Bradford City Season Preview: can they challenge?

With the 2018-19 League One season coming up, The Football Lab spoke to Katie Whyatt (@KatieWhyatt) from the excellent Width Of A Post.

For the first time in seven years last season, Bradford City finished lower than the previous campaign. Do you consider Stuart McCall’s controversial dismissal to be a factor behind the post-Christmas plummet?

I don’t think we’ll ever know the true story behind that team’s implosion. By the end, the whole picture just became so toxic and murky, with loads of rumour and conjecture about what was going on behind the scenes. I don’t think McCall should have been dismissed, and although an inspired appointment Simon Grayson football proved both short-lived and tepid. But I do think the recruitment was probably exposed for what it was following McCall’s departure: below-par, with McCall having got them playing above their natural level for the first half of the season. The quality of player recruitment this season will go a long way to informing fans’ judgements.

Bantams fans could be forgiven for being a tad sceptical of the appointment of rookie Michael Collins as head coach. Other than the obvious, what does he and owner Edin Rahic need to do to convert the doubters?

Good question. Last season descended into a maelstrom of rumour about infighting and micromanagement. Chiefly, there was no clarity at all about who was responsible for player recruitment: it felt like McCall became the fall guy when the owners have stressed, repeatedly, that there are a number of other people overseeing this. Edin Rahic has positioned himself as a quasi-Director of Football, and I think his structure requires a very specific kind of Head Coach with very clearly defined responsibilities – I don’t think anyone could argue McCall or Grayson were really ‘his guys’.

We need to see harmony, really. I think fans need to hear an outline of each person’s responsibilities. When the going gets tough – which it will – I think they’ll expect Rahic to back Collins vocally and publicly, which he never really did with McCall. I think the consensus, at the moment, among the fanbase is that they’re willing to wipe the slate clean for this season – but if the same mistakes are repeated, those old anxieties will come to the fore again. This summer, player recruitment has been pleasing, but if the team hit a sticky patch, Collins and Rahic will have to be strong in their leadership.

Richard O’Donnell was well thought of at Walsall and Northampton. Is he a good replacement between the sticks for Colin Doyle?

I think so. With Colin Doyle, I think what City have risked is his mentality and attitude and drive. It’s well documented that he played twice in 24 hours: he took two flights home from a Republic of Ireland international and played for City the day after. Last season, the squad’s mentality came under scrutiny at times, but you never could have levelled those accusations at Doyle. With it being a younger squad, I would have liked a Doyle to kind of keep the standards high should they ever slip. Ability-wise, though, no complaints about O’Donnell based on what I’ve heard.

You used various left-backs last season. Can Adam Chicksen nail the position down, or are you still hunting for the right replacement for James Meredith?

I think City fans have pretty much accepted they will never see a left-back quite like James Meredith. The success he had last season – playing all 46 league games, in his first season in the Championship, in the Millwall team that fell just short of the play-offs – is unsurprising, really, so ‘hunting for the right replacement for James Meredith’ is a bit like trying to catch lightening in a bottle.

Chicksen was definitely one of the better signings from last summer, and, for what it’s worth, he has a better delivery than Meredith. He’s a perfectly adept League One left back, but I think the issue here isn’t anything to do with if he’s better than Meredith. City have two other possible left-backs on the books: Connor Wood from Leicester City and Joe Riley from Manchester United. They’re both less experienced than Chicksen – 22 and 21 respectively – but they’re ambitious, and the owners have stated publicly they’re desperate to blood younger players. I wonder what kind of competition will emerge between those three as the season snakes into its rhythm.

Tony McMahon set pieces were a big part of your promising early-season form in 2017-18. Can Joe Riley replace him as a right-back – and who in the squad can replace his quality of delivery?

Tony McMahon *dons mourning gown*. In all seriousness, I think, towards the end of last season, we were seeing an ageing Tony McMahon whose influence was waning, and it was probably time to part ways. In Joe Riley, they have a player who’s spent the bulk of his career of the biggest clubs in the world in Manchester United, but the fact that he’s moved to Bradford because he’s keen for first-team football, wants to make his mark in the game and has recognised where he can achieve this speaks volumes about his attitude at a time when you hear so many – perhaps unfair – horror stories about the motivation of young players at Premier League academies. In that vein, I think he will be similar to Liverpool’s Stephen Darby, in that you’ll see quite clearly the technical quality and drive birthed by coaching at that level, even if both are decidedly different in playing style. Again, though, he’s young, with very limited EFL experience. He should come good, but, as with this whole squad, patience may be required.

You seemed to struggle for goals from midfield last season, especially in open play; Nicky Law and Jake Reeves didn’t net once. Do you think new signing Josh Wright could solve that problem?

He’s not been hugely prolific in that area before, but somebody has to. Rumours about Charlie Wyke abound – if City lose their star striker, it’s hard to see where that lethal a goal threat is going to come from. Bradford have got George Miller on loan from Middlesbrough, and he’s highly-rated within the game and had a productive spell at Bury, but he’s younger than me – I think we have to be wary about burdening him with the team’s entire goalscoring load. I think you’ve got to hope the other forwards who had staggered seasons last year – the likes of Shay McCartan, Omari Patrick and Alex Jones – step up, too. This team have struggled to create of late, but I expect Jack Payne, signed on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Town, will alleviate some of that burden.

Shay McCartan, Omari Patrick and Jordan Gibson have all been used as a substitute in their careers more often than they have started. Does that show that their pace makes them useful weapons late on, or that they struggle to influence games from the outset?

I think there’s a big difference between McCartan and Patrick and Gibson. Gibson is 20, so his development has been staggered accordingly – but he’s looked dynamic and brave and bold and exciting every time I’ve seen him. He’s stepped up to every task they’ve asked of him so far – on a really bad day against Oldham last season, he came on and was the team’s brightest spark on a lacklustre day. McCartan, I think, lost a lot of confidence last season. City tried to offload him on deadline day, and the move fell through – so imagine where that leaves your head if you haven’t had the best start to the season. There’s something I like about McCartan, but we’re yet to really, really see him pull it together consistently. Patrick started brightly last season, but then hovered in and out of contention. I think there’s pressure on McCartan and Patrick – less so on Gibson, but I think he’ll set his sights on breaking into the first team in earnest by the end of the season.

Bantams aside, what are your thoughts ahead of the League One season as a whole? Any potential dark horses for you?

The financial clout of Sunderland and Barnsley is ridiculous, but the rebuilding job at Sunderland is a really sizeable one, so there’s a lot going on there. I expect Coventry to fare fine, but losing their top scorer in Marc McNulty leaves them with a lot of different questions.
I’m upset at how Shrewsbury have been dismantled, losing Paul Hurst to then see their play-off final squad decimated. I really wanted them to get over the line last season: while I think everyone there knew it was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ season, and probably always feared this would be the outcome if they lost the play-off final, it’s cruel. I really, really want Stanley to do well, obviously, and I think Joey Barton’s Fleetwood will, but I think the play-off race in League One is fairly open this season. I think a lot of the big-hitters from other seasons – Charlton and Scunthorpe – are not as intimidating as they have been previously.

Thanks to Katie for her answers. The Football Lab’s verdict on Bradford can be found on We Love Betting from late July.