Someone has to start it   ;)

Great performance by us today, we should have come away with three points.

I don't know if it was us being good or Bradford being poor but I was expecting better from them.

Early days but we look to have improved a fair bit from last season....  UTM

Thoroughly enjoyed that, a good all round performance in which every player put a shift in.
Long may it continue.
And the atmosphere was superb.

UTM

Agree we should of won today but the footballing gods had already decided otherwise, but I would like to say had we played that game last season we wouldn't of even got a draw. Decent attacking football played, direct and purposeful without being constant hoofball again.

We defended well and Macca didn't have too much to do but when called on Macca was Macca, but at times we went back to that old habbit of defending too deep and too flat.

I thought both subs did well when they came on and Ogbu's strength and skill will be a real handful for teams at this level.

4 points out of 2 games I’d have took that all day long before the season started

Very impressed with Hanson, he won everything up front. We look solid at the back and I hope Ohman will recover for the next game. I thought the midfield group covered a lot of ground today as well.
Not at all impressed with Bradford and their fans were pretty quiet too.

Very enthused after that. The only negative being the injuries, we definitely need a couple more signings.

Great work rate by all, especially Matt Green who I thought was outstanding.

Cracking game considering the wind. Defence solid. Hanson and Green outstanding. Great save from Macca. We just need a clever midfielder with a bit of guile and we've got ourselves a very decent team.

For me from an iFollow perspective average first half with two sides who cancelled each other out though we looked the more likely throughout the half and we did look dangerous at set pieces.

Second half we were a different team from the off. Ogbu and Green using the width much better with Clifton in particular doing well in support from midfield. Then they score from a decent cross to be fair and a good header. But a significant improvement on last season was how we fought back in the game and for 15 mins after they scored we played really well, obviously culminating in the equaliser.

I doubt we will see a side as committed as our own this season. Represented by Ohman having to go off injured after yet again launching his being, with no thought to his own safety, in to the path of a Bradford player. Hope he is ok and it is just a precaution.

Overall I am actually annoyed we did not win, which considering the opposition and where we finished last season is probably a good sign. Roll on Donny next.

Enough about that to suggest we wont be looking over our shoulder as much this season, but wouldn't go to overboard. The midfield is'nt creative enough for me, and the fitness levels dropped alarmingly  in the last 15.

Hanson looks a handful, and was impressed with Ogbu

Town were the better side for 80% of the game, Bradford looks ponderous and one or two of them were carrying extra timber, did not think our second goal was offside.
Don't think there's much danger of them being promoted this season

Quoted from The Boys Paddock

Enough about that to suggest we wont be looking over our shoulder as much this season, but wouldn't go to overboard. The midfield is'nt creative enough for me, and the fitness levels dropped alarmingly  in the last 15.

Hanson looks a handful, and was impressed with Ogbu

I’m getting a bit jack of this lack of creativity spin. Bradford are supposed to be favourites for promotion but who was their ‘creative outlet?’
We certainly created more chances than them.

Quoted from AussieMariner

I’m getting a bit jack of this lack of creativity spin. Bradford are supposed to be favourites for promotion but who was their ‘creative outlet?’
We certainly created more chances than them.

insufficient from open play, relied on set pieces which need improving on. We wont be ripping through sides with 4-3-3, byt hey ho that's the way Jolley wants to go.

Quoted from The Boys Paddock

insufficient from open play, relied on set pieces which need improving on. We wont be ripping through sides with 4-3-3, byt hey ho that's the way Jolley wants to go.

Gotta love TF and all of its' bedroom managers. I guess playing FM for 10 years makes you an experienced manager and tactician these days.  ;D

We are of the verge of something big this year,come on John loosen the purse strings a bit.

Much improved-more of an attacking team. Hess can certainly take a corner and Hewitt can put a good ball in. Thoroughly enjoyable game.   P.S. Held up on 2 occasions by police to let away coaches go - no show both times

Created loads of chances, their goal was charmed. With a bit of luck we'd have won the game. Excellent first half.Bradford came at us a bit in second. I thought we'd weathered the storm. Great response to going a goal down.
Great to see Town players back slapping each other after tackles and clearances. Looks like we are building a real team ethos. Thought Hewitt ( the useless right back) just edged Hansen and Ogbu for MOM. If we looked tired towards the end, just maybe because we'd put so much effort in. We made a good team look ordinary, I really enjoyed all but one minute of the match.

Really impressed with that. Very good second half and a lot to look forward to.

Whilst Hewitt and Hendrie were very good, I’d like to see a natural LB. Luke was constantly having to check back to get a ball in. Tough choice because they both played well.

Hanson was outstanding, won just about every header he went for but could have done with someone a bit sharper to feed off them, it's no wonder the midfield tired, as they are a 3 they have a lot of ground to cover, Macca was very sharp when called upon. Overall a decent performance with players showing passion,putting their bodies on the line.

Quoted from Kris2

Gotta love TF and all of its' bedroom managers. I guess playing FM for 10 years makes you an experienced manager and tactician these days.  ;D

To be fair I would take a fishy user with 10 years FM experience as Town manager over someone like Slade any day!

Brilliant game. Town were excellent and deserved to win the game, I don’t think many could argue that. Loved the intensity we played at, whether that was the atmosphere or if it was just the first game impetus remains to be seen, but encouraging nonetheless.

Special mentions for Hewitt, Clifton and Hanson who were excellent and even Moses Ogbu was a threat with his unpredictability.

Defensively solid, work house midfield and a threat up front sums it up. If the first 2 games are anything to go by we could be in for a treat this season.

Jolley's post match https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07k9p9d

Compared to last season at this stage its a massive improvement, very encouraging and we look solid.

A couple of decent signings and its gonna be a decent season,  the players today put on a real shift and last season we would have lost that game.

Ogbu will take time but i like the look of him.

Early days yet, but it does sound like we have turned a bit of a corner.

