Match Thread Bradford City V Grimsby Town: Saturday 1st April @ 1.00pm

Have to say I agree. I wasn't even aware of the Cook chanting as did no-one else near me. I think we have to be careful in sport, that we don't make everything sanitised.

 

Haha...I didnt say that at all, I'm personally not arsed about most chants as I'm too old school for that, but if you read back is what I said was in today's market, meaning today pretty anything distasteful is frowned upon, rightly or wrongly.

 

Chapman fails to influence any part of a match. Even when he had a consistent run he failed miserably. I said when he signed that he was known as a confidence player who needs an arm around him, but we can't afford for him to waste a position in the squad, let alone the starting 11. When we had both Banks and Chapman misfiring on the wings first half, we looked toothless. Maybe Nevers should be given a run.

 

He ain’t fully fit

 

When you compare the impact of Wright versus the impact of Nevers, you can see why he's had so few minutes. If Chapman is getting in front of him, then he needs to step up. That said, he can't even make the squad.

 

Didn't know that.

 

Just to chime in on the Cook chants... Isn't it all a bit tame?

I can't say I was offended by them, and thought the Grimsby fans were in great voice.

Cook scored, and Smallwood cupped his ears: where are the chants now lads?

Lol, I enjoyed it anyway.

 

Exactly this, I'm yet to see any chant/boo etc from any fans towards another teams former/disliked player ever bear any fruit. Infact I think overall it probably has the opposite effect.

 

Because why not - a battered fish account:

Brain dump for next season, when Bratford don’t go up and we wreak revenge:

- Don’t walk past the Tesco. You can’t cut up

- Bratford stinks of exhaust fumes, brake fluid and burnt out clutch.

- Police horse****** LB 3019 (quote this ref when complaining about the animal farm ****). Trots up to the (innocent) Town fans queuing to get into the East Stand. Shouts at Town fans for almost getting trampled by his equine lover. “Howay, if yee didn’t move for mee big fickin filly, yer fückin doyles, I’ll trample thee to Peterlee (he was from Co Durham, sniffing out the overtime)”. LB 3019 starts laughing like a hi-vis hyena.

- Sat in the Bratford stand, Sue (62), from Frizinghall, asks me to move because someone else normally sits in my seat. But I’ve bought that seat and it’s next to my mates? I prove it by showing her my ticket on the phone. Sue tuts at such technological witchcraft.

- An enemy created.

- The next 15 mins, pre kick off, are mostly spent by Sue pointing at me, huffing like a stream train and telling everyone on the rows below how miserable and selfish the youth of today are (I’m 40 and old enough to be Sue’s toyboy).

- Respectful clapping for Prof Sharpe. I clap. Sue
claps. I clap hard. Sue claps harder. I look mournful. Sue looks scornful.

- Six minutes of sterile Town dominance. Sloppy defending. Gilliead through Emmanuel and Crocombe like a Karachi curry.

- Sue suspicious.

- Town on the ropes. Smith getting closed down like a Bratford high street shop. Is Smith actually awake?

- Taylor into space. Clifton charging in like an eager haddock. Tumbles. Penalty. Yellow. Holohan - pray to the Saint of Mary. 1-1

Subtle fist clench. Screams of delight from my fellow Town fan behind me. Sly wink to the Town fans across the tarp divide.

- The wink - in hindsight this adroit act of kinship towards my fellow Fishies may have been misconstrued as a forward gesture of homo-eroticism on my part. Certainly, my frothy-mouthed, Grimsby brethren were not impressed by the wink.

- Enemies to the left of me. Enemies to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with Sue

- Sue spins in her seat. Part Exorcist, part Jack Lester. ‘Geerrrrr ahead and t’clap if thou wantest duh. God giveth life, God giveth it awayyy, not yuhhh. I fink yer are the devil ifthself’

- Sue has the radge alright.

- I pretend I’m French. It doesn’t work. I pretend I’m German. It doesn’t work. I show her a photo of my Bradford Council tax bill.

- Sue’s now confused. Conflicted. She’s still trying to understand what I am - who I am - when Smith bundles home Town’s second.

- The Andy Cook song starts up from the Town fans. Sue moans that, “t’its dissgusssting. They be kids around”. Exactly Sue, there are kids around. That’s why we are warning them about him.

- Half-time. Town 2-1 up. The cold. I didn’t feel it before. Has Sue drugged me? I can’t feel my fingers - it’s April.

