Accrington Web - Prediction League Game 18; Bradford (away)

Bradford City

Accrington Stanley

Prediction League – Game 18; v Bradford (away)

First, the good news; if you want to buy your Bradford City Season Ticket for 2011/12, they went on sale today …….. No, honestly …………

In the close season, Peter Taylor (whose first game as Bantams' Manager was against us last season) released eight players, including one Jonathan Bateson; thank you, Mr Taylor – your loss, I think :D. He signed 6, plus five more on loan; the loan signings include (for 2 months from the end of October) Lenny Pidgeley (the ex Chelsea keeper), plus midfielder Tom Adeyemi from Norwich and striker Louis Moult from Stoke, both until January, and defender Richard Eckersley from Burnley (played once, before today, in the league cup, and got booked!); more recently, Welsh striker Jason Price arrived from Carlisle to play for his 10th club in a 15 year career.

Northern Ireland international midfielder Tommy Doherty (who played for Taylor at Wycombe) signed from Ferencvaros (10 goals in a career that started in 1996/7); much-travelled 6’ 7” defender Luke Oliver (who played for Taylor at Wycombe and at Stevenage – is there a theme here?) signed from Wycombe; Robbie Threlfall (ex Liverpool Youth and Reserve team player) made a loan deal permanent; and defender Shane Duff (brother of Burnley’s Michael) left Cheltenham after 8 seasons to join City. Pidgeley, Adeyemi, Eckersley and Oliver started in the loss to Macc today; Threlfall, Moult and Price were on the bench ……Their squad also includes Lee Hendrie (remember him?)

The other summer signing – the only player who cost them a fee – wasn’t an immediate success; striker Jake Speight signed at the end of June for £25,000 from Mansfield, and two weeks later was sent to prison for an assault that he and his agent apparently overlooked mentioning during transfer talks :o:o:o:D; the press reports said that he “may not be available for the opening match of the season”! He appears now to be in the reserve squad, having scored in the 1-1 draw against Barnsley Reserves (one of only two goals BCFC have scored in their 6 reserve games so far (W0 D2 L4)).

Over the last three seasons, since they were relegated at the end of the 06/07 season (in 22nd place, with only 11 wins, 47 points and the same number of goals scored), we’ve met 6 times; honours very even – W2 D2 L2 GF9 GA7; 2 defeats and a win at our place, 2 draws and a win at theirs; most recently, we beat them 2-0 at Fortress Crown back in February, with two goals from John Miles (who?).

Their current season record more or less matches ours (they’re 14th to our 13th, both with 20 points, but we’ve got the better goal difference (-1 against -4)). Away, they’re on W2 D2 L5 scored 5 conceded 12; they went out of the Carling to Preston in Round 2 (losing 2-1 aet, having beaten Notts Forest at home in Round One, also 2-1 aet); they lost in the 1st rounds of the JPT (1-0 at Hartlepool) and the FA Cup (4-3 away at Colchester); at home in the League, their record is a slightly odd P8 W4 D0 L4 scored 10 conceded 7; defeats by Southend and Port Vale (both 2-0) and by Morecambe and (today) by Macclesfield (both 1-0); they’ve beaten Stevenage and Gillingham 1-0, Cheltenham 3-1, and Oxford 5-0; given that they’ve scored 8 in 2 games, that means they’ve only scored 2 in their other 6 home games; they lost 5 of their first 7 games in all competitions, recently won 4 of 5, and have lost their last 3. Frankly, our problem might be that we’ve only scored 6 in 9 away League games, and – as we all know – haven’t won away yet this season; outside the Prawn Sandwich League there are only 3 sides without an away win; Burnley, Barnet and us!

Their goals – 21 in 21 games overall – are well spread around; midfielder Dave Syers has 5 (and 4 yellow cards), James Hanson has 4 (and one red), Omar Daley has 3 (and 2 yellows) from midfield, Lee Hendrie and Tom Adeyemi 2 each, and 5 other players (including the aforementioned Jake Speight in the Carling defeat to PNE) have one. Our season’s total (if Tranmere doesn’t count) seems to be 32 goals, and we’ve had a few clean sheets, so there’s definitely room to be optimistic …………..

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Tuesday 23rd November. Back to our winning ways! So; blockbuster victory? 7 goal blitz? Dodgy point again in another 0-0? Your call; go for it!

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

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