As Bradford City manager Stuart McCall voices his prediction that the Sky Bet League Two season will not be completed, fans of the Bantams begin to eagerly look ahead to next season’s campaign; whenever it may be.
Whilst the 2019/20 season has not been a train wreck, it’s certainly not been a rollercoaster either. Such high expectations back in August were quickly dampened by a negative brand of football and lack of quality in the squad, despite a promising rebuild having gone on due to the dire relegation campaign prior to League Two. With Gary Bowyer at the helm, he brought in the likes of James Vaughan, Clayton Donaldson and Marty Palmer to sure up his squad and bring a wealth of experience and ability, but never ensured his players form. Realistically, out of the trio were debatably the biggest three names to come through the door at Valley Parade, only Vaughan can hold his head high and say he gave it his all. After all, he left halfway through the season and is still City’s top marksman in front of goal.
The question remains however; where did the season go wrong? How come fans have been left so underwhelmed? What needs to change?
You look at the likes of Swindon Town and Crewe Alexandra for pointers, and can instantly recognise the qualities. Swindon possessing the attacking prowess of Eoin Doyle and Jerry Yates and playing to their strengths which clearly paid off, as at one point Doyle was the top scorer in all of Europe, and with a reliable frontman alongside him three points were never really in doubt for the Robins. Then you move to Crewe, where manager David Artell made the bold move to name youth academy graduate Perry Ng club captain and have him as the heart of the defence. A young, Crewe born defender, Ng has shown his desire and passion to fight for the club, hence why he was given captaincy and has really come out of his shell this season and shone as one of the league’s top defenders. Ng can play at either right-back or centre-back, but is trustworthy at both and will certainly be subject to interest from higher division clubs in the near future.
But you look at City, and unlike Swindon, they lack a real goal-scoring threat. You could arguably say Vaughan, but he left the club on loan due to Bowyer’s negative tactical approach and never had a chance under McCall, so yes it’s fair to say Vaughan could be that man. But Lee Novak and Kurtis Guthrie haven’t really had much opportunities as of yet and Donaldson has struggled with injuries and is out of contract in June so it’s impossible to guess the future of those three. It seems that McCall needs a reliable hot shot up to play off of Vaughan, a Wells to a Hanson, a Hiwula to a Wyke, a second to Vaughan is crucial in the upcoming transfer window and could defy the upcoming season. But McCall needs to work out if he wants to take a risk or not, like he did in 2017 bringing Charlie Wyke to the club to replace club legend James Hanson, or he could go for a more trustworthy approach and bring in either a loan attacker like he did with Jordi Hiwula or an experienced striker like a Lee Novak.
The second position that must be rectified is that right-back position that has plagued City’s defence at times this season. Kelvin Mellor, Adam Henley and Joe Riley are all out of contract this June and many are calling for McCall to just let them go. Mellor and Riley have both had two seasons at the club, and whilst Mellor has had bright sparks at times he has never really solidified as a first team right-back, not for League Two anyways. Riley has been eating away at the club’s wage budget with no return due to lengthy injuries that have seen him make just two appearances in two years, which is a shame because he was once such a young talent and Manchester United fans were raving about his potential when he arrived in West Yorkshire, but the chatter has slowly become murmuring and is now all but finished. Riley needs for his own sake a clean slate, and whilst he clearly does have the ability as evidenced in this season’s pre-season when he was my personal front runner for right-back, his future at Bradford is in immense jeopardy. If I was to keep any of the right-backs it would have to be Adam Henley, a former Welsh international who has played for the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Real Salt Lake in America, he has been unlucky this season and has become somewhat of a scapegoat at times, but he clearly does have what it takes to perform at this level but preferably as a back-up to a newcomer.
But the likes of Ng, Charlie Kirk and Tom Lowery at Crewe evidence that youth can work in this league. The only real player City fans have seen come through in the past few years is Danny Devine, but his contract is also expiring and could find himself without a club come Summer. Of course there was also Oli McBurnie, but he most likely would not have become the player he is today if he had not chosen to join Swansea City from Bradford, as their excellent youth setup and facilities helped shape McBurnie into the Premier League striker he is today. But perhaps in the youth team there are a few gems like McBurnie and like Devine, who had a good first season in the first team. The likes of Reece Staunton and Connor Shanks who flourished in the youth team’s cup run in the FA Youth Cup earlier on in the season which came to an end against Chelsea, who arguably had the best youth team in the entire tournament and were favourites. Whilst they may lack experience and the muscle for the physicality of League Two, Crewe are a perfect example of putting trust in the youth and it paying off and it would be smart for McCall to give a chance to at least Staunton, who has spent a brief spell on loan at neighbours Bradford Park Avenue. With Connor Wood having an outstanding season, it’s just a matter of time until a higher division club comes in for the left-back and Staunton needs to grasp the hole which might be left by Wood and get his career going. Also it would fulfil the league’s one home-grown player policy and which sane football fans don’t love to see one of their own come into the squad and do well?
The final position which may need re-evaluating is the central midfield role. With Callum Cooke returning to his home club Peterborough United, City’s midfield currently consists of out of contract Hope Akpan and Jake Reeves. Whilst it’s currently unknown what McCall’s plans are for the duo’s contract situation, fans can expect to see a reshaped middle next season with a creative advanced playmaker and a ball winning midfielder both currently lacking from a thin midfield. Then again it depends what formation McCall aims to master, as if he opts to use a 4-2-3-1 formation he could use either Harry Pritchard or Shay McCartan in the number ten position as both are excellent candidates, and therefore would wish for two reliable, short-passing talents in the middle of the park. One man who I have backed to get a move to Valley Parade is QPR’s Charlie Owens. The ball winning defensive midfielder mirrors the role of Timothee Dieng or Romain Vincelot, which McCall favourites, and is yet to really be given a chance in the first team in London. He was previously also on loan at Wycombe Wanderers in League One who must believe he has the ability to compete in England’s third tier, but City would be able to nab him from the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on a free, as his contract looks set to expire in June and he will find himself without a club.
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