Grimsby Home 8th Feb

That will be delivered on Tuesday night against Stevenage .

 

I was thinking more cup games against big sides but I'm sure we'll get the big win

 

Agree and in the mean time we can only hope with the squad at his disposal he can still get us into a play off place.

 

For me Stuart has earned his title as a Bradford City legend, McGod he ain't but he is without doubt the man for the job at this moment in time....

 

Note i didn't say person when i mentioned dislike. He is not suited a sporting director role at all. He's a players person. A tracksuit manager that lives and dies with the players. The infamous photo of him with the players at the restaurant after his sacking shows where his heart lies. Its pure conjecture as to whether there is/was better candidates available for the job, very few managers carry success from club to club. Its why there is such a high turnover of managers, everyone looks at a managers previous CV and automatically comes to the conclusion that he/she will be a hit. Case in point Nathan Jones, worked 'miracles' at Luton yet was an abject failure at Stoke. And there is no guarantee that success will follow him to his next club.

 

Yeah, i actually agree to some extent to what @brisbanebantams is saying. The game in isolation yesterday was nothing to write home about but was better than of late. To be fair we were no better than Grimsby and i would expect a team looking for promotion to be better. But when your form is rock bottom it will take a fair while to get anywhere.

 

Creating a bond between players and fans is an asset. Tapping into that emotional thread can reap rewards. It's not enough on it's own, obviously, but it can have genuine value.

In that sense, it may be that Stuart will fare better here than elsewhere - sometimes clubs can just be the right 'fit' for managers and players.

Equally, having your players fully invested in your approach and willing to 'run through brick walls' is an asset too.

I think McCall is underestimated as a training ground coach. I think he's got talent in that sense. And I think he's a good judge of a player.

The biggest question mark over him is his tactical nous. And I'm minded that last time around, he wasnt exactly free to impose his own will. So I'm keen to see how he fares.

 

As far as entertainment goes it was hardly a classic, but both sides went for the win, I thought Grimsbly slightly shaded it overall and our late goal would have not been a fair reflection of the 90+ minutes (that's not to say I'd have been unhappy taking all 3 points).
Let's see what Stuart can get out of them on Tuesday night, I think he will have seen things in Saturdays performance he'll possibly change, our wide option being one maybe bringing Middleton in for a game to show what he can offer is Ismail fit ?, I very much doubt he will play two out and out wingers, although if he was going to go with two wingers Stevenage might be a game where he would consider it.

 

To take us within a whisker of the championship and keep us in the playoffs the season after despite what we now know (some of us knew quite early on) should be testament to his managerial nous, not somehow held against him. To balance that he can over think the opposition, something of an achilles heel with McCall.

 

At this stage there’s no point anyone engaging with @brisbanebantams over issue.

he’s essentially doing what Adrian Durham does on talksport. Say things he knows full well is complete rubbish to get a reaction.

Saturday was better than we have been, we still have areas to improve, obviously, but I don’t think anyone, truthfully, expected that we’d have improved more than we have managed to in the space of 3 days.

it’s a start. And a promising one at that.

 

I don't know why you bother. Its clear you are on the wind up. Too much time on your hands.

 

Dunno about it being a poor spectacle first half.

I thought the pressing game was good and there was plenty of attacking play. The end result let us down. Had we have had our shooting boots on we could have been 3 up at half time.

Realistically SM can get a tune out of this team quickly. Yesterday was a clear example of a team playing for their manager. DMH showed positive play and Novak was my MOTM.

Exciting times at last at VP.

I just don't get why anyone could have been disappointed yesterday apart from the late equaliser of course.

 

Honestly? If it wasn't for the big away following and the return of Stuart i'd have said it was an average game of league 2 football. It's what i'd expect as a minimum from my team. Watching Bowyers boring football has set the expectation level to pretty much zero.

 

I completely agree that it's not good enough and the accuracy (or quality of chances) needs to improve but at least under McCall we were clearly creating shooting opportunities which is still a world away from where we were under Bowyer.

 

Who were/are the better options?

 

They had a player (12?) who was returning from the corner flag and out of camera shot. He was furthest back just before the shot on goal but I'm not saying that means Novak was onside. It was tight. Pritchard was watching the line from the far end and stepped back ahead of the shot to try keep himself on. Maybe he managed or maybe not. It was notable. though, how their players appealed for handball rather than offside.

That freeze frame sums up the difference now Stuart is back. 4 in the area, 3 on the edge and also one out of shot, returning from the corner flag. So, we had 8 attacking and only only two defending - and for once the ball fell to one that could shoot!

(Goal at 1:15)

https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/11929637/bradford-1-1-grimsby

 

I was good to see the players pressing and being far more offensive. Winning 50/50's and regaining possession far more than of late.

I agree it is a minimum requirement but we got that in complete contrast to the last 3 months of dirge.

I was happy to note the change in attitude. Its a start.

 

Paul Tisdale and Nathan Jones both have a better record of promotion from this or any other division than Stuart McCall whilst playing attacking, on the front foot football.. if they had of been interested, I would have at least have liked them to have been given an interview.

 

I don't disagree, I just hope that in the coming weeks we start to create more chances by playing better football rather than from the second ball off the front two. there are times to go longer and play that way but it shouldn't be the first option, that was one of the criticisms under Parkinson towards the end - that we became too reliant on going longer straight away. under McCall and his way of playing we should expect and get better approach play.

 

here he is, didn't think it would take you so long to get involved. you'd have been the first person to criticise that performance under Parkinson and you call him a fraud. put the tissues away fella, we know where your loyalty lies.