Following on from their Twitter Spaces live discussions, the likeable duo Adam & Chris (@dizzyuptheguy) from @thecityvent last week released their first Podcast that’s now available to stream on Spotify. Although the first episode was a Pilot Episode, it will be a weekly podcast, and hopefully this will be something that is a achievable throughout the whole season, but organising a regular podcast in such a way is easier said than done, so we will just have to wait and see how things pan out, but a weekly podcast should be great news for all Bradford City supporters.
They have already announced that Richard O’Donnell will be a guest on The City Vent and this is something to really look forward too. The former Bradford City goalkeeper has been with the club throughout its decline in recent years, and having listened to The City Vent’s style in general, there’s every reason to believe they will be asking him some questions that shed more light on what has been happening in the dressing room, especially under the management of Derek Adams. It is a good start getting him to agree to come on to the podcast, and I’m sure there are many other former players, current players and staff and people like Ryan Sparks that they could persuade to come on too! The latter has previously stated he is happy to take part in things like this and The City Vent would be the perfect platform for him to address questions from City fans.
Unsurprisingly the first thing that was talked about was recruitment and there was an interesting nugget of information about a conversation with Jamie Walker. Little bits like this give extra insight into the club that you won’t get from the traditional avenues. Although I didn’t agree with everything that is said on the podcast, as I find the habit of piling all the blame for the ills of Bradford City at the door of Derek Adams a bit lazy in thinking, there’s a lot I liked and with two Bradford City supporters that have their own outlook on how things are at Valley Parade. It made for good listening and they kept me engaged for the entirety. There were ideas on players they believed to be both attainable and would suit the current Bradford City squad. Pointing to Jay Spearing, who although had not had the best of seasons last season, is the type of player that the team needs in midfield. Another player mentioned was Josh Falkingham of Harrogate Town. He would easily fit into Bradford City’s budget and I have also spent a number of seasons thinking he, like Spearing would certainly add the Gary Jones mentality that we are so badly lacking in the middle of the park. In fact these two would make for much better signings than another player who was mentioned, Charlie Adam.
Another thing that although not a bad thing in terms of how the podcast reflects the feelings of fans, is that both seem to be suffering from the Mark Hughes effect. He’s an excellent manager of course, but listening to the podcast I got that feeling they, like a number of fans, they have all of their eggs in the one Mark Hughes basket. From a personal point of view I would like to hear a bit more objectivity when it comes to Derek Adams bad, Mark Hughes god. However, it was good to hear objectivity into the current signings when it was admitted that it was hard to judge the signings because we don’t really know who they are.
Another very refreshing thing is they aren’t afraid to talk about what is being said on social media, although it would be helpful to know some of the sources when they’re talking about transfer rumours. As we have learned this summer, some sources are more reliable than others. What is being said on social media is often over looked or just read out verbatim, so it is a refreshing approach to talk about what is being said on social media as part of the make up of the podcast and creating talking points out of it.
I felt there was much more of a genuine connection with Bradford City supporters compared to Bantams podcasts gone by. This is something I feel will really make for compelling listening in the future, and if they decide to invite other supporters on to give their viewpoint too, it will also add to the growing lists of reasons to listen to the Podcast.
It is hard to know if there has been any editing done on the podcast at this early stage, I suspect not in the case of the Pilate Episode, and for this reason you have to give them extra kudos for the way they avoided waffle, which is hard to do in unedited content. They stuck to their subjects well and their thoughts always feel considered, whether or not you agree with what they’re saying.
I will address the issue of sound quality which in fairness wasn’t as bad as anyone who’d want to nit pick might make out. On this they get a free pass at the moment because as someone who understands how putting together anything to do with audio works in practice and the pro’s and con’s of doing certain things, I understand their challenges. They could have waited until they had everything spot on, but in reality when you do that you end up putting off the podcast until it is too late. Sometimes to get the ball rolling you just need to go with what you’ve got.
It sounds like the podcast has been recorded in two separate locations, as having two people in the same room isn’t always possible. There are solutions to this with the right microphones, audio software and the use of plugins to improve the sound quality, but again, I would imagine these are things they will turn to once the podcast is established. Overall, any issues with sound are very minor and certainly don’t take anything away from what was an excellent start to a brand new podcast and one to look forward to hearing more from in the near future!
On a personal note it would be nice to see it on Apple iTunes (The City Vent on iTunes) and even uploaded to a YouTube Channel, which whilst I’m at it, I will point out I plan to be adding content to the Bantams Online YouTube Channel in the near future. But you can listen to the City Vent Podcast here on Spotify and now on iTunes and follow @thecityvent on Twitter. Whilst your at it you can follow @bantamsonline on Twitter & @bantamsonline on Instagram.
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