The January transfer window is a vital part of the season for any club in the football league. It offers the chance to improve a club’s squad but also provides a chance for players to depart and move on to different opportunities. For the Bantams this seasons January transfer window is crucial. With key loan players potentially heading back to their parent clubs and a clear need for a new goal scorer at the club, this window could prove to be make or break for our 2016/17 league campaign.
Arguably the main problem last season was a lack of goal scoring and this season, well evidently the same problem is hindering the team. Without a focal point in attack last campaign, we struggled to really capitalise in terms of score lines despite often playing teams off the park and when it came to the crunch and the play-offs we really struggled to keep pace with Lee Gregory, Steve Morison and a strong Millwall outfit over the two-legged semi-final.
It’s evident that a goal scorer is needed but there are other areas on the pitch that too need improvement and other transfers that McCall and his staff should be looking at completing.
This transfer window is also the first real time we get to see how our new chairmen Stefan Rupp & Edin Rahic act in terms of crucial squad investment. How deep are their pockets and how do they see the overall situation at Valley Parade?
The two Germans had been very laid back in terms of stating their ambition for the clubs progression, since buying the club in June, until the clash against Scunthorpe where they addressed the question and stated that they wanted Premier League football during their time at the club. The usual statement most new owners will make up and down the Football League but regardless it gets the fans excited whilst underlining their desire to take the club back to where it belongs.
Investment in the squad is needed to an extent in January but only if the sums are reasonable. Remember Rupp & Rahic are clever and shrewd businessmen. Don’t be expecting huge signings and transfers but instead steady investment throughout the club both on and off the pitch. Away from the first team, there seems to finally be an onus on youth development, an aspect that is huge at most German football clubs. With the alleged signing of youngster Michael O’Connor from Irish side Dundalk this week, this transfer highlights the owners want for greater youth development at Bradford City.
For me though, there’s three absolutely crucial signings we need to make during the January transfer window if we’re to compete right at the top of the League One table for the duration of the season.
Number one
Two words: Josh Cullen. The young central midfielder has spent the last year and a half at Valley Parade and has easily been the stand out player for the Bantams during that time. His awareness on the ball is second to none and his range of passing is fantastic at this level. Granted he doesn’t score an ample amount of goals from central midfield but he’s the architect behind most attacking chances.
For me, it must be the number one priority to resign Cullen on loan for the remainder of this season. The West Ham youngster recently stated his desire to stay with the Bantams until May, testament to how much he enjoys playing both at Valley Parade and in front of a huge set of fans that truly understand his emerging talent and really praise his work ethic.
This week manager Stuart McCall spoke about the possibility of extending the deal for Cullen, stating "West Ham are more than happy for him to come back to us, Josh is very happy to stay and I'm very happy to have him here."
Number two
We need a goal scorer, it’s as simple as that really. In terms of goals scored this season we’re way off the pace of the top two sides in this division, Scunthorpe and Sheffield United. Respectively our rivals have notched 46 and 42 times each in the league whilst we only have 28 in 23 League One matches. It’s not through a lack of chances either, with creative midfielders and fast, tricky wingers at our disposal the service is and has been there but Hanson, Hiwula, Clarke and McNulty haven’t found their shooting boots yet between them to a significant extent.
Gaffer Stuart McCall understands the situation. Stating before the Bury match that “it boils down to not scoring enough goals and we know that. We had a 6 hour meeting yesterday about how we can improve” before adding “in the majority of games so far this season we've been dominant.”
The difficulty in finding a new striker is finding the right talent for the right price. Sure, we now have investment in the club but the chairmen won’t spend a fortune for the sake of it as previously mentioned.
John Akinde and Omar Bogle from League Two would make great signings but could prove to be expensive and are both unproven at this level whilst getting a player in permanently from the Championship or higher will prove to be difficult to say the least.
I’d say it’s most likely that we might see the loans of both McNulty and Vuckic terminated in January to make way for the subsequent loan move of one striker from a higher level. The January transfer window does offer more scope in terms of loan signings compared to the start of the season as bigger clubs will look to put their youth players out for the last six months of the season and will try to offload players who aren’t perhaps living up to their standards. Players who would still be a very good capture for League One teams.
Number three
This isn’t as important as resigning Josh Cullen and getting in a top goal scorer but I’d love to see McCall bring another winger into the squad. Don’t get me wrong Mark Marshall is having great seasons but the lack of depth out wide is a worry. Nicky Law has played well on the left when called upon but I’d like to see him play more centrally where he can control matches more effectively.
Bringing in another winger with pace and trickery would not only give us greater strength in that position but would see more chances created for the strikers and could potentially help our lack of goal scoring too to an extent if said winger can bag a few goals.
Whatever happens in January, even if we only keep our current squad and don’t add to it we will still be challenging in the top six come the end of the League One season. Granted, we could do with a few additions in January but the side Stuart McCall and his staff have assembled at Valley Parade is still one of the best in the division and is one that is still capable of achieving promotion come May.
Do you have your own thoughts on Bradford City's the Bantams should bring in this transfer window? Share them in the comments below.