Onwards and upwards!

pleased with the effort today and a little disappointed we never got the 3 points tbh
I thought it was the best performance I have seen at BP in front of a good crowed for years and with a couple of additions I can see us at the right end of the table this season,

Just like to add the scunts are bottom of the league. ;D

to say we expected a big challenge from Bradford I think we outplayed them for the most part. The only real time we looked in trouble was when we got caught on the break. 19 shots in 1 game shows how much more attacking we are playing. Shame to see Rose go off fairly early but I'll admit I was impressed with Ogbu. Looks a tricky player who can make things happen. His ability to hold up the play or go through players added something to the team. Hanson won nearly every header, Hewitt looked very comfortable down the right flank, Green also played pretty well.

Didnt have come into this game expecting three points but was a little disappointed we didnt bag all three by the end of it. Very encouraging performance against a team touted as promotion favourites.

PS. Didnt think the goal was offside would like to see it again though

Just got back and thoroughly enjoyed today. First half wasn't much between the two teams but thought Town were the better side second half except for the last ten minutes. We look solid, organised, fit and, unlike last season, we look to have a bit of character. I've only seen this game and the game against Peterborough so far this season but in both games we built pressure which is not something a Town team has done in years and it's lovely to see.

McKeown - not much to do but a made a fantastic double save from Scannell.
Hewiit - actually looked pretty good at right back. Some good crosses and dangerous with the long throws.
Davis and Ohman - both looked solid. Hope Ohman's not too injured.
Hendrie - quality player just a shame he hasn't got a left foot as we were less threatening down that side because he had to keep cutting in. I am a big fan of his though.
Clifton - energetic and full of work, he'll only improve. Nearly played a very good ball through for Green first half.
Hessenthaler - Class. Intercepts so much, keeps it simple. Great player and we need to get him on a longer contract.
Whitehouse - full of energy, not particularly silky and I'd like to see him get around Hanson or beyond him a bit more but he's a good player to have.
Green - ran himself into the ground. Quick and strong, I think he'll do a good job for us.
Rose - his injury looked bad, guessing a hamstring?
Hanson - love him. Such a handful. So long as we don't go too direct too often and look to work the ball out wide to get crosses in then I'll be very happy.
Ogbu - decision making at times, particularly first half, was questionable. But very unpredictable, worked hard and incredibly strong. Even if he's on just to win the ball back high up, he'll do that quite often I would imagine.
Pollock - looked shaky but probably wasn't expecting to go on and was perhaps a bit nervous. He's still very, very young.

Overall I thought first half we didn't get wide enough and stretch their defence. Second half that was addressed and if we could get a natural left footed player to swing them in from the right it would help. Gibson may be that player if we get fit. But we created chances, we'll be relatively solid and I think we'll do okay. The stats from today's game read well also. More shots, far more corners and only some poor finishing by us meant we didn't get more shots on target.

I think we could still do with another central midfielder, not least cause we're very short in numbers if Hewitt is going right back. And ideally a central defender too as both Davis and Ohman may get an injury at any time. We should still have a decent amount of budget left as Welsh, Collins, Woolford, Thomas and Dixon were all high earners at the start of last season and all have left. Hopefully we've got enough in the kitty still for two more good signings then I think we could have a really good season.

Finally, great atmosphere in the home end and I wish it was like that more often. For the numbers they had, the Bradford support was really, really poor and I expected much better. I also thought they looked really quite poor and I have no idea why their fans are so adamant they'll be towards the top.

Must say hewitt at right back has really surprised me.. Played excellent

My motm today between him and Hanson.

Wheres Ginnywings?

A complete contract from our dire NL days.  20 away fans and the opposition park the bus.

Bradford helped create a great atmosphere.  In the first half they had 8 players in the final-third on a few occasions,  we coped with that.

At the start of the second-half I thought they stepped up a bit.  The goal was created by their player getting into space on the left (with his pace) and having time to put in a very good cross t9 an unmarked quality striker.  Apart from Macca’s saves, that was it from a highly-fancied team.

After conceding, we showed our grit and dominated.  Unlucky not to win.

Anyone could have been MOM.  Very encouraging for the season.  Also, bar 2 enforced subs for injuries, we did not make a tactical sub or add new energy (on a hot day).  Testimony to how the team were playing in the excellent second-half.

Wonder what Queeniebantom will make of it?

Hewitt MOTM for me but there were four or five candidates. Didn’t think much to Bradford at all but they had one decent chance amongst many wasted ones and bagged it (possibly offside but can’t tell from iFollow angle). That sort of stuff is the difference at the end of the season.

Whilst it’s disappointing to lose Rose I thought Ogbu looked like the sort of player I’m going to enjoy watching this season. It’s good that we have some real physical presence all over the park now. The front three must be an average of 3-4” taller than anything we’ve put out whilst being back in the league and possibly beyond. When you think we’ve fed off scraps like dead balls this was another thing that needed addressing by MJ and AL  it’s been sorted.

Overall I’m very impressed by the business we’ve done this summer. Hopefully the Waterfall deal can be completed this week as Öhman looked like he might miss a game or two with his head injury (and probably more than that with suspensions!). Would like an attacking midfielder too but efforts need to be concentrated on the CB.

Just catching up on things after coming back from a Talbot Scottish Cup game in Fife.

A number of folk have said they thought Bradford weren't up to much, or expected more from them. Give credit where it's due folks, perhaps that's all down to the managerial planning and nothing else? It's great to read about a genuine buzz and excitement around BP again.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Just like to add the scunts are bottom of the league. ;D

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

What an enjoyable game that was. Even in the conference days, I cant remember a town team play with so much purpose, and for periods in the second half we dominated. I actually don't think Bradford are a bad team and will be up there this season, and few teams will attack them like we did and still defend so resolutely when needed. Apart from the double save and the last 5/10 minutes, I don't think we looked too troubled.

If the first two games are anything to go by, teams will struggle to cope with our work rate. Dare I say my expectations have risen.

