More About Morecambe
Perhaps you could have had some sympathy with Sammy McIlroy when the Morecambe manager moaned “I’ve been in football a long time and I cannot believe that scoreline. I thought we played some fantastic stuff sometimes.”
His team had not shown signs of being liable for the stuffing they got and the former Manchester United winger’s plan to keep the goals down had been good enough for many other clubs who have frustrated at Valley Parade. McIlroy’s continuation was telling “Stuart McCall was man enough to admit to me afterwards that it was the wrong scoreline, though obviously it’s easier to say when you’ve come out on top.”
Across from McCall’s dug out at Valley Parade in the Midland Road stand four or five supporters spend most of the game grumbling about the City manager and seem affronted when his team starts to score. Post-Christmas football attracts all sorts and in this case it is a collection of agitators playing on a lingering notion that the Bantam’s manager is mis-firing. That City could be doing more, one assumes, although no one will say in what way, or how.
This vagueness of criticism is best illuminated in the comments levelled at Wayne Jacobs - McCall’s assistant - for not being able to “sort out” City defence (The one that has not conceded on 270 minutes). The comment is defined enough to sound expert to the naive but fuzzy enough to not require any analysis to make.
It is ludicrous and cowardly. Cowardly because the speakers are not man enough to comment on McCall for fear of going against his popularity, ludicrous because to assume that Jacobs is in charge of the defending at Valley Parade is no more sensible than to assume that Sir Alex, a midfielder sharp elbowed centre-forward in his day, leaves Mike Phelan to deal with Rio Ferdinand and concentrates on what Michael Carrick is up to when he is going forward.
Nevertheless as McIlroy’s comment signify McCall seems ready to allow the vagaries of criticism to swirl around him. He tells McIlroy that his Morecambe team did not deserve to be spanked but which of the four City goals was not well earned? Which of the chances that City defended should have gone in? When McIlroy says his team did not deserve to be beaten 4-0 it would be out of character and slightly obnoxious for McCall to tell his opposite that a team that puts four past someone without reply does not need to look at percentage on the ball stats and has clearly stuffed them like the festive turkey but it might be more useful in cementing the City manager’s reputation.
After all what is McIlroy doing other than protecting his reputation at McCall’s expense? Did Mark Wright come to McCall’s defence after the 0-0 draw with Chester and say how City had deserved the win? McCall’s tendency to allow grace for his defeated rivals is part of the character that makes him popular with City fans as a magnanimous player but as a manager a section of that support are hearing that every City win was a lucky one - even a 4-0 tonking - while every Bantams draw or defeat is a huge failure.
The Bantams sit in the top three of a tight division. We score from more sources than we have since the days of Lee Mills/Robbie Blake/Peter Beagrie and we play good football and when things click together as they did against Morecambe McCall should take a curtain call of celebration. He needs to be ebullient and tell those people who suggest that his team - or Wayne Jacobs’s part of it - is a shambles at the back that City are keeping clean sheets.
Because in a lack of ebullience from McCall the void is filled by managers like McIlroy casting the impression that City are drifting in luck and vague whispers.
McCall’s new year resolution should be to shout more and give less time for opportunists to steal his microphone.
Statistics please me not, dear reader, so I have no record for you of how Bradford City have done this calendar year that ends with the Bantams beating Morecambe 4-0 at Valley Parade with goals by Paul McLaren, Michael Boulding, Nicky Law Jnr and Barry Conlon.
I could not tell you how many games have been won or lost or how many goals have gone in one end or another - I’m all about the mood, people - but I can tell you that the spectre of the common home defeat has been banished in 2008. Last time on this turf City were incapable of breaking down a defensive Chester City side while today the Bantams got the breakthrough that is so often needed against negative sides and went on to win the match.
That crucial first goal came when Barry Conlon jostled in the air with former Town man Danny Adams and all were looking at the Referee save Paul McLaren who wandered nonchalantly - showing a head as cool as the air that Conlon’s hands were still in - into the area with ball to poke past advancing keeper Barry Roche.
McLaren’s role at the back of any attack that had Conlon on the floor was a result of Stuart McCall’s 433 formation which - in turn - was a result of the combination of return to fitness of Dean Furman and the fact that, well, it just suited the opposition so well.
Morecambe’s plan was not unique - the close down City’s defenders and sit deep themselves - but it was countered with confidence from McCall who placed faith in the back four to have the ball played short to draw out the opposition and make gaps where they were none for the last few years in the sides who come to Valley Parade with two lines of defenders. This is a difference between the start of 2008 and the end in that Stuart McCall has devised this plan but the fact that it sees the player accused of “pissing about” is slightly curious. McCall’s teams play some lovely football at times but none of it comes from Rhys Evans putting his laces through it and hoping Barry Conlon can be under it.
Much of that lovely stuff, any plans and the options that saw Stuart capable of playing a three man midfield comes from the midfield’s return to fitness with Furman quickly back into the fray and McLaren now fully up to speed. Combined with Nicky Law - who is certainly worth bringing in if Sheffield United will allow him to leave during the transfer window - the three did not enjoy dominance but created the chances that made this win.
The stats will tell you that City and Morecambe had similar shot counts but as I say I do not do stats because they do not tell the difference between Conlon striking the bar and a throw your cap on it dribbler. Morecambe might be worried about having lost 4-0 and they might curse their luck that they had one cleared off the line at the end of the first half but spawn many great chances they did not and the fact that City’s creation was finished off is another curio of 2008.
Michael Boulding’s run to meet up the end of Barry Conlon’s intelligent take down and through ball deserved the kind of quality finish which the striker provided cooly putting over Roche’s shoulder as if he had the freedom of Valley Parade rather than a couple of bruisers from the Bay breathing down his neck.
