A crucial win puts Bradford City's season back on track – but the feelgood factor lags

12/15/2024 04:02 AM

By Jason McKeown

They had to win this one. They did. And in this tricky moment of the season, that’s all that really mattered.

The two promising outings at Crewe and Stockport had revitalised hope but would quickly count for zilch if Bradford City couldn’t beat one of the worst teams in the league, in front of their own public. So that’s what they had to do. Just win the game. Begin to rebuild frayed trust. Offer supporters further reason not to give up on this team – and by extension the club’s hierarchy. A first league victory in almost two months gives us a taste we have been starved of.

So there were cheers at full time and there was relief. Calum Kavanagh’s goal won the contest. Not much else really happened, but ultimately it didn’t need to. It’s victory. It’s three points. It’s a return of sorts to the promotion picture. It’s a moment to enjoy, if not reminisce about for very long. They’ve won. And now we can move forward.

There was still a sense of implosion inside Valley Parade, but it was all coming from the hapless visitors. Swindon were toothless, feeble and wretched. Their high profile manager Ian Holloway full of bluster and anger. At one point Holloway was quarrelling with City supporters in the Main Stand. He routinely raced to the edge of his dugout, using his fingers to gesture to his players what shape to switch to, as Swindon rotated between a 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-2-2. Nothing worked. Town attempted a neck-hurting 104 long balls over the 90 minutes, failing to register a single shot on target. At full time Holloway was arguing with his own supporters. He had to be held back by his players, such as was his level of fury at the criticism he was facing.

Swindon, like City, were having a good week. But they didn’t lay a glove on their opponents here. Weak and meek, they remain the crisis club that the Bantams were, and could still easily return to the position of. Swindon – like us a team that once basked in Premier League football – remain stuck in the bottom tier, going through manager after manager and enduring unpopular ownership. Erm, can’t imagine what that feels like.

As Swindon soul search and probably soon sack Holloway, for now at City we can bask in the sunshine of success. Like any sunshine at this time of year, the light is frail and could all too quickly go out again. But they’ve added a building block to better times. And in a game like this, that’s what they had to do.

Beyond the three points, there are reasons to feel more upbeat about City’s promotion hopes. Players are finally returning from injury and the squad is looking healthier for it. The switch to 3-4-3 continues to pay dividends, bringing greater balance to the team and starting to get the best out of players who weren’t fully hitting the heights.

It looks pretty good, and at times when City got their passing range going here, it was pleasing on the eye. Kavanagh quickly becomes the poster boy of the revival, scoring his third goal in two games and finally getting off the mark in the league. The front three were all involved in the goal, with Bobby Pointon sending a probing pass into the path of Andy Cook, who showed pace and athleticism to force a mistake out of Tunmise Sobowale. Kavanagh seized on the loose ball and hit a shot that Daniel Barden saved. It rebounded Kavanagh’s way, and from an angle he tapped the ball into an empty net.

The best way to illustrate the absolute lack of drama in this game is to talk about the shot count. Swindon, as we’ve already said, had zero attempts on target. Sam Walker was quiet, other than tipping a slightly mis-hit Swindon free kick cross attempt over his own bar, and having to get down low to grab hold of a Jack Shepherd clearance that had gone wrong and sliced backwards. Beyond that, Swindon had three shots off target. City in contrast had seven shots at goal, and only two on target.

In other words, over the 90-minute contest, the two teams mustered a grand total of 10 attempts on goal. Only two were on target, and they were the Kavanagh shot saved and rebound struck home. If you went to the toilet or for a pint in the 24th minute, you missed the only really notable moment of the entire game. Fair to say the club won’t be rushing to stock DVD copies of this encounter in time for Christmas.

Not that City were toothless. The front three had good games, and the wing backs Lewis Richards and Jay Benn contributed really well going forward in the first half especially. Richards in particular is getting better every week. After a really poor performance at Morecambe in October where he offered little quality on the ball, Richards has enjoyed a really strong couple of months and firmly nailed down the left wing back spot. When Tyreik Wright returns from injury, he will have to find another role in the team.

Benn had to go off at half time after suffering a real kicking in the first 45 minutes. Swindon’s chief threat was the 6 foot 5 inch Harry Smith up front, who was an imposing and physical presence. In the first half, Smith kept dropping out wide as high balls were aimed his way. Clearly Swindon were targeting Benn’s lack of physical stature as a way for Smith to win long balls and get the team up the pitch. Benn stood up really well, but was on the receiving end of several strong challenges from Swindon players, including Smith.

As the whistle blew for half time, Benn was a crumpled heap on the floor. Substitute Brad Halliday was the first to race over and comfort him. After the break, City’s reigning player of the year was brought onto replace the young defender.

Graham Alexander would refer to the second half action as messy, which is a good description. Swindon tried to push on, with their high press causing the occasional uncomfortable moment, but Smith and team mates were getting absolutely no change out of the Bantams’ defence. I really do like this back three, who collectively offer balance, skill in possession, experience, composure and grit. Paul Huntington was probably City’s player of the match and curbed Smith’s threat. He is proving to be an excellent signing, operating as the central spare man, and Neill Byrne’s return from suspension next week offers a genuine headache.