Cracking game of football to watch, work rate of every player to a man at 100%, thought Hewitt was immense and Hanson will cause defenders a multitude of problems.
Special shout to Ogbu who I thought was pretty impressive if a little unpredictable and made their players think twice about what he'd do next...
Have to say if Bradford were favourites to go up then our odds have to have shortened on that performance, early in the season I know but if we keep this kind of work rate up I do believe we'll be in the mix at the end of the season....my god, for once I think we are force to be reckoned with ..massive UTM tonight...👍👍

well done all round. I like the positive feeling I'm getting. UTM

Looked to me that we are closer to getting a system which suits the players rather than suiting the players to a system. Our hand was forced by the substitution especially the early one, and we did well to overcome not being able to make the normal second-half subs to freshen the front players. We did fade a bit and needed Macca to make two excellent saves.

Overall positive and a big improvement on FGR last season which broke the spell of pre-season optimism in 45 minutes.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Cracking game of football to watch, work rate of every player to a man at 100%, thought Hewitt was immense and Hanson will cause defenders a multitude of problems.
Special shout to Ogbu who I thought was pretty impressive if a little unpredictable and made their players think twice about what he'd do next...
Have to say if Bradford were favourites to go up then our odds have to have shortened on that performance, early in the season I know but if we keep this kind of work rate up I do believe we'll be in the mix at the end of the season....my god, for once I think we are force to be reckoned with ..massive UTM tonight...👍👍

Yes it is obvious from this early stage that we have a much better team than last season.

To have three quality players up front is a massive bonus; last year with just Thomas up there one loose pass and nobody was near enough to put pressure on or win it back. Hanson as the focal point wil be a big plus.

Like others I was very impressed with Hewitt; Whitehouse added a lot of bite and attacking intent and the whole team looked together and worked as a unit.

We will see after a few more games whether our optimism is justified but certainly very encouraging.

Just a word about Bradford. How they managed to escape with a draw is beyond me. They were very poor on the day and although a big club for league 2 they will struggle if they continue to play like that.  

Both our fullbacks were very good today. Much impressed with the whole of the defensive unit.
A little bit of guile is missing in midfield but it certainly contains plenty of tenacity

Went to the game today with a Bradford fan (who sat with me in the upper). He was on his best behaviour!

But it was interesting watching the game and getting his perspective on it. Firstly, he was a huge fan of Hanson and texted me on the day he signed for us to say we had a cracking player for this division.

He bemoaned the fact that their defence lost him for the goal. He was frustrated that Doyle - playing in the hole behind Donaldson and Vaughan - was totally ineffective, and that their manager did nothing to change it. For that reason, he said our MOM was Jake Hessenthaler 'by a country mile' and basically nullified their creative outlet.

He was impressed by the defensive triangle of Ohman, Davis and Hessenthaler in the centre. He was intrigued by Ogbu, thought Green was excellent and, basically, felt our side had everything in terms of mentality and determination that he didn't see in his City side.

As he put it, 'there's no one in a Bradford shirt showing that they want to take the game by the scruff of its neck and win it. Just a bunch of talented individuals thinking someone else will do the magic'.

I think that Bradford team will click - and when it does, they might enjoy a really good run of form. I fully expect them to be a different proposition at Valley Parade later this season as I think they've got too much quality for this division not to be challenging at the top eventually.

He also reserved a mention for Whitehouse, who he thought had the opportunity to push higher up in the second half as their midfield didn't know how to track him, but he never quite did it.

Anyway, lots of positives to take from the game. I don't get to many these days but it was the most enjoyable one for me since the Notts County game when we secured our safety.

Thought we looked more cohesive than we have in donkeys today to be fair. Today we looked like a football team again.

You can see what Jolley is trying to do in terms of the blend between age and experience up front and we looked much more creative in a 4-3-3.

Thought Bradford players and support expected to roll us and this league over pretty easily, with their budget they possibly will.

Hard to single anyone out as everyone had a good game and gave 100% thought Moses looked really interesting plays like he’s playing in the park with his mates that in itself makes him a handful.

Our non chairman seemed to think that Macca “hauled us over the coals” over a new deal well at 1 - 1 today James saved a well earned point with a good double save ....... we’ve grown to accept that as normality but it should still be recognised.

So overall Town the better team but I’m happy with a draw versus a side that will ultimately be real contenders.

UTM!!!

P.S. I thought that Ben Toner was one of the better EFL refs today he was shocking🤬

A step up from last week in every dept for me. Looked stronger and solid again without the ball...centre mid and strikers working in unison to close out the spaces Bradford tried to create...superb work rate and discipline for me. Not sure what happened with their goal but from the Pontoon it looked like a defensive lapse with all of the back line stood looking at the linesman claiming an offside, soft goal really on reflection of the rest of the performance.
Attacking wise looked more of a threat than last week, Hanson more effective and Rose going off ( very quiet upto that point anyway ) gave us Ogbu who after a couple of odd moments settled in nicely, impressed with his use of his body when in possession, excellent use of the ball and glimpses of ability in one v one situations...potential there without a doubt.

Clifton so unlucky not to score with a George Best-esque cheeky lob which Ogbu followed up on but we battled on and got a point which we at least deserved.

Ref....fking awful....so inconsistent and his reluctance to show any Bradford player a card was embarrassing.

Attendance.... not sure where another 2000 could have fitted in the ground today...whilst admittedly not a full house but from where i was sat no way.

Mariner 91's post mentioned Liam Gibson - i'd forgotten all about him. Reading The Tom Easterby report on the Newcastle site I hadn't realised what he had gone through during his illness. What a brave lad-many would have given up..

Quoted from golfer

Mariner 91's post mentioned Liam Gibson - i'd forgotten all about him. Reading The Tom Easterby report on the Newcastle site I hadn't realised what he had gone through during his illness. What a brave lad-many would have given up..

Do you have a link please?

