the game allowed some comfort against an industrious Lincoln side who performed much worse than the Sincil Bank meeting earlier in the season. They did put some pressure on City and forced Donovan Ricketts into two fantastic saves, but City could and should have grabbed a second with only the final ball or weak finishing spoiling some decent moves. It was no surprise that Lincoln came out strongly in the second half but, disappointingly, we conceded a soft equaliser within five minutes, although otherwise our defence was excellent with Matt Clarke comfortably slotting back.
City struggled to pass with any fluidity and lacked quality in the final third, Guylian Ndumbu-Nsungu was hugely disappointing and it wasn’t until he went off and Daley moved up front that we can began to threaten again. Thorne was then replaced with Conlon and, with the 11 players left on the field having managed just six goals between them all season, a winner looked improbable. At least until Daley set up Conlon.
There’s no prizes for guessing which type of player Conlon is considered and it was fantastic for the hard working striker to finally net a goal for City from open play, but it was the delivery of a skilful but not always fully committed player that made it happen. If only Daley could produce like this more often because he is the type of player who makes the difference, but I know that in a few weeks time he will be causing me to tear out my hair in frustration as he disappoints once more. On those occasions it will be down to ever dependable players such as Nix to help City earn something. We certainly can’t manage without this type of player, but also need match winners like Daley to deliver.
Ultimately; the more good days than bad he enjoys, the higher up the league City will climb.
Last week the FA chose Fabio Capello as the man who they believe can lift the English national team to future glory. After the failure of Steve McClaren to lead England to next summer’s European Championships, there’s been a lot of pressure heaped upon the FA to get the appointment right and Capello’s record at various top clubs suggests that success for England will quickly follow. Yet while Steve McClaren was judged by some as a safety first appointment, Capello is surely much more so.
There’s been the usual howls of discontent about going for a foreign coach from the usual suspects and I find myself feeling sympathy for them. True, there aren’t really any outstanding English managers who were in the frame, but perhaps the FA could have seen beyond this and truly looked to the future, like so many were howling at them to do in the wake of McClaren’s dismissal.
The England team are always under heavy pressure from the media and fans, but now could have been the time for appointing a bright young coach like Aidy Boothroyd and opting to build both the national team and the set up that surrounds it, while giving them time to develop in the role and implement their ideas and beliefs.
With a reasonably easy looking World Cup qualifying group (though we’ve heard that before) there’s three years of building before England will presumably compete in the 2010 South Africa tournament. Capello will be just short of retirement age by then and hardly likely to still be in the England hot seat four years after.
I might be wrong, but I don’t see Capello worrying himself with the development of young talent in England and busting a gut to go and watch the various England youth teams. Understandably, his priority is delivering immediate success with the senior side. He is also bringing in fellow Italian countrymen to act as backroom staff and run the team. It will be interesting to see what sort of relationship these people have with the England youth coaches.
I don’t think you can blame the FA for going for the quick fix. They’re under pressure themselves and any failure in the near future will see calls for them, alongside the manager, to go. But what about the England team in five years, or ten, or twenty? The FA are paying Capello a reported £6 million a year. There’s plenty of people raising their voices about the failings with youth development in England, what could an extra £5 million a year do to aid that?
I watched some of the TV footage of Capello’s press conference on Monday and found it bewildering. As a caption appeared on the TV screen translating into English Capello’s comments it was hard to believe I was watching the England manager speak. Typically it seemed he was only asked tedious questions about John Terry and David Beckham. Over the last month various journalists have written opinionated columns about the failings of English football in the wake of the McClaren era. They might as well save these pieces on their lap tops; in two years time they could be writing more or less the same thing again.
Closer to home, the latest choice of manager at Valley Parade was a very different decision. Stuart McCall’s appointment might have been universally popular among City fans, but the Board knew that they were also appointing someone with limited experience. There was certainly nothing ‘safety first’ about choosing to bring Stuart back. We could have gone for someone like Peter Jackson and have been confident he could have taken us forward quickly; though it’s questionable how far he could ultimately have taken us, just like Capello and England.
