Dons owner Pete Winkelman added: "Bradford have treated us very well and we have a long way to go to be like this club."
In a totally made up interview with the Bradford Onion Pete clarified his comment
"usually when we travel to away games we are met with some guy dressed in a wombles suit and the dressing room is full of roundabout signs and hockey sticks. That has inspired us to beat most clubs we have visited this season. Bradford did none of that - they just had a couple of TV's in the dressing room showing the highlights of May 14th 2000.
So we beat them for that reason. Thanks Bradford!"
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Mid Week News
In this edition
- Remember the nearly season
- Away kit revealed
- AND THE AWARD FOR CITY BEST GOES TO
- WETHERALL SET FOR FINAL BOW
- Old Boy News
- Ref preview v MK Dons
- bradfordcitybadges.co.uk
*/*
************************************************************ Remember the nearly season of 87/88 at bantamspast museum
Posted by: "MIKE HARRISON"
If you can get to VP early next Saturday, why not call into the bantamspast museum and hear a short talk from John Hendrie and Ian Ormondroyd about the nearly season on 1987/88.
It's now 20 years since that oh so nearly season of 87/88 and along with John and 'Sticks' there will be some video footage of the season to help recall just how close City came to gaining promotion that season.
Apart from the City Gent team there will be Paul Firth, author of Four minutes to hell and David Markham author of Legends of Bradford City who'll be on hand to sign books if you haven't already bought a copy.
The event kicks off at 1.30pm
Mike Harrison
Editor - The City Gent
******************************
******************************
The away kit was next season has been unveiled and it's going to be all white along with the appropriate claret, amber and black trim.
Official Press Release
******************************
******************************
AND THE AWARD FOR CITY BEST GOES TO...
By John Hendrie (T&A)
Being as it's the real thing at Valley Parade tomorrow night, I thought I'd
dish out the Hendrie gongs for this season.
TOP GOAL SCORER: Peter Thorne's goal ratio has been excellent - if only he
hadn't been out for the early part of the season.
Put the ball into the danger area and you know he will finish. He has played
at a higher level and still has that quality in front of goal.
It would be great if Thorney could get an injury-free year next time. You've
got to have someone who gets 20-goals plus and can lead the line and he is
certainly that man.
MOST IMPROVED: Joe Colbeck has made great strides since coming back from his
loan at Darlington. He got the bit between his teeth and has been the most
improved player I've seen.
He is still raw in some respects and at times his decision-making can let
him down but the fans have taken to Joe because he gives it his all.
You can't always play well but supporters should at least expect 100 per
cent effort every time and Joe always gives that.
GOAL OF THE YEAR: It has to be Luke Medley's memorable effort against
Wrexham. Not only was it his debut but his first touch - and clinched City's
first win under Stuart. One that won't be forgotten.
MISS OF THE SEASON: It's a toss-up between the top three of Kyle Nix at
Rotherham, Peter Thorne in the Rotherham home game and Omar Daley against
Morecambe.
I've been in that position myself - and you've got to be there to miss them.
But because I've already given him a pat on the back, I'll award this one to
you, Thorney!
MOST EMOTIONAL: The double fixtures against Lincoln were very poignant
occasions. They were so well respected by all the fans and brought tears to
my eyes.
BEST VICTORY: To go up to Darlington and turn over a team who were flying -
and to do it in style on a terrible pitch - takes some beating.
LOW POINT: Accrington Stanley at home. I wasn't doing the radio that night
so Mark Lawn invited me to go up with him. No disrespect Mark but that's the
last time I do that!
****************************** WETHERALL SET FOR FINAL BOW Wethers set for emotional day David Wetherall is braced to bid a frantic farewell to Valley Parade on Saturday against the most lethal away team in the country. ****************************** Old Boy News Rams bring in Hutchings ****************************** Ref preview v MK Dons (www.thebucksfizz.com) Fizz Ref Watch v Bradford ******************************
******************************
David Wetherall will make his farewell appearance in front of Bradford
City's fans at Valley Parade on Saturday.
The veteran defender will retire at the end of the season to take up a
coaching role at the club and will play his last home game for the Bantams
against MK Dons.
City manager Stuart McCall told the Telegraph & Argus: "I had a word with
Wethers and was trying to persuade him to stay on for next season, but there
was no changing his mind.
"But what we're losing as a player we will gain as a coach. We've been a
body short on that side and he is intellectual about the game."
McCall added: "There are times when David could have left the club,
especially in administration, but he stuck by Bradford and the supporters
have shown their appreciation for his loyalty."
The 37-year-old, signed from Leeds for £1.4million after the club won
promotion to the Premier League in 1999, has made 325 appearances for
Bradford City.
