Learning from The 2008/2009 Season, Which Promised So Much But Delivered So Little.

Joint chairman Julian Rhodes this morning has revealed that the upcoming season will see the Bantams budget be extended to what can be seen as certainly one of the top in the division and also the highest since Stuart McCall’s second season. Which unhappily, saw the Bantams compete at the top of the table for the majority of the season; but ultimately fall away from the chasing pack at the last hurdle.

The increase in the budget can seemingly be placed on two recent events. One is in the sale of the outer buildings to co-founder Wayne Jacob’s ‘one in a million’ charity that plan to turn the space into a free school for the community. This as a direct result is said to be saving the club a huge amount in overheads that can be placed straight into Phil Parkinson’s playing budget. The second key reason to the increased budget is the loyalty of the supporters, in the uptake of season tickets for the Bantams sixth season playing in the Football League’s bottom accredited division. The club are likely to be again the best supported club in the division; which in itself is no mean feat for a club that has had little to boast about for over a decade.  

There are both similarities and differences occurring between Phil Parkinson’s side and the side that was assembled by McCall. It’s fair to conclude that after Stuart’s first season when the club tried to bounce back up the league on a whim of momentum and little else. Stuart grasped what type of players, League Two requires and as a result packed out his newly built side full of experience and no little quality. In came top marksman Michael Boulding after a very fruitful season at Mansfield at the end of a very long chase between City and the Boulding brothers’ agent. Eventually both Michael and his little brother Rory arrived at Valley Parade (Rory tagged along for the ride anyway) and they accompanied the previous ‘stellar’ signings of Graeme Lee, Chris Brandon and Paul Mclaren to much delight by the Bradford faithful these were seen as players who would have no problem dealing with the expectations placed upon them.

 However it needs no explaining to state that they ultimately failed both individually and collectively in the challenge they faced. The injury to Omar Daley and failure to replace the threat he carried during his best spell at the club was one of several reasons that I personally and many others cite as one of the key factors in the clubs fall and the ultimate financial consequences that arose from the slump that occurred and the reported loss of around £750,000 that followed.

As a result of this overspend and boom or bust approach. The players that were much heralded a year ago; were now a burden on the club that they just couldn’t afford. They were publically encouraged to take a pay cut and if they didn’t they were either forced to leave or slammed by the club and fans for not acting in the best interests of their employers. The signing of Andrew Davies by Parkinson four years on, whilst fitting seamlessly into the boom or bust approach, differs in the sense that at least if the club fails in its promotion push. The player is only contracted for one year and can be moved on easily.

This leaves Phil Parkinson with several dilemmas in his approach to recruitment for this season’s squad. Does he go down the same route of experience? Or does he go for younger players that may have a re-sale value or a mixture of the two elements even. Whilst Parkinson divulges little to the media about his potential transfer targets, the comparison of the two names that have been leaked of Kelvin Etuhu and Andy Gray gave a contrasting example of both potential and experience.  However alongside a bigger budget comes a greater sense of competition in vying with other clubs for the signature of the better players and particularly the younger ones. If you compare the two players C.V’s ignoring positions, then Andy Gray stands out for both his goal scoring record and experience of playing at a higher level. Etuhu differs in the sense that he has had little playing experience but throughout his career he has always been touted as ‘one to watch’ and a player that can excite the fans with his athleticism and dynamic approach. Etuhu and Gray are however only speculative in the sense that they are the most talked about names in the rumour mill so far. It may even be plausible to suggest that they may be acting as smoke screens for other players that the club are trying to keep under the radar; in order not to alert other clubs of our interest. The signing of Andy Gray or similar, will hopefully give the club the type of striker they have struggled to find since the departure of Peter Thorne who’s class and guile led him to outwit most defenders, most weeks. The club definitely need to find an experienced striker to compliment the talented but ultimately inexperienced trio of Hanson, Wells and Hannah.

The club will be keen to add more goals to the team after relying heavily on the duo of Hanson and Wells as the main source of goals. The better teams in the league tend to spread the goals around the whole team and the midfield in particular will be expected to contribute to this. However the duo of Hanson and Wells have proven that given time their ever improving relationship is a source of genuine optimism from which the management team can focus on. One bit of contractual Business that the club will be desperate to secure is the long term future of Nahki Wells, who from starting last season as fifth choice came to become one of the pivotal figures of the starting eleven who carries such threat through sheer pace and clever feet. If Nahki continues to improve and doesn’t suffer from the much discussed second season syndrome then it looks like his star shines far above the rough and tumble of League Two football. There is no real reason to fear this however, as unlike Hanson (effective as he is) it is harder to stop a player who has such unpredictability in his play. Add to this blistering pace and a cool head in front of goal. It is a recipe to concoct something most league two defenders can’t deal with and consequently fear. There is little reason to doubt that Nahki should be aiming to be one of the top scorers in the division.

This is not to ignore matters closer to the club however, and it will be of equal importance to Parkinson to try and sign up the trio of Syers, Oliver and Ramsden who have been all offered new terms. Their decisions will impact on the managers shopping list also and with the three widely regarded as some of the clubs more important players, the potential loss of any of them will impact on Parkinson’s wish of having 22 quality first team players and the headache of trying to replace them.

It leaves the club in an interesting position during the long summer months, as they have in a way laid their respective cards on the table and they read that the clubs expects promotion. It is now up to the manager to decide if he will copy the blueprint McCall tried so nearly worked, or try a different route. This is only for the fans to speculate on however and it will be interesting to gage exactly the route Parkinson decides to take in the forthcoming months.