Just type in Tom Easterby Liam Gibson

Nice to read so many positive comments above.
Maybe in a small minority but I'm not overly bothered about Wednesday's game/result. I'm now looking at fgr and thinking its definitely a game we could win. We should definitely be aiming to make it 3 unbeaten in the league. Utm

Tuesday **

Quoted from lukeo

Nice to read so many positive comments above.
Maybe in a small minority but I'm not overly bothered about Wednesday's game/result. I'm now looking at fgr and thinking its definitely a game we could win. We should definitely be aiming to make it 3 unbeaten in the league. Utm

I’d like to see us win Tuesday as a cup run in the competition and a good draw would help the bank balance and momentum. All that said though I would like MJ to mix it up a bit with game time for Wright, Charlie and Cooke.

First time I’d seen us this season and I’m going to have to stop myself getting carried away after that. We looked miles better than at any stage of the last two and half seasons. Jolley’s cleared established that the best way to be successful in this league is to have lots more pace, bite and physicality than last season and be a menace at set pieces, everyone we got seemed to cause chaos in their box. I thought Hess was excellent, ran the midfield, covered every blade of grass, excellent. Hewitt looks a player, great energy, great cross on him and looked solid. Hanson is a focal point, a big target man but more than just a bully, he won loads of ball in the air and held it up brilliantly. I thought Hendrie did superbly down the left flank, despite having no left foot to speak of. Green worked tirelessly and you could see the panic as they all backed off every time he started running at them. Moses looks like the sort of player who will be effective every now and then but will be massively frustrating to watch. Whitehouse adds that physicality and legs that we missed desperately from our midfield last season and his energy certainly hasn’t suffered with his injury. I still think we’re a couple of players short. If Ohman’s concussed that’s Pollock and Davis at CB on Tuesday and we need better than that. Despite how well Hewitt and Hendrie did I’d still like to see a genuine left footer at left back, hope Gibson is just a left footed version of Hewitt or Hendrie, if so we’re onto a winner. We also need another midfielder, we’re very light if something goes wrong there. Also JF, give Hess a big, long, shiny new contract now!

Quoted from Mariner_09

First time I’d seen us this season and I’m going to have to stop myself getting carried away after that. We looked miles better than at any stage of the last two and half seasons. Jolley’s cleared established that the best way to be successful in this league is to have lots more pace, bite and physicality than last season and be a menace at set pieces, everyone we got seemed to cause chaos in their box. I thought Hess was excellent, ran the midfield, covered every blade of grass, excellent. Hewitt looks a player, great energy, great cross on him and looked solid. Hanson is a focal point, a big target man but more than just a bully, he won loads of ball in the air and held it up brilliantly. I thought Hendrie did superbly down the left flank, despite having no left foot to speak of. Green worked tirelessly and you could see the panic as they all backed off every time he started running at them. Moses looks like the sort of player who will be effective every now and then but will be massively frustrating to watch. Whitehouse adds that physicality and legs that we missed desperately from our midfield last season and his energy certainly hasn’t suffered with his injury. I still think we’re a couple of players short. If Ohman’s concussed that’s Pollock and Davis at CB on Tuesday and we need better than that. Despite how well Hewitt and Hendrie did I’d still like to see a genuine left footer at left back, hope Gibson is just a left footed version of Hewitt or Hendrie, if so we’re onto a winner. We also need another midfielder, we’re very light if something goes wrong there. Also JF, give Hess a big, long, shiny new contract now!

Hopefully Hess is hauling the club over the coals to get an improved deal. His energy and positioning are beyond League 2.

One look at the Bradford fans comments show that they were unanimously drunk off with their midfield. Surely a testament to how good ours was.

Seeing lots of calls for a more creative CM, but I think we created plenty of good chances yesterday overall, throughout the team. Don’t get me wrong, we need more options in the squad overall, I’m just finding it hard to pick much fault with yesterday’s performance. Especially 2nd half.

Another mention for Hewitt from me....literally every time he had the ball in their half you saw Hanson signalling for him.

Been very impressed with Hewitt so far at right back just goes to show you shouldn't always listen to what the players previous clubs fans say..

Jolley mentioned, when he first started, that he wanted to play attacking exciting with lots of crosses coming in and with players in the box. I thought yesterday we created more than I’d seen in years down the flanks through the interplay between the full back, midfielders and either Green or Ogbu up top. Short balls, running, hold up play & good movement helped us get round the back plenty of times and we just lacked that final ball across the box.

It seemed a more intelligent way of getting the ball into the danger area without having to rely on the much-feted traditional winger bombing down the wing, having to beat a defender 1-on-1 before loading it. It also means we end up with two front-men in the box on any occasion while the third is pulled out wide. Really enjoyed it.

Happy to admit I am probably going to be proved wrong about Hanson. Was told by my AFCW supporting mate that his legs have gone and he’s pretty much finished. Looked anything but yesterday. Not only did he win pretty much all his headers he actually seemed to find one of our players almost all of the time. Was really impressed by him.

Ogbu reminded me a bit of a Tom Bolinwara on a good day. Seemed keen to run at them and made things happen. Not the most graceful attacker we’ve had but will cause defenders problems. The replay proves he was way offside for the disallowed goal.

I think we ‘won on points’ but they finished strongly and but for another Mckeown worldie we could have lost.

After watching the extended highlights, I forgot how many chances we had. What was most impressive was the variety of ways we created them, far from justhoofing it to Hanson. But whenever we did go down that route, it wasnt aimless and it was calculated.

I'm really intrigued how we'll play against Forest Green now away, because we're clearly set up to have a go, and I hope we continue to sway from home against one of the better teams.

MMM, I think we had a good shout for offside. Vaughan maybe but there was another player who was offside and went for the ball.

I wonder what the Bradford manager was saying to MJ at the end of the match?  He had quite a long chat with him as seen on the extended highlights video, it looked to me that he was saying how well we had played, but that's just going on his body language and a (poor) attempt at lip reading.

Happy Sunday fellow Fishy readers!

I watched the match on ifollow and was eager to see how the team would perform against a club fancied to be at the top end of the table.

I thought that the team performed admirably, restricting Bradford to sideways and cross field passes without them really getting between the lines- credit to the midfield for their tireless work.