By Simon Parker
League Two champions MK Dons have bagged 17 wins on their travels, losing only twice, in an incredible haul of 54 points from a possible 66.
And Paul Ince's promoted side have the perfect incentive to claim one more away win - they would clinch the title.
So Wetherall will face pumped-up opposition for his 167th - and last - home appearance for City before he quits as a player at the end of the season.
"I might well be rather busy," admitted the skipper, who will be making his 300th league start for the club.
"It sounds a great game to watch if you're sat in the stand but maybe not to be playing in! The table doesn't lie and MK Dons deserve to be top of the league so it's going to be difficult.
"But it makes for a big occasion because of what's at stake and that should add something to the atmosphere."
Wetherall expects the emotion to be bubbling up when he leads out City at Valley Parade for the final time. But he insists there will be no looking back as he prepares for a new career in the dug-out alongside Stuart McCall and Wayne Jacobs as first-team coach.
"It's going to be strange and emotional but I don't expect to feel sad about things.
"There is a widely held belief that you feel depressed when the moment comes to finish playing. But all things come to an end.
"I would love to be 27 again with a lot of my career in front of me but I'm not. Time moves on.
"I just feel I've been really fortunate to have had the career that I have and I'm looking forward to the next challenge."
Wetherall is satisfied that he has been able to call time on his playing career on his own terms, unlike close pal Nigel Martyn, who was forced to quit the game through injury.
"I'd much rather have it that way. Having spoken to Nige about it, he never knew when his last game was going to be.
"Since I announced my decision, I've just been concentrating on trying to help us finish as high as we can. I didn't expect to play all the games throughout the season and playing all the time may sound a bit odd for somebody who has decided that they can't carry on.
"But I've still go no doubts that this is the right decision at the right time.
"Some people think I'm only saying that because it hasn't really sunk in yet. Maybe that will be the case - but I wouldn't expect to feel any different after tomorrow or any day in the future."
Wetherall has scored only once this season and would love to sign off in front of the home fans with another goal - he last netted at Valley Parade in December 2006.
He joked: "Forget just going up for corners, I'm taking all the free-kicks from 30 yards and in! I'll try to get myself on penalties as well but I doubt it somehow - unless they've got hard hats for all the fans behind the goal.
"It would be really nice to score again on an occasion like this but these things rarely happen in football.
"We will be treating this game as properly as we can. I'm sure that Peterborough want us to turn over MK Dons so they can catch them at the top and we want to finish at home with one more win.
"I will certainly be trying to do that in spite of what the game means."
******************************
Friday 25 Apr 2008
Derby County have confirmed the appointment of former Wigan Athletic and Bradford City boss Chris Hutchings as their new assistant manager.
Hutchings, who worked with Rams manager Paul Jewell at both his former clubs, was drafted in to fill the vacancy left by Stan Ternent's departure to take charge at Huddersfield Town.
CHRIS HUTCHINGS Jewell told the club's official website: "Chris is a football man through and through and he lives to be on the training ground."...
******************************
Thursday 24 Apr 2008 12:02:18 by Franco
The final away game of the season sees us catch up with another ref who brought us good fortune earlier this term. Lets hope history repeats itself.
Karl Evans a Championship level referee in his first season in the Football League was the man in charge when we hosted Accrington Stanley and won 5-0 on the 12th of December. That was the day we switched to a new midfield formation and Andrews, Navarro and Cameron had put the Dons 3 up in just over 3o minutes with the screams of "Those three will never work together" ringing in the ears of some uneducated Dons supporters to their shame. Dyer added two in the second half giving the MK Dons their record home win in the process.
Mr Evans has a bit of a wobbly start to his League refereeing career and got a tad carried away showing 11 yellows and 1 red in his first two games. Since then he has gone on to do a further 23 games and has brought his card count to a moderate 52 yellows and 2 reds.
On the day when we'll hopefully clinch the League Title you'd always want the most level headed official controlling things, it would appear the League have given us that it would seem.
The supporting officials are P P Davies and M A Naylor and the fourth official, who will tell us when its time to party will be K J Mattocks.
******************************
Posted by: "Jeremy White"
Some of you may be aware of my new website bradfordcitybadges.co.uk
which surprisingly is dedicated to Bantams enamel badges.
Mike Harrison has included articles in the last two editions of the CG.
If anyone has any badges that I feature on my wanted list, please
get in touch via the website.
In addition I am (subject to demand) going to produce 23 'fixture badges'
for each home league game at Valley Parade next season.
The press release should be featured on the Clubs website in the next
couple of days. I thought that there may be some IBs who may want
to subscribe to the fixture badges before they go on general release.
