Post-Match Thread and Ratings Bradford City 0-4 Southend United

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

You said in an earlier post that "by definition a player that plays up front is a striker". I don't recognise that definition and I explained why I disagreed with it.

I do however agree with you that Theo Robinson isn't a CH.

This debate is so weird it’s great. Like abstract art. A philosophical debate. Just because something is a thing does it mean it’s a thing? Love it. AB is right far too much stick thrown at Theo. And now Theo will be an even better option to throw something a bit different on. Pace to frighten the life out of some of these jokers we keep playing against.

What a win.
I really think it shows how fine the margins are at this level and football in general. We’ve got a really strong group of players and you add a couple of very good players / people who are more than capable and you wipe the floor.

Cox’s creativity comes to life as he’s no longer just having to put his body on the line. The centre halves relax as there’s a strong LB. The midfield no longer on edge because there’s just that feeling of flying.

I know it’s only one result and anything can happen but it’s so what we needed - a couple of players with a bit to show as well as some experience at this level (despite their age) to galvanise the team.

It’s an automatic promotion squad now with another 20+ a season striker.... but we might have to wait until next year now.*

Fine margins.

Get in.













* unless we sneak the playoffs ;)

 

[HypoTypo]

Great game and 4 very good goals. Fans were spot on and I give every player a 10. Cannot fault any of them.

Only word of caution .... Bantams were tragically awful

Bring on Luton ..... THAT will be the real test. I think we can do it

 

[greyerfox]

References to the Luton match on Saturday remind me that it will produce so many interesting challenges, not least the match up between CP's CB target last summer, Sonny Bradley, and a certain Mr Humphrys. Let's hope it is a case of "I'm free" as our two goal hero races clear without a backward glance and slots home.

 

[Swiss Tony]

The best of today is the Bradford fan in the pub after the game who thought we were lucky

Maybe he meant not living in Bradford.

 

[BlueBore]

Well done the travelling faithful who I could hear signing throughout the game.

If that's true then they're doing it wrong ;-)

 

[Austin the Shrimper]

Wow this is a lot better Sunday reading this week. Such a massive win for the club and Shrimperzone. Happy Sunday everyone

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Good to see we have another long throw specialist in Hart and we actually scored in the second phase from one yesterday

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

We’ve always seemed to be one of those sides that even if we’re just floating in mid table, we’ve nicked a result off one of the top sides. We did it last year against Wigan and even Powell’s first game when Scunny were in the play off spots

I didn’t think we had that in us this season but I do now after these signings. I think Ron needs to actually be applauded because we’ve brought forward some summer spending with getting Humphreys in. A 21 year old on a permanent deal? That’s almost unheard of

 

[RHB]

I've just posted the match stats and was impressed with our shots stat. 11 shots, 10 on target. Get in!

 

[Evening Echo]

PLAYERS

More...

 

[Evening Echo]

STEPHEN Humphrys’ Southend United debut may have caught the eye at Bradford City on Saturday but Blues boss Chris Powell was also delighted with Sam Hart’s first display.

More...

 

[Evening Echo]

BRADFORD City boss David Hopkin admitted his side were ‘second best all over the pitch’ against Southend United.

More...

 

[tallboyblue]

pretty sure I've seen us win 5 nil away at Aldershot before now.

We did and I was there.

 

[enfieldblue]

watched the efl show on quest. 3 of our goals made the 7 of the best end credits

 

[The Big Dady]

watched the efl show on quest. 3 of our goals made the 7 of the best end credits

Yes, posted that yesterday,

On the EFL on Quest show, 3 of our 4 goals were in the best 7 from the Championship, League 1, and League 2.

Cox, Mantom, and Humphrys

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Great result , desperately needed to get a bit of confidence back in the team ,don’t forget how young our side was yesterday barring Turner and Cox ...... the quality of our squad has improved with Powell in charge and there’s youth mixed in with that .
I stated in a previous thread we are gonna get dicked on a few times till the end of the season but if we nick the first goal and get our tails up we can surprise a few teams .