Defensively Ohman and Davis dealt with two very experienced forwards extremely well. I don't think so much that Vaughan and Donaldson had "off days", rather that they were marshalled and harried well by two mobile and dominant centre halves.

I was particularly impressed with Hewitt, he pulled wide on many occasions to create space and delivers a lovely cross into dangerous areas.

I thought the front 3 linked up well together. It was a shame that Rose pulled up so early in the match but that provided the opportunity for Ogbu and he took it well. In the final third defenders had no idea what he was going to do, he was strong on the ball and has quick feet which will make him a nightmare at times.

My Bradford City friends tell me that they were under-par, however I can't help but think Jolley got his tactics right on the day, nullifying the opposition yet allowing us to play like the "home team".

It's two games in however I'm already looking forward to the next League match against FGR in which will be another good test for our improving side.

UTM!

All round a  great Day left the house at 6am stressful TFL Journey to were our Taxi awaits But optimistic  A quick date about Brexit by my 9 year old directed at the Driver lol. Straight to the game  Passion Solid display from the Mariners and a GOAL TO CELEBRATE  ;D ;D Very happy could of had 3  but a point it is. Then a trip down Cleethorpes  Penny slots Fish n chips 2 hours and then the long journey home Then Dad  can I have ST  to watch Town  Home at 11pm  great end to the day UTM ;D ;D

Quoted from 123614

I wonder what the Bradford manager was saying to MJ at the end of the match?  He had quite a long chat with him as seen on the extended highlights video, it looked to me that he was saying how well we had played, but that's just going on his body language and a (poor) attempt at lip reading.

I studied lip reading at university and although on the other side of the pitch i could clearly understand what was being said. Jolly was asked how come the vast improvement, to which he replied  " I,like most managers,read The Fishy for tips and I had been following those by a chappie who calls himself Kingston Mariner hence the shite results last season,but on a tip off from our friend Pep Guardiola I have switched to following a young man who is far advanced for his age in the techniques of the game. I wont tell you his name but he writes under the pseudonym " Golfer "  I couldn't catch any more as they both turned their backs.

Quoted from psgmariner

Happy to admit I am probably going to be proved wrong about Hanson. Was told by my AFCW supporting mate that his legs have gone and he’s pretty much finished. Looked anything but yesterday. Not only did he win pretty much all his headers he actually seemed to find one of our players almost all of the time. Was really impressed by him.

Ogbu reminded me a bit of a Tom Bolinwara on a good day. Seemed keen to run at them and made things happen. Not the most graceful attacker we’ve had but will cause defenders problems. The replay proves he was way offside for the disallowed goal.

I think we ‘won on points’ but they finished strongly and but for another Mckeown worldie we could have lost.

Think I must have missed Bolawinra’s good days ....
To me Ogbu is almost the complete opposite. TB’s play was epitomised by chasing a long ball and spraying a shot or cross into the stand for a goal kick and in some cases a throw in. Ogbu on the other hand likes to hold the ball up using strength and close control to shield it, making space for a pass. Admittedly he was caught in possession a couple of times early on but once settled in I’d wager he’ll be one of our more effective wide players/attacking midfielders.
Dare I say it, a creative outlet 😃

Quoted from Andy_worldwide_mariner

Happy Sunday fellow Fishy readers!

I watched the match on ifollow and was eager to see how the team would perform against a club fancied to be at the top end of the table.

I thought that the team performed admirably, restricting Bradford to sideways and cross field passes without them really getting between the lines- credit to the midfield for their tireless work.

Defensively Ohman and Davis dealt with two very experienced forwards extremely well. I don't think so much that Vaughan and Donaldson had "off days", rather that they were marshalled and harried well by two mobile and dominant centre halves.

I was particularly impressed with Hewitt, he pulled wide on many occasions to create space and delivers a lovely cross into dangerous areas.

I thought the front 3 linked up well together. It was a shame that Rose pulled up so early in the match but that provided the opportunity for Ogbu and he took it well. In the final third defenders had no idea what he was going to do, he was strong on the ball and has quick feet which will make him a nightmare at times.

My Bradford City friends tell me that they were under-par, however I can't help but think Jolley got his tactics right on the day, nullifying the opposition yet allowing us to play like the "home team".

It's two games in however I'm already looking forward to the next League match against FGR in which will be another good test for our improving side.

UTM!

They where definitely under par in terms of how much money they've spent how you can tell that though after a handful of friendlies and two games I'm not sure.

I though it was hilarious when there fans where singing "bring on the champions" I thought they where poor bit of noise when the game started and after they scored but overall relatively quiet.

Ogbu, really?  I was hoping for a Donovan-esque type of player  :-/

Quoted from nightrider

Ogbu, really?  I was hoping for a Donovan-esque type of player  :-/

First half thought his feet and brains were not connected as he fluffed a couple of promising opportunities to create a goal scoring chance around their box and was wondering what MJ had brought in.

Second half all became clear as he proved a real handful for their defence was very strong on the ball, won it back a number of times, was tricky in and around the box and had the unpredictability that big Tom brought so do see the earlier comparison. Not sure how he will perform long-term but he could be a real game changer, either way!!!

Certainly look forward to seeing him again as had me off the seat a couple of times yesterday

Just finished reading for the Just Back thread - and I agree with all the comments - great to read such positivity so early on in the season and I think it may of been MJ In his Post Match who said he was actually disappointed with 4 points from two games! Did anyone else pick up on that??

Their manager complained that the pitch was too dry, making it sticky which stopped them playing football. What a load of shite! It didn't stop Town playing football did it?

Quoted from golfer

I studied lip reading at university and although on the other side of the pitch i could clearly understand what was being said. Jolly was asked how come the vast improvement, to which he replied  " I,like most managers,read The Fishy for tips and I had been following those by a chappie who calls himself Kingston Mariner hence the shite results last season,but on a tip off from our friend Pep Guardiola I have switched to following a young man who is far advanced for his age in the techniques of the game. I wont tell you his name but he writes under the pseudonym " Golfer "  I couldn't catch any more as they both turned their backs.

