Welcome Callum Connolly

Might well be Connolly is better in midfield. If we've bought him for that then I will reserve judgement. But I want my central midfielders to be central midfielder, like your Stuart McCalls, your Gareth Whalleys, Gary Jones, Josh Cullen, Lewis O'Briens etc. Or formerly of this parish Jenson Metcalfe and Max Power, none of these were considered versatile due to the fact they were bloody good at what their primary job was.

 

Looking from the player's pov, we are a step down albeit a small one. A back up?

 

I don't think people have any qualms about the quality of the signing. Its more to do with the emphasis the media have put out that indicates he's being seen as a midfielder.

you have to factor in several things here -
1) we have no natural 6 or 8s in the squad
2) Connolly has only played a fraction of his career in midfield and played almost all of it in defence
3) we have form for signing players, telling them they are going to play out of position, and then witnessing them flop badly. Odour comes to mind but the most prominent one is our current highest earner, who everyone told us was a winger but GA insisted on making into a striker, which flopped badly and we’ve had to reassess the situation entirely 12 months later

 

Not only BBC.....

 

Power was good defensively but not so good going forward and Metcalfe the reverse.i know little about Connolly so I will judge him on what he does for us wherever he plays

 

"Bradford City AFC is delighted to announce the signing of Callum Connolly on an initial two-year deal.

The midfielder joins the Bantams after a spell at Edgeley Park with Stockport County, where he featured 63 times for the Hatters."

Try again....

 

Was more about the quote!

 

I would like some to ask the question at tonight's forum regarding what position has he been specifically signed to play.

 

A lot of overthinking here about his position. He might play midfield, he might play defence... whatever, he's got a heck of a lot of L1 and Champ experience which is not to be sniffed at. And when injuries and suspension inevitably happen, we need players who can play a a couple of positions - very useful to have in the squad.
I've never seen him play so can't comment on his abilities as a midfielder or defender, but on face value it looks like a good signing.

 

Sergio….just admit you’re wrong and Park is right. It CLEARLY doesn’t say midfielder anywhere.

 

He looks like he bought a new shirt and just came out of Greggs? Get to Austria mate

 

I hope he isn't another gamble-spent half of last season out with a hammy problem.

Hopefully he plays like the last Stockport reject we signed.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0nvs87t?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

 

The player himself says this in his first interview:

“I have got energy, I have got the legs and a bit of experience in midfield. I have played a lot of games there throughout my career.”

If that doesn’t suggest he thinks he’s been signed to play in midfield then I’m not sure what would.

The Club News statement on the official club app says:

“The midfielder joins the Bantams after a spell at Edgeley Park with Stockport County, where he featured 63 times for the Hatters”.

 

Ohhh f..k off, quite frankly.

Why does he do this?

GRAHAM Alexander has settled the Callum Connolly debate by declaring: I’ve signed him as a midfield player.​

 

When you consider the options available in CM and this is what we've gone for, it's a tad concerning, especially knowing GA has previous with doing this sort of thing. However, there is also the possibility that it is Stockport that have been playing him out of position the last couple of seasons and GA is now righting a wrong. Let's hope it's the latter.

 

Here we go again. Didn't Humphrys say exactly the same thing about playing down the middle, only to reveal he hated it in a post match interview. It could take weeks (for him to readjust his mindset to being a midfielder again), until we get a player competent enough to play the role well. Add to that his partner will probably have to cover him during this period. When will Alexander and the recruitment team learn that you get half the performance output of a player who specialises in multiple positions. Saying that, the budget may have dictated that we can't afford two specialists in that area. After all, defenders are usually the second cheapest players on the pitch..