Win, Shrews or Draw, This Season Will Be A Rollercoaster

A glorious Saturday afternoon, a rammed Coral Windows Stadium, Pukka Pies stacked up at the kiosks and then comes the toss at 2:55pm in the centre circle…

It’s a sight that makes my heart sink, like when you were a youngster and found out the girl you liked at school decided to bin you off for one of your mates – losing the toss and the switching of ends is what I’m referring to and sadly it’s going to be something that needs a little work on as teams strive to use any form of advantage they can get their hands on throughout the season.

I can’t remember the last time City won a game when a toss is lost, but shooting towards the away end in the second half negates the magnetism that draws goals when shooting towards The Kop in the second half. It’s not a massive deal but when teams (specifically southern) are turning up to VP, with a handful of away supporters, every little helps towards *earning* that valuable 3 points.

The keyword there is EARNT, tossing off at the start of the match aside, the performances have to be evident to bring the 18,000 supporters to life during lulls in games and after 15 minutes during Saturdays’ game against Shrewsbury it was clear width would be the key to attacking with purpose – just like a long term marriage, a diamond + a diamond will drag out to a “comfortable” drawn out situation (I guess ;)!

The performances of Sheehan (who was woeful last campaign) and Billy Clarke who is now without his Keith Lemon bandage (due to a metal plate in his broken writst) were fantastic which concluded with Clarkes well taken goal and the MOM award going to Sheehan.

The referee’s treatment of James Hanson in this League is still beyond belief and in my opinion Hans is still the most important player in this team despite moronic tweets (as below), im also sick of hearing the statement “they play the football the right way” – WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!Playing the game the right way is *winning football matches*, not always about building from the back, faffing around in the defence for minutes only to lump it forward in the end once put under pressure.

Hanson coming into this squad as a young lad and developing his career has been proof there is actually big opportunities to bring through local Youth players. My June weeks were spent in Spain and what I did notice was the difference between the younger generations in Spain to England is HUGE and explains why there’s a severe deficiency in talent coming through in this country. No matter where you are in Spain you see kids playing football anywhere and everywhere - compared to England where any patch of grass or potential playing field is restricted with a sign for “No Ball Games” or is in the early stages of a housing development.

That aside, Phil Parkinson has pulled off some remarkable signings and has enhanced the squad dramatically for this upcoming campaign, but for me the signing of Paul Anderson has captured the hearts and minds of every fan of Bradford City and he will definitely be one of the players to watch in the coming weeks. Anderson has really grasped the notion of what football fans want to see, he’s ambitious, hardworking and plays like he enjoys his game which fans new and old will appreciate.

It’s going to take time for signings to settle, get match fit and gel with the core of players from last season and I would personally prefer the momentum to build from the next few games until the end of the season – nobody wins the league after the first month.

Find me on twitter @DCRANN

Featured match photography supplied by Thomas Gadd Photography - for the full gallery click below.

On Another Note...

Brad Jones who has today signed on a one-year deal will probably be on the bench for tomorrow nights’ game against Gillingham and as a pre warning, it could well be a repeat of Saturday’s game, incorporating all of the factors mentioned above and after hammering Sheffield United in their first game of the season I would look at another draw as a likely outcome but also a positive result.