Salford City Tickets [SOLD OUT] + Match Thread

Not defending a bad performance but 28 was offside, might have slightly impeded OD's view, and had to jump over the shot. That's interfering with play in my book

 

what has Keane achieved as a manager? I always think the call for managers like that is an extension of fans wishes to berate the players for being so useless which isnt an unreasonable sentiment, but ultimately counterproductive.

I'm not trying to be mr know it all but i think its fairly obvious we need:

- A proper chief scout and scouting team (but not greg). Expecting Bowyer to do his own scouting whilst manager is frankly fxcking insane. I will never for one singular minute believe he was backed properly knowing that this was the case. fecking basic basic basic stuff for a pro club and Rhodes/Rupp want to be ashamed they let that happen.

- Pay Drury off and release absolutely every member of the playing staff from the Edin era bar wood. We need a clean break from that period and I for one am sick to death of giving the same idiots chance after chance. The budget might be reduced but by getting rid of a lot of these muppets Mccall should have a decent budget to start building a good side.

- GIVE MCCALL TIME. He is the ginger god of Bradford and therefore should be afforded more patience than most, but seriously guys, give him two seasons to build something. Liverpool finished like 6th in Klopp's first season, Parky kept us up by a sparrow's fart in his 1st season. Even Man Utd look more like a coherent team with an identity after giving solksjaer time to do his thing and even thats with an awful CEO in woodward. Establishing a winning culture and mentality and building a strong team bond takes time. Or we can just keep sacking managers every November and continually have summer revamps, which again I am sick to death of.

- Maybe put some feelers out to staff members who Edin got rid of (Not mason although would take him if he would come back) to see if we can coax some to return to try and rebuild the community/family spirit in and around the club behind the scenes. Bradford City right now seems to me to be filled with a bunch of people who might be good at what they do or whatever but they all don't care.

- A CEO that gives a shit and is willing to show some leadership when times are tough, or just at all actually. Thanks to Rhodes for coming back but alarm bells rang for me when he let Bowyer do his first press conference alone. Never seen that before in my life. Step up, do some interviews that aren't just marketing ploys for season tickets and act like 99% of other CEOs in football.

- A five year plan that isn't just 'we'll be in the championship by winning lots of football matches'.

 

Walk through it you mean.....

 

Unless you’ve been away all season, I’d suggest that Akpan, Anderson, Taylor, Mellor and Henley have all been criticised in a regular basis. You want to know who the next ‘scapegoat’ is, I’d suggest any of the above.

In reality, none are scapegoats, they are just poor players being called iut as such.

 

Akpan was booed off the pitch last week, at the time we should have been 5 or 6 up. He was dropped on Saturday and we were worse in midfield. The problems we have as a team aren't down to the odd individual, there down to fundamental imbalance in the squad caused by the take over of the club 3 or 4 years ago.

 

Akpan deserves all he gets, I hate him as much as I do because I've had to watch him play for the past 2 years. Disgrace to think he's one of the higher earners.

 

and to think only a few years ago he was playing PL and Championship football

 

You hate someone because they underperformed at the club ?.

 

I hate watching someone pick up thousands of pounds a week for putting in pretty much 0 effort at a club I would give my right arm to even come on as a sub for if I had any kind of ability. Given I pay money to watch City that I work my arse off for all week, yes I do hate him as I find it massively insulting. Not exactly gonna be top of my christmas card list is he?

 

Given your reply you should be hating the majority of the squad who have under performed and are possibly also high earners, Doyle, Vaughan, Donaldson, McCartan etc.
Only my opinion but hate is a horrible word to use about someone who we dont know personally and judge them on their footballing ability when they play.

 

Don't let yourself down. If you're jealous about what somebody earns then get yourself a better job.

In football like in many businesses some times it just doesn't work out for an employee but it doesn't mean they're rubbish or not trying. See Doyle at Swindon for example.

If you really want to hate should be aim at Mr Rupp. He comes in promises PL football and we find ourselves in div 2 now if you're a player you will be thinking the owner of this club has no ambition to take it forward then why should I bother? The likes of Reeves will leave and I can't blame him.

Look, at the real problems. It's not the players!

 

Dont forget Fordy these are professionals we are talking about who rely on the game for a living
who are not only letting the club down but themselves
Any Sunday league player (playing for the enjoyment) would have put a tackle in on Hunter the first time never mind let him do it twice I agree problems start from the top but no pride in the players performance can not be excused

 

Reeves hasn't been putting in tackles for months mate but it gets over looked because he's good on the ball.

Yes, footballers are professionals but more than likely find another club. Movement is common in the game. Footballers want to win things and if a club isn't ambitious then the players tend to just play without the spark.

I'm not making excuses in for the players but I can understand why confidence in low when the owner lacks drive and ambition for the club to push it forward in anyway so they will just collect the wage.

