Encouragement for Bradford City as battling draw offers some redemption

12/07/2024 12:06 PM

By Jason McKeown

Better. I think that’s the overriding theme to emerge from this. After two dismal performances in a week – and with supporter unrest growing ever louder – the team delivered an improved showing that can help to mollify the darkening mood.

It was a good point. It’s true Crewe have not been firing on all cylinders of late. But they haven’t lost a league game since 28 September, and haven’t been beaten at home since the middle of August. The Bantams played the last 33 minutes – and a huge chunk of stoppage time – with only 10 men. And of course, they had to line up without the prolific Andy Cook. Add in the crazy weather, and the players were presented with a series of tests that were successfully passed. And that offers reasons to feel encouraged.

Of course, the situation remains challenging. It’s now one win in nine (the one win coming against non-league opponents). Depending on how far you want to go back, it’s five away games without victory, or one away win in eight, or just three away wins all season overall (13 games). It’s also nearly two months since City last kept a clean sheet. And by 5pm, and the completion of what League Two fixtures did take place today – as the nation battled against Storm Darragh – the league table leaves City languishing in 11th, five points from the play offs.

So fair enough, no one is going to get the bunting out, simply because we didn’t lose to Crewe. But there are signs of life. Resilience. Fight. A small step forward, but a step forward nonetheless. And after the Misery of Morecambe and the Boredom of Barrow, they’ve regained some Credibility at Crewe.

You feared it was going to be more of the same though. Just after half time, Crewe took the lead when Omar Bogle was able to get on the end of a Jack Lankester header and tap home. (Bogle was aided by Zac Williams fouling Jay Benn at the far post, stopping the right back running with the Crewe forward.) And given City had not scored a non-Andy Cook goal in the league for 46 days, who amongst us had any confidence in the visitors’ prowess to come back?

But come back they did. Quickly in fact. Seven minutes after Bogle’s goal, Benn got down the byline and produced an excellent cut back into the path of Calum Kavanagh, who must have heard a shout from the late-charging Alex Pattison behind him. Kavanagh produced a brilliant dummy and let the ball go all the way back to Pattison, who fired a low effort at goal that deflected into the back of the net for 1-1.

Maybe the luck was turning. Or then again, maybe not. Two minutes after his goal, Pattison was red carded. Richie Smallwood had lost possession and went into a 50-50 with Bogle that saw the Crewe man fall to the floor. The referee Ben Toner blew for a foul, and a split second later Pattison went to win the loose ball and succeeded in booting it at Bogle. A melee ensued that saw Williams and Smallwood booked, and crucially Pattison awarded a red. I've watched it back several times and it's hard to decipher if Pattison knew the game had been stopped before he kicked the ball, or if he was deliberately aiming for Bogle. It was certainly much less of a red card offence than Neil Byrne’s sending off at Morecambe last week.

Just like with Byrne’s early bath on the North West coast, you feared a City dismissal would be cue for defeat. But the biggest compliment you can pay the players is they didn’t play like they were a man short. It was a really good effort with 10 men, with City still taking the game to Crewe when they could and only coming under serious pressure in stoppage time.

The Bantams could have won it with reduced numbers. The crucial aspect that let them down was a lack of quality. The ball was worked forwards well, but shots at goal were either mis-hit or too premature. Yes, they did miss Cook’s composure and deadliness, for what it’s worth. But their honest, positive toil was admirable. Graham Alexander has been accused of being too negative in recent weeks, but I don’t think you could level that at City here. In difficult circumstances, they had a good go.

When it was a game of 11 vs 11, the plan had been refined and looked promising. Alexander went 3-4-3 without Cook. He recalled Kavanagh, Jamie Walker and Bobby Pointon to play as a front three. You could argue it’s City’s three best pressers, and they certainly put in lots of effort targeting Crewe’s back three and making them uncomfortable. When City went forward, the trio linked up nicely.

Picking a front three also enabled Alexander to add another body in the centre of midfield to support Smallwood, with Pattison dropping back. And again this worked well. Crewe’s 3-4-1-2 formation might have overrun Smallwood, were City playing their usual way of only having one holder, but Pattison tucked in well and was much more effective compared to his roaming role on Tuesday. With Aden Baldwin fit enough to start at the back, City in general were much tidier on the ball and also more purposeful. The wing backs of Benn and Lewis Richards showed good energy. Nice to see Benn back to form, after a slight dip following the difficult afternoon he experienced against Doncaster.

It wasn’t flawless, but in the first half City had the better chances through their 3-4-3 approach. Pointon should have put the Bantams in front inside a minute when he was played through on goal but shot tamely at Filip Marschall. To his credit, Pointon did not let the miss bother him. The youngster was very influential going forward, and seemed to be at the heart of every effective City attack. Pointon created openings for others by taking on opponents and cleverly using the ball. City’s man of the match for sure. Pointon saw one shot from the edge of the box curl just wide, and just on half time he produced some lovely skill before crossing for Kavanagh to rattle a powerful effort against the post.

There were hints at the Ewing Theory at play. This is a sports idea lifted from basketball, about how struggling teams can inexplicably do better when their star player is missing. No one would dispute Cook is having a brilliant season and has propped up the club on many occasions. But sometimes, his lack of pressing ability, and the struggle to find a good front pairing that includes him, can cause problems. Here, City tried to do something different. And it looked, well, pretty good.

Reason to keep Cook out the team then? Not quite. But food for thought. Realistically, you’d like to think Alexander will keep the 3-4-3 for now, but try Cook in the middle with Walker and Pointon as wide forwards. We know from the Mark Trueman, Derek Adams and Mark Hughes eras that Cook is more than capable of playing on his own up front. It could be that he and the team will be more effective by letting him plough a lone furrow centrally, with Pointon and Walker in close company coming in from wide areas.

After Pattison was sent off, Pointon and Walker dropped back to help Smallwood, but retained the licence to get forward. And though Crewe understandably had a lot more possession with the extra man, City carried a threat and still created chances. They also defended well, despite Lankaster causing all sorts of problems. Paul Huntington and Jack Shepherd produced some important late blocks to preserve a point. The final whistle was a relief but it would be a stretch to claim City were clinging on. When all is said and done, this was their best performance since the 2-1 victory over Gillingham in the middle of October.

And so a difficult week ends on a positive note. The matchday squad is looking stronger, with the much documented injury situation easing. And though suspensions are suddenly becoming a pesky problem, Cook and Byrne will return for City’s next league match, at home to third-bottom Swindon. Antoni Sarcevic is back in full training, and could have a shot of returning to matchday action for the visit of the Robins.

There is much to prove still. It’s now three 1-1 draws in a row. Five league matches since they last tasted success. The doubts that the recent run has triggered are not even close to being addressed. The ice beneath the club remains decidedly thin. But this was better. And in these troubled times, better is something.