A copy of the press release is featured below.
bradfordcitybadges.co.uk in conjunction with The City Gent fanzine and fully endorsed by Bradford City F.C. are going to produce 23 'limited edition' enamel fixture pin badges for next season 2008/2009.
A limited edition badge will be produced to commemorate every home league fixture at Valley Parade and will feature the logos of each club.
The badges will be produced after each home game and will record the date of each fixture, as well as the final score and subject to space, the attendance.
The badges will be limited to 100 for each game and they will all be individually numbered on the back and be inscribed 'limited edition'.
This will ensure that the badges become very collectable and hopefully increase in value over the years.
The full set will provide a superb record of what we all hope will be a memorable season.
The basic price is £69 for the set (£3 per badge) plus postage and packing.
ALL profits will be donated back to Bradford City.F.C.
The badges are available on a first come, first served basis and will be similar to the Gillingham badge. See photo on website.
For more details or to subscribe to the offer, visit bradfordcitybadges.co.uk
Regards
Jeremy
******************************
CFML – City Forward! Mailing List
"All the news and none of the views"
Since February 1997
******************************
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
L2 Apr 19th (h) W2-1 v Grimsby Town
Game Summary:
Coca-Cola League Two
Bradford C (0) 2 Thorne 62, Colbeck 90
Grimsby Town (1) Till 9
Att: 13,448
Grimsby suffered stoppage-time heartbreak at Valley Parade as they threw
away the lead to go down 2-1 to Bradford City.
The match looked like it was heading for a draw when Bradford's Joe Colbeck
picked up a loose ball in the Mariners penalty area before firing a low shot
into the far corner to send the home fans delirious.
Grimsby had gone in front after eight minutes when Peter Till turned the
ball into the net at the far post from Ciaran Toner's cross.
But City's leading-scorer Peter Thorne equalised in the 62nd minute, as he
intercepted Tom Newey's back-pass before firing in.
And Colbeck then completed the fine comeback with a last-gasp winner.
******************************
A bit of City humour... http://texasbantam.blogspot.com/
Next game(s) : Upcoming fixtures
2007/2008 fixtures now out
FL2 Table Table
Must be a midlife crises - I'm on facebook !
******************************
******************************
******************************
Highlights (UK only) Virgin Media
******************************
Match Stats
******************************
Coca-Cola League Two
Bradford C (0) 2 Thorne 62, Colbeck 90
Grimsby Tn (1) Till 9
Att: 13,448
Stats: Bradford C - Grimsby
Possession: 47 - 53%
Shots on target: 8 - 3
Shots off target: 6 - 5
Fouls: 8 - 14
Corners: 6 - 2
Ref: Jarnail Singh
Yellow cards:
Bradford C: None
Grimsby: Bolland (12 min), Atkinson (17).
Bradford C: 34. Scott Loach, 2. Darren Williams, 5. David Wetherall, 6. Mark
Bower, 19. Luke O'Brien, 15. Joe Colbeck, 18. Tom Penford (66), 8. Eddie
Johnson, 22. Kyle Nix, 10. Peter Thorne (83), 7. Omar Daley (75).
Subs: 3. Paul Heckingbottom, 9. Barry Conlon (66), 11. Alex Rhodes (75), 25.
Luke Medley (83), 33. Ben Starosta.
Grimsby: 1. Phillip Barnes, 5. Ryan Bennett, 25. Robert Atkinson, 6. Nick
Fenton, 3. Tom Newey, 7. Peter Till (11), 11. Danny Boshell, 4. James Hunt
(73), 8. Paul Bolland, 10. Ciaran Toner, 21. Nathan Jarman.
Subs: 2. Jamie Clarke, 13. Gary Montgomery (GK), 17. Nick Hegarty (11), 22.
Matthew Bird, 23. Martin Butler (73).
******************************
BCFC Report (from the T&A )
******************************
Colbeck's a ghostbuster
City 2, Grimsby 1
Stuart McCall is ready to boot out tradition and kick first towards the Kop more often.
Down the years, City have always preferred to attack the home end in the second half.
But Grimsby forced them to switch direction on Saturday and, far from leaving the City players disorientated, they responded by netting twice under the noses of the away fans to bag a come-from-behind success.
McCall was even happier to see Joe Colbeck's winner flash in during stoppage time, killing off the ghosts of previous last-gasp defeats that have haunted the Bantams boss in recent months.
The Bradford End has witnessed a few dramatic winners this season yet until this weekend they had all come against City.
McCall admitted: "That goal holds nightmare visions for me. I can still see Stockport's goal going in after 90 minutes - and Bury's and Rochdale's ...
"But it's nice feeling now as if everything's been wiped away. All I can remember now is Colbeck smashing the ball into that bottom corner.
