Match Thread Away V Walsall Tues 25th January @ 7.45

Agree.
He's had a very good youth career has Cooke at Middlesbrough and with England.
But there is a reason he's at Bradford City and not higher, he hasn't got a nailed down position.
Like i posted yesterday, not defensive enough to hold, not quick enough for out wide, not got a hard shot, can't take people on.
A few said his dad was in the crowd at Carlisle moaning Adams is killing his career, i think he's killing it himself by not improving in certain aspects of his game.

 

My mental imagery is now of Adams and Sparks in bed ala Morecambe and Wise....
Another childhood memory now tainted.

 

Thank goodness, someone who understands football and how players fit positions.

 

Leagues all over place at the minute with games in hand and the like. We need to keep winning as we will be about 6 points off the play offs if not worse when all the games in hand are played.

I don’t think we have a chance at all based on last nights and previous performances but just goes to show how inconsistent and awful the league is once again. Mansfield started the season like a side who would be relegated and now look like a side who will end up going up automatically

 

I’m happier we look like we are safe from relegation for another season

 

I guess that was a tongue in cheek comment as there as never been the slightest worry of us been relegated this season. We have still only lost 6 games

 

Scunthorpe and Oldham will be lucky to get 35 points, shame to more terribly run good football league clubs down the toilet.

 

Yes, after quite a bit of faffing about over the course of the last 2 matches I'd say that it's when a shared IP is being used by too many people. Rather than just choosing a "default" or "fastest" option, find a different (less obvious) IP that no one else is using - that worked for me last night.

 

I think there was an improvement defensively last night. The two clearcut chances that Walsall created were through decent play rather than our mistakes which makes a change. But considering the amount of play that Walsall had in the second half, I don't remember Bass being tested at all apart from him picking the ball out the net after the deflection. Its not perfect but hopefully confidence grows now they're ahead of a competent keeper and I thought Songo'o looked much more comfortable being the only midfield protector in a 4141 - he really seemed to enjoy the battle last night.

As others have said, it's difficult to get too excited that we can build on this given we haven't achieved back to back wins since August. But they've had a bit of luck and two home games should present a big opportunity.

 

Not necessarily. 1 or 2 goals a game is enough if you are keeping clean sheets regularly.

We certainly need to improve in at least one of the penalty areas!

 

Good summary of Cooke. He reminds me of a less extreme version of Billy Knott.

His Dad needs to work out, why he's had these problems under two different managers and only managed to be a success for a few months last season.

 

The league's always been awful. It amuses me anyone is surprised by this.

Last time we went up Gillingham basically bored the pants off everyone. The nearly season of 2008/9 had Peter Taylor's Wycombe doing the same.

Very very few teams have gone up playing entertainingly. Exeter were the exception in 2008/9 and Swindon / Crewe two years ago - but let's remember if the 2008/9 season had ended when their's did, we'd had gone up, i.e. that type of L2 footie has a habit of been irrelevant late season. And note the "entertainers" nearly always have had a manager in his second of more season.

 

Two? Cooke’s had about 5 managers with us hasn’t he? I don’t mind him but I hope his Dad isn’t going all Gibsons dad and blaming everyone else, Cooke was given plenty of opportunity to play in the number 10 position trouble is assists aren’t enough there, you’re basically a second striker and need to score goals. Dack used to get 15 a season on a mid table Gillingham side. Those who defend him continuously will know doubt bring up that pointless key pass stat, which you get when you pass to Gilliead 30 yards out to balloon into the stands but like Watt he’s another who needs to up his game and at least get the basics right, he lost the ball a number of times last night resulting in a counter attack. No doubt Adams told him to pass to the other team as well…

 

With a 4-2-3-1 we need the 3 behind Cook to bag 10 goals each. Cooke can't do that.

You can't play as a 10 and score 3 or 4 a season.

 

We've kept 5 clean sheets this season, 4 in 0-0 draws. Score one goal in each of those games and we'd have an extra 8 points. We can have all the clean sheets in the world but if we aren't putting the ball in the net at the other end, it isn't going to increase the number of games we win.

 

If we'd have kept clean sheets in all the 1-1 draws we've had we'd be promoted by now!

We either need to score more or concede less. Either way we need to be better in at least one of the penalty areas.

 

You can use that to suit whichever side of the debate you are on. Last season only 1 team scored more than Oldham yet they spent the season in a relegation fight, this season only 7 teams have scored less than Tranmere yet they sit 2nd.
Ultimately, it's common opinion that the best teams are built on a strong defence. If you are leaking goals the opposition always have that belief that they can score. The best example in recent times is the Chelsea team under Mourinho in 2005 where many players would say that if you went 1-0 down to them it felt like the game was already lost. At the moment if teams got 1-0 down to us i think they still fancy their chances of getting at least a draw and we go into every game thinking we need to score 2 or 3 to stand a chance of winning.

 

If you are quoting the Stones, does that make BCFC our "Beast of Burden" ?

 

As Jackson Browne says in his great song Cocaine - "do I need to take more of it, or less of it, I can't work out which"

 

To be honest I feel for Cooke a little. He isn't actually playing as a 10, he's just one of 3 across the midfield. We don't play on the front foot, we sit in deep and only press when they enter our defensive third. Adams plan is to then hit them on the break, that isn't a strength of Cullum's. He got the ball on the break against Rochdale and the only player ahead of him was Cook stood in the centre circle being marked by multiple defenders. Cooke then holds play up and plays a pass sideways, to the annoyance of the crowd. What else is he going to do? Could lump it to cook but he isn't going to run in behind is he.

If played in a team that dominates possession and on the front foot, I think he'd be a very good player.
We haven't had a manager that's set that ethos at City for a long time. If Adams is going to continue in this way, I think Cooke drops out, and Sutton comes in as he is more suited to that role.