“There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race”
Modern life now is becoming increasingly fast paced and the pressure of immediacy today seems the norm. Plain old broadband wasn’t fast enough so fibre optic was developed, writing a letter wasn’t quick enough so then came the email, and now slow progress at a football club seems an alien concept to most football clubs.
It now seems cliché to say this but owners are less patient than they used to be and a lot of them are throwing a kitchen sink full of money at it to try propel their team into the premier league due to get a share of the riches available. Bournemouth is a clear example. Despite all the praise Eddie Howe gets he has had an owner that has whole heartedly backed him allowing him to sign an embarrassment of riches which has given him, and the club, the platform to rise up the divisions. A more commendable story would be Swansea who climbed the divisions by sticking to an honest sustainable philosophy that has paid off in the long term. Whether the same will be said for Bournemouth a few years down the line remains to be seen. (I know Swansea spent some money)
Again, Cliché, but Bradford City have seen the dark side of trying to solve problems with money and it needs no further clarification. I put football clubs into two categories: Tortoises and Hares. The Hares are fast and daring, leaving a trail of smoke behind them as they try grow and achieve their ambitions quickly. On the other hand the Tortoises go about their business more modestly and slowly. This is the juxtaposition between long term visions of owners of football teams and ones who are in it solely for short term financial gains.
“Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, ‘How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?’”
Forgive me for the long introduction but this is where Bradford City’s season preview comes in. Its early days but I think we have been incredibly lucky with our new owners. Rupp and Rahic seem like tortoises to me, WHICH IS GOOD, and they don’t seem short termist at all like some owners in our division. They haven’t come in and spent needless money in the transfer market, they have surveyed the market and let McCall get the targets that are needed as opposed to panic buying or buying players that look good on paper but wouldn’t gel into our team.
Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes were fantastic owners with a degree of long term thinking, such as bringing through the next generation of fans with their team ticket campaigns, but if you look closely at theirtenure, particularly under Parkinson, their thinking was relatively short termist. If you look at last season the spine of our team, with some exceptions, were loan players and players on short term contracts. If we would have been promoted we would have been going into the championship in an incredibly weak position.
If you compare that to this season, the new regime seems to be thinking long term with no real pressure for instant success. There obviously is expectation within the fan base but there also seems to be a collective feeling of this season is for building. Furthermore what is obvious is that McCall is emphasising that it’s all about finishing well as opposed to getting a strong start. This is completely legitimate as late signings will potentially lead to slow start fitness wise and may set back team cohesion a month. This is no real difference to previous years where we have waited until late in the transfer market for the cheap deals but the difference this year is that if there is a slow start McCall will trust in his new players, and youth, instead of trying to fix the problem short term with loan players.
“Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.”
The emphasis on this season is clearly to build a strong spine, with some youth around it with the idea of being ‘up there’ around April. Paramount though is doing this without applying copious amounts of pressure on the team, or manager (again). The spine is coming into shape with Doyle between the sticks, Hanson and Clarke remaining up top supported by a good central block of four behind them. Our back four seems strong, with cover, where there will be real competition for places. Especially at centre half where there are four options, all with great pedigree and experience.
The midfield seems to be taking shape with Dieng and Law showing signs of a partnership building alongside Vincelot who is sure to stake a claim in the first team. This is supplemented with good options in wide positions with Morais and Anderson both having points to prove this year, especially Anderson who really has to show his experience and pedigree being last year’s marquee signing.
The only gaps in the team I could possibly see would be wide left, one more CM and another striker. Marshall seems in great form pre-season but he won’t be able to play 50+ games hence cover will be needed. The same has to be said for centre midfield where surely four players is a minimum as form, bookings and injuries will catch up with the team come December. Moreover history suggests Clarke and Hanson are by no means guaranteed from avoiding injury and hence Hiwula can’t cover the two on his own. Another striker is a must.
What is most pleasing, though, is it is clear McCall is aware of the gaps that need plugging and is not rushing into a solution. In interviews he makes the long term vision clear and is aware that more players are needed. What is pleasing is that it doesn’t seem he is going to rush into anything and seems to have the loan market in mind if he can’t get the deals done on a permanent basis. Bearing in mind there is no emergency window this year hence we won’t see the likes of what we did last year with Cullen Burke or Evans swooping in to save the day. Once McCall finalises his hand, he’ll have to stick.
"Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!"
Let’s hope slow and steady does win the race because there is a difference between rhetoric and reality. It’s all well and good talking the talk, but the club have got to walk the walk.
Fans and the club alike this year will want to see a continuation of the progress we have seen year on year since 2011. Fifth place will be hard to beat but I think fans are aware of the surprisingly thin squad McCall inherited. As long as there are good signs on the pitch, one year of building can’t be a bad thing in the long term. Especially since our season tickets are £149 again!!
Let’s stick with the prodigal son and see where we are in May.
@LewisKilminster
*Quotes from - https://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/tortoise.html