If he listened to my tactical advice we should have terminated his contract. If he listened to yours we should have contracted his termination.  :P

Quoted from AussieMariner

Think I must have missed Bolawinra’s good days ....
To me Ogbu is almost the complete opposite. TB’s play was epitomised by chasing a long ball and spraying a shot or cross into the stand for a goal kick and in some cases a throw in. Ogbu on the other hand likes to hold the ball up using strength and close control to shield it, making space for a pass. Admittedly he was caught in possession a couple of times early on but once settled in I’d wager he’ll be one of our more effective wide players/attacking midfielders.
Dare I say it, a creative outlet 😃

According to MJ Ogbu is nightmare to try and get the ball off him lol.

I hope he can start to move it on more quickly as well. It's all well and good twisting and turning to keep possession in tricky positions, but if you end up slowing play down too much, it lets the opposition get back in numbers. He did that on a couple of occasions on Saturday, though did also get forward OK at times as well. Much improved on the pre-season performance I saw from him so hopefully he'll be able to do well.

It sounds as though Rose won't be out too long from the post-match interview. Just a few weeks, perhaps? Would be good if Ogbu had done well enough by then to give Jolley a tough decision for his selections.

He new to the English game remember, I'm quite surprised by such a positive performance after looking a little lost pre-season. I'm sure there's plenty more to come from him once he truly bedded in.

I suppose it's important to remember that at this exact point last season we outplayed Champions elect Lincoln and came away with a 1-1 draw.  I remember thinking after that game that if that was what a promotion favourite offered, we had little to worry about.  

That said, this is very much a different side.  Arguably you could say that whilst that Lincoln performance was very much reliant on the running of Woolford in a sort of free-role, Saturday's performance was very much focused around one man in Hanson and his role as the target for a lot of our more direct play.  Whilst I'm still a little uncomfortable that if Hanson gets injured, suspended or loses form we've gone a bit eggs all in one basket, I believe we're a far, far better side than 12 months ago.

I was far from impressed with the glimpses I saw of Hewitt in pre-season when in a midfield role. I thought once he went to right-back against Peterborough he looked a different player.  This has continued in the two league games and his ability to whip crosses in from the angle he does is such an asset, the fact he has a long throw isn't to be sniffed at either.  I was a little concerned how he would cope defensively in that position but Saturday he was outstanding.  I can understand why people are concerned about having a right footed player at left-back but Hendrie is, in my opinion, good enough to cope and because of how we're set up when moving forward, it's less of an issue.    Centrally Ohman and Davis won absolutely everything against very tricky forwards.  Ohman did show what he needs to work on early on when he got caught the wrong side and had to pull down their striker and take a booking as a result.  

I'm definitely in the camp that we need some sort of creative influence in midfield if we're to progress to a promotion pushing side, not for every game but definitely for some.  That said the midfield trio of Hessenthaler, Clifton and Whitehouse is just so energetic.  Of the 3, I think it's probably Whitehouse who is the one who needs to push forward a bit more and look to get beyond Hanson.  He's not a creative player and like the other two is about strong running, but a couple of times he did look to quite simply run at their defence, no drop of the shoulder or fancy step-overs, just pure headstrong running and it worked!  

Rose's injury is the big risk of a player like that.  He's explosive so we have to expect he will suffer those type injuries. Similar to when we had Jon-Paul Pittman here, always feared that he was going to pull up holding his hamstring.   Ogbu came on and I'll be buggered if he knows what he's doing so there's no chance of the defence pre-empting his decision making.  Second half when he used his body and strength he was really effective and something they struggled to handle.  I think he'll frustrate as much as he'll excite, I don't think he'll be the creative influence we crave in the traditional sense.  I can't imagine he's going to playing slide balls through for our strikers to run onto but as another physical presence, with a little bit of skill, he's definitely something to make teams think about.  Hanson was superb as was Green.  Hanson does everything we've lacked in recent years, not since Amond have we had someone capable of leading the line and holding play up.  Not since Gary Jones have we had someone capable of bullying defences but also using a footballing brain at the same time.  Easy to see why Green has been popular at previous clubs.

I thought 20 minutes out it was maybe crying out for Max Wright to come on and run at their defence, wasn't impressed with their right-back and thought Wright would have had him toast.  But I can understand why Jolley was reluctant to change a side that had dealt with a quite physical side very well.

Special mention to McKeown for that double save in the second half.  Well worth getting dragged over the coals for...

One slight concern is that we're very narrow in the 4-3-3 formation. The Bradford full-backs received the ball in plenty of space around the half-way line quite a lot of times but seemed to be scared to push forward and never took advantage of the room available. Against a team with real wide players and more adventurous full-backs, we'll perhaps struggle a bit more defensively. Conversely, we'd probably find more space down the sides then ourselves.

I'd like to see more of Wright in spells, but not too sure where he'll fit in if we're playing 4-3-3 most of the time. I suppose he may come off the bench for one of the front three in the later stages or instead of a midfielder if we're chasing the game.

Quoted from Maringer

One slight concern is that we're very narrow in the 4-3-3 formation. The Bradford full-backs received the ball in plenty of space around the half-way line quite a lot of times but seemed to be scared to push forward and never took advantage of the room available. Against a team with real wide players and more adventurous full-backs, we'll perhaps struggle a bit more defensively. Conversely, we'd probably find more space down the sides then ourselves.

I'd like to see more of Wright in spells, but not too sure where he'll fit in if we're playing 4-3-3 most of the time. I suppose he may come off the bench for one of the front three in the later stages or instead of a midfielder if we're chasing the game.

Couldn't agree more about being too narrow, I said exactly the same during the game. I think 4-4-2 is better but I guess we need  creative midfield players to make it work and willing runners to support the front two and get back quick too.

I thought we ran out of steam a bit towards the end which might have cost us, I just hope that's down to fitness levels but Bradford seemed to last better.

