A bumpy Bradford City victory points to better days ahead

12/29/2024 04:07 PM

By Jason McKeown

The decision did not come quickly enough to prevent the damage, but it did come quickly enough to win the match. With 32 minutes played, Bradford City were in trouble. The scoreboard confirmed it was still 0-0, but Chesterfield were well on top. In the previous 10 minutes alone, the visitors had enjoyed 74% possession and three City defenders had gone into the book. The Spireites routinely tore through their hapless hosts, seizing on a catalogue of errors. A goal was coming. Possibly a red card too. And at this stage, a comfortable away victory looked like the only outcome.

So Graham Alexander did something that was unusual and something that was brave. He changed it. At what was still a very early stage. Jay Benn, the third of defenders to pick up a yellow card, was taken off. Bobby Pointon – rested, you assume, because why would you drop him on current form? – was summoned to rescue a team that was crumbling. Some pre-match team selections had seemed questionable and now appeared downright stupid. But Alexander swallowed some pride and rejigged the team. And in doing so, he turned a morale-damaging defeat into a morale-boosting victory.

It got worse before it got better. Within three minutes of the tactical change, Chesterfield got the breakthrough they richly deserved. But then against the run of play Alex Pattison burst through with the ball from just inside his own half and ran at goal, teeing up an equaliser that was scored by Pointon, with a delightful backheel flick. And though the rocky ride continued before the break, the situation was retrieved and a vastly improved second half performance earned City their second 2-1 victory over a promotion rival in four days.

It’s only eight days earlier that Alexander’s merits as City manager was fiercely debated in the aftermath of the pathetic 3-0 loss to Notts County. In these subsequent back-to-back home games, he’s gone someway to addressing the doubts and rebuilding credit in the bank. The knives were definitely ready to be sharpened towards him here, as his gameplan initially unravelled, but a manager capable of getting results when the pressure is truly on is a quality that has been lacking at Valley Parade since Phil Parkinson.

So Alexander deserves to feel good after the bravery and courage shown here. Eyebrows were definitely raised with the team he picked. No Lewis Richards or Paul Huntington due to illness and injury, fair enough. But resting up Pointon after his brilliant Boxing Day display? Leaving out Calum Kavanagh and going with two wide forwards who have each only just returned from lengthy lay offs? It’s a bold strategy Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.

Fair to say it didn’t work out. The absence of Richards saw Alexander choose to shunt Brad Halliday to left wing back with Benn recalled on the right. The Chesterfield right winger, Dilan Markanday, had an absolute field day. Halliday could not cope playing on his wrong side against the skillful Blackburn loanee.

The problems didn’t end there. Alex Pattison’s return from suspension offered Alexander an interesting headache of who to play alongside Richie Smallwood, given Antoni Sarcevic had shown promise in the role on Boxing Day. Fair to say no one expected the City boss to stick Sarcevic up front. Especially with Tyreik Wright entrusted on the other side of Cook. Say what you want about Kavanagh, but no one presses like him. With Kav and Pointon sat on the bench, the intensity in City’s forward line just wasn’t there. That left Andy Cook badly isolated and meant City offered no attacking threat.

Which is especially ill-timed when your defenders fall to pieces. Aden Baldwin arrived at Valley Parade in the summer with a reputation of being a slightly calamitous defender, wholly unsuited to Notts County’s play it from the back approach. This was the first time we’d really seen this type of performance from him, and – wow – it wasn’t pretty. So many needless mistakes, where he shambolically gave the ball away in bad areas by over-playing. It spread to team-mates Neill Byrne and Ciaran Kelly, who also struggled.

Chesterfield travelled North ravaged by injury but with a clear passing philosophy that preyed on City’s vulnerabilities. They were really impressive in the first half at least, notching up nine attempts on goal (to City’s three) and achieving almost double the amount of accurate passes as the home side. Ollie Banks sat in front of his back four in a 4-1-4-1 and was able to run the game without City pressure on him. Liam Mandeville should have opened the scoring after somehow firing wide after a brilliant mazy dribble into the box. As the yellow cards began to be dished out by a truly awful referee in Adam Herczeg, the dam was about to collapse.

That’s when Alexander reacted. Pointon took Wright’s role up front, who in turn took Halliday’s left wing back spot, so the reigning player of the year could return to the right hand side. And though it certainly wasn’t immediately evident, the game had its turning point.

