APL PREDICTION LEAGUE & PREVIEW –
BRADFORD CITYI think it’s a fair call to say the team are improving. or dare I say, starting to gel, I hate that phrase......anyway, partnerships are being formed and there seems to be a better understanding between the players, and of course the results are starting to come, and we are slowly but surely moving up the league, but you could also argue there is room for improvement, were not yet the real deal, but as I’ve said we are getting there.
Personally, I’d like Chuks in midfield as that IMHO is about our weakest area, I’d keep Harry B and Gilbey, then its perm one or two from about 6 for the other spots, depending on the formation we play. I will add though, it’s going to be a few weeks before Chuks can manage a full game, but the signs were there yesterday that Chuks is a force in midfield even at half speed but still very much on the comeback trail. He could get a run on Tuesday for 45 mins against St Evenage in the Checkatrade, and hopefully the cobwebs will be dusted off Lewie to let him have a runout, we are likely to need him at some stage unless we can secure Golbourne for the rest of the season, that’s if he’s not already injured after limping off the pitch on Saturday.
My only real concern is, everyone we have dispatched is below us in the table, makes sense I suppose, why wouldn’t they be, so the test and a key factor in our development and progression will surely be our next game against Bradford on Saturday.
I would venture they are a different kettle of fish to some we have played recently, so get something out of this one, and I wouldn’t blame you for getting a bit excited.
Looks like both sides may be without key players, for us its Brittain who has got an England call up, and nobody can deny he deserves that, and Cisse will be away on International duty for Mali against the Ivory Coast........so please do not predict either as the first scorer, but I’m not holding my breath with that one.
Right then.......this is an unusual state of affairs playing Bradford on a Saturday, usually it’s a Tuesday night for one set of fans to hit the motorway or be at the beamback, and I note the return game at their place in March is also on a Saturday, probably about the first time I will have seen Bradford in daylight.
So, without further ado, let’s look at Bradford City.
THE STORY SO FARThey’ve had a pretty good but not unexpected start to the season so far, and are one of those teams that you know are going to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. They finished 5th last term, beat Fleetwood to get to the playoff final, and then lost 1-0 to Millwall, so you know they will want to go one better this season.
Their league record so far looks like this,
PLAYED 11, WON 7, DRAWN 2, LOST 2, GF 18 & GA 12, with 23 POINTS in the account, and are currently in 3rd place in the table.
Their playing record is shown below in chronological order.
Bradford 2 Blackpool 1
Bradford 2 Doncaster 3 (EFL Cup)
Gillingham 0 Bradford 1
Bradford 0 Blackburn 1
Walsall 3 Bradford 3
Chesterfield 2 Bradford 4 (EFL Trophy)
Bradford 3 Bristol Rovers 1
Peterborough 1 Bradford 3
Oxford 2 Bradford 2
Bradford 1 Rotherham 0
Northampton 0 Bradford 1
Bradford 0 Fleetwood 3
Bradford 2 Doncaster 0
THE MANAGERAndrew Stuart Murray McCall was born in Leeds in 1964 and is aged 53 years.
His youth career as a midfielder started at Bradford in 1980 making 238 appearances, he also played for Everton (103), Rangers (194), Bradford City (157), Sheffield Utd (71), that’s 763 appearances scoring 67 goals. He also represented Scotland at U21 level twice and 40 times for the senior Scotland, scoring just once.
On the managerial front he was the caretaker manager at Bradford in 2000 for just two games losing both. In 2007, he took on the full role as manager at Bradford spanning 133 games before leaving by mutual consent. Other management appointments include Motherwell, Rangers and back to Bradford again in June of last year.
His stats are
GAMES 396, WON 160, DRAWN 96, LOST 140, that’s a 40.4 %-win ratio.FORMER MANAGERSBradford have had 53 managers in their history, with the most notable being, Roy McFarland, Trevor Cherry, Terry Yorath, Frank Stapleton, Lennie Lawrence, Chris Kamara, Paul Jewell, Bryan Robson, Colin Todd, Peter Taylor, Colin Cooper and Phil Parkinson.
FORMER PLAYERSPeter Beagrie, Trevor Cherry, Lee Duxbury, Paul Jewell, Chris Kamara, Roy McFarland, Ian Ormondroyd and Dean Windass.