One last point that I've not seen mentioned elsewhere   ----  WTF is McKeown doing so far out of his area standing around the centre circle? How long before the ball comes back from one of our  set pieces and he's caught in no-mans land and we concede a silly goal? Any team watching this would surely look to exploit it before too long, it's ridiculous and needs to be stopped.

UTM

I posted earlier that we only used 2 subs (both enforced for injuries).  We were just unlucky.

As a post-script, in a game on another day, we might still have 3 subs left to influence the game.  Against Bradford these changes could have been used to dominate the last 10 minutes - rather than them.

Encouraging for the future anyway.  We still have more to give.

Hanson was still sprinting across the width of the pitch to close down with about 15mins to go which for such a lump of a bloke who'd been running all game was quite impressive

Quoted from diehardmariner

I suppose it's important to remember that at this exact point last season we outplayed Champions elect Lincoln and came away with a 1-1 draw.  I remember thinking after that game that if that was what a promotion favourite offered, we had little to worry about.  

That said, this is very much a different side.  Arguably you could say that whilst that Lincoln performance was very much reliant on the running of Woolford in a sort of free-role, Saturday's performance was very much focused around one man in Hanson and his role as the target for a lot of our more direct play.  Whilst I'm still a little uncomfortable that if Hanson gets injured, suspended or loses form we've gone a bit eggs all in one basket, I believe we're a far, far better side than 12 months ago.

I was far from impressed with the glimpses I saw of Hewitt in pre-season when in a midfield role. I thought once he went to right-back against Peterborough he looked a different player.  This has continued in the two league games and his ability to whip crosses in from the angle he does is such an asset, the fact he has a long throw isn't to be sniffed at either.  I was a little concerned how he would cope defensively in that position but Saturday he was outstanding.  I can understand why people are concerned about having a right footed player at left-back but Hendrie is, in my opinion, good enough to cope and because of how we're set up when moving forward, it's less of an issue.    Centrally Ohman and Davis won absolutely everything against very tricky forwards.  Ohman did show what he needs to work on early on when he got caught the wrong side and had to pull down their striker and take a booking as a result.  

I'm definitely in the camp that we need some sort of creative influence in midfield if we're to progress to a promotion pushing side, not for every game but definitely for some.  That said the midfield trio of Hessenthaler, Clifton and Whitehouse is just so energetic.  Of the 3, I think it's probably Whitehouse who is the one who needs to push forward a bit more and look to get beyond Hanson.  He's not a creative player and like the other two is about strong running, but a couple of times he did look to quite simply run at their defence, no drop of the shoulder or fancy step-overs, just pure headstrong running and it worked!  

Rose's injury is the big risk of a player like that.  He's explosive so we have to expect he will suffer those type injuries. Similar to when we had Jon-Paul Pittman here, always feared that he was going to pull up holding his hamstring.   Ogbu came on and I'll be buggered if he knows what he's doing so there's no chance of the defence pre-empting his decision making.  Second half when he used his body and strength he was really effective and something they struggled to handle.  I think he'll frustrate as much as he'll excite, I don't think he'll be the creative influence we crave in the traditional sense.  I can't imagine he's going to playing slide balls through for our strikers to run onto but as another physical presence, with a little bit of skill, he's definitely something to make teams think about.  Hanson was superb as was Green.  Hanson does everything we've lacked in recent years, not since Amond have we had someone capable of leading the line and holding play up.  Not since Gary Jones have we had someone capable of bullying defences but also using a footballing brain at the same time.  Easy to see why Green has been popular at previous clubs.

I thought 20 minutes out it was maybe crying out for Max Wright to come on and run at their defence, wasn't impressed with their right-back and thought Wright would have had him toast.  But I can understand why Jolley was reluctant to change a side that had dealt with a quite physical side very well.

Special mention to McKeown for that double save in the second half.  Well worth getting dragged over the coals for...

I would agree with every word of that. There wasn't a poor performer in the whole team but one man who has stood out for me is Whitehouse. Quite apart from his injury (and it must take a great deal of mental strength to play as physically as he does immediately on his return) he impressed me in other ways too. When they scored two of the Town players were having an inquest over who should have cut out the cross and he immediately intervened to say "get on with it".

He was constantly talking to the referee but not haranguing him...he was joking, smiling and generally building a good relationship with him....the sign of a good pro. He and Hess would be no-brainers if I was picking a midfield with Clifton not far behind. Up front Hanson was immense and Green's workrate won't always catch the eye but I bet his team mates appreciate it.  

Ogbu was a physical presence in the Swedish League but English lower league football is much more physical and he needs time to adjust...but he seems to have all the attributes to do well.

The only less than positive aspect was that Pollock looked exactly what he is...a very promising but young centre half playing against well established forwards. He needs time to develop and we need reinforcements in that position.

I think I'd disagree with regards to the space given to their full backs. I think we were more than happy to do this as our bodies in the middle limited their options from there hence why they often played it backwards.

Quoted from Mariner93er

I think I'd disagree with regards to the space given to their full backs. I think we were more than happy to do this as our bodies in the middle limited their options from there hence why they often played it backwards.

Agreed, in fact AL seemed to be telling the team to play narrower in the last few minutes.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I suppose it's important to remember that at this exact point last season we outplayed Champions elect Lincoln and came away with a 1-1 draw.  I remember thinking after that game that if that was what a promotion favourite offered, we had little to worry about.  

That said, this is very much a different side.  Arguably you could say that whilst that Lincoln performance was very much reliant on the running of Woolford in a sort of free-role, Saturday's performance was very much focused around one man in Hanson and his role as the target for a lot of our more direct play.  Whilst I'm still a little uncomfortable that if Hanson gets injured, suspended or loses form we've gone a bit eggs all in one basket, I believe we're a far, far better side than 12 months ago.