Chesterfield did still take the lead when Mackaday burst into the box and outfoxed Kelly to make room for a cross. Armando Dobra’s initial shot was blocked, but Kane Drummond cleverly laid the loose ball back into the Albanian’s path, and he produced a crafty touch to nudge the ball away from a desperate sliding challenge from Kelly, giving him time and space to finish low past Sam Walker. A lovely goal from a Chesterfield perspective. A mess from a City point of view.

But going forward, it was starting to work for the home side. Pointon pressed and stretched the game, giving space for Pattison to come alive. The pair combined to equalise (with Baldwin playing a key part in initially winning the ball and bringing it forward for Pattison, showing the benefits of some of the risks that he takes). As Pointon and others celebrated, Alexander called over his three central defenders for an impromptu talk. “Calm down” was probably the gist of it. But it wasn’t initially heeded. Chesterfield carved out three more excellent chances before the interval, with Dobra hitting the post. To get in at half time level was both an utter relief and an utter mystery.

Within the confides of the home dressing room at the break, one key word would surely have heavily featured. Press. Press more often. Press more effectively. Follow Bobby’s lead. Press. Press. And press.

Because pressing was the biggest difference in the second half, something Alexander acknowledged. “We were fully committed, connected, trusting their team mate. When they went to press, they knew there was a teammate behind them. We have to play with that instinct.”

To a man they did just that. Instead of standing off Chesterfield and letting them play through them, they pressed and harried for the ball. And suddenly it was the Chesterfield backline’s turn to make mistakes. A patched up centre back pairing, with a combined age of 67, began to look vulnerable.

Witness the City goal that would prove to be the winner. Chesterfield had a throw just inside their own half. Wright presses the player who receives it, Mandeville, forcing him into playing it back to 34-year-old Jamie Grimes. He takes an awful first touch, and there was Sarcevic pressing, gobbling up possession and running through on goal. The way Sarcevic took the ball past goalkeeper Max Thompson and calmly slotted it into an empty net, with defenders chasing back, was pure class. He took his time when others would have panicked. A memorable first goal in City colours.

From that point, City put themselves into a comfortable, high press shape and managed the game really well. It had been an eventful 52 minutes up to Sarcevic’s goal. Fair to say not too much happened after that. And that suited City just fine. The backline sorted themselves out and played much better. Wright still had a tough time with Mandeville, but at least had better support. Richie Smallwood was calm, composed and full of leadership.

Sarcevic, Pattison and Pointon grew and grew into the best three players on the pitch, dictating the tempo and giving the Bantams the thrust and control they needed. We haven’t really talked about it, but City’s in-game management in the last three home games (including the forgettable 1-0 Swindon success) has been fantastic. They’ve defended really well as a unit.

With Jamie Walker and Clarke Oduor coming on from the bench to add energy by taking over from the still not fully fit Sarcevic and Wright, the Bantams got themselves over the line. Chesterfield had plenty of the ball – more than 80% possession in the final 15 minutes – but only managed one shot on target. They ran out of steam and ran out of time.

The upshot of these back-to-back victories is that City are now only two points off the play offs, and remarkably only three points behind second place Notts County. It is a ridiculously tight league, with just seven points separating second spot and 14th. But after a first half of the season severely hampered by injuries and suspensions, City are almost at full strength and well positioned to push on. News that George Lapslie is set to join the Bantams when the transfer window opens, and heavy rumours that Burnley striker Micky Mellon will arrive on loan, offers further reason for optimism.

For now though, the bumpiness of this Chesterfield game neatly summarises the bumpiness of the first half of Bradford City’s season. Just like on the field here, we really have seen a bit of everything since August. The Bantams look like a very well drilled side on some days, and a bit of a mess on others. They are decent defensively, but rarely achieve clean sheets and always concede chances. They are a reasonable attacking unit, but are over-reliant on Andy Cook finding the back of the net. There is strength in depth, and yet they look incredibly frail if one or two important players are missing. They are excellent at home, but disappointing on the road.

With four wins in the last five league and cup games, and just one loss in their last seven league matches, there are definitely positive indicators of turning tides. But in what is clearly an extremely competitive league, City still need to find those higher gears, cut out the sloppiness and find a greater level of consistency.

It’s there for them. It really is. But just like this victory, they’re making really hard work of it.