"Maybe it's the thing to do from now on and go that way in the second half. Whoever the new captain might be for next year, I might have a word with him if we win the toss."
That could be a bonus for the City fans who are going back into the TL Dallas Stand next term as the club crank up their season-ticket drive.
John Hendrie had popped up on the pitch at half-time to bang the drum about tickets - a thankless task, given the unconvincing home display in the first 45 minutes.
Though given the turn-around in the second half, perhaps the City legend has a budding career as a motivational speaker during the break!
The opening half matched the Barnet game in that City weren't very good. Their touch was off and they struggled to find any space to work in with Grimsby's smothering five-man midfield.
A blustery wind hardly made for attractive, end-to-end football, although it didn't seem to harm the Mariners when they pushed forward in numbers.
For a side that had lost five on the trot, Alan Buckley's men did not turn up with their chins on the floor and signalled their intentions from the second minute when Ryan Bennett fizzed in a dangerous cross that was cleared with some difficulty.
McCall kept faith with Luke O'Brien at left back after his promising debut at Brentford but the youngster found himself two-on-one on several occasions and was powerless to stop Grimsby scoring after nine minutes.
Darren Williams was caught in possession on the other side of the box by Nathan Jarman and Ciaran Toner's drilled centre was turned in by Peter Till despite O'Brien's close attentions.
The pair collided and the scorer stayed down, the goal proving to be his final touch as he left the action on a stretcher.
Bennett's overlapping runs were a constant cause for concern, while Jarman rattled the advertising board beside Scott Loach's goal with an effort that was too close for comfort.
City could not get themselves going. Tom Penford, in particular, was having a game to forget in midfield, where his usual control deserted him against the combined factors of Grimsby's pressing and the unhelpful conditions.
He sprayed one trademark pass to release Colbeck but the winger drove in a harmless cross behind both strikers, summing up City's first-half frustrations.
They still could have had a penalty but assistant referee William Smallwood decided to change his mind after initially raising his flag for handball against Rob Atkinson.
But equally it should have been 2-0 at the break as City enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune. Substitute Nick Hegarty, on for Till, beat Loach into the far corner but Bennett - who was in an offside position in front the goal line - decided to touch it and make sure.
McCall said: "That would have been game over. We got out of jail. That was our lucky break of the day and I told the lads we've got to capitalise."
Thankfully they did with a much-improved response after the break.
There were signs approaching half-time that City were finding the next gear. Twice Peter Thorne set up Omar Daley but the Jamaican snatched horribly at the first chance and then drove straight at keeper Phil Barnes.
But City came back out with far more purpose and straight away Thorne peeled free to nod wide from a Colbeck free-kick, although the same combination got it right just after the hour to fashion the equaliser.
Grimsby defender Tom Newey sensed no danger as he set out to retrieve a ball heading for the touchline but Colbeck refused to give it up as a lost cause and set off in eager pursuit.
Panicked by the winger's sudden arrival, Newey turned and passed a blind square pass towards Barnes with his weaker right foot.
Thorne anticipated it perfectly - earning a lavish comparison with Ian Rush from his manager - and expertly steered the ball round the stranded keeper. It was still no gimme because of the tight angle but Thorne showed great presence of mind to beat Nick Fenton's desperate efforts on the line.
McCall said: "Thorney senses where the danger is going to be. Like Rush used to do, he'll appear from nowhere in just the right position - but that's the sign of a very good striker."
Colbeck's role in forcing the error had been just as important and was another indication of the way his game has come on leaps and bounds over the past eight months.
A few hours later, Joe Calzaghe was climbing off the canvas in Las Vegas to battle back and silence the doubters in style. City's own Joe C has certainly conquered his early-season knockdowns to come back firing and convince all but the hardest Valley Parade judges.
He will find out on Tuesday whether that's enough to earn the coveted player-of-the-year accolade from the fans but if there was a most-improved trophy, Colbeck would win it by a mile.
The goal handed City fresh impetus and Kyle Nix spotted Barnes slightly off his line with a perfectly-judged chip that the Grimsby keeper just managed to finger over the crossbar.
Substitute Barry Conlon just could not get enough on a close-range chance and McCall also threw on Luke Medley, remembering how the young gun had wreaked late havoc at Blundell Park in October.
Grimsby were going for it too as Buckley threw on an extra striker and O'Brien showed real precision to whip the ball off Jarman's toes as the Mariners looked to break.
But there was still time for the customary late fireworks from the Bradford End. Medley laid the ball off to Johnson, who chested it into Colbeck's path and the outside of his right boot did the rest.
It's an ending that Valley Parade has seen before - only this time the late twist was provided by a City goal.
