BfB

Following a short journey from Chesterfield to Matlock with my wife’s uncle, I parked the car and was greeted by a friend who I’d agreed to meet up with for this pre-season friendly game. The three of us walked through a tranquil park towards a fish and chip shop that my friend had spotted. As myself and my wife’s uncle had eaten before we’d set off, we watched my friend tuck into Britain’s favourite takeaway meal of white flaky fish and chunky potato chips.

Upon entering the three-sided Causeway Lane ground, I was greeted by an elderly gentleman selling programmes. The programme which I purchased contained some interesting information including the fact that Matlock Town are due to play either Huchnall (although I think they mean Hucknall), Holbeach or Lincoln Moorlands Railway at home on 17 September in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup. My wife’s uncle also spotted the name of Vince Adams in the Looking Back article. Adams joined Matlock Town from Worksop 44 years ago. Apparently the significance of this is the fact that my wife’s uncle went to school with Vince Adams.

We make our way to the main stand and took our seats as the players warmed up in front of us. As I’m trying to make out who our new signings and trialists are, Peter Jackson and David Baldwin are deep in conversation by the dugouts. Who knows what they are chatting about? The tannoy announcer presents the two teams to us although it’s difficult to hear what he is saying. However we make out the name of Nathan Joynes in the Matlock Town side who played a couple of games for Bradford City a few seasons ago, whilst on loan from Barnsley. In the starting side for Bradford City is ex-Matlock Town player Ross Hannah who is also our captain for the evening.

The game kicks off and Hannah produces an early left foot right wing cross which unfortunately doesn’t reach Hanson in the six yard box. Hanson is then found in his own penalty area heading clear an early Matlock corner. The Matlock Town supporter sat next to my wife’s uncle informs us that Ian Holmes, the Matlock Town number 9, has re-joined them from Glapwell FC and is the one to watch in the Matlock side. Holmes is soon in the thick of the action and is brought down by Guy Branston. However, the resulting free kick is cleared by Steve Williams.

After the early exchanges City come more into the game with Lee Bullock passing to Hanson who shoots high and wide of the target. Luke O’Brien and young Dominic Rowe link up well down the left flank and from Rowe’s cross David Syers heads the ball into the back of a Matlock player. Holmes then shoots from long range but his shot goes wide of Rhys Evans’ goal. Evans is on trial looking to earn himself a contract with the club who he played for during the 2008-09 season. However, it’s not long before Holmes is on the score sheet as he thumps a header past him from a Bettney cross.

The first half continues with Joynes attempting a lob which goes over the cross bar. This proves to be his last action in the game as he is substituted shortly afterwards. Hanson then goes foraging down City’s left flank and shrugs off the attentions of Featherstone to create a shooting opportunity which hits a post and bounces out too quickly for Hannah to convert into a goal. It is then Branston’s turn to attack at the central defender goes on one of those runs that excite supporters. His left wing cross goes just over Hannah’s head.

With City gaining more possession, Chris Mitchell crosses from the right for Hanson to head City’s equaliser. That’s a headed goal for each number nine. Shortly afterwards, Matlock are presented with a chance to take the lead following a wayward pass from Branston. However, Ryan Mallon shoots wide. As the first half draws to a conclusion Branston, for reasons unknown to me, hurls some verbal abuse to O’Brien. Branston then sprays a forward pass which is nowhere near to a Bradford City player. O’Brien. The ultimate professional, however, doesn’t retaliate and tell Branston what he thinks of that pass.

The second half commences with Mark Stewart replacing Hanson. Stewart is soon into the action as he shoots just wide after collecting a pass from O’Brien. Rowe then pulls the ball back for Stewart but his side footed shot is saved by Kennedy in the Matlock goal. Mitchell produces another telling cross which Syers heads over the crossbar. City are dominating the early exchanges of the second half and Stewart shoots again, but this time Kennedy palms the shot away. Matlock then make a plethora of substitutions and have their first corner of the second half. Thankfully, Rowe is stood by one post and is able to prevent Matlock from taking the lead again. This shows the importance of having men by each post when defending a corner.

Midway through the second half Jackson decides it time for a few substitutions. Recent signing Ritchie Jones makes a surprise, but welcome, appearance following his transfer from Oldham Athletic. Jones slots into central midfield with Bullock reverting to centre back as Branston leaves the field. Trialist Nahki Wells replaces local hero Ross Hannah, who receives warm applause from the home supporters. City have another corner which Williams heads over before Jones tries his luck from distance with a long range effort which narrowly flies wide of Kennedy’s right hand post.

Recent signing Andrew Burns joins the action replacing Lewis Hunt and shortly afterwards Luke Dean and Scott Brown replace Syers and Mitchell. Wells then shoots from distance but fails to alter the score line. Hanson can now be seen sat in the main stand with fellow players Flynn and Osborne, who are both rested tonight following their appearances at Silsden two days earlier. With the game approaching the final few minutes, both teams have a chance to win the game. First a Matlock substitute drags his right foot shot wide, then in the final minute Wells is played in by Jones but Kennedy makes another smart save. The game finishes 1-1.

