In part one we looked at the reports for the goalkeepers and defenders, in this part I will conclude with the rest of the team and the manager. This is for the first 12 league games, and the next report will be a half-term report once we have played 23 league games.
Midfielders/Attacking Midfielders
In a team that had no shortage of attacking midfielders, we went ahead and signed more. It wasn’t until the arrival of Corry Evans that we had any cover for captain Richie Smallwood. And so Smallwood has found himself as the lone central midfielder tasked with being the key part of the spine that holds the team together both in a defensive role and in his role making forward passes to the more creative players. Unfortunately the attacking midfielders have struggled and holding down a spot in the starting eleven for all of them has been something nobody has managed to take by the scruff of the neck. Whether that’s through injury or performance, with so many players in those roles, you’d have expected more.
Richard Smallwood (B-) – Has really taken to his role as head boy this term.
When Richie Smallwood performs, so do the team. His leadership has not been in doubt so far this season with him in the main doing a great job of being an anchor in the middle and providing a range of passing to get things moving.
But there is just that little issue that the whole team seems to reflect how his game is going, and had there been a few more bad games for the team, this grade could have been very different.
Rating: 8/10
Grade: B-
Jamie Walker (D) – Has moments of excellence, but absent too often.
The moment that stands out this season so far was when off of his own bat he won the ball back from an opposition defender and duly provided us with a badly needed goal. That is exactly the type of Jamie Walker we need to see more often.
He has bags of talent and could be massive for us, but he is a player of moments, and sometimes there are just not enough of them to be able to justify Graham Alexander selecting him in the starting eleven. But he has played an important role at important times, so he is always one of those players in the back of your mind that could change a game, but I’d like to see more from him next term.
Rating: 6.5/10
Grade: D
Antoni Sarcevic (E-) – Not seen enough from him.
He arrived at the club as a kind of marquee signing, but fizzled out straight away. But it turned out he was playing through an injury, which kind of gives him a reprieve and a second chance. However, he is still injured, and in danger of being a forgotten man. It seems unlikely he will be graded next term. It’s not his fault he is injured, but it isn’t good for his grades.
Rating: 3.5/10
Grade: E-
Clarke Oduor – (D) – Needs to put his hand up more in class.
This term he has been frustrating to watch at times. He is another player that clearly has some talent, but unfortunately there seems to be a quality player who is capable of unlocking defences struggling to get out. It is good to see him taking more shots than he did last season, but his trickery on the ball is being all too often wasted with him choosing the safe pass rather than to take a few more risks.
To be fair to him, some of what I have said feels a bit harsh because he kind of does everything I’ve mentioned above, but it is the courage of conviction that it is lacking. To use another school analogy it is like he is the clever kid at school who you know is really bright, but he rarely puts his hand up to answer questions, and when he does, he always answers them correctly but says “I’m not sure that’s the right answer” straight afterwards. Yes it is the right answer! You’re a clever kid, show it off more.
Rating: 6/10
Grade: D
Alex Pattison (D) – Works hard when he is in class but absent too often.
He got of to a very bright start this term, and looked like that missing piece that perhaps we had all along but injury was preventing us from really seeing what we knew we had. And so his tenacity and attacking intent played a vital role in creating goalscoring opportunities for the team. Then he kind of faded and wasn’t quite the same player, until he popped up again and put in a man of the match performance.
Now we are back to where we were with him last season. We know we have a decent player, but unfortunately for him, and us, he’s injured again. If this injury gets drawn out much longer, we will start talking about him in the same category of Abo Eisa and Jake Reeves. Let’s hope he is back in action sooner rather than later.
Rating: 7/10
Grade: D
Bobby Pointon (D) – Enthusiastic and hard working but needs development.
Personally I’d like to see Bobby Pointon given a chance to play a more outright attacking role, in that I mean partnering Andy Cook up front. Pointon in his role in midfield has struggled with the more defensive aspects of that job and when he has started matches has often been ineffective, with flashes of brilliance.
This is why I believe a role partnering Andy Cook would be good for his development because there is less competition than there is in the middle of the park, and with the eye for goal he has shown he has, and his ability to set up goals for others, this could really be the making of him, and it will most likely see him get much more game time than he otherwise will in his current position.
Overall I think there is a fantastic footballer in Bobby Pointon, but I think Graham Alexander needs to play him to his strengths, and those strengths are in the attacking phase of the game, in the final third.
Rating: 5.5/10
Grade: D
Corry Evans (N/A)
A couple of cameo’s off of the bench from him, looks ok, but too early to be able to grade.
Attackers
Considering the number of attacking players we have, it is disappointing that Andy Cook once again finds himself as the main source of goals for the team. We have been unable to shift Vadaine Oliver and Tyler Smith from the club, and the new recruits on have failed to impress. Calum Kavanagh signed in January has had a nightmare season so far, and Olly Sanderson quickly faded and fell out of contention after a promising first few games when he arrived on loan from Fulham.
Calum Kavanagh – (F) – Must try harder.
Until Graham Alexander spoke publicly about Kavanagh it was hard to pin point why things had gone so badly for him since looking promising last season. In his early games it just seemed like everything he touched was going wrong and the harder he tried the more went wrong. He just needed to go back to basics and maybe things would turn his way.
Having been dropped he returned to the starting line-up, but with a warning from Alexander about his performances application and how his pressing had tailed off. This is a good point as there seems to be more of a selfish approach to trying to make what he’s doing look good rather than the team effort he provided before. We did see flashes of more of the old Calum Kavanagh after he was told off by the manager not long after Gillingham took the lead at Valley Parade, and he has improved over the last few games. So hopefully this is just a blip that he can put behind him and the rest will come.