******************************
******************************
Official match report
n/a
Misc. Report(s)
n/a
******************************
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From Official website (Programme Notes)...
"Thank you all for your tremendous support "
Saturday 19 April 2008, Coca-Cola Football League 2
Bradford City vs Grimsby Town
Welcome to the Coral Windows Stadium for this afternoon's visit of Grimsby
Town. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the directors, officials,
players and supporters who have travelled over from Grimsby for today's
game.
This will be my last set of programme notes for the season because, as many
of you will have noticed, myself and Julian have been taking turns
contributing to this column. Therefore, I would like to take this
opportunity to thank you all again for your tremendous support this season
on behalf of myself, Julian and all of the players. The backing that you
have given the team both here at the Coral Windows Stadium and on the road
has been terrific.
I am very frustrated, as I am sure you are, by the way this season has gone
and I will be doing my utmost to ensure that we enjoy more success next
year. Planning for the new campaign does not start now or indeed at the end
of this season - it is something that we have been preparing for over the
past few weeks. Hopefully we can put a plan together which can make us more
successful and give us the best possible chance of securing a play-off place
at least come the end of next season.
We should bear in mind that since the beginning of January Stuart has done a
terrific job in turning round the results and if we had performed to that
level across the season we would have achieved a play-off birth this year
with the current squad. I do believe that the squad does need strengthening
to ensure that we achieve our aims next season. However, we should not throw
the baby out with the bath water. Instead, there needs to be a strategic
pruning of the squad which - to continue the gardening analogy - will allow
us to grow back stronger next season.
As you will probably have heard by now, we will be holding a fans' forum at
the club with myself, Stuart and David Baldwin on Tuesday 29 April at
7.00pm.
This will be a great opportunity for you supporters to ask us questions on a
whole variety of topics affecting the football club and, as always, we will
be as honest and informative as possible. I hope to see as many of you there
as possible and look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Finally, I would like to remind you that we have the TL Dallas Bradford End
back in use for home supporters again next season and I would urge fans to
take up the opportunity to book their season tickets in that stand. I firmly
believe this will help to ensure that the support we have in the ground is
even more vociferous than it has been this season.
I will finish by again saying thanks to you all for your backing this year.
As we head into the summer, please remember that everything that myself and
Julian do at this football club we do as fans and we always do what we
believe is in the best interests of Bradford City.
Enjoy the game, have a great summer and I look forward to seeing you back
here for the first game of the new season.
Mark Lawn
Joint Chairman
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BRADFORD CITY: Kyle hoping all the work pays off
By Leon Wobschall
KYLE NIX has done the hard yards for the Bantams this term and is hoping that his maturing all-round game is rewarded with the ultimate vote of faith from boss Stuart McCall.
The City chief and Nix go back a fair way, to when the fresh-faced youngster cut his footballing teeth as a rookie midfielder at Sheffield United where McCall was number two to Neil Warnock.
Nix was a regular in McCall's reserve team before being released by the Blades in the summer of 2006.
Then a potential second chance in league football was ravaged by an ankle ligament injury at Grimsby at the start of the last term – and he found himself in the wilderness at UniBond League outfit Buxton during the second half of the season.
But McCall proved he hadn't forgotten Nix by handing him a passport back into the league last summer by virtue of an initial month's contract after he impressed in trials.
That was successfully negotiated with the 22-year-old signing a deal until the end of last year before penning a fresh six-month contract at the start of January.
And proving his worth is the name of the game again now for Nix, who fired his eighth goal of the campaign – a spectacular 20-yarder– in last Saturday's 2-2 draw.
Despite having shown a goalscoring penchant, it could well be that the diminutive midfielder's muck-and-nettles displays in the centre of midfield prove just as big a factor when McCall makes a decision on his future shortly.
Keen to land a longer-term deal at City – which he will have earned the hard way – Nix said: "Nothing has been sorted out, so I'll just have to keep my head down.
"If nothing does happen, I'll be a free agent at the end of the season.
"Obviously, I want to stay. But I've just got to come in every day and prove my worth to stay here.
"I'd like to think I've got a chance. Obviously, it's up to the gaffer and I can see that keeping people on their toes works to his advantage, to be fair."
And if he does stay, he'd love to feature in the heart of the engine room next term, if he has his way.
He added: "I prefer being in the centre. As I'm maturing, I see my role there.
"I've played on the left of midfield and at left-back in a few games and that can only help me.
"People maybe look at me and see I'm too small to play in centre midfield.
But I don't think I've been bullied out of any game or pushed off the ball. When I was at Sheffield United towards the end and at (Aston) Villa, that was maybe a criticism and people thought that my defensive side was poor and that I didn't track back or get stuck in.
"But I've worked really hard on that side of it this season and have played a different role.