As we make our way towards the exit, Branston is seen having his photograph taken with a City supporter whilst Matlock’s forthcoming fixtures appear on a chalk board on a wall behind one of the goals. Another chalk board next to the turnstiles notes that the attendance was 364. These quirky little things are what I love about pre-season friendly games at non-league grounds.

Whilst Matlock Town gave City a good work out and looked like a team that will do well in this season’s Evo-Stik Premier League, Peter Jackson was left searching for answers as to how Bradford City will be able to break down teams in the forthcoming Division 4 campaign.

David Syers has impressed his team mates, the T&A, Peter Taylor, Peter Jackson, scouts from Leeds United and Huddersfield Town (reportedly) and now BfB as he scoops our player of the season.

BfB Player of the Season 2010/2011

1. David Syers
   No surprises here. The hard working midfielder plucked from non league football has made a real impression in his first season as a pro. His full blooded performances, willingness to put his foot in, and knack of popping up in the box at the right time yielded a decent goalscoring return from midfield. His position as City’s top scorer this season says it all about what type of campaign that the team have had.
2. Luke O’Brien
   Versatile players are often under appreciated and O’Brien’s ability to play anywhere on the left hand side of the pitch that the two managers have employed him has impressed. O’Brien’s time at left back saw him drive forward well getting the ball into dangerous areas. His time on the left wing saw him provide a sureness for the full back. He played left midfield for Taylor and got stuck in. Sometimes one worries that the idea that the Bantams fans respect a player who gives his all is all but gone but O’Brien’s recognition suggests that City’s supporters appreciate a bit of skill and a lot of hard work.
3. Omar Daley
   If Omar’s time at City is up we can at least look back at his time here with fond memories. When he came back from his loan with Rotherham he gave the whole place a massive boost in the bid of survival. His stunning strike against Aldershot at home helped City win their biggest match in some decades and other highlights include his deadly brace against Oxford at home and tripping over his own shoelaces during a dance down the wing on his return match against Burton at home. Omar Daley – we salute you as the only flare player we have had since Beni Carbone! The only player that has you on the edge of your seat with his blistering pace. The only player that opposing defences fear. The only player that you can love and hate within 30 seconds of play as he drifts past defender after defender before flying a horrendous shot into row Z of the Kop or make the most blindingly obvious terrible choice of a final ball.
4. Luke Oliver
   Big Luke is nobody’s favourite player. He makes mistakes. He is not the best with the ball at his feet. He makes Lee Bullock look fast. However, his performances in the second half of the season were much improved compared to what we are used to from him – and nobody made more starting appearances this season than Oliver. The fact that even Jackson selected him every time after the removal of his biggest promoter – Peter Taylor- perhaps proved that he is one of the two best defenders that we can call on at centre back these days.
5. Steve Williams
   Young Williams progress has somewhat stood still this campaign – however he remains only player in the squad capable of one day playing in the Championship. He has occasionally shown glimpses this season of why Sven Goran Erickson is said to be checking his progress with an eye catching two games in the Carling Cup and he popped up with a vital last minute winner in the home game against Gillingham, as well as a brace against Stockport at home that helped the team to victory on that occasion and ultimately, survival in the football league.

And an honourable mention for…

The Lost Solider

For the first four months it was Michael Flynn/Simon Ramsden, then we’d score more goals is we recalled Jake Speight from Port Vale, Hanson out for a while, Tommy Doherty gets injured and we realise how good he was, Daley goes to Rotherham and suddenly becomes our best/most loyal player, Duff aka “the best centre half in the league” – not that any City fan had ever heard of him before he signed.

Syers ‘wasted’ at right back by Peter Jackson, Luke O’Brien dropped and suddenly becomes popular, “we need Bully in their to calm it all down”, shouldn’t got rid of Leon Price, “Steve Williams is class”, “that Chib Chilaka scored a hatrick for Harrogate, get him in”, and so on and so on.

The truth is every one of these players disappointed when in the team, but the one that wasn’t there on any given day was always our best player when you listen to the VP faithful/management/chairmen.

Sweetest wins of the season

1. Bradford City 3 Stockport County 2
2. Barnet 0 Bradford City 2
3. Bradford City 2 Rotherham United 1
4. Bradford City 2 Aldershot Town 1
5. Bradford City 3 Cheltenham Town 1

Top 5 loan players

1. Jason Price
   The big man came in, seemed to fit in, and then wandered off disinterested.
2. Tom Adeyemi
   A nice starter season from the tidy man from Norwich City.
3. Kevin Ellison
   Not everyone’s cup of tea but the winger from Rotherham scored a vital goal and raised some Hell.
4. Richard Eckersley
   The right back from Burnley let no one down.
5. Oliver Gill
   Sent back to Manchester United injured Gill did put in a good display or two.