Aden Baldwin – who came to the club in the summer with Ash Taylor-style vibes that he could be a calamity defender, after struggling for Notts County last year in what was the worst defence in League Two – is impressing for his ability on the ball and reading of the game. Jack Shepherd continues to be excellent alongside the pair. A first clean sheet in two months was deservedly achieved.

City’s shape and ability to win turnovers was also aided by Corry Evans slotting alongside Richie Smallwood in the middle. It was another display of real promise from the former Sunderland man, before injury unfortunately struck on the hour and he had to go off. No matter, Antoni Sarcevic was back after his long lay off. He came on for Evans and slotted in very well. Earlier in the season when fit, Sarcevic had played as a number 8 and caused some concerns. This number 6 position is where he played at Stockport so successfully, and in 30 minutes here he showed just what he can offer. Again, selection dilemmas ahead, when Alex Pattison’s three game suspension finishes at the end of the month.

With Jamie Walker also finding it hard to get a start, competition for places is emerging. Walker watched on, as up top Pointon, Cook and Kavanagh battled hard. Cook was a little bit up and down in his workrate, but when his intensity was there he led the line really well. Pointon ran Huntington and Richards close in the player of the match battle. The homegrown hero excelled and he linked up especially well with Richards. You can see some real intelligence about the way the pair run off each other to create space. Pointon has started all three games this week, and his level of performances now surely cement his name as one of the first on the team sheet.

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. As much as Alexander should get plaudits for tweaking the approach, the revitalising powers of the 3-4-3 he’s started to employ was probably borne out of circumstance rather than a master plan.

That’s because in hindsight, the fact Cook was booked for a late challenge on Barrow’s Dean Campbell, in the last home game, could prove one of the most important moments of the season. The 3-5-2 Alexander was employing was no longer working effectively. So with Cook suspended at Crewe, the City boss went to a 3-4-3 and found a more effective formula. Cook returned midweek and proved he could operate successfully in the 3-4-3, and the refined plan looks like the way forward.

There are clearly many benefits. The 3-5-2, with two number 8s, was getting found out by opposition sides playing an extra man in the centre of midfield to overrun Smallwood. There was also the targeting of the space behind City’s wing backs. Meanwhile up front, no one was really working out as Cook’s strike partner in a two.

With a 3-4-3, Smallwood has support in the middle, and the deploying of wide forwards gives the wing backs more protection. Kavanagh is thriving from playing slightly wider, where is he finding more space and players to link up with. Pointon is excelling further forwards. Cook is proving he can press (though Alexander needs to manage his minutes over the busy Christmas period). And with the backline actually featuring central defenders instead of full backs operating out of position, the whole set up of the team looks more solid.

It all bodes really well going into a run of games against teams near the top. Clearly, much bigger tests to City’s new structure await. But they can take great heart going to Notts County on Saturday. A Notts County side who, by the way, have lost four of their last five games, and who haven’t won a league game since the end of October.

All is looking rosier for City then. They didn’t play that well here. They were fortunate to be facing such woeful opponents. Yet they got the job done. They had to win this. They did. Green shoots have emerged and show promise of flourishing. Hope is returning a period where they looked hopeless.

But of course there is work to do, and one of the priorities has to be winning back the Bradford public. It was not exactly a bustling, rambunctious Valley Parade. Empty seats were in high supply. In the second half, the PA announcer told us the attendance was 15,751. Everyone chuckled. No one believed him.

The game was bitty, stop-start and low on drama. City’s pass success rate 63%, Swindon’s a dismal 53%. Basically, not a lot of football was played. And that all contributed to a flat, sedate atmosphere. Not a lot to get excited by. Not a lot to angry about. But most importantly, for those who choose to stay away, not an awful lot missed either.

The last 15 months have seen damaged trust and belief in the club’s competence and capability. We hoped for a reset in the summer and perhaps we got one, but the struggles of late have understandably fuelled worries that not enough has changed and the club are still treading water. We’ve seen some promise this season but not exactly high-edge entertainment. And so when results have tailed off, so too has faith. Fair to say the jury is out.

Ultimately, the club has a long way to go to get back to a status where home games feel unmissable. Where the noise inside the stadium can rival any ground in the country. The fact is – there are lots of people who bought season tickets for this campaign who have stopped coming to games. That is worrying, because spending £249 for a season ticket you don’t use is unlikely to prove a repeat purchase.

The point is that everything is still very much on the line. In this sticky moment, the team just had to get back on track. And right now that’s more important than putting on a show. But wins as instantly forgettable as this won’t do a huge amount in restoring the feelgood factor. And Holloway’s end of match meltdown is a reminder of the cliff edge nature of being a big club struggling in League Two.

They had to win this one. They did. But in time, they will have to offer more than this.