"I've certainly enjoyed it and feel like I've proved myself and am grateful to the gaffer for giving me the chance.
"The gaffer knew a lot about me from his days at Sheffield United. But obviously being in the first team is a different kettle of fish to reserve team football.
"Some people make the step up, others fall by the wayside.
"For my first real season, playing in the first team, I think I've consistently played well, apart from the odd couple of games, where I haven't done my best. You are always going to get that.
"But I've played 40-odd games and if someone had said that I'd have played that many this time last year after being out of the game, I'd have been delighted.
"I'd have done anything to play that many. Everything seems to have fallen into place. I scored on my debut against Wolves with one day left on my month-long deal.
"I then played against Wrexham in my home debut and did quite well and I've just really gone on from there.
"I've just kept my head down. A couple of times, I've been out of the team when in my eyes, I shouldn't have been dropped. But you just get on with it.
"It's been brilliant, touch wood, and it's been okay injury-wise too. I've not had so much luck before.
"I've loved training and being in the first team in front of such big crowds here. Expectations are high, but that's the pressure of football and you have to handle it.
"I feel I've got more experienced and matured and hope to go from strength to strength."
On his eye-catching strike at Griffin Park, Nix added: "It's probably the best goal I've scored for Bradford.
"I'm looking at double figures now. I'm the second goalscorer behind Thorney (Peter Thorne), so I'm quite happy with that, definitely."
******************************
CFML – City Forward! Mailing List
"All the news and none of the views"
Since February 1997
******************************
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
L2 Apr 12 (a) D2-2 v Brentford
Game Summary:
End of season games between middling sides can be curious affairs.
Some can be played out with all the ferocity of a beach kick-about on the holidays the players are all starting to plan.
Others can serve up an entertainment free-for-all as both sides cast off any inhibitions caused by the league table.
But Griffin Park on Saturday decided to host its own private goal-of-the-month contest.
As the first-half goals went flying in, there seemed to be an air of "anything you can do...". Each spectacular effort was trumped by the next.
******************************
A bit of City humour... http://texasbantam.blogspot.com/
Next game(s) : Upcoming fixtures
2007/2008 fixtures now out
FL2 Table Table
Must be a midlife crises - I'm on facebook !
******************************
******************************
******************************
Highlights (UK only) Virgin Media
******************************
Match Stats
******************************
Brentford: Brown, Pead, Bennett, Heywood, Dickson, Poole, O'Connor, Smith, Brown (Shakes, 82 mins), Elder, Connell. Unused substitutes: Hamer, Osborne, Sankofa, Mousinho.
Goals Poole 6, Bennett 26
Bradford City: Loach, Williams, Wetherall, Bower, O'Brien, Rhodes (Medley, 82 mins), Colbeck, Penfold (Bentham, 68 mins), Nix (Daley, 68 mins), Thorne, Johnson. Unused substitutes: Saynor, Starosta.
Goals: Thorne 17,Nix 19
Referee: P. Armstrong (Berkshire).
Attendance: 4,336
Game Statistics
Bees / Bantams
11 Goal Attempts 5
3 On Target 3
6 Corners 1
16 Fouls 12
1 Yellow Cards 2
51 % 49
******************************
BCFC Report (from the T&A )
******************************
City deliver goal extravaganza
By Simon Parker
Brentford 2 City 2
End of season games between middling sides can be curious affairs.
Some can be played out with all the ferocity of a beach kick-about on the holidays the players are all starting to plan.
Others can serve up an entertainment free-for-all as both sides cast off any inhibitions caused by the league table.
But Griffin Park on Saturday decided to host its own private goal-of-the-month contest.
As the first-half goals went flying in, there seemed to be an air of "anything you can do...". Each spectacular effort was trumped by the next.
Three of the four goals were absolute belters - and the one from Brentford's Glenn Poole which got the fun started was no tap-in either.
Talking of tap-ins, Kyle Nix was delighted to wipe out the painful memory of that goal-line gaffe at Rotherham a few weeks back.
His cracking left-foot volley from just outside the box showed perfect timing. And not just in terms of his sweet connection which flew into the top corner.
Three weeks from now, Stuart McCall has to make his mind up on Nix and the legion of other out-of-contract names. It was a hefty nudge in the midfielder's favour.
Second-guessing McCall is as difficult a pastime for reporters as players. The line-up which braved the pre-match monsoon of hail for their warm-up again showed several changes from four days before.
The four missing from the 11 which faced Barnet included injured duo Barry Conlon and Paul Heckingbottom.
Conlon was given the breather he needed after carrying a knee problem he suffered a fortnight ago at Rochdale. Heckingbottom lost his ever-present league mantle after his calf tightened up in training on Friday.