Five moments we thought we might go up…

1. The eight minutes that City led Shrewsbury through Tom Adeyemi’s goal on the opening day of the season.
2. Beating a strong Nottingham Forest side 2-1 in the League Cup in August. Jake Speight was quality, Shane Duff a revelation at the back, and who is this young lad named David Syers?
3. Defeating a Bury side – which had won seven and drawn one of their last eight games – in their own backyard. “Peter Taylor’s Bradford Army!”
4. Another 1-0 victory over Bury in early January, which placed us on the brink of the play offs. The second half of the season is set to be exciting. Erm…
5. Two wins from three under Peter Jackson in March, and maybe, just maybe, we can go on a late run. That was the sentiment widely expressed in the pub before kick off against Northampton. “Remember ’96?”

Five moments we thought we might go down…

1. A truly pathetic 1-0 home loss to Morecambe in early October leaves the Bantams second bottom of the entire Football League. That it was still early days was the only crumb of comfort.
2. 2-1 down to bottom of the table, nine-men Stockport midway through the second half at Valley Parade in February.
3. Four defeats from five in April that culminated in a 4-0 Friday night thrashing at Southend. The end is nigh.
4. A 3-0 thumping at Accrington on Easter Saturday. Can’t see us getting another point this season.
5. The second half against Aldershot, two days later, where the Valley Parade scoreboard kept displaying goal updates from around the country which were pushing City close and closer to the bottom two. Thank goodness for this young lad named David Syers.

It wasn’t all bad, honest – five things to look back on the 2010/11 with fondness

1. A decent cup run on the centenary season of the club’s finest hour. The performances from the players and the atmospheres generated by supporters made the League Cup games with Notts Forest and Preston memorable nights. More of the same next season, please.
2. The celebrations at Barnet in October. Four-and-a-half games without a goal, then in the space of four minutes Leon Osborne and Tom Adeyemi spark unbridled jubilation on the terraces.
3. Those fleeting glimpses of flair from Omar Daley, Tommy Doherty and Lee Hendrie. Players of great skill, who on their day looked a cut above this level.
4. The incredible backing from the travelling fans at Chesterfield in January. A 20-minute rendition of ‘Bradford Army’ leading up to and during half time was City fans at their best all season.
5. Getting Ronnie Moore the sack. No way did Tom Adeyemi’s long-range belter cross the line against Rotherham in March; but the linesman’s given it, and less than two weeks after this ‘defeat’ Moore was given the boot.

About a year ago, John Dewhirst, David Pendleton and John Ashton (apologies if I’ve missed other people out) started to hatch a plan to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Bradford City winning the FA Cup. All of their hard work came to fruition on the exact date 100 years after our most famous victory over Newcastle United in an FA Cup final replay at Old Trafford. Over 200 people packed one of the many function rooms at the Midland Hotel to come together as one. John Dewhirst stressed that this was a supporters evening and the organisers were very aware of the difficult financial pressures faced by many of Bradford City’s supporters today and that they had tried to offer tickets at an affordable price of £25 for the evening which included a three course meal. In my opinion, the evening was worth every penny.

The presentation of the room was classy yet professional with claret and amber very prominent colours throughout the room. The Gawthorpe Brass Band played their instruments to great effect to generate an emotional atmosphere on an emotional night. Apart from the many supporters in the room (many of whom could probably remember games from the 70s and even further back), others present included past players such as Ian Cooper and Joe Cooke, former player and manager Terry Dolan, members of our existing Board and even a descendant of Peter Logan who formed part of the 1911 winning team.

In his opening speech, you could hear the pride in John Dewhirst’s voice as he thanked everyone for attending. He did however pass on apologies from Stuart McCall and Greg Abbott who at the last minute couldn’t attend. However, this didn’t takeaway the gloss from a wonderful evening. It was noticeable however that there were none of the existing team present or interim manager Peter Jackson which I thought was disappointing. A friend of mine who attended the dinner had managed to see the Bradford City juniors draw 2-2 on the same afternoon over in Hull. (Apparently we were 2-0 down with 15 minutes to go but we salvaged a draw through some inspired play from up and coming winger Dominic Rowe.) My friend asked David Wetherall if he had inspired our junior team with a half time team talk highlighting the fact the it was 100 years to the day that our club won the FA Cup.

Unfortunately, Wetherall replied “no” and said that he would have liked to have attended the evening if he’d been aware of it. This says to me that our existing team and management were unaware of the the importance of 26 April 1911 and the event taking place at the Midland Hotel. This notion saddened me and highlighted the poor communication that exists between the players and supporters today.

However, not to paint a gloomy picture of a fabulous evening, we tucked into our three course meal with many of us enjoying the fine Glorious1911 Ale brewed by the Saltaire brewery with sales from the ale being donated to the Bradford Burns Unit. During the meal it was great to talk to fellow Bradford City supporters about all things City related. A couple on our table now lived in Kendal but still have season tickets to attend games at Valley Parade and also told tales of their away game experiences. I got the feeling that those of us who were fortunate enough to pay for a ticket all hold Bradford City close to our hearts and wanted to ensure that our FA Cup victory should not be forgotten. History is important. It was great to see die hards like Mike Harrison, Mark Neale and Board members of the Bradford City Supporters’ Trust in attendance.