I will judge Powell next season as this season is pretty much spent already - 5 more wins and we can relax

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

But what a difference Humphrys can make. Robinson, as Ayrshire rightly says, is a player that gives his all and causes defenders a lot of problems on his day, but to be fair is not the striker you'd want starting every week in a League One side. Humphrys looks a handful, a real aggressive, mobile striker with a point to prove, two good feet and the ability to bring others into the game.

It always puzzles me why whenever we sign a new striker, his goals per game ratio is taken as the main indicator of whether it will be a good signing or not. Clubs like ours don't sign established 30 goal a season strikers. We sign other strikers and hope they will turn into 30 goal a season strikers. Mainly based on their attributes and how they fit in. Before he signed, Hopper hadn't been prolific. Nor had Corr, nor had Barnard. Charlie MacDonald had. He left us with two goals to his name back in about 2009. Probably the last time we signed a striker that had a strong recent goalscoring record.

Strikers at our level need to deliver a lot more than goals. That's why McCoulsky was binned. They need to win the ball high up the pitch, put pressure on defenders, make intelligent runs and bring others into play. It's why Theo Robinson has played quite a lot of Championship football - off the ball there's not actually many better strikers at this level (XG fans will know this from his stats this year). Goals are also nice. But if they don't do the ugly stuff, you're playing with 10 men.

This is absolutely spot on. Powell seems to like a complete striker - not mad tall, not mad quick, but good all round players that do the dirty work and score a few as well. Only one game but a good start.
Top post for me @Jai, wise words

 

[Bromley Blue]

I do think it’s important we, as fans, don’t get too carried away by this. Having watched the extended highlights it does appear as though Glenn Pennyfather especially accurately described Bradford’s performance when he said they were “half decent going forward but all over the place defensively”.

There’s almost an entire division between our opposition next weekend and those we faced on Saturday so we won’t be afforded the same time and space on the ball which played its part this weekend.

What was particularly encouraging about Saturday’s performance though was the standard of our finishing. All four strikes were very good goals with Mantom’s arguably the most spectacular. But I think my personal favourite was Cox’s strike. We’d just been put to the sword at home by one of the worst teams in the division, albeit with a threadbare starting eleven.

Charlie Kelman’s strike last week obviously prompted a lot of comments on here of “the balls of the guy to try that, at that stage of the game when we’re 3-1 down.”

Well for me I think we should be saying similar about Coxy. That goal was the type you score when everything you hit is going in. Yet we’ve not exactly been slaying every side put before us at the moment and to have the self confidence to try something like that when the team isn’t playing well is the difference between a good player that has or could play higher, and an average one.

Despite us facing a much tougher task against Luton, we should go into the game in good spirits. The Bradford game will have flooded the players with confidence and we finally have another striker who can hold up the ball and bring the midfield into play. The Luton game is a bit of a free hit for me. I’m not going to it expecting a win, anything we get is a bonus. But hopefully the signing of Humphrys can allow us to finish this campaign strongly and really go for it next season when Hopper’s back.

 

[stewart]

some people said Bradford were dire, but they had scored 13 goals with nil against in their previous 4 home games , maybe they were dire because Southend made them look like that , also what a great save from an 18 year old goalkeeper to keep the score at 2-0 , he is a prospect for sure .

 

[LBBlue]

We’ve always seemed to be one of those sides that even if we’re just floating in mid table, we’ve nicked a result off one of the top sides. We did it last year against Wigan and even Powell’s first game when Scunny were in the play off spots

I didn’t think we had that in us this season but I do now after these signings. I think Ron needs to actually be applauded because we’ve brought forward some summer spending with getting Humphreys in. A 21 year old on a permanent deal? That’s almost unheard of

Not so far this season.

Against the 9 sides above us:

H P5 W0 D0 L5 GF7 GA 12
A P5 W0 D0 L5 GF0 GA 9

Against the sides below us we have P18 W12 D2 L4 -all 38 points GF31 GA 13.

I can't remember results like that ever before.

Don't put too much pressure on Humphrys -he's only started 25 league games in his career.