Most liked posts in thread: McCall IN/OUT (with new Poll)

McCall hasn’t been given a top 3 budget and been allowed to sign 20 odd players like Gary Bowyer. We’ve literally added 3 new faces from last season- Watt, Clarke and Sutton. He needs longer to stamp his authority on what is ultimately a very poor squad.

 

Well no.

The government has said no club will go under and the PL have issued supported.

The key aim for the club has to be getting out into league 1 for next season.

 

Parkinson not only inherited one of the worst city squads I can remember but did so after the transfer window had shut. Completely different to McCall who has now had several months to plan, recruit and shape his own squad.

Already McCall has blasted the fans In his post match interviews, made some ridiculous statements about how he recruits from an IPad and thought Gareth Evans was a striker ( )and is backing up his nonsense with bizzare team selections and constant, needless tinkering.

Are fans fickle? Absolutely. But what do we do with a manger who’s clearly out of his depth? Keep him for the sake of continuity?

 

I wish the club would have told us they was going to give up on the season 7 games in before I bought a season ticket

 

I'm not sure why he thinks two teams playing the same system means you end up scraping a draw. You don't have to play a different system to your opponent in order to win.

 

You should be careful what you wish for. Silly comment tbh

 

It has on here mate. But fans I speak with at work, and fans that called Radio Leeds after Saturday's match still vigorously defending McCall. If it wasnt for his legendary status he still commands, it would be even worse. No room for sentiment, the lazy appointment has backfired and we are now even far worse than we were under Bowyer

 

McCall will be dreading the FA cup tie, if we had drawn Pompey away we would lose 3-0 and nobody would bat an eyelid. Lose to a team that sound like a Robbie Williams tribute band and our humiliation goes national.

 

When Bowyer served up this sort of shite the knives we're out for him big time yet Staurt gets the old excuse of he needs time and we shouldn't keep changing managers.

 

I dont think he's the root of our problems, but neither do I think he's the man for the job. I dont really see how sacking him right now would change the squad. they'll be shit no matter who's in charge of them. The pst few transfer windows have killed us, both in failing to get deals over the line and bringing in substandard players or ones with attitude problems. Again, no plan, jno direction, just muddle through and hope we don't regress. Spent my whole life supporting city and this is pretty much the lowest I've ever felt about where we are

 

Bowyer never had us anywhere near the bottom though did he?. McCall has taken us from 8th to 20th, anybody but McCall, and I am pretty certain that 90% of fans would want rid

 

Bowyer getting the blame for this? Come on. That’s baffling.
Let’s front it up as it is. This seasons failing is down to McCall and the people who delivered the window
We had so much time and got it wrong. McCall had a long time to plan his squad and still got it wrong. His tactics are woeful.

 

Bradford city the only club in england not wanting fans back in . Just imagine the scenes at 4.45 today

 

Stuart McCall - 5th August

“I still think we need two or three more additions but I’d rather go with a trimmer squad anyway. We’re happy with the recruitment we’ve done and I don’t think we’re a million miles off where we want to be. We’re happy with the squad we’ve got.”

Stuart McCall - 12th December

Our recruitment wasn't good enough. I think most Bradford City fans would take 3rd bottom.

 

Fundamentally, McCall does not understand lower league football. He doesn't know what a team requires at this level nor how to set them up.

2007-10 was, for the most part, nonsense.

2016-17 was good, admittedly, but with a core from PP - players SM would unlikely ever sign himself - and with additions from Abbott (Vincelot), John Dreyer (NKP) and Steve Banks (Colin Doyle).

2020 onwards - worse than 07-10.

The players he is dealing with are obviously no where near the level he was at as a player and they're not as good as he thinks they are. They are incapable of carrying out his tactics/instructions and it leads to the utter mess we are seeing on the pitch week in week out.

It makes him incompetent or negligent. But the end result is the same. McCall should not be manager.

 

No, that's an over simplification. It's been obvious for a long time what this club needs on and off the pitch, and we fail, consistently, to address it. That's why we never go anywhere. We're scrabbling around trying to find a desperately needed striker, when we've know since January we were going to need one. We've needed a strong centre back for about 2 years, still haven't sorted one. Our lack of planning and aggression in recruiting quality players is shocking. That's why we end up in the position we are.

 

The proof is in the pudding. And its not just the proof from this season - our recruitment for over 3 years, has been horrendous. In fact, the only period in many years where we’ve seemed anything like competent, was for 2-3 years under Parkinson. Which was clearly down to him. That’s why we lose 5-0 at home to Lincoln, or why we’re losing games to clubs that have only been professional for a handful of years. It’s been obvious for weeks if not months, what this side needs. So either the planning is awful, or the execution is. Now, if we end up pulling 4 quality signings in key areas out of the bag at this point, I’ll dof my cap to the wisdom and patience of Stuart McCall and the club. You’ve heard McCall recently - does he sound like a man who’s composed and confident that the right signings will arrive? Not to me he doesn’t. And history suggests it won’t happen. We need quality and leadership in a couple of key positions, and we need pace, creativity and finishing ability in others. Those players don’t generally move late in the window and if they do, if they are out there and available, I have no confidence in our ability to identify them and even less in our ability to attract them. Which is why they haven’t arrived before now!!

Bottom line - this is the worst Bradford City squad in my living memory, and I’m 40 years old. I can’t remember a worse one.

 

Worst City squad in living memory? I’m a year older than you and I can think of far worse from 1991, 2003, 2009, 2011, 2018 and many others.

 

I dont think I'm being overly demanding tbh. I'm not talking about having 2 top players for every position, I'm talking about having a core of 12-15 good players, with 7-10 squaddies or younger lads.

I think we've been caught out in all the positions I've mentioned. We've already conceded several very, very soft goals this season. The idea of needing a better CB and having at least 1 recognised RB in the squad doesnt seem outlandish to me. French might nail down the position and he's already chipped in with a couple of assists but defensively I think theres a question mark - which you'd expect from a young lad playing his first proper professional season in a position that isnt his natural position.

We've clearly been found wanting up front. There isn't any argument there is there? You need at least 3 good striker options for a season don't you? Probably 4. Guthrie will never be a good option and even if you consider that Donaldson might have a role to play where we want to see games out, its surely beyond dispute that we need at least 1. What are our wide options? Evans helps, but DMH doesnt look good enough, Ismail doesnt look fit/interested and Pritchard is a good player, but not a winger. We've already shown a lack of pace and penetration from wide areas and we dont have the players to play with proper wingers. Even 1 proper winger, of quality.

And I'd also argue that we've been exposed in a couple of games by not having a ball winner. It's been talked about quite a bit on here, that it's been far too long since we had a commanding central midfielder. Maybe Sutton can fill the role, we'll see.

But yes, bare minimum I think we need 3-4 quality options and a couple of better bench options, to be a promotion winning side. We were a mid table side last year and we haven't really strengthened. The midfield is a bit better having Watt in there, but we're even weaker up front and out wide, and no better at the back.

 

Stuart McCall might have 40 years experience in the game but I've got over 40 years of watching football at all levels. I know when an assembled squad of players are simply not good enough to mount a serious promotion challenge even this early in the season.