11th : Sorry Bradford, I don't believe the hype
By Nathan Jackson
August 2 2008
Bradford City have been tipped by many to win the League by a country mile, it's just a pity that they don't have a squad or manager that can be described as anything other than average. The Bantams may have more fans than anyone else in the division, but that doesn't guarantee success.
Have you ever heard of a film called "The Great White Hype"? Basically, it's a film about boxing with Samuel L Jackson as a boxing promoter trying to come up with a money-spinning idea for his prize boxer. His research brings him to a guy in a rock band who is the only guy who has ever beaten the champion. They subsequently push him in the media to be biggest and best, only for him to turn out to be hugely underwhelming. 2008/9 will also see the release of "The Great White Hype 2" staring Bradford City AFC.
There's always one team every season which everyone predicts to do well simply because of the name and/or money, this season it's Bradford City's turn. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Bradford, but I refuse to buy into this bullshit that they are guaranteed promotion simply because they get more fans than anyone else. I'm sorry, but if you live in one of the largest urbanised areas in the country then you're bound to get more fans than anyone else. It was like Hull City bragging that they used to get crowds of 7/8,000, it doesn't sound that impressive when you consider Hull has 375,000 people living in it.
Plus, if last season is anything to go by then having a large crowd won't do Bradford any favours. They got on their team's back quicker than any other side in the division and their fans just seem to expect promotion, that heaps unnecessary pressure onto the players.
The simple fact is that if that relatively average squad was at any other club in the division then there is no possible way they would be predicted for promotion. Again, don't get me wrong because I don't think they have the worst squad in the division, afterall, any squad is better than the one at Dagenham, but to say they have the best is extremely debateable. We were having this debate last summer when everyone said Bradford had the squad to win promotion...and were subsequently mediocre in the division.
Let's look into their squad a bit more. Up front they have Barry "I'll score ten goals a season if you're lucky, then again, maybe not" Conlon accompanied by Michael "I'll sign for you if you sign my brother" Boulding, we'll get back onto him later. Infact, looking at the Bradford squad and they only have two truly half-decent players and they are Graeme Lee and Omar Daley, the rest are distinctively average.
Now we'll go back to Michael "I'd never have signed for anyone other than Bradford"....really, is that why you said that you would only talk to clubs higher up than League Two? Or how about that you went training at Rotherham with the view to joining them? If you're claiming that you were only interested in joining Bradford City then you are a liar Mr Boulding. Plus, looking at his career record, I wouldn't get that excited about his goal tally last season and it was the only time in his whole career that he has been prolific, the only other time he was even remotely goal-happy was when he was part of a Grimsby side that got relegated two seasons in a row.
Then we get onto Stuart McCall. Now, forgive me for being cynical but I don't quite think he's good enough to guide a team to promotion. Losing 25 of your 55 games managing a club is not the sign of a manager who is good enough to win promotion. He seems more focused on his "Strawberry Blonde" joke than anything else. Maybe if he focused on football every now and then Bradford might actually have a chance of winning promotion.
And just for the record, I seriously recommend "The Great White Hype"...it's very good.
I think your a bit misinformed about our squad, for starters Conlon is a backup striker, Peter Thorne and Michael Boulding will be our first choice strikers this year. Thorne scored 15 goals for us last year, but would have scored more had he not had fitness problems in the first half of the season due to a long term injury he sustained at Norwich. Needless to say Boulding scored 25 goals for relegated Mansfield last year, which seems to suggest that if he gets even mediocre service he will score.
Central midfielder Paul McLaren had the highest number of assists in league 1 last season whilst playing for Tranmere, which should guarantee decent service for Thorne and Boulding. Chris Brandon has been consistently playing at a higher level for years now. Paul Arnison has promotion experience from this division with Carlisle. Rhys Evans, whilst not spectacular, has been consistently playing at a higher level. I also think were going to see promising things from Willy Topp this year as well, he only came onboard during the second half of last season and was unfit due to not having a proper pre-season behind him with Deportivo Universidad Católica.
Im certainly not saying that we are dead certs for promotion, but i think we have a good shot at cracking the top 3, i certainly don't think were worse than last year given that a significant portion of our squad was made up of loan players and players that have subsequently been released this summer.
Good luck for the forthcoming season btw, i have you down for a playoff finish :-]
made a few decent aquisitions
I think they'll be play-offs, if that.