FAMOUS FANSBilly Pearce, Gareth Gates, Duncan Preston, Joe Johnson and Dynamo.
PLAYED FOR BOTHGary “Head-Butt” McKenzie, and Adam Chicksen who is still a current Bradford player.
NICKNAMESIn the early years, Bradford City were called the Robins, or the Wasps, other nicknames used to include the Citizens and the Paraders, but the club is better known as the Bantams.
THE MASCOTBilly the Bantam, Bradford did use to have two mascots, the other being “City Gent”, a portly gent that wore a bowler hat and carried a brief case and umbrella but he was released by the club after losing 7 stone in weight through diabetes.
SHOOTERS BOOTSTop scorer for the Bantams so far is Dominic Poleon with 3 goals.
CURRENT MATCH ODDSMK Dons
29/18 (SkyBet) Draw
5/2 (BetFred) Bradford
17/10 (Super Soccer)
LAST TIME ROUNDTuesday 28th February 2017 – Bradford 2 MK Dons 2
Team - Martin, Downing, Lewington, Walsh, GB Williams, Baldock, Barnes, O’Keefe, Upson, Maynard (Agard), Muirhead (Aneke).
Unused Subs - Nicholls, Reeves, Potter, Bowditch, Ngombo
Goals – O’Keefe 4’, McMahon 22’, GB Williams 35’, Wyke 43’
Referee – Darren Deadman (4 Yellows)
Attendance – 16,725 (116 Dons fans)
HEAD 2 HEAD2016/17 – Bradford 2 MK Dons 2 (O’Keefe, GB Williams)
2016/17 – MK Dons 1 Bradford 2 (Upson)
2014/15 – Bradford 2 MK Dons 1 (Alli)
2014/15 – MK Dons 2 Bradford 0 (Afobe 2) – League Cup
2014/15 – MK Dons 1 Bradford 2 (Lewington)
2013/14 – Bradford 1 MK Dons 0
2013/14 – MK Dons 2 Bradford 3 (Bamford, Williams)
2007/08 – MK Dons 1 Bradford 2 (Johnson) – FA Cup
2007/08 – Bradford 1 MK Dons 2 (Stirling, Dyer)
2007/08 – MK Dons 2 Bradford 1 (Andrews, Swailes)
2005/06 – MK Dons 2 Bradford 1 (Harding, Lewington)
2005/06 – Bradford 2 MK Dons 0
2004/05 – Bradford 1 MK Dons 4 (McLeod 2, Harding, Small)
2004/05 – MK Dons 1 Bradford 2 (McLeod)
YOU’VE GOT NO HISTORYBradford City were formed 114 years ago, in 1903 and it is the only pro club in England to wear claret and amber.
Promotion to the top tier followed in 1908 and the club won the FA Cup in 1911, its only major honour. After relegation in 1922 from Division One, the club spent 77 years outside the top flight until promotion to the Premier League in 1999.
Relegation followed in 2000–01 and since then a series of financial crises have pushed the club to the brink of closure and resulted in two more relegations to League Two.
In the 2012–13 season, they became the first team from the fourth tier of English football to reach the League Cup Final, losing 5–0 to Swansea City. In the same season, they returned to Wembley for the playoff final and won promotion to League One with a 3–0 win over Northampton Town.
Since the tragic Bradford City fire in 1985 at Valley Parade, the club has always had black on its shirt as a memorial to the 56 supporters who died.
Before that game Bradford were presented with the Division 3 Trophy, the fire destroyed the stand in just 9 minutes.
Bradford hold the record for the most goals scored in the league in a season, 128 in 1928/29.
In March 2012 Bradford and Crawley Town equalled the record for the most people sent off in a game, the three Bradford players joined two from Crawley Town, all the 5 reds dished out after the final whistle as a mass brawl developed.
PREDICTIONThat’s it once again, please make your prediction below, and only once please, only edit your original post, if you post twice, your most recent prediction will be deemed to be an edit, all the other usual rules apply with the usual deadlines.
Be lucky and see you soon.
WellDonEXAMPLEMK Dons 0 Bradford City 0
MKDFGS – No Scorer
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