The meal over and David Pendleton, author of the superb book Glorious 1911 explained some of the tales behind our famous victory like how the replay was played only four days after the final at Crystal Palace so only about 10,000 Bradford City supporters travelled to Manchester for the replay owing to financial constraints placed on supporters (sound familiar?). Also, owing to the fact that there were no floodlights meant that the replay kicked off mid-afternoon. The victorious team, thanks to Jimmy Speirs goal after 15 minutes, arrived back into Bradford in the evening to be greeted by about 100,000 Bradfordians. This represented about a third of the City’s population and it took the team about 45 minutes to cross the city and finally end up at the Midland Hotel. John Ashton replicated speeches that were made on that evening of 100 years ago and you could hear the sportsmanship that existed in the speeches that by and large is no longer in our game.

John Dewhirst then presented a cheque for £5,000 to Professor Sharpe who has been so instrumental in the development of the Bradford Burns Unit. This money had come from the sales of historical memorabilia including scarfs and badges. Ian Cooper then made a toast to suitably round off a wonderful evening.

Following the formalities, this young(-ish) supporter who only witnessed his first Bradford City game at Valley Parade in 1988 approached some of the former players to sign his copy of Glorious 1911. All who I approached were more than happy to sign and came across as genuine people who still have an affinity with Bradford City Football Club. Many posed for photographs and chatted to supporters which was lovely to see. Once again, a personal thank you from me to all those who put so much unpaid time and effort into a memorable night. We must never forget where this football club has come from.

Who else made the trip to the Weston Homes Community Stadium last Saturday for the FA Cup 1st round game against Colchester United?

I imagine that a large proportion of the people in the away section were southern based Bradford City supporters. Did any of you feel unwelcome at this game? I certainly did. It wasn’t the behaviour of the home supporters or the stewards though.

It was the fact that this newish stadium which was opened in 2008 is very isolated on the northern edge of Colchester. The options that you have are to pre-book a car parking space at the ground for which you pay £6, or you can use a park and ride scheme.

My friend and I arrived in plenty of time and having done our homework on the location of the ground and the facilities. This was essential as we ended up having a 25 minute walk from where we parked the car to get to the ground. I don’t mind walking but it was as we approached the stadium that I felt uneasy and not welcome.

Stewards and notices were located at the end of roads near to the ground making me feel like we shouldn’t have made the long journey from Yorkshire. I can understand the local residents not wanting people parking at the end of their driveways and thus blocking access to their house but the “tactics” used weren’t very hospitable. This 25 minute walk made the walk to the New Meadow in Shrewsbury on the opening day of the season feel like a hop, skip and a jump. (People who have been to the New Meadow will understand what I mean.)

Once at the ground we were then greeted with a barcode operating system to enter the ground; no turnstile operator although the steward on the other side of the turnstile was friendly enough. However, even this faceless barcode entry system niggled me. It reminded me of the self scan checkouts that you now find in a supermarket.

I suppose this is a sign of our ever changing society but what has happened to good old face to face communication? (Do I sound like a grumpy old man?)

Maybe Colchester United should have stayed at their old site at Layer Road? At least you could get a good pint at the nearby CAMRA award winning Donkey & Buskins. As for these new grounds, they just feel lifeless and in some cases unwelcoming.

Picture the scene; it’s 9.45pm on Tuesday 28 September and the game between Rotherham United and Bradford City concludes. The 600 or so City supporters rise to their feet and applaud the Bradford City players despite their team failing to score in yet another league game.

The reality is that Rotherham United are still unbeaten at home in the league this season whilst Bradford City are still to win an away league game this season. So why the applause from the City faithful? Well, going into the game, it was quite possible that our team could be propping up the football league.

However, a determined team performance ensures that City gain a precious point and climb one place to 21st in Division 4. It doesn’t sound glamorous but the City supporters appreciated the effort shown by all of the players who played at the Don Valley Stadium. To me, this shows that at whatever level of football, if the players show effort and commitment, then most supporters will appreciate their efforts.

It was interesting to see that Shane Duff, Steve Williams and Luke O’Brien were three of the City players who walked towards the City faithful at Don Valley after the game to return the applause to the supporters. For me, these three City defenders put in solid performances. O’Brien is enjoying one of his best runs in the first team whilst Duff and Williams are forming a strong partnership at the heart of City’s defence.

Williams was my man of the match and I believe that he has the potential to be as good as Dean Richards. At one point, Williams was beaten in the tackle but did he give up? No – he won the football back and dribbled it out of defence before playing an intelligent but simple pass to a colleague.

So, why am I typing further notes from the away game at Rotherham United when Jason has already produced yet another quality match report? Well, because today I read that our club has signed two Manchester United reserve players on loan for a month. I am perplexed.