- I accidentally trap Sue’s beige coat in my seat. She looks for a steward.

- I look at McAtee

- If possession is nine tenths of the law, McAtee would be arrested. As McAtee thinks about this…and sharing a flat for the next 6 months with Bim Pepple in some sort of shït ITV sitcom…he takes a slightly crude block to the visage by Stubbs.

- McAtee is now the angriest man in the ground, on the assumption that Sue identifies as a woman.

- Glennon and the linesman flirt over some odd throw-in calls in our favour. Glennon has a fine thatch - does he condition?

“Bratford have only got one ball. The other is owned by Stuart McCall”…

- McAtee, still in a funk, uses Glennon by not using him, and passes infield to a shirt-split Smallwood. Then blames Glennon for his own inadequacies. Bratford almost equalise.

- Momentum shifts like a Waterfall crossfield pass.

- Cook starts bullying Smith again.

- 2-2

- McAtee has now gone 20 mins without finding a teammate, holding up the ball or anything. But it’s Lloyd’s fault according to McAtee.

- Sue’s now getting flirty. She can tell I’m nervous.

- Cook. 3-2! Instead of celebrating with his teammates, Smallwood repeatedly cups his ears to the Town fans like a nonce in a nonce-off.

- Whistle goes. Sue and I swap numbers and at least one bodily fluid

UTM

 

And this is why boys and girls you should never take drugs.

Like myself no one has a clue what the hell you are on about, bloody weirdo

 

‘You’ as in, ‘me’?

Leave the Grimsby fan alone.

 

I thought Banks was OK, but he's a player who's going to get his confidence from players around him (as would Nevers) remember he's in his full season.

And therein lies the problem. If you're playing with Chapman, then everything's a problem. Christ! I bet he'd moan if he won the lottery. So that will be draining for some players.

Our worst spells in matches this season are directly proportional to how poor his body language is.

 

Yes thats what most of us are hopeful for , should at least improve on this season .

The state of our other neighbours at Scunthorpe is dire ,relegation to NLN a foregone conclusion , and massive ownership problems -its looking more and more likely by the end of May the club goes sadly .

 

Good and bad today.

Many identify chapman as a problem. I agree his decision making is awful. He looks a player but is the epitome of flattered to deceive. That said his confidence looks shot to me. Another season / another team I could see him tearing it up. It just hasn’t happened for him.

The ability to dig out a result and come from behind. Good sides do this. We’ve started to recently find a way. The frustration is some of this leagues top sides have been doing that most of the season.

Tempo? Where was the tempo? We play these lower half sides in such a similar way. After 10 minutes it was clear the speed and zest to outplay and outwork Carlisle was missing today. As it was vs Rochdale etc.

Why does this happen? If we are capable of those type of performances then why do we not show it vs the likes of Grimsby? Because of this I find it hard to trust this team. I don’t agree with fans booing our players but I get that frustration.

I hope I’m wrong with this but it feels like a play off semi final defeat kind of season. Yet autos are so tantalisingly close.

 

Banks did improve 2nd half but his decision making needs to improve markedly. He gets into great positions and seems to have a rush of blood. You can see why Hughes brought the experience to the squad in January and why he's been reluctant to change the team over the last 6 or 7 games (injuries excluded). Yesterday's team looked attacking on paper, but first half were frustratingly slow when attacking.

 

What about having a go at midgets?

 

Agree with most except the last paragraph. We play better against the teams at the top so I'm hopeful we'll see more Carlisle type performances than Rochdale.

I'm not sure Chapman can consistently perform to be considered a threat in any team. I only see him drifting down and out of the game. It looks like there's a lot going on in his head. It's shame really as the boy does have talent.

 

If you're talking about that pass from banks, it was a terrible ball! Massively over hit and waist high. He had two players at the side of him and should have just given the easy pass and kept us moving forward.

As an aside too, anyone notice Banks fitness? 3 or 4 times he put his hands up to refuse either the pass or to make a run and looked like he needed a few minutes after every run at a defender.

Maybe it's because he's not played much recently but if you're blowing that much at 19 after just 60 minutes it's not a great look.

 

I think I spotted the Pope at the game yesterday, then after the game walking along Manningham Lane into Bradford with a can of Stella in his hand.

 

The inept assistant referee/lines should have made the decision for him if it was over the line.