 

I don't for one minute believe those players go out to play as bad as they have been. They all want to win every game just like players who are in that very position. Its just as a set of individuals they are very average. If you have a small number of key individuals the average players can raise their game accordingly. Problem is we don't have one key individual player, our most prized asset is a young left back. Remember the team McCall got to Wembley? Individually it wasn't brilliant but we had certain key individuals that made the system work. Mark marshall and Josh Cullen being the most important cogs in the wheel. If we'd had Cullen or Lewis O'Brien in midfield Saturday those goals would not have been scored. In fact dissect that team, you could say most of it was average for league 1. Only Josh Cullen and Meredith have gone to better things. But vitally the pieces fit the jigsaw, a close knit bunch that punched above their weight.

That team on Saturday doesn't have one natural leader in it and it shows. They're all looking for inspiration from elsewhere on the pitch. Not one of them is captain material. They badly lack a Josh Cullen, a Gary Jones, i dare say it a Tony McMahon, someone who has their backs when it gets rough. They've no one to look for confidence and McCall knows that, heck we don't celebrate goals, its just a pat on the back on move on. Its no coincidence that a squad with many players from last season is suffering the same symptoms this season. You can't change that mid season, its a point i made regarding any manager coming in, none can change this mess over night. This where the club from the top needs leadership, i'm looking at Andy Pilley at Fleetwood as an example. Knows his plan long term for the club, brings in his own manager and league 1 quality players to carry that out. They are now an established league 1 playoff club. It doesn't need a 'big city'. It doesn't need 13,00+ crowds. It needs an owner with a vision that everyone from the top down believes in and an infrastructure to help carry out those demands. The likes of Burton, Fleetwood, Accrington and Forest Green and Salford in our division have shown, you need owners that have the vision and foresight to want to move forward.
As it stands we have no vision, no long term solution to the problem. The summer will see players move on, probably a fair few but the fundamental problems still remain. Without that will and drive from the two at the top this clubs walking in quicksand.

 

Have you not read any of what I posted since the majority of those guys were at the club. I think it's fair to say I was one of the ones leading the Doyle out brigade when he was with us prior. For what it's worth the reason I 'hate' Akpan so much is that he clearly has ability yet his attitude and application are why he performs so poorly.

I can deal with someone that tries and is just shit (as in it doesnt make me hate them), but someone who wastes their talent and ability winds me up no end as it should with any right thinking person if they care about the club. Also I don't hate them as people that would be ridiculous, just as footballers.

 

I'm not buddy I like my job and what I do on top of it as well. What I don't like is paying money towards someone to earn a fat wedge for doing nothing. This isn't a case of it 'just not working out', he just doesn't care and it is painfully obvious every time he plays. No passion, no commitment and minimal effort.

Doyle didn't try for us, barely any of the ones Edin signed came here for the right reasons and it's painfully obvious every time they stink the place out.

I hate most things about the club at this moment in time and I don't think that's an unreasonable sentiment. I've also just done a big paragraph post just above this explaining in detail what I think the club needs to do to improve so I'm hardly just focusing on the players.

 

We've 1 player in our squad that's really playing to potential and that's Wood. The rest including Reeves, AOC, Everton etc are not. I don't see how you can single out Akpan or any other player.

Hence why if only 1 player is producing then you have to look at the bigger problem and that's the owner, Rhodes and recruitment of players.

All players try but when a group are not producing then they are bigger issues that need addressing.

 

Stuart McCall cited a severe lack of quality as his side’s downfall - following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Salford City.

A goal in each half from Ashley Hunter saw City leave the the Peninsula Stadium empty-handed.
And the Bantams boss believes his side showed inability to deal with the forward’s threat - which they were aware of - which was unacceptable.

McCall said: “From our point of view, there was a real lack of quality in our performance. We failed to do the basics of football properly.

“Since we began analysing Salford, we identified their biggest strengths and knew Ashley Hunter would always cut in and shoot on his right foot.

“For us to let him do that was really poor and not good enough, and we have to be better.

“When it happens twice and we allow it to happen we only have ourselves to blame. It was unacceptable.

“It was generally a really poor performance and there is no getting away from that.”

Disappointment was added to for McCall having not sent a sell-out away backing home with a positive result.

Following their performance, the City chief believes his players must be prepared to accept the criticism of the 1,300-strong travelling band.

He added: “I understand the disappointment of the supporters and know it has been poor for them, for a few years now.

“As players, we have to be thick skinned and able to accept the criticism, because we were nowhere near good enough.

“The supporters spend a lot of money to come and support us away from home and we just have not been giving them anything to cheer about.

“When we come away, we cannot be giving performances off like that. The lack of quality, at times, was quite alarming.”

https://www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk/news/2020/march/mccall-bemoans-real-lack-of-quality/

 

I get your reasoning but disagree with your wording, it should with any right thinking person if they care about the club, that is a poor response, it's something I would expect from Fordy, so does that put me in the category of not caring. Football is the same as any other team sport the manager/coach brings players to their club who they have watched and believe they can add something to the squad, they don't always make the right call, I've seen quite a few players who had genuine talent but for some reason they didn't perform at Bradford City John McGinley, John Black, Aaron McLean, Danny Cadamarteri, Eddie Johnson, and the ones I mentioned recently, plus many more.

 

Aaron Mclean and genuine talent in the same sentence Dave
Whatever next !!!!