On exit of Dean Windass - chased off to the Premiership - City spent 2007 without a scorer worthy or the name. Peter Thorne’s return to fitness has seen him bag an Indian Summer’s worth of goals and Boulding’s first half a season has seen him get ten goals while Barry Conlon had a half dozen. 2008 seems to have been the year when City’s strikers started scoring.
What good is scoring goals though, if your defence is a shambles? City’s defence is a shambles though - it must be cause I read it on the Internet - but it is also three games since we conceded a goal and as a rule we do tend to concede fewer than we score. One thing that has not changed in 2008 is the level of expectation which have gone over the border of ludicrous.
A third goal came from Nicky Law Jnr who drove forward with the ball and lobbed Roche from range and sealed the victory for City. A fourth came when Steve Jones tried to finish off a ball to the back post by Omar Daley - a late sub - and Danny Adams got his hand between ball and goal to lead to a penalty.
One thing that changed in 2008 was the addition of the word “Deliberate” to the handball law (Law 12 - Direct Free Kick). If Adams handled the ball to have a penalty given against him then he did it deliberately - otherwise the Referee should not give an offence against him - so he has to send the player off for deliberately stopping a shot from going into the net with his hands.
Barry Conlon slammed in the penalty and still had time to set up further chances for Daley and Jones erasing what had been a quiet first half for the Irishman and all departed the field in the knowledge of a job well done and probably a year well spent.
Stuart McCall looks at his squad - we have a chance of keeping Nicky Law but little of signing Furman, Steve Jones is not the fourth goalscorer the Bantams are looking for, Luke O’Brien stands up in the first team - and perhaps tinkers in the days leading up to the Shrewsbury game when the transfer window opens but the return of players like Joe Colbeck to fitness will allow the manager more of a palette.
For it was options - options to shape a team on a game by game basis - that brought about a good win at the end of 2008 and a good 2008.
The numerous season preview supplements produced at this time of year act as a reminder, if it were needed, that the hopes and expectations we City supporters have for the coming season are not dissimilar to the majority of League Two fans.
Much has been made locally about how last season’s promotion of the MK Dons and Peterborough has left a more levelled playing field, but we aren’t the only ones thinking such sentiments. Some clubs will look to Hereford’s unexpected promotion last season and be confident they can emulate it, others may be hoping it’s emerging young talent can push them forward in the manner of Stockport and Rochdale, while others are upping the wage budget in a bid to go for it. League Two may look weaker without the presence of the Dons and the Posh, but it’s likely to be just as competitive.
When considering who might be in the promotion shake up it’s typical to start with the clubs who have spent money, those who lost out in last year’s plays offs and those relegated into the division last season. The club record £170,000 that Shrewsbury Town has spent on Nottingham Forest striker Grant Holt stands out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else’s summer recruitment. Last season was one of underachievement for the 2007 Play Off Finalists but manager Paul Simpson will begin his first full season with expectations not much lower than at Valley Parade.
Holt made his name at last season’s play off finalists Rochdale, who are likelier to be up there come May. Keith Hill has worked wonders at Spotland and their counter attacking approach impressed last season. Arguably lacking a decent striker, the Dale will hope Halifax’s Jon Shaw can make the step up; especially as midfield playmaker David Perkins, twice the thorn in the side of City last season, has left.
Wycombe Wanderers parted company with manager Paul Lambert at the end of last season and welcome Peter Taylor – with more than a point to prove following a difficult couple of years. They will probably do better than the other semi-finalists of last season, Darlington, who have lost star players David Stockdale and, while not confirmed yet, Tommy Wright. Dave Penney spent big last summer but doesn’t appear to have significant funds this time around.
Elsewhere big things are expected of Lincoln City, who prospered last year under Peter Jackson before his time off through illness. New keeper Rob Burch was sought after by others, including City, while Frank Sinclair could prove a clever buy if he still has the legs. Chesterfield fans seem to dislike their manager Lee Richardson but have one of the best strikers in the division in Jack Lester, Alan Knill will be looking to continue his rejuvenation of Bury and they could be dark horses, while Grimsby has strengthened defensively and will hope young striker Danny North can fulfill his potential.
It’s a sad state of the continuing financial problems many clubs in the lower reaches of the Football League are suffering from that this year’s League Two relegation battle could be determined by point deductions. Three seasons ago Luton finished 10th in the Championship, but the odds are heavily stacked in favour of a third successive relegation and drop into non-league following the 30 points taken off them. Play off form will be needed just to stay up and, with the club still in a mess, that seems unrealistic.
Bournemouth and Rotherham’s hopes of merely beginning this season are still in the balance and respective 15 and 17 point deductions look like a best scenario. That may allow other clubs to breath easier but Chester City, another club with money problems, won’t be counting their chickens as they remember how last season’s dramatic collapse in form almost cost them their league status. Some of the division’s smaller clubs, such as Macclesfield, Accrington and Dagenham, will also be targeting the 50 point mark rather than any loftier ambitions.
Gillingham’s recent financial difficulties make it difficult to imagine they can achieve much beyond midtable but Port Vale, under former City defender Lee Sinnott, will be a better bet for an instant return to League One. The league’s new boys, Aldershot and Exeter, arrive with romantic stories of rebirth and should both be good enough for midtable, where they will surely be joined by Notts County, Barnet, Brentford and Morecambe.
The quality of League Two is derided by some, while others trumpet it as featuring real football and real fans. Last season many clubs enjoyed better form on the road but the ones who did make it to the division above were strong at home, too. This season’s League Two promises to be unpredictable, ugly and beautiful; and those successful in realising their pre-season expectations next Spring will probably be all three.