Bantams fancy chances

Wednesday, 04/08/2010

by William Rook, Shoot's Bradford blogger.

The fans of Bradford City could be mistaken for being overly confident in the run up to this season, but not without good reason.

After the demise of prodigal son, Stuart McCall, in his position of manager of the club, the board moved to appoint Peter Taylor late last season. A manager who has attained five lower league promotions, has had successful spells as the England U-21 manager and even a brief stint in charge of the England senior squad. 

Obviously, this was regarded as a major coup from joint chairmen, Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes, and in the latter stages of last season Taylor began adding foundation to the positivity surrounding his capture, masterminding some impressive displays from his team, including a 3-1 away win at eventual third-placed team, Rochdale.

Finishing off with such a flourish has only helped breed confidence among the fans, and with wholesale changes being wrung around Valley Parade, fans can look forward to seeing a reasonably new-look Bradford run out on the opening day of the season. 

With a relatively talented barebone of a team, such as hot property Omar Daley and reliable full back Simon Ramsden, Taylor has added six or seven quality signings, giving more substance to the pre-season hype surrounding the club. 

These comprise highly rated loanees, Tom Adeyemi and Louis Moult from Norwich and Stoke respectively. The midfield engine room of Bradford has also been bolstered by the signature of Tommy Doherty, previously of Wycombe. 

Another signing which stirred up the fans for the wrong reason was Jake Speight who was bought from Mansfield Town for £25,000, and was subsequently sentenced to 12 weeks in jail for assault, something which nobody from Bradford or Mansfield knew anything about. 

After being let out after a week on appeal, Speight is sure to want to prove a point to the management and fans alike. 

Exciting signings such as these, and the development of players already at the club such as Gareth Evans, who showed sparkles of sheer class last season, and James Hanson, who has shown he has the potential to be one of the leagues top scorers this year if given the right guidance, can surely only lead to Bradford living up to their pre-season hype of promotion favourites.

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