I was far from impressed with the glimpses I saw of Hewitt in pre-season when in a midfield role. I thought once he went to right-back against Peterborough he looked a different player.  This has continued in the two league games and his ability to whip crosses in from the angle he does is such an asset, the fact he has a long throw isn't to be sniffed at either.  I was a little concerned how he would cope defensively in that position but Saturday he was outstanding.  I can understand why people are concerned about having a right footed player at left-back but Hendrie is, in my opinion, good enough to cope and because of how we're set up when moving forward, it's less of an issue.    Centrally Ohman and Davis won absolutely everything against very tricky forwards.  Ohman did show what he needs to work on early on when he got caught the wrong side and[/b] had to pull down their striker[b] and take a booking as a result.  

I'm definitely in the camp that we need some sort of creative influence in midfield if we're to progress to a promotion pushing side, not for every game but definitely for some.  That said the midfield trio of Hessenthaler, Clifton and Whitehouse is just so energetic.  Of the 3, I think it's probably Whitehouse who is the one who needs to push forward a bit more and look to get beyond Hanson.  He's not a creative player and like the other two is about strong running, but a couple of times he did look to quite simply run at their defence, no drop of the shoulder or fancy step-overs, just pure headstrong running and it worked!  

Rose's injury is the big risk of a player like that.  He's explosive so we have to expect he will suffer those type injuries. Similar to when we had Jon-Paul Pittman here, always feared that he was going to pull up holding his hamstring.   Ogbu came on and I'll be buggered if he knows what he's doing so there's no chance of the defence pre-empting his decision making.  Second half when he used his body and strength he was really effective and something they struggled to handle.  I think he'll frustrate as much as he'll excite, I don't think he'll be the creative influence we crave in the traditional sense.  I can't imagine he's going to playing slide balls through for our strikers to run onto but as another physical presence, with a little bit of skill, he's definitely something to make teams think about.  Hanson was superb as was Green.  Hanson does everything we've lacked in recent years, not since Amond have we had someone capable of leading the line and holding play up.  Not since Gary Jones have we had someone capable of bullying defences but also using a footballing brain at the same time.  Easy to see why Green has been popular at previous clubs.

I thought 20 minutes out it was maybe crying out for Max Wright to come on and run at their defence, wasn't impressed with their right-back and thought Wright would have had him toast.  But I can understand why Jolley was reluctant to change a side that had dealt with a quite physical side very well.

Special mention to McKeown for that double save in the second half.  Well worth getting dragged over the coals for...

From were I was stood direct across the line, it was two players, who got tangled up and their player went down, like most of them all game (been to the Tom Daley school of diving), unlucky IMO to get a yellow.
The lino near the Main stand and the ref were crap, how many fouls did they get away with.

Quoted from 123614[b

[/b]]I wonder what the Bradford manager was saying to MJ at the end of the match?  He had quite a long chat with him as seen on the extended highlights video, it looked to me that he was saying how well we had played, but that's just going on his body language and a (poor) attempt at lip reading.

he said  " who was that bald headed fella who wanted to search our players bags for tampons?"

Having watched the whole thing on YouTube, I have to say I was impressed by the effort. Play like that every week and we'll be nearer the top than the bottom. Not promotion contenders but top half.

Also impressed by Ogbu despite what some have said. He made a valuable contribution. Held the ball and DID make some useful passes. Looks a handful. Very impressed with Green.

Disappointed with the Bantams' fans. Only really made a noise in the first five minutes and for five minutes after they scored. What's that about? Perhaps it was the turn of Alan Bennett and his chums to have the away ticket allocation. Their team had the edge on quality and rallied towards the end.

Town fans in great voice. Lots of empty seats in the Main Stand. The dentists must all still be in Marbella.

Quoted from The Yard Dog

From were I was stood direct across the line, it was two players, who got tangled up and their player went down, like most of them all game (been to the Tom Daley school of diving), unlucky IMO to get a yellow.
The lino near the Main stand and the ref were crap, how many fouls did they get away with.

From my view it looked like the player got the wrong side of Ohman and he reacted to pull him down straight away before he could race through on goal.  I was actually expecting a straight red.

Definitely agree on the referee, I thought he was appalling at times and bought into a lot of Bradford's theatrics, from Vaughan especially.

[/b]

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Having watched the whole thing on YouTube, I have to say I was impressed by the effort. Play like that every week and we'll be nearer the top than the bottom. Not promotion contenders but top half.

Also impressed by Ogbu despite what some have said. He made a valuable contribution. Held the ball and DID make some useful passes. Looks a handful. Very impressed with Green.

Disappointed with the Bantams' fans. Only really made a noise in the first five minutes and for five minutes after they scored. What's that about? Perhaps it was the turn of [b]Alan Bennett and his chums to have the away ticket allocation. Their team had the edge on quality and rallied towards the end.

Town fans in great voice. Lots of empty seats in the Main Stand. The dentists must all still be in Marbella.

How can you forget The Edinburgh Fringe ? Bennett fans abound.

The Bradford fans I met on Grimsby Road weren't looking for 'Shakespeare at Breakfast' !

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Having watched the whole thing on YouTube, I have to say I was impressed by the effort. Play like that every week and we'll be nearer the top than the bottom. Not promotion contenders but top half.

Also impressed by Ogbu despite what some have said. He made a valuable contribution. Held the ball and DID make some useful passes. Looks a handful. Very impressed with Green.

Disappointed with the Bantams' fans. Only really made a noise in the first five minutes and for five minutes after they scored. What's that about? Perhaps it was the turn of Alan Bennett and his chums to have the away ticket allocation. Their team had the edge on quality and rallied towards the end.

Town fans in great voice. Lots of empty seats in the Main Stand. The dentists must all still be in Marbella.

We sit in the Upper thank you very much.

Quoted from mariner91

We sit in the Upper thank you very much.

That's just you young whippersnappers.

Quoted from Croxton

[/b]


How can you forget The Edinburgh Fringe ? Bennett fans abound.

The Bradford fans I met on Grimsby Road weren't looking for 'Shakespeare at Breakfast' !

Were they looking for a shop selling doilies and antimacassars?

Anyway I stand corrected. I learned that AB is from Leeds. Stiil. Same difference.  ;)