By selecting Stuart I believe that we have selected a longer term approach. In his first position as number one, mistakes will undoubtedly be made. No one, in any walk of life, gets things right all the time and with each day in charge his experience will grow. Judgement of players, man management of different personalities and changing the course of games looking lost – all necessary abilities of any successful manager, though not learnt over night. Will success be as instant with Stuart than it would have been with someone like Peter Jackson? Probably not, but who would leave the club in the best of health?
And let’s face it; Bradford City is a club that has been failing on and off the pitch for a few years. We badly needed to change the way we do things, because the results speak for themselves. Of course there are good reasons for our failure, the financial strife caused by over stretching ourselves in the Premiership have taken years to sort out. This summer Mark Lawn has come in and wiped out those remaining debts. We can look forward to the future with much more optimism, but as we do so we find ourselves stuck in the bottom division.
Speaking about the up coming January transfer window, Stuart made some very interesting points. Of course, with the season not going as well as hoped, he is looking to bring in new players to improve results and, like his predecessors, the budget available will mean only loan signings are likely to made. Yet even with this short term issue Stuart says he is aiming to bring in temporary players who potentially may become permanent signings in the summer. It would be reasonably easy to bring in reserve players at Championship and League One clubs who are too good for this level, but just bringing in people whose aim is to impress enough to win a place at their parent club or earn a transfer elsewhere will only benefit us in the short term. Instead Stuart is hoping to bring in loan players who we might later sign permanently and play a significant role in future seasons.
Surely this kind of approach, looking at City’s future in years rather than months, is more preferable. Previous managers have had little choice due to the finances, but the last few years we have experienced a high turnover of players with dire consequences. This week I’ve been enjoying old videos of City’s 1998/99 promotion season and recalled the fantastic contributions of so many former City greats. A team that had Walsh, Bruno, Tumble, OB, Whalley, Beagrie, Blake, Lawrence, Mills, Flash and of course Stuart and Jakes - so many heroes! There have been very few players in recent years whose efforts for the club would see them described in such a way, but it would be nice to think we could have players in the near future who could reach such a status amongst us.
During his first interview after been appointed as manager, Stuart also spoke of wanting to bring in players who would be with City for years. I felt at the time that part of his view was formed by the career that he himself enjoyed with City. He, and so many of his team mates, gave so much to City and are rightly held in high regard for this. Being part of successful Bradford City teams will help him to understand what he needs from players now.
The fact that he has also come through the youth ranks with us will also mean he will understand the importance of this side of Bradford City. There were murmurings that some previous City managers didn’t pay enough attention to this area, perhaps unfair given the steady stream of youngsters who have been given a first team chance. If we’re going to produce talented youngsters who can really take this club forward, I would suggest having a manager who has come through those same youth ranks can only aid the club’s ability and understanding to do so.
All of which links back to Capello. What does the man charged with lifting English football know about it? What idea of our history and tradition does he have? It can be argued that this is irrelevant if he wins matches, which he surely will, but what’s the long term aim? Surely the English national team should stretch beyond the 11 players.
I’m comparing the situations of the national team and Bradford City because they have both hit their respective low points recently. Our relegation to League Two is probably the equivalent to England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and our dismal 3-0 loss at Chesterfield last April was as passionless and clueless as that of England’s Croatia Wembley defeat. Both City and England have been in the situation of needing to rebuild. England have gone for the quick fix in Capello and are likely to enjoy immediate better times, but the long term ratifications for English football in employing an Italian concerned only with delivering immediate success remains to be seen. City have gone for the untested and inexperienced Stuart, but a man who understands our great club and who, for the first time in years, has the stability to restore it’s pride. I’ve heard some fans criticise Stuart and that’s fair enough, we’re all allowed our opinion. But anyone who has watched Stuart play for us can’t forget the way he performed and how much he gave to this club. He might get things wrong as manager, but his effort and motives cannot be questioned.
Capello’s experience and greater resources will mean his success will come easier, who will ultimately leave the biggest mark in their respective jobs remains to be seen.