Coca-Cola League Two
Dag & Red (0) 3 Saunders 57, Benson 81, Strevens 86
Bradford C (0) 0
Att: 1,883
Dagenham & Redbridge: 6. David Button, 19. Danny Foster, 2. Magnus
Okuonghae, 34. Mark Arber, 12. Scott Griffiths, 7. Sam Saunders (86), 25.
Solomon Taiwo, 33. Peter Gain, 3. Matt Ritchie (77), 14. Paul Benson (90),
18. Ben Strevens.
Subs: 27. David Hogan (GK), 8. Glen Southam (77), 15. Anwar Uddin, 22.
Graeme Montgomery (90), 30. Jamie Guy (86).
Bradford C: 1. Rhys Evans, 2. Paul Arnison, 5. Graeme Lee (61), 12. Matthew
Clarke, 19. Luke O'Brien, 11. Chris Brandon (60), 4. Paul McLaren, 8. Lee
Bullock, 25. Steve Jones (73), 35. Paul Mullin, 10. Peter Thorne.
Subs: 6. Mark Bower (61), 14. Michael Boulding (73), 15. Joe Colbeck, 24.
Nicky Law (60), 33. Zeshan Rehman.
Stats: Dag & Red - Bradford C
Possession: 52 - 48%
Shots on target: 9 - 1
Shots off target: 4 - 5
Fouls: 9 - 12
Corners: 6 - 3
Ref: Pat Miller (Bedfordshire)
Yellow cards: None
Last two matches:
(H) Rotherham, Saturday April 25, 2009. K.O. 3:00PM.
(A) Chesterfield, Saturday May 2, 2009. K.O. 3:00PM.
===========================
McCALL PONDERS FUTURE
Bradford City boss Stuart McCall admitted he might well walk away from the
club at the end of the season after his side were beaten 3-0 at Dagenham.
McCall had stated prior to this match he would leave Valley Parade if his
side did not make the play-offs. And goals from Sam Saunders, Paul Benson
and Ben Strevens left the Bantams four points away from seventh with just
two games remaining.
He said: "I'm going to sit down at the end of the season, I gave myself two
years and have underachieved and failed.
"Our wage budget is right up there with the top three definitely but I've
let the club down. I'll speak to (joint chairmen) Mark (Lawn) and Julian
(Rhodes) and see what goes from there."
McCall walked over to speak to the travelling Bradford fans at the end of
the game and revealed what he said afterwards, he added: "I just apologised
for how things have worked out this season and in this game.
"They have given us great support and when there's the tiniest glimpse of a
chance of the play-offs, you've got to go for it."
===========================
DAGGERS STAB DOUBT INTO McCALL FUTURE
By Simon Parker (T&A)
Dagenham & Redbridge 3, Bradford City 0
You didn't need to be a mind reader to see how Stuart McCall was feeling.
The emotion was etched over his face as he swallowed hard to hold back the
tears during the post-match press chats.
Minutes earlier, his heart was on his sleeve as the City boss walked towards
the away end to console in defeat with the fans. His fans.
The message to them was simple: "You didn't deserve that and neither did
we."
And now it looks a certainty that McCall doesn't need it either.
All the stress, the strain and, ultimately, the crushing disappointment of
seeing the club, his club, falling short again.
McCall did not tender his resignation at the final whistle but his comments
straight afterwards sounded like it.
It's difficult to see how the City chairmen, if they want to, will succeed
in changing his mind when they all sit down two games from now.
McCall looked and sounded like a man who had nothing more to give. Every
ounce of effort and determination has been drained away by this appalling
nine-game run.
If he quits, some cynics may see it as running away. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
A driven individual as a player, his approach in his first management job
has been exactly the same. And two years down the line, he feels he has
failed the City public. His City public.
As McCall rightly pointed out, Saturday was a microcosm of City's season.
Good - no, make that great - scoring chances scorned; a blatantly wrong
decision against them; awful defending to turn an uneven final scoreline
into a shockingly lop-sided one.
The game was effectively up with the referee's whistle to signify a foul
that never was on debutant home keeper David Button.
Peter Thorne was mid-celebration, as he had been eight days earlier at
Morecambe, when the official intervened to rule out his header for a
supposed foul by Paul Mullin. Yet nobody from Dagenham had complained.
Button later confirmed to McCall that he had simply misjudged the flight of
the cross from Steve Jones and slipped in the melee of bodies. Those were
not the words the distraught gaffer wanted to hear.
Like Morecambe, the home side rode their luck and cashed in soon after with
a goal of their own. From 1-0 up to 1-0 down; City's hopes had blown away.
The script was all too familiar for the Bantams and the 434 fans who had
made the trek south to keep the dream alive.
How ironic that the big boys of League Two - the club who can boast home
attendances others can only fantasise about - were finally put to bed in
front of their smallest audience of the season.
But then 1,800 is par for the course for Dagenham, whose wage budget for
players is less than half of City's. And therein lies the problem.
You don't have to be a City fan to be mystified by the current collapse.
Supporters everywhere cannot believe how they have fallen apart so
spectacularly over the last six weeks.
A Daggers supporter turned to me and asked: "Look at the team you've got.
