Most liked posts in thread: Retained list

We are starting again because we ended 15th in league 2, let it sink in 15th. Imagine the uproar had we kept the majority of those failures. Time for fans to stop accepting mediocrity to damn right failure because until fans stop accepting it it’s hard to blame the club when they do, just a shame some are still in contract who should also be on their way.

 

I aren’t for offering him a new contract now but Donaldson is one of only a few not to let us down over the time he has been here

 

Why do some fans reckon we should offer Clarke and Donaldson coaching roles. Is it because one appears to love the club and has settled his family in the area, whilst the other one is a local Manningham lad.

Enough of this sentimentality nonsense. There are no vacancies anyhow, we cannot afford to employ them as additional staff we clearly do not need

 

I wonder if they'll offload ROD too? If Hornby agrees terms, we could do with a strong keeper as number 1. If we line up with ROD as the main man again, the whole defence is undermined. The lack of commanding the six yard area is a major flaw for a keeper in my opinion.

 

So we need a left back, we need a right back. We need a centre back, another centre back. We need a whisky drink, we need a vodka drink, we need a lager drink, we need a cider drink. We need a song that reminds us of the good times, we need a song that reminds us of the best times......

Actually the lyrics of that song (Tubthumping for those of a certain age who don't know) pretty much sums Bradford City up nicely. Bet you're all humming it now!

 

Personally I think both keepers are OK for L2 and are much of a muchness. For me ROD is a better shot stopper and perhaps better with long distance distribution whereas Hornby is better dealing with corners, is faster off his line (mostly in a good way) and perhaps a bit more comfortable with the ball at his feet under pressure.

Done a bit of stats stuff for the 30 games under T&S to see if there's owt in it...

Hornby =
Played 18, Clean sheets = 6, Goals per game = 1.06, Shots faced per game = 10.61, Shots on target per game = 2.61, Shots on target per goal conceded = 2.47. Points per game = 1.39

ROD =
Played = 12, Clean sheets = 4, Goals per game = 0.92, Shots faced per game = 11.75, Shots on target per game = 3.75, Shots on target per goal conceded = 4.09. Points per game = 1.75

I did wonder if Hornby facing fewer shots per game could be interpreted as evidence that he organises his defence better than ROD but there's probably another reason for that. My hunch was that Canavan made a difference but actually the stats for shots faced are identical for when he was/wasn't playing (although they were less likely to be on target 43 vs 49 when he started), the big difference was AOC or FCD at right back. With AOC at right back we shipped an average 9.6 shots per game compared with 11.6 shots per game with FCD and it's this that skews the numbers for the keepers because AOC didn't play right back with ROD (shots faced per game by Hornby with FCD at right back were virtually identical to ROD's at 11.44)

 

Connor Wood is the only one that might do well elsewhere. Certainly the correct decision to release him but very frustrating as he has the ability but didn't kick on and desire looked a real issue this year.

 

Most who have been released are either big earners or injury prone so no complaints from me. Connor Wood had no intension of staying and it showed by his performances this season.

 

Novak has missed 30 games this season. We can't afford water carriers.

 

Lies lies and dammed statistics!!
AOC is undoubtedly one of the more talented players in League 2, it’s not his talent that’s the problem, neither is his work rate, he made some great last ditch tackles and lung busting runs to get back into position. @NorthernMonkey got it spot on, good player but you wouldn’t want him next to you in the trenches! It’s not even his attitude that’s at fault it’s his mentality. You can see it when we go a goal down, he shrinks into himself, concentrates on his game, zones out from the rest of the back four. Collar up, head down, get my job done! That’s why he’s so marmite, you need more in the back line, especially at this level you want band of brother stuff you want Terry Butcher covered in blood, Rory & Andrew in Parkys team, players who when the S**t and bullets start flying they puff out their chests and lay it all in the line for their team mates.

 

No doubt we were poor going forward , but having a decent defence got us “ scraping “ victories. Then for some unknown reason RoD was brought back, refused to command his area and the defence lost confidence, and those scraped victories turned into defeats. The defence never recovered, nether did the wins. That’s why some of us recognised the error T&S made instantly. A lack of experience saw them refuse to right the wrong until it was TOO LATE. They paid the price!

 

Bang on.
Why keep ROD ( forget contract) and let a talented young keeper free?
Madness if that happened!

 

If he was a horse it would be one of those I’ve backed recently.!!

 

O'Donnell has to go down as one of the worst keepers we've had for a long time. Doesn't command, can't catch and don't get me started on his ability with long speculative shots that wizz past him like he's rooted to the ground. A very poor keeper and Hornby (Hornsby !!) is far better.

 

I wouldn’t keep him, even on reduced terms. He’s been here 3 years and never shown any real consistency.

 

Time for Wood and AOC to move on. Seen a relegation and 2 poor L2 campaigns with them in defence. Rest can go too. They are not good enough or dont deserve new deals.

 

Lined this up for someone to say " He wasn't even our best O'Connor" and not one of you had the humour to knock it back out of the park.

I'm not upset, just disappointed.

 

Hopefully, that position will be filled again by Trueman and Sellars in the summer