Rating: 3/10
Grade: F
Andy Cook – (A-) – Been top al the exams so far.
Suddenly the three year deal looks a great bit of business, and if we extend his contract again, Andy Cook could well be a Bradford City record breaker. He has come back looking leaner than seasons gone by, so there is no reason Cook cannot continue his goal scoring form without the need for a manager to drop him for a few games.
There is just something about Andy Cook this season that hints at another high scoring one for him, with his 2022/23 haul being still beatable. Not only has Cook had his usual eye for goal but it he has put himself about in defence and made a number of important blocks and clearances that any defender would be pleased with. So the message is simple for Cooky, more of the same.
Rating: 8.5/10
Grade: A-
Tyler Smith – (E) – A bit shy and could get left behind.
Unfortunately for Tyler Smith he hasn’t seen much action this season. But in fairness to him, his most recent substitute appearances have looked promising even though there has still been no real danger of him scoring a goal. He certainly has the potential to score goals, but he really needs to seize his opportunity fast and get on the scoresheet if he is going to find himself in serious contention for selection. There might be a good argument for loaning him to Swindon Town to give him that chance of building his confidence and composure in front of goal, but it is hard to really give him much of a grade when his opportunities have been limited, and that’s largely down to his tendency to miss those chances you’d expect a starting eleven striker to be putting away.
Rating: 4/10
Grade: E
Vadaine Oliver – (F) – Shouldn’t be victimised by bullies.
Vadaine has definitely god a desire to do well, but unfortunately for his size he is all to often bullied and takes being found way too personally. When watching him you want him to bully people back but instead I just see him waving his arms in the air at the referee looking for a foul.
Don’t get me wrong, having a player who gets you free-kicks around the penalty area is a useful thing, but the referee’s are just not buying it. He would be better off using that height and strength to his advantage, but frustratingly he doesn’t seem to use either. He does not win enough headers for his height, which could be useful for the players around him, and he is all too often second best in the physical encounters.
What made this worse is that he has rarely found the back of the net. So he now needs to concentrate on the things he has going for him, and he could be an asset to the team. But as things stand we just aren’t seeing enough from him that warrants selection.
Rating: 3/10
Grade: F
Olly Sanderson – (E+) – Started enthusiastically but has started hanging out at the back of the class.
His loan started very promisingly, and he very much looked like a player that might give Andy Cook a run for his money in terms of goals. But he then quickly faded and having made his way into the starting eleven, lost his place. Hopefully when he does return he will make an impact again and will keep that run going. The question is if or when this will happen, luckily for him, with the exception of Andy Cook, the bar isn’t currently set very high, so I have a lot of hope he will live up to early expectations.
It is hard to give him more than an E+ though because he hasn’t featured, and if he hasn’t featured it can’t be ignored because there’s usually a reason for that. So although I will understand why people might judge his performances on the pitch higher than an E+, the fact he still hasn’t been able to regain his place is a reason for the grade.
Rating: 4/10
Grade: E+
Graham Alexander – (C+) – Needs to turn streaks into consistency.
Rating: 7.5/10
Grade: C+
With his main problem pre-season being the difficulty in offloading under contract players on high wages, it is no surprise the pre-season transfer activity was a little underwhelming, but that is not his fault and he has not complained, he has just got on with it and brought in players he has felt will strengthen in areas we have needed it. And in the little injury crisis that hit from the get go, he was forced into bringing even more defenders in to allow him to continue with his usual formation rather than having to play a 4-4-2.
The visit to Walsall demonstrated a willingness to make changes early if he needs to, but does seems to be slow to make changes when a couple of tweaks here or there could tilt things back in our favour when matches have drifted from us. However, he seems to have installed a new mentality into the team, which we have seen in terms of resilience when we go a goal down. Obviously the other issue has been away from home where we have gone a goal down a little too often and a little too fast, but hopefully the win at Tranmere Rovers has bucked the trend and our away form will start to be more akin to our home form.
This is another thing that Graham Alexander has done, he has finally brought back that good home form and pride in winning at Valley Parade, proving that, like he said when he was the Salford City manager, if you can’t rise to the occasion here, you really shouldn’t be playing football. Aside from a slight blip he had on the opening home game of the season when he made the ill advised comment about the bag of bitterness, he now seems to understand that it isn’t about bitterness, it is about players having enough about them to cope with playing in a stadium with a large fan base. As fans we start every season with renewed optimism. The problems and any bitterness arises from things on the pitch not living up to even the minimum expectation, and proving to be a repeat of the previous seasons. Credit to Alexander for changing this and getting the fans on side with a more pro-active brand of football and delivering performances in front of the home crowd.
This still isn’t Graham Alexander’s Team
To sum up, Graham Alexander is probably our best hope of getting out of League Two, but it is not an easy task as his hands are tied by players he cannot move on that are preventing him bringing new faces in that could really make a massive difference. So even if he gets an F in the next report, Graham Alexander has my backing until this time next year. The fact of the matter is that the spending spree by Mark Hughes, and his habit of giving out three year contracts, has had an impact on this summers recruitment, and will still be hanging over us next summer to a point.
Graham Alexander may not, in reality, have been the first choice for CEO Ryan Sparks, but luckily he is the best choice based on the other names floating around when we hired him. And the last thing we need is more upheaval if things get tough, because even though Graham Alexander may have now brought in a number of players since he became boss, that some will say makes it “his team”, the reality is that when you are under severe financial constraints, you aren’t always signing the players you’d ideally have brought in had he been in the same position as Mark Hughes, who had a lot of freed up wage bill to build with, and a few transfer and compensation fees to boos the coffers.