The back five last night played well and it’s no coincidence that this good defensive performance occurred with the absence of Hunt, Oliver and Threlfall. (I know, Oliver played up front again and I’ll come to that matter in a bit.) I am all in favour of Peter Taylor remaining as our manager for many seasons to come. But with our poor start to the season I can understand why supporters are muttering that Taylor doesn’t know what he is doing. And I have to agree with that to a degree.

It will be interesting to see who starts at the weekend in the vital game against Morecambe. For me, if Taylor doesn’t start with the same five players who played in defence against Rotherham United, there will be plenty of already frustrated people whispering negative comments inside Valley Parade on Saturday afternoon. I simply do not understand why Brown and Gill have joined us for one month. Surely, if we are going to sign a couple of loan players, we need some forward players who can score goals.

Four goals in our first nine league games does not read well for us City supporters. We all know that Hanson is injured and Evans is lacking in confidence although his second half performance at Don Valley showed some signs of improvement. Speight, for me, despite not scoring yet for us, has been our best striker so far this season.

I’ve read comments both in support and against playing Luke Oliver up front. For me, I do not like playing players out of position and this includes starting with tall defenders playing up front. Maybe if you are chasing the game with 10 minutes to go, take a chance and throw a tall player up front. But, we shouldn’t be starting with Oliver up front. Unfortunately, Oliver is a Taylor signing and I fear that he will continue to start up front until Hanson fit again. And then, when Hanson is fit, do not be surprised if we see Oliver starting in the heart of our defence with one of the two Manchester United loan signings.

I am supportive of both the Bradford City management and players. However, if the Manchester United loan signings start against Morecambe and Oliver starts up front, I will not be happy. However, I will not be booing the players but I will be questioning Taylor’s judgement.

Don’t you just hate it when a sitcom resorts to doing a clips episode? A tedious plot which somehow requires the main characters to spend half an hour looking back on the funniest moments of the past, so the majority of the episode is just about re-living past highlights. It suggests laziness – or a lack of ideas – on the writers’ part. And it should be redundant in these days of DVD boxsets.

Well we at BfB are not lazy – or at least not being any more lazy than we usually are – and we’d like to think we’ve still got plenty of ideas; but with recent events feeling something like Groundhog Day, a step into the archives is an interesting way of placing some perspective on our current woes.

So here goes

Let’s begin in April 2009 and an article written by former BCST man and much-valued BfB contributor Richard Wardell. With Stuart McCall on the brink of leaving as a promotion bid collapsed, Richard argued against those calling for Dave Penny to be installed as manager by offering a vision of the future.

It was a warm Tuesday evening in late September 2009 and as the City supporters trudged away from Valley Parade, there was much talk about whether the appointment of Dave Penney in the summer had been the right move by Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn following Stuart McCall’s exit…Now that Penney and City had suffered their third consecutive home defeat, this time to league newcomers Burton Albion which left them in the bottom half of Division 4, many City supporters were questioning Penney’s appointment.

What’s so astonishing about these words is how close to the truth they are now, in September 2010. Replace Burton with Port Vale and Penny with Taylor, and the words pretty much describe the current reality. So far the decision to replace McCall has not worked out in the way some fans argued it would, and that has to register with people who are already beginning to tell the rest of us that Taylor’s removal is now the answer.

Taylor arrived last February to widespread acclaim. Everyone was pleased he was to become our manager this season, including a minority who are now slating Lawn and Rhodes for appointing him.

Let’s go to the Official Message Board – so often the platform for supporters’ views the club pays a lot of attention – to remind ourselves. A poll of who should be next manager saw Taylor come out on top with 53% of the votes, with the second highest votes coming for Martin Allen with 22%. 116  supporters voted, a decent representative of City fans. The day Taylor was confirmed to widespread joy, one fan commented, “I would love Taylor to bring [Tommy Doherty] into strengthen the midfield!”

The point of digging up such old comments and poll results is to highlight how everyone has a responsibility in the views they air. The changing of managers allows every one of us the chance to put ourselves in the position of the owners and decide who we’d like to see installed in the dugout. The fact the majority of fans clearly voted for Taylor in February – and voted he remained when a new contract was discussed last April – means we must take some responsibility for his appointment.

It’s therefore deeply wrong to so readily drop that support and pretend you never wanted him – and to blame Lawn and Rhodes for making a decision you had called for. And if supporters are going to ignore their old views or pretend they never aired them, how are there opinions now in anyway credible? Like Lawn and Rhodes, we need to be giving the manager support during this difficult time, because the majority of us appointed him believing he was the man for the job.

There’s also a big question mark about where calls for Taylor lead us. The club have only been prepared to back him for a short time, how long will the next guy get? Suddenly the club is not been run on the basis of a long-term plan, but on the form guide. It’s a highly unlikely-route to success that will only succeed in ensuring an increasingly regular vacancy is unattractive to sane managers.

Or as Michael excellently put last February:

For as long as BfB has been going I’ve been hoping that the correlation between often changing managers and a lack of success might be grasped by all at, and who watch from the stands at, Valley Parade. Alas it seems not to have been and the virtues of sticking with a manager – any manager – and allowing them to build a club and a dynasty rather than a single team are lost.

