Bradford Relegted... What A Surprise



Was it really any surprise to any Bradford supporter or anyone who has seen them play this season that they were relegated? Definitely not. All my hopes of survival had disappeared in January and on Good Friday the inevitable was announced, we were playing in League 2 next season. 


It is no surprise at all to me after the past few years, since that play-off final things have gone down hill the departure of managers, the hiring of the youth coach as no one else wanting the job, the main cause of this... an absolute clown of a chairman. Lets not forget Edin Rahic knew football according to himself, if he didn't who knows where we would be now. The man was clueless, why not let a manager manage? Oh that is right because Edin knows football not those who have played and managed for many years. 


Players have come and gone, with a lot of speculation been on Edin being the cause of the departures. Today there is only 2 players who have remained at the club since that playoff final defeat, Knight-Percival and Devine, we were lucky enough to get a 3rd back as Billy Clarke returned from Charlton once Edin had departed. 
Those that have come in have had the names but haven't lived up to expectations with many been dropped on more than one occasion and these leading to lengthy absences. Many of these players that have come in on loan, how can you build a team around players who could easily be called back and not be back the next season? You are constantly chasing your tail with those coming and going and constantly having to look at players to replace them. 

One of the main reasons I think many fans believed we were destined for league 2 next season is the fact the team never looked connected, they never looked like a good fit, when on paper they should have been one of the best in the league. There was far too much inconsistency and the fact the manager kept changing no one really had a solid place in the team due to the managers preferences, which meant some players who deserved to get game time weren't getting it and others were wasting their chances. We brought in Josh Wright and Joe Riley and where did they end up for 3/4 of the season? Not even on the bench. Now I wasn't Wright's biggest fan to start with as he didn't play how he should have been doing but since Bowyer has brought him back he seems like he is actually putting effort in, a lot more than most players.


Honestly I would get rid of most players and only try keep hold of a handful who actually want to play. We are a club with a history that this team is not playing for, they should be out there giving their all for the shirt on their back but they don't care they are just there to get paid, where as in the past we have had players live Stephen Derby, Gary Jones and many more who knows what this club means to the fans and give their all back. This season chants of 'You're not fit to wear the shirt' have been going around and too right have joined in, I have seen more passion in amateur games than this team provide. Defending has been woeful throughout and most games out midfielders have just disappeared. As for our strikers they seem to bottle it in front of goal and don't even want to take a shot on goal. 


I have seen many people saying Bowyer should just play the kids for the rest of the season but no I don't think he should, the team should be kept the same and these so called players should have to face up to what a season they have had, so they don't like the boo's they get... well you should have shown up during the season and put in a performance then. 




You can't knock the fans though it was announced after the deadline for the cheap season tickets that over 13.000 tickets had been sold (we aren't sure the season ticket to flexi-card ratio) but for a team being relegated that is brilliant. Granted Monday the stadium looked empty but you never know how many were on holiday and how many just didn't want to waste a lovely day watching such poor football. But that is what annoyed me the first half of Monday's game is possible one of the best performances I have seen us put in all season, once they were relegated. But then again are they just playing better to get noticed in the transfer window? Because after this season I wouldn't touch half of them with a barge pole, get rid and sorry to any team that takes them.


All I know from this is surely things can only get better Rupp and Rhodes seem to be working on things in the background, we have Bowyer at the helm and we have all seen what he managed to do with Blackpool, let's just hope he can do that with us now too. The club will always have the fan base behind them as a lot have stuck through thick and thin through it's history now let's just get a team with the same passion and work our way to getting back into league one. I will be back next season will you?


See you soon
Lucy. 

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