The Longside Reference

A REPORT FROM BRADFORD PRE SEASON FRIENDLY
BRADFORD CITY 1 BURNLEY 2
WEDNESDAY JULY 30th

     I have to disappoint you I am afraid. I can give no guide with this report on the curry houses of Bradford. A pre-game curry was defo on the cards but then my neighbour ‘Bradford John’ who is a Bradford nut, decided to go to Italy for a week, and our plans for a curry before the game were aborted.  Just the game then, and anyway, purse strings are tight at the moment, what with petrol, and gas (another bloody 35% and an impotent government unable to exert any influence on the profit making) and electricity and council tax all on the up, up, up. Oh to be a footballer of modest talent on 7 grand a week would do me very nicely thankyou.

    Anyway, a Bradford game is just down the road from us and in my heart of hearts I would love this little homely club to do well this season and move up a Division. As they do that maybe we will move up to the Prem. Lord knows we have announced our ambitions with a string of signings and even an Eagle and the ground plans and all that stuff as well, so at this minute with good pre season results mounting up every game, optimism grows by the minute. But na then, let me say I still think a Prem place is a tall order; a top six place may be just possible, but I belong to that group of folk who think that we still need a really good attacking right-back, and up front a good, big, mobile centre-forward who can get up and really head a ball. And yep I know – they are in short supply.

I saw all three Scottish games and saw good things, Kalvanes, Duff at centre-back, Jones in sizzling form, Paterson’s mobility and pace, little Macdonald’s up and at ‘em pace and aggression, big McDonald’s strength and power and control. Blake can still twist and turn, Caldwell can be a rock, Carlisle immovable, Kay on for just minutes, looks to have a bit of class, Ade bless him is just dear old Ade (did you see the big hug he gave Jimmy Mac at Glentoran, Jimmy must have been wondering, oh God, is he going to kiss me as well) – and I didn’t miss Lafferty one little bit. And summat else… if you could combine the talents of McCann and Mahon, by gum you’d have a hell of a player. As it is, you have two separate talented players who flit in and out of games frustratingly.

At Bradford we had to ask if the number of pre season games is just a tad too many. This was the third game in just five days. Facing fitness tests or doubtful were a whole string of players… Penny, Shaft, McDonald, Elliot, McCann and Kay, (and the season hasn’t even started), although the squad is big enough for us still to pick a team. And, Eagles was unavailable tidying up his personal matters. Some of them at the moment must be wondering what country they are in, the travelling they have done. Flying back and forth to the USA is a far cry from the old days when the one pre season game was possibles versus probables a week before the season began.

And tonight’s game was a corker - gritty, aggressive, competitive, a derby game and played as if it was for real. Let me immediately say that Burnley should have had a hatful but the Bradford goalkeeper Evans was in superb form. One save was in the Gordon Banks class. Burnley had shots well wide, very wide; just wide or just skimming a post. We had shots over the bar, way over the bar or just skimming the bar. We had one on ones, profligate shooting, crosses that were just missed, little flicks, audacious chips, and even a 70 yard attempt – though the less said about that the better. Penny in goal touched the ball maybe a dozen times, twice to make smart saves. Carlisle saved on the line. Of course against the run of play Bradford scored when a defensive aberration allowed the ball to bounce free, kindly, and their man lobbed it over Penny’s head. But a Blake corner was thumped home from long range by Caldwell with a superb downward header that snuck in by the post to equalise in the second half. And then at last justice was done when Jones scored the winner with a glancing header from a deep cross from the left, just seconds from the end. How we did not score six is still baffling me. 

None of this is to suggest that Bradford didn’t turn up. They had good chances too and on a luckier night might have got three maybe. They are no pushover. The Burnley defence had their work cut out several times – and we all know how nerve-wracking that used to be – and the good news is, still is.

We started with Penny, Alexander, Carlisle, Jordan, Kalvanes, Mahon, Alexander the Latvian, Blake, Paterson, Macdonald and Van der Shaft. The latter was invited to leave the field after two robust challenges had irked the referee. This avoided the yellow card. Tough challenges on Burnley players, however, seemed to go unpunished. One in the second half on Blake was horrific, sending him six feet up in the air and nearly cutting him in two. The referee Mr Laws gave the free kick but only the most gentle of admonishments to the Bradford Neanderthal who had made this appalling challenge.

Pick of the team were Blake on for the whole game and in superb deft and tricky form, Paterson, nimble, pacey and mobile, the Alex the Latvian all over the pitch, full of running, stamina and trickery, and Jones who has had a superb pre-season. Shaft was mightily impressive in his midfield policeman role but must learn that you can’t go round upending everyone you see all the time like that gung-ho detective copper in Life on Mars. Shaft might have got away with this in the 60s or 70s but not in today’s cotton-wool game. Little McDonald must have a great future if he continues to be full of pace, running and aggression, a sort of poor club’s Rooney almost. Young Kay is stylish, a beautiful striker of a ball, and could be a midfield general star of the future. Carlisle was steady and strong at the back. Jordan is worrying, but better at centre-back than full-back. A good right back is needed. Mahon remains peripheral, no end product, pleasing to the eye, like a brittle but pretty butterfly. As the second half progressed, changes were made, on came Ade all huff and puff and put himself about a bit, Caldwell steadied things, and the stylish Kay arrived. Gudjonsson it was who replaced the errant Shaft in the first half. There will, I think, be a new cry on the footie fields of the Championship when Remi has just decked you. “Ha ha you have just been shafted.”

So, all these chances we made, and there’s still Eagles and Elliot in the wings, so to speak. With Jones so impressive at the moment, and Alex the Latvian to sign if Coyle can sort the finances, there’s real competition. But a good right back and a good centre forward are still needed in this ‘umble reporter’s opinion.

Dave Thomas July 31st 2008