His absence meant a league debut for Luke O'Brien, whose only previous senior experience was the FA Cup loss to Tranmere in December.
The 19-year-old is expected to be handed another contract in the summer and certainly did his chances no harm at all.
"I had no worries about putting him in," said McCall. "Luke plays and trains ever so well and hopefully he's got a good future in the game."
O'Brien showed few nerves against on-loan Fulham winger Wayne Brown or late substitute Ricky Shakes. And he topped off a good day in the capital with a clearance off the line to thwart Nathan Elder's header.
City defended well as a whole after a dodgy start.
Alan Connell had already gone close when Brentford grabbed the lead on six minutes after Nix had undersold Tom Penford midway inside his own half.
Gary Smith nicked the pass away and teed up Poole, whose low shot through David Wetherall's legs beat Scott Loach's left hand. Maybe the keeper could have done a bit better but he only saw the ball very late after the skipper's attempts to close Poole down.
But City did not have long to dwell on their misfortune. Within 13 minutes, they had not only levelled but taken the lead.
The Bantams struck with their first effort at goal - and what a beauty it was.
Mark Bower pumped a long free-kick forward, where Wetherall won possession with a commanding knock-down to Peter Thorne. The leading scorer let it run across his body as he swivelled and crashed an unstoppable half-volley into the roof of the net.
It was a stunning strike and prompted yet more "if only" sighs from the away supporters, pondering those lost three months at the start of the campaign before Thorne was fit and firing.
Getting him tied down for next season already could prove to be McCall's best signing of the summer.
Brentford were further rocking three minutes later after another superb blast from the edge of the penalty area.
Thorne again had a part in it with a flick-on header and Nix's lethal left foot did the rest, with the aid of a slight Brentford deflection.
This was getting fun - so much for Ian Ormondroyd's pre-match prediction of a 0-0 banker... City could and should have gone further in front as Eddie Johnson, again playing up front, cleverly anticipated Ryan Dickson's back pass for centre half Matt Heywood.
Johnson timed his run perfectly to whisk the ball off the defender's foot and suddenly found himself bearing down on goal. But with only keeper Simon Brown to beat, he seemed to lose conviction as the goal approached and drove an unconvincing shot straight at the opponent.
As so often happens, a miss like that swiftly becomes a key turning-point.
And instead of going 3-1 down, Brentford were back on equal terms just two minutes later. Of course, it was another pearler of a strike.
Wetherall cleared out a cross as far as Wayne Brown before Alan Bennett took over with the sort of goal that no centre half has the right to score.
Seizing possession on the angle of the City penalty area, he launched a looping effort - with a hint of a touch off Thorne's outstretched boot - which flew over Loach and crashed into the far corner of the net off the bar.
Twenty six minutes gone, four goals, all crackers. Of course it couldn't last.
But there were still further murmurs before half-time as Penford's hit-and-hope cross bounced on the bar and Alex Rhodes, trying so hard but failing to make a real impact against his old club, snatched at a shot after a dreadful miscontrol by right back Craig Pead.
Brentford thought they were back in front right on the break when Elder thumped a header goalwards from Smith's corner but O'Brien was perfectly positioned to guard the back post and make sure of a personal moment to savour.
After such a first-half feast, the second was inevitably going to run out of steam. City's efforts weren't helped by a fresh deluge that was blowing into their faces.
Joe Colbeck made a couple of trademark charges deep into enemy territory but his decision-making let him down; once in particular he kept on going and going deep into the box before wrongly looking to cut back to Johnson instead of having a dig himself.
Loach made a good save after Elder found room to turn and shoot and Connell wastefully volleyed over the bar from close range.
But City should have had a penalty with five minutes left. Wetherall has hardly got the reputation as a serial diver but referee Paul Armstrong was unmoved when he appeared to be thrown to the ground by Heywood.
The big defender was furious at the official's non-committal response to what seemed a blatant foul.
City finished the game on the attack with Luke Medley sending fellow sub Omar Daley away on the left. But he didn't spot the well-placed Thorne and cut inside instead, only to lose out before he could get off a shot.
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Official match report
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Misc. Report(s)
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Nix: I don't do tap-ins
By Simon Parker
Kyle Nix today joked: I'm more deadly from 20 yards than one.
The feisty midfielder bagged his eighth goal for City with an explosive strike against Brentford.
Only Peter Thorne, who netted number 14 for the season with an equally spectacular effort in Saturday's 2-2 draw, has scored more.
Nix's goal from the edge of the penalty area was his first since January - and wiped out the memory of his amazing point-blank miss at Rotherham recently.
Nix admitted: "I don't seem to do tap-ins! But it was good to get on the scoresheet again after missing the Rotherham one.
