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Signings, Loans and Injuries
Injuries
Andrew Davies, broken left arm (Aug 23)
City fans can send their messages onto Andrew via @Andrew_Davies84
https://twitter.com/officialbantams/status/504949744322756608/photo/1
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Preview
Preview followed by live coverage of Saturday's League One game between Bradford City and Yeovil Town.
BBC http://ift.tt/1t7Fl9R
Doubts surround Glovers boss Gary Johnson ahead of Valley Parade trip
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11455803.Woe_vil__Doubts_surround_Glovers_boss_Gary_Johnson_ahead_of_Valley_Parade_trip/
Game links
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11457544.FT__City_1_Yeovil_3/
http://m.espn.go.com/soccer/gamecast?gameId=393823&action=stats&lang=EN
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/sport_bantams_pics2012/sport_bantams_pics2014_yeovilhome/
Highlight/ Goals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bSVF7DZiA
Post Game Interview
Parkinson after Yeovil Town defeat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jpS27jjQlw&feature=youtu.be
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Final whistle - match report
'Game too far' for ponderous Bantams
7:00pm Saturday 6th September 2014
By Simon Parker
PHIL Parkinson felt it was a "game too far" for City today as they limped to defeat against Yeovil.
The Bantams put on a flat display at Valley Parade to go down 3-1, Rory McArdle scoring the home goal after two early headers from Yeovil defender Aaron Martin. Ajay Leitch-Smith added their third in the second half.
Parkinson admitted: "We were well below the standards we've set so far this season.
"Conceding the two goals in the manner we did gave Yeovil a huge lift. We got one back but we just didn't have the energy or the spark in our play today.
"It was a shame because we've had a terrific start. But our decision-making on the ball was a bit ponderous and we weren't sharp enough in possession.
"It was just a game too far with the run we've had. Even the lads we rested on Tuesday lacked sharpness."
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When the dust settled - match report
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11458511.Below_par_Bradford_City_must_get_bad_day_at_office_out_of_system/
Below-par Bradford City must get bad day at office out of system
6:27am Monday 8th September 2014
By Simon Parker
City 1, Yeovil 3
THEY were few and far between but still audible nevertheless.
The murmur of discontent around Valley Parade after this flattest of home defeats was punctuated by the odd boo.
No doubt those who chose to voice their frustration had also joined the jubilant choir that raised the roof when Leeds were dramatically vanquished in the Capital One Cup ten days earlier.
But the contrast between Saturday and Valley Parade's previous offering was extreme. If that performance was Katy Perry – brash, breezy and moves in all the right places – this was Katie Hopkins.
So the dissenters had their day. And let's face it, for some you can't beat a good grumble.
City's plodding display admittedly gave the fans next to nothing to stir themselves. "Well below the standards we've set," was Phil Parkinson's accurate summing up.
The new class of 2014 pride themselves on movement, quick passing and, above all else, boundless energy. None of that was on show.
So instead, we had the depressing spectacle of an unfashionable side with a small bunch of supporters heading north and owning the place. It was a dreary flashback to the days when that went on far too frequently.
The fact that it sticks out like a sore thumb now shows the progress that has been made. But it still didn't make Saturday any easier on the eye.
The critics will question Parkinson's assertion that it was a "game too far" for his side after their non-stop first month.
The new season is barely into September, they say, so how can a team look so jaded so soon?
But the effort of being thrown straight into full-on mode and cramming nine games into the opening 28 days had clearly taken its toll. Even those who were spared Johnstone's Paint Trophy duty at Oldham looked as one-paced as the rest.
Yeovil and their loyal band of 190 long-distance followers, including the annoying one with a bell, thoroughly deserved their day out.
It was a fine end to a difficult week for the Glovers after the off-field rumblings between Gary Johnson and his board over a difficult transfer deadline day.
Instead, Johnson senior followed his son Lee's example at Boundary Park and completed the family management double over the Bantams.
He had employed some cod psychology in the build-up, asking each player to write down what they would need to do to be man of the match and putting it in their pocket.
For long spells on Saturday, most of the home team could have been hidden away from view in the same manner.
It was difficult to find too many redeeming features. Goal-scorer Rory McArdle could hold his head up at least but around him there were too many missing in action.
The midfield engine, which makes this team tick, failed to splutter into life. The passing was too slow and deliberate, allowing Yeovil to close them down at every opportunity.
Parkinson had named the side that lined up for the second half at Rochdale – a 45-minute spell that was held up as everything that is good and positive about this current bunch.
But on this occasion, Yeovil were simply quicker in both thought and deed.
The Somerset club have not been regular opponents. Their last visit was in January 2007 at a time when the City wheels were loosening and about to go cascading downhill.
It was that long ago that Omar Daley was making his debut and Jermaine Johnson was saying goodbye in ignominious fashion with a red card. There were some boos that afternoon too.
That was at a time when Saturday's slip-up was the norm. City may have lost back-to-back league home games now but there's no reason to suggest that this one was anything more than a bad day at the office.
Even the weather got in on the act; grey, misty with rain teeming down in regular bursts. It hardly enhanced the public mood.
That darkened just eight minutes in after Yeovil won the first corner and Aaron Martin barrelled in over his marker James Hanson to meet Sam Foley's cross with a thumping header.
And as an attacking double act, they were far from finished.
Jordan Pickford spread himself to deny the wily James Hayter as Yeovil's sprightly counter-attacks took advantage of the wide areas left exposed by City's diamond set-up.
But a second goal followed midway through the half after a foul by Mason Bennett, another anonymous figure in claret and amber, gave Foley another chance to target the City goal-mouth.
Once again it was Martin's head in between Hanson and Alan Sheehan to take advantage of defensive indecision. It was the first evidence of City really missing the aerial command of the injured Andrew Davies.
Johnson had worked with Martin on being more aggressive in the opposition penalty area – or, in the manager's words, to stop "cuddling the centre halves". Here also was proof that the message had hit home.
But City responded within four minutes with a set-piece header of their own, McArdle bursting towards the near post to power Sheehan's corner beyond Chris Weale.
That should have been the signal for a cavalry charge attacking the Kop in the second half. But other than a glancing header over the bar from Gary Liddle, there was nothing to stir the blood in the stands.
It was Yeovil who still looked the more likely to add to their tally – and they did just that with 17 minutes left to kill the game.
Foley's corner carried over everyone but Jack Price, the one loan signing that Johnson did manage to secure from Wolves, refused to give it up.
He probed on the byline before laying a pass back for former Crewe striker Ajay Leitch-Smith to sweep into the roof of the net with a sweet contact.
The blank week should come at the right time for City. Parkinson is confident of a strong response when Swindon arrive on Saturday and there is no reason to doubt otherwise.
Limbs will be rested, heads cleared – and hopefully any boos well out of the system.
Attendance: 12,601
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Rhodes reflects on the one that got away
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportbcfc/11457274.Question_and_Answer__Rhodes_reflects_on_the_one_that_got_away_from_Bradford_City/
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