You should be winning this league by 20 points."
A season of "under-achievement" is the polite way of putting it. Decent
players with decent reputations have not done themselves anywhere near
justice.
Which is why McCall, having put his squad together, feels he should carry
the can for their shortcomings.
Not that Saturday was the meek roll-over that the final margin of defeat may
suggest. Far from it.
With the stakes so high for both sides, City had to be up for the battle and
prepared to meet Dagenham yard for yard.
That's how it's got to be against John Still's lot. They are like a street
fighter who will use anything to gain an advantage.
The ball was whipped about the pitch at 100 miles per hour. Tackles flew in;
throw-ins taken quickly just to keep the game rattling along. Every sinew is
strained to keep pace with this lively young bunch.
It did not make for the most aesthetic of football games but it sure was an
exciting one.
After 20 minutes of frenzied stalemate, the chances suddenly came in a
bundle. Two fell for City, both headers which should have been buried.
Chris Brandon, back in midfield, started a bright move with one of several
positive touches on halfway. Jones and Lee Bullock combined neatly down the
left before the winger stood up the perfect cross for Brandon running in
unmarked at the far post.
He shaped to direct the ball downwards but did so too much and the ball
cannoned off the hard turf in the goalmouth and over the Dagenham bar.
Within a minute, Peter Gain let rip at the other end. The shot scorched past
Rhys Evans but fortunately Paul Arnison, another player back in favour, was
in the perfect spot to block on the line, although I doubt he knew much
about it.
Back we went with City on the offensive to force their first corner. Paul
McLaren picked out Peter Thorne but, with Button blocked out of contention
by Mullin, City's top scorer ballooned the header over.
Two gilt-edged opportunities down the plug hole and we all feared what would
happen next. But City rode those blows and seemed to have fashioned the
perfect answer nine minutes into the second half.
Another inviting cross from Jones completely deceived the nervy Button, who
fell to the floor as Thorne crashed home the header from close range. Then
came Pat Miller's whistle ...
Graeme Lee was struggling with a hip injury and City needed to make a
change. But before that happened, Sam Saunders cut in from the left wing to
seize on Lee's hesitancy and use the room for a crashing drive into the top
corner of the net.
Matt Ritchie nodded against the bar and Ben Strevens scooped over from eight
yards out as Dagenham pushed to put the game beyond the stunned visitors.
City's approach was growing more frantic as panic set in. Route one was the
only order of the day, Mullin's bonce battered by the constant flow of high
balls sent towering in his direction.
His shout for a penalty was ignored and then Bullock looped a header against
the far post. That proved City's final chance.
Strevens missed another chance but then made no mistake when Paul Benson
sent him free on goal. City were in tatters.
The misery was complete when Evans made a complete hash of claiming a
through-ball and coughed it up for Strevens to tap in.
McCall, his head down, made for the City fans. Unless there is a dramatic
sea change, it seems that they won't be seeing much more of him.
Attendance: 1,883
===========================
Crushed Stuart McCall has admitted: I've let everyone down.
The City boss edged nearer the Valley Parade exit after Saturday's loss
at Dagenham effectively slammed the door on the play-offs.
City dropped to 11th spot – their lowest position of the season – and
are now four points off seventh with only two games left.
McCall will sit down with the two chairmen after the final match at
Chesterfield to discuss his position but it looks like his mind is
already made up.
He said: "This has been mental anguish for me; mental torture. We've
massively under-achieved as a team and I've under-achieved as a manager.
"I just feel I've let everyone down; the club, the fans, my own family –
even my little lad, who thought it was nailed on that we were going to
Wembley.
"I put this squad together and felt we'd have a good crack at promotion.
I felt we'd definitely finish in the top seven – that was the minimum of
what would be required.
"In the first two-thirds of the season, we scored lots of goals and
played some good stuff. We were always around the top three or four.
"But nobody could have predicted the horrendous run we've had in the
last nine games. It's hit us hard.
"The wheels have come off and that's my responsibility. Unfortunately
I've not been able to put them back on."
City's winless slump stretched to a ninth game as Dagenham drilled three
second-half goals. But they had missed good chances before that and saw
a legitimate-looking Peter Thorne header chalked off for a foul on home
keeper David Button.
McCall said: "Saturday was a picture of the last nine games. We missed
three well acceptable chances, there was poor defending and a crucial
decision went against us.
"The ref thought that Mullers (Paul Mullin) had impeded the keeper but
he didn't do anything. They haven't complained about it and afterwards
the keeper said he'd just slipped.
"For the first hour, you wouldn't have said we were a team lacking in
spirit or confidence or anything. We looked a decent side.
"Decisions like that don't just change the outcome of games but seasons.
The referee said he would apologise if he got it wrong but that doesn't
help anyone.
"But it's all right saying this and that. The bottom line is I've not
produced. I've put this squad together this season and not been able to
deliver."
Omar Daley, whose cruciate injury in February looks a significant reason
behind City's sudden collapse, has been named in the PFA League Two team
of the season.
McCall said: "There have been factors, like the injuries at crucial
times, but with the standard of player we've got at this club, it's
still hugely frustrating and disappointing that we are where we are."
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