Turning Point
Whether it was the A4 piece of paper that confirmed the Bantams would be lining up in a 4-4-2- formation, or the scenes that greeted Paudie O’Connor in the 88th minute, what happened at Valley Parade yesterday in a spirited 2-1 victory over Northampton Town certainly looked like a turning point, even though it is still early days.
The decks are still to be completely cleared of the dead wood brought in by Edin Rahic last season, I’d have got rid of the lot, but then I’m not the manager and there’s the issue of how to get rid of players that are still under contract, but there have been positive new faces like James Vaughan and Clayton Donaldson added to the squad, and the feel-good factor of pre-season, and still a hint of suspicion among supporters. It wasn’t that we ever doubted James Vaughan who has taken to City as if he has played for the Bantams for the entirity of his career, but we still didn’t trust Gary Bowyer. We have seen our team crumble at the first sign of trouble last season, and this season we have been disappointed by some of the results. Mostly down to Gary Bowyer and his tinkering, and perseverance with some players the fans rightly believe should have been kicked out of the club in the summer.
Previously Bowyer had started with a 4-3-3 formation to accommodate Eoin Doyle, re-signed Jermaine Anderson and even played Hope Akpan. Bowyer has clearly been fair and given each of those players a chance to prove themselves, but each one failed. To most Bradford City supporters, it was somewhat unsurprising, at least he has now done something to rectify the issues. With Eoin Doyle gone, Anderson on the bench, and Akpan nowhere to be found, the fans have every reason to feel good prior to the kick-off of the match with the Cobblers.
But with Bradford City trailing Northampton Town by a goal to nil at half-time, it looked like even the fans were going to be wrong, and the blame for defeat would fall at our feet, not of Gary Bowyer. He had done as much as you could ask, it was a starting eleven that all of us would have selected and so was the formation.
Had this been last season with the likes of Akpan, Doyle and Anderson on the pitch, one nil would probably have turned into two nil in the second half. But the introduction of Zeli Ismail was a master stroke. Clayton Donaldson stuck on the 77th minute and the scores were level. Suddenly the supporters had a reason to believe again.
The winner when it came, two minutes from time, from Paudie O’Connor released a tension, we had been proved right, and with it, years of disappointment and frustration, and instead of giving us Akpan, this gave us hope (sorry but I couldn’t resist that appalling joke).
The EFL, some of the supporters even, may not like the sight of fans celebrating on the pitch, but on this occasion, I would say it fit the moment. As Paudie O’Connor ran directly into one of the fans, knocking him flying, picking himself up in the melee that followed, it was a moment to savour.
The scenes of the Bradford City players joining in the celebrations with the fans on the pitch showed it wasn’t just a goal for the team, it was a goal for everyone. And what we saw, regardless of whether it should be frowned upon is irrelevant. It was the beginning of a reconnection between fans and the players. A connection that has been missing for far too long. For the first time in a long time, we saw a performance when the players showed that in adversity they could turn things around, rather than revert to type and let their heads go down.
Instead of hiding, they worked harder, and they got their reward, no, we got our reward. Those scenes were a pleasure to see, maybe we do have a team of players that care, maybe they do have pride in the shirt and want to bring the good times back to Valley Parade.