2011 Prediction League; Game 35 - Bradford City (away)

Div3North · 05-03-2012, 00:23

Bradford City

V

Accrington Stanley

2011 Prediction League – Game 35; v Bradford City (away)

They may be down the lower end of the League, but they’ve had some Cup runs this season, have the Bantams

; they went out at the first stage in the Carling, 3-2 at Leeds (managed by Simon Grayson), but in the JPT they did Sheff Wed (now managed by Dave Jones) on penalties at home, Huddersfield (now managed by Simon Grayson) on penalties away, and Sheff Utd (managed by Danny Wilson, who replaced Micky Adams last May) on penalties, also away, before Oldham put them out 2-0; in the FA Cup they beat Coleydale (who are still in a peck of trouble in League One

) and AFC Wimbledon, 1-0 and 3-1 respectively, before going down 4-2 to Watford ……Respect!

They’ve got a squad of 32 (at least), and keep changing it by loans and signings; they’ve bought at least five – Matt Fry (ex Hammers LB, who played under Phil Parkinson at Charlton), who signed to replace Luke O’Brien, sold to Exeter; Marcel Seip, a Dutch defender signed from Plymouth; ex Notts Co and Doncaster midfielder Ricky Ravenhill, ex Burnley trainee Dean Overson (18) - son of Vince, and former Charlton, West Ham and Blackpool striker Kyel Reid (23). On loan they’ve got Bury’s midfielder Andy Haworth, Rotherham GK Jamie Annerson, who replaced Matt Duke (who himself took an interesting career move by joining Northampton), midfielder Will Atkinson from Hull, who did well on loan at Plymouth before Christmas, Deane Smalley (23, a striker) from Oxford (signed by them from Oldham last summer), 34 year old defender Rob Kozluc, ex Port Vale and Blades (who also played for PNE and Wigan), and Stoke’s defender Andrew Davies, who – although only 26 – has been around a bit (Middlesbrough, Preston, Sheff Utd and Palace). A couple have gone out on loan – Guy Branston, bought from Torquay, had a spell at Rotherham but now seems to be back, and Steve Williams – a hairdresser

whose career began at Bamber Bridge

– is defending for Inverness CT …………….. Oh, and earlier in the season they also had, on loan, one Jamie Devitt from Hull …………….

Their League position – 18th, with 35 points from 32 games – belies their current form; they lost 1-0 at a resurgent Daggers on Saturday, but were unbeaten in February

, winning 2-1 at Torquay and 4-0 at Barnet (whom they also beat 4-2 at Valley Parade earlier in the season

) and drawing 1-1 at home to both Hereford and Port Vale; in fact, they’ve drawn their last 4 at home

– the two January draws being Burton (1-1) and Morecambe (2-2). They aren’t prolific – apart from thumping Barnet x 2 they’ve only managed 3 goals three times, but – be warned – those were all at home – 3-1 v the Wombles in the Cup, 3-0 v Crewe on Boxing Day and 3-1 v Shrewsbury on New Year’s Eve

. Their home record is 5 wins, 6 draws and 5 defeats, and away it’s W3 D5 L8, giving them an overall record of 8 wins, 11 draws and 13 defeats; our record in W11 D11 L11, the ‘away’ bit of that being 3 wins, 9 draws and 5 losses. They’ve scored 40 in the League and conceded 42; in the Cups it’s F11 A13; they lie 1 point above Barnet and 2 above Macclesfield (about whom, Larry Lobster Sir, I’m starting to get worried, since they’ve got the worst away record in the League and - Cup games apart - have won just once in their last 18 ……..after 15 games they were 10th, on 24 points

– now they’re 20th on 33

)

Leading scorers are ex Guiseley striker James Hanson (24) with 10, Bermudan Nahki Wells (21) with 6, ex Wigan, Gillingham and Blackpool midfielder Michael Flynn (31), also with 6, and ex Colchester and Hull striker Craig Fagan (29), yet again with 6; Fagan (24 goals in 70 for the Us) was in the Colchester side we so nearly beat in the FA Cup in January 04

……….. 13 other players are on the score sheet, including one Jamie Devitt with one, which is one more than he’s so far got for us .........(under the bar Jamie – it’s not Rugby League!

)

Having beaten us at Fortress Crown in the first two meetings there, we haven’t actually lost to the Bantams since 2008; our last 6 games have seen three draws away

, and three wins at home

– 2-0 in 2009/10, our goals coming from John Miles (where the heck is he nowadays?

), 3-0 in 2010/11 – Luke Joyce, Andy Proctor and Sean McStockportCounty – and 1-0 in August last, with a debut goal from Wes Fletcher (who appears still to be at Crewe, where he’s got just the one goal in 3 starts and 3 sub appearances

……..) It does seem that we’re something of a bogey team to Bradford – W4 D3 L2, scored 14 and conceded 8 …….. and long may it remain!

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7 45pm this coming Tuesday, 6th March. We’re due a win, surely?

Blockbuster victory?

7 goal blitz?

Dodgy point again in another 0-0? Things are starting, slowly, to come together, and to be fair we actually made more chances on Saturday than did the Vale

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!