Taylor, with his training ground demands, perhaps represented one last chance to allow long-term thinking to work. An alternative strategy has yet to be aired – or perhaps even considered – by anyone.

An increasing criticism of Taylor in recent days has been his TV commitments. Over the last fortnight Taylor has appeared on the BBC, Sky and ESPN – usually offering punditry on the England national team. The complainers argue he does not have his mind on the City job and is failing to manage the players – he should after all have them in for 25 hours a day training. But if City were winning no one would bat an eyelid over his TV work.

So the question is does it make a difference? Let’s go back to Taylor’s track record for our next clip. To May 2005, when Hull were celebrating a second successive promotion. Or to May 2006, when Hull were celebrating staying up in the Championship. Taylor was the manager who oversaw this memorable chapter in the club’s history – but that wasn’t all he did. He was also England U21 manager.

That’s right, Taylor managed two football teams at the same time, and was hugely successful in the club one. Suddenly spending an evening in a Sky TV studio doesn’t quite seem so disgraceful, does it?

Let’s fast forward a little bit, back to McCall as manager. We all dreamed his appointment would lead to instant glory, but only three months into the job there was a crisis as City suffered eight winless matches and fell to fourth bottom of the Football League. Eventually results improved, and although the damage to City’s promotion bid was already done for that season at least, the turnaround in form was impressive. City finished 9th, thinking “if only” about that poor autumn run of form.

There are obvious similarities to the current poor run of form Taylor is trying to turn around. Let’s recall how bad it was in the autumn of 2007:

Ultimately, too many had an off night. What we were left was a displayed blighted by defensive howlers, woeful passing and players with heads down. Free kicks, corners and crosses were truly appalling. On a night full of frustration, the…final 20 minutes were perhaps the most telling. During these periods, the players had clearly given up, were shying away from touching the ball and were just waiting for the referee to blow his whistle. As supporters we can forgive players having an off night, they’re only human. But when we see players clearly not trying and giving up so feebly, it really hurts.

That was describing the infamous 3-0 defeat to Accrington, but it could equally have been an account of the recent 2-0 defeat to Southend. The point of looking back on this miserable time is that we know City were able to turn it around, just like they can this time. And unlike in 2007, if the turnaround can occur soon there will be much more of the season left to climb up the league. Back in 2007 the players looked hopeless and you couldn’t see us scoring a goal, but hard work and determination saw them eventually turn it around and show how good they were.

The current crop of players are capable of doing the same.

Finally let’s look back to the even more recent past – Taylor’s arrival. That too coincided with a shocking performance against Accrington, and as the club’s poor form under McCall continued it was difficult to see where the next win would come from. The fact City’s next match was away at leaders Rochdale meant we all certainly knew it wouldn’t be anytime soon. How wrong we were.

The players were brilliant that night – so too were the fans. Non-stop chanting that began well before kick off and only ended when we’d finished applauding Taylor and his players off the pitch. It was a reaction to the dismal form and the woeful atmosphere, which had been especially dreadful at Accrington. And it clearly made a difference to the players.

So I’d like to end by looking back on my own words ahead of traveling to that ‘inevitable’ defeat because I think they are as prevalent now as they were then.

Yet again City are drifting and, as familiarly depressing as this is, now should be the time to do something about it. Those of us going tonight should loudly back the team like we haven’t done all season. We should be chanting at 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, whatever. We should be leading the fight for our cause – even if we’re not sure what the cause is.

This is our football club, and we’re allowing it to fall into further decline by standing their muted at Accrington and booing the players. They didn’t deserve their bus ride home on Saturday, but if someone’s going to inject some passion into their boots and make them remember what an important cause playing for Bradford City is, well it’s got to be us.

So tonight we sing, tonight we support our team in defiance…Tonight we sing about how we’re City till we die, before the club itself really does.

See you at Stockport.

The World Cup evokes so many happy (and not so happy) memories. Some of my first memories are from the 1982 tournament hosted in Spain. I collected the Panini stickers, remember Bryan Robson (who’d have thought that he’d go on to manage Bradford City?) scoring inside the opening minute against France, my dad telling me that the hosts had been beaten by Northern Ireland, David Narey scoring a belter against Brazil (although Scotland still lost to Brazil) and Italy beating Brazil in an absolute classic game.

Roll on four years to Mexico 1986. England make an awful start and only qualify for the second round following an inspired performance by Peter Beardsley against Poland. Most people will tell you that it was Lineker’s hat-trick against Poland that got us past the first round but Beardsley was superb against Poland. Then we all remember Maradona’s hand of God goal and his amazing goal verses England in the quarter finals.