"That was one of those freak things. I don't think I could ever do it again if I tried.
"But I've not let it bother me and wouldn't say that it has affected my confidence. I still want to get in the same positions and make runs into the box."
Nix is one of the clutch of players waiting to see if they figure in Stuart McCall's plans for next term. But he reckons the uncertainty is making sure City do not ease up before the current campaign is up.
"I haven't heard anything but I'm just trying to keep firing and playing as well as I can. It's the same with a lot of the lads and I think the last six or seven games have made it hard for the gaffer with his decisions.
"Everybody wants to be here and we're trying to finish the season as strongly as we can and keep getting the results.
"I thought Brentford's first goal was my fault but I redeemed myself with scoring. It was a decent performance all round and keeps us just in front of them."
McCall has consistently made it clear he will not deliver his verdict on the out-of-contract players until the season is over.
He said: "When I played, sometimes you had to go the last game. People want to know about their future, of course, but there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes.
"The lads know the situation and they've got to keep putting in good performances.
"I reminded the team before kick-off that nobody could say it was an end-of-season game with nothing to play for. Every one of them, including the lads on the bench, has everything to play for."
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Rhodes: We're on to a winner with Stuart
By Simon Parker
Julian Rhodes is convinced that Stuart McCall is the "winner" to turn City into genuine promotion contenders for next season.
Saturday's draw at Brentford meant that the Bantams cannot make the play-offs. Realistically, the current ninth spot is the highest they can finish in McCall's debut at the helm.
But despite contemplating another year in the basement division, joint-chairman Rhodes believes McCall has made big strides as a manager.
And he views City's dramatic improvement over the second half of the season as proof of the progress the club legend has made in charge.
Rhodes said: "I've been impressed with Stuart this year.
"It's not been the season we all hoped for because we're not going to win promotion but he has certainly shown signs that he will achieve what we want to achieve as a club.
"We all know that Stuart McCall is a winner and will work hard until he gets it right, which I'm sure he will."
McCall concedes he was a novice to League Two when he took the job. He had to assemble a squad for this season as he went along; taking recommendations on available players before he was fully aware of what was required.
"That was the problem last year," admitted Rhodes. "At the end of June, Stuart only had about six players - it won't be like that next time. We want the nucleus of the squad in before pre-season and I'm sure that will be the case.
"We've already got one or two targets that hopefully we will be in a position to bring in a lot earlier than last year.
"Stuart has done his homework and I think he knows some of the best players in this division. I'm sure he will be using his persuasive charms to get them to sign for Bradford."
Morecambe's tricky winger Garry Thompson, who injured his cheek bone at Valley Parade ten days ago, is understood to be one of McCall's top targets.
Thompson has been offered the biggest deal in the Shrimps' history to stay but has not put pen to paper so far, suggesting he is ready to move on.
Huddersfield's Bradford-born midfielder Chris Brandon has also been mentioned, along with prolific Mansfield striker Michael Boulding. But McCall is also still making up his mind about several members of the current squad.
Rhodes said: "At this time of year, signings come to the forefront and Stuart has been talking about players who are out of contract.
"Stuart will be given his budget and he has to operate within it. We all talk about players but ultimately it's Stuart's decision and his budget and he needs to spend it as he sees fit."
McCall has acknowledged City's chances this term were wrecked by an autumn slump which saw them claim only two points out of a possible 24.
Some managers would have been under pressure after a run like that but Rhodes dismisses any suggestions that City had any doubts.
"That kind of attitude gets you nowhere. Whatever way you look at it, we suffered this season from a bad eight games in October and November.
"Stuart has had to learn and I have to say, he's learned very quickly, especially since December time. I've been very impressed with him.
"You look at our record in that time (35 points in 21 games since New Year's Day) and he's definitely getting there. All we can do is carry on off the pitch making sure that we don't slip back into losing money, in such a way as it allows Stuart to have a real chance.
"I don't want to put undue pressure on anyone but next season we have to do well. With Stuart in charge and now a year wiser, I know that we will."
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By Simon Parker
McCALL DEFENDS CONTRACT DELAYS
Stuart McCall has defended his decision to keep some of his players guessing
over their futures at Valley Parade.
Several first-team squad members are out of contract in the summer and
Bradford City manager McCall has refused to discuss new deals with any of
them until the season is over.
McCall said: "When I played, sometimes you had to go to the last game.
"People want to know about their future, of course, but there are a lot of
things going on behind the scenes.
"The lads know the situation and they've got to keep putting in good
performances.
"I reminded the team before kick-off that nobody could say it was an
end-of-season game with nothing to play for. Every one of them, including
the lads on the bench, has everything to play for."
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