For me, Italia 1990 brings back the best World Cup memories; probably because we progressed to the semi finals but also because I’d finished my A-levels that year and the summer of 1990 was carefree. I have vivid memories of half dozen school mates piling round to one of my parent’s mates house (I still attend Bradford City games with him after all these years) to watch the second round game verses Belgium. What a nerve wrecker – there we were expecting penalties when up steps Gascoigne and that now famous commentary “…and chipped in and volleyed in and it’s there by David Platt, and England have done it in the last minute of extra time!” Superb! There we all were in a wild heap on the floor hugging each other whilst Waddle (who’d have thought that he’d go on and play for Bradford City?) and Butcher did a dance on the pitch. Then we had Lineker’s two penalties to squeeze past Cameroon in the quarter finals before Pearce and Waddle failed to score against West Germany in the penalty shoot in the semi finals. And all of this backed by, in my opinion, the greatest football anthem “World in Motion” by New Order.

Obviously England didn’t qualify for USA 1994 but I’m sure that we all remember Michael Owen’s wonder goal against Argentina in France 1998 and Beckham’s penalty in the 2002 World Cup to gain sweet revenge against Argentina following his sending off in France 1998 against the same team.

Lots of people are excited about the prospect of the 2010 World Cup commencing this Friday with the hosts South Africa entertaining Mexico in the opening game of the tournament. However, at the moment the prospect of the World Cup isn’t sending me into waves of emotion at all. (My wife thinks that I’m ill.)

Why is this?

1. I’m completely disillusioned with Capello and his team selection. Why did he not pick a naturally left sided midfielder in his 23 man squad? We’ve experienced it before when the left side of midfield has been a problematic position for England. It’s a shame that we don’t have a Waddle or a Barnes. If Capello thinks that he can play Lampard and Gerrard in central midfield together, it won’t win us the World Cup. Erikkson tried the two of them together and it didn’t work then. I hope that I’m wrong about Capello but I don’t think that we will win the World Cup in South Africa. I think that it was Mike Ingham whilst commentating on the recent friendly game against Mexico who said something along the lines of “In Little Britain style, I don’t like it” when referring to Gerrard playing on the left side of midfield.
2. I’m fed up with players being over paid. Infact, Deloitte has produced a report which shows that Premier League clubs spent £1.3bn on players wages during the 2008/2009 season. This is shocking. I also believe that some players have the wrong attitude and are too arrogant including some of the 23 players who have been picked to play for England in South Africa.
3. Every advert, whether it’s on television or radio, at the moment is based around football. It drives me crackers.
4. The hype that surrounds the whole tournament. It’s like Christmas with the event being “bigged up” months before the actual event. It’s all to do with money and is so commercial. The romance seems to be draining away from what is meant to be the biggest and greatest sporting event on earth.

I’m sounding like Victor Meldrew; a grumpy old man. Hopefully, when the tournament finally begins, my cynicism will disappear and my emotions will kick in. But for now, the most important day during the World Cup is 17 June when Bradford City’s fixtures come out and we can plan our trip to the Lamex Stadium!

Which Bradford City player was never on the losing side during the 2008/2009 season and the 2009/2010 season? I’m sure that plenty of people reading this article will know that the correct answer is Jon McLaughlin.

The former Harrogate Railway Athletic and Harrogate Town goalkeeper was signed by Stuart McCall in the summer of 2008. When he was signed, I imagine that he knew that he wasn’t going to be the first choice keeper. However, at the age of just 17, who wouldn’t take the opportunity to sign for a league club averaging over 11,000 for home games? As the 2008/2009 season drew to a close and it became clearer that Rhys Evans wasn’t going to be a Bradford City player for the 2009/2010 season, McLaughlin was given his league debut at Saltergate. City won the game 2-0 in the Derbyshire sunshine and whilst the City supporters probably knew that day that Rory Boulding wouldn’t become a City legend, McLaughlin gave an assured performance without putting a foot wrong.

Having made a winning start to his Bradford City career and keeping a clean sheet, McLaughlin then played for Great Britain in the World Student Games in Serbia. Although Great Britain didn’t win the tournament, McLaughlin kept three clean sheets in five games. He had now signed another one year deal at Valley Parade but McCall made it clear that McLaughlin wasn’t going to be the first choice keeper again. McCall signed Simon Eastwood on loan from Huddersfield Town and he kept McLaughlin out of the City first team until his loan spell came to an end at the end of 2009. Despite Eastwood being a hero in the JPT victories against Notts County and Port Vale with his heroics in the penalty shoot outs, many City supporters (me included) felt that McCall could have given McLaughlin a chance before Eastwood returned to Huddersfield Town.

McLaughlin had to be patient again and his first start for the 2009/2010 season didn’t arrive until early 2010 when we played Cheltenham Town at home. In a game which we drew 1-1, the Cheltenham goal came from a penalty which McLaughlin almost kept out. City were also down to 10 men in this game after Steve Williams was sent off. Again, McCall raided Huddersfield Town and Matt Glennon arrived on loan. Glennon looked more composed than Eastwood. But again there were mutterings amongst the City supporters asking why we had a goalkeeper on loan when McLaughlin was keeping the substitutes bench very warm.

Fast forward to April 2010, Peter Taylor is now our manager, and imagine my surprise when I arrive at Burton Albion to find Jon McLaughlin starting for City. Burton played very well in that match with their two centre forwards Harrad and Pearson causing the City defence plenty of problems. Indeed, Burton were awarded a penalty in the first half and up steps Pearson. Unlike the Cheltenham game, McLaughlin is able to kept out the penalty and chants of “one Jon McLaughlin” echo from the City supporters stood behind McLaughlin’s goal. The fact that the game finishes 1-1 is largely down to McLaughlin who makes several top class saves.

Peter Taylor shows his faith in the young City stopper and McLaughlin plays again at home to play off chasing Morecambe. Like the away game at Chesterfield last season, City win the game 2-0. However, McLaughlin is busier in this game than the one at Saltergate and more people are asking why didn’t he get his chance earlier on this season when Eastwood appeared to be low on confidence.

McLaughlin ended up playing the final six games of the 2009/2010 season which saw City gain 14 points with four wins and two draws. Like Donovan Ricketts who had to be patient whilst Paul Henderson had his one good season with City, McLaughlin has had to wait for his chance. However, he has grabbed his opportunity with both hands and hopefully will have a long and successful career with Bradford City.

As well as showing all the signs of a good goalkeeper, the one thing that sticks in my mind about McLaughlin is the way that he went up to Simon Eastwood at half time in the away match at Shrewsbury Town back in September 2009. Eastwood had played well in that first half making some notable saves but he was also involved in a nasty collision with the then Shrewsbury player Nathan Elder. At half time, as Eastwood was walking across the pitch at the New Meadow, McLaughlin embraced (in a friendly way) Eastwood. I don’t know what was said by McLaughlin to Eastwood, but to me this shows that McLaughlin is a team player. For a person who is still only 19 years old, he shows great maturity. Let’s hope that the 2010/2011 season is a happy and rewarding season for Jon McLaughlin.

The season at Valley Parade wends towards a disappointing end without much to play for and with minds focused on next August and the start of a new campaign. Much work is to be done between then and now by the club and management to get City into an improved position which we all hope to be in in one year’s time. In one year from now many hope the Bantams will doing much more than playing out until the end of the season and so The Barry Articles ask…

“In twelve months time what is the minimum you would consider to be success for Bradford City?”

Just as Fabio Capello faces the decision about playing Frank Lampard in the England midfield with Steven Gerrard, Peter Taylor faces the decision of who to play up front for Bradford City. With the recent departures of Peter Thorne and Michael Boulding along with James Hanson being injured, this task has been made harder. Today at Burton Albion, he opted to play the lanky defender Luke Oliver up front on his own. He was occasionally joined by the hard working Gareth Evans and Gavin Grant. But this for me was the wrong choice as the first half produced very few attacking moves from Bradford City with too many long hopeful balls pumped forward which the Burton defence dealt with easily. Infact the home defence was superbly marshalled by their centre back James. With Bradford playing a 4-5-1 formation, we had an extra man in midfield but both Bolder and O’Leary sat too deep (a role performed well by Bullock) whilst the Burton midfield passed the football well. The former Scunthorpe winger Cleveland Taylor was a constant menace to Threlfall who was eventually booked in the second half.

The fact that the half time score was 0-0 was largely down to the excellent display by Jon McLaughlin who was making only his third appearance for Bradford City. He made several good saves including one from the Burton striker Harrad. After O’Leary tripped a Burton player, McLaughlin then guessed correctly diving to his left to keep out Pearson’s penalty. Chants of “one Jon McLaughlin” echoed from the away supporters. How nice to hear for a player who has had to be patient for his opportunities.

McLaughlin continued his fine display in the second half keeping the score at 0-0. Then on the hour mark, the ineffective Grant produced his one moment of decent play and following his mazy dribble the ball eventually found it’s way to Oliver’s head and he calmly looped the ball over Krysiak and into the Burton goal. So Bradford led 1-0 which was an injustice on the Burton side who had been the better team.

However, with time running out, the Burton left back and former Derby player, Boertien (who was named man of the match by the Burton stadium announcer) broke down their left and crossed for the impressive Harrad to score a deserved equaliser.

By this time, Luke O’Brien had replaced the ineffective O’Leary and Jamie O’Brien had replaced the poor performing Grant. The two O’Brien’s added more purpose to the City midfield. Indeed Jamie O’Brien showed his battling qualities by chasing down what seemed like a lost cause in the closing minutes of the game. This resulted in him dispossessing a Burton defender and delivering a cross which unfortunately went over Oliver’s head. And so the game finished 1-1.

A special mention goes to Zesh Rehman for a better display from him although he was playing in his more familiar role of centre back today rather than right back. However, an improved performance in the second half by Bradford City could not hide the fact of how poor we were in the first half. It’s not Luke Oliver’s fault that he is being asked to play up front. However, I hope that Taylor, who apparently mingled with the City supporters an hour before the game which is nice to hear, opts for a 4-4-2 formation on Tuesday night against Morecambe with a recognised striker operating alongside Gareth Evans. Maybe we might even see Oliver Forsyth who has been scoring plenty of goals for the youth team this season under the watchful eye of David Wetherall.

Now there’s another round peg for a round hole!