Right, in an vague attempt at trying to steer this thread back towards it's origin, he's my two pence worth.

This year, in the majority, Bradford have under performed. This looks to be a combination of the bedding in of new players, new coaches and a laundry list of injuries to key players.

However, the steel and grit shown by the team on Sunday against Wigan should be the turning point of our season. The team have proved that they can go toe to toe with one of the big boys in the league and, although the end result was a loss, the team should be proud of their effort.

Hopefully they can now crack on from this and build on this foundation going forwards to the end of the season. We might not be going to Old Trafford this year, but as long as we can forge together a solid core of players in key positions then I can see us pushing for silverware within the next 2 years. Which, IMO, means we're 1 year ahead of schedule following 4 years of dismantling and general mis-management of the Bulls on field fortunes.

I think the only problem with the amount of players signed is the length of their contracts because if half of them dont get renewed then it will start all over again next season on trying to build a team capable of beating the top 4

I thought we had turned the corner after the Cas game but was wrong. I hadn't seen a performance like Sundays from the team yet so maybe they are finally getting there.

There ain't really a lot of positives at the moment. OK, we did better against Wigan but the fact is that we still lost. We are out of the Cup at the first serious hurdle and are completely embarrassing in the league at the present time. Our defence has been completely abject so far this season.

So where do we go? Who would come for starters as that is a realistic question for us at this time. On the other hand, could the players we have do more than they have? There are players at Bradford at the moment who are decidedly average but because we are so bad then they are looked upon as top class players. Players who would not have got a sniff of a game a few years back.

(and yes I will name them - Lynch, Kearney, Scruton, Raynor, Ah Van, Platt)

The pledge was a good idea and a success but at the moment it is difficult to see how we can continue to attract as many fans next season without signing half the Aussie side and Benji Marshall.

We have a hell of a long way to go and I will not be getting to excited about next year till we see what is happening. One thing is for sure though is that we need to recruit better next season than this tears was.

Blimey we are so bad that a cast off from two years ago, Ben Jeffries, has improved us immensely.

Whilst some people continue to beat the drum about other clubs potentially paying dodgy offshore payments to players it is worth remembering that there is a live cap in place now and IF there is any foul play then they are doing a damn good job of hiding it. And if it is the case that some clubs ARE "fiddling the books" then it appears that not only can they recruit better than us but they can cheat better than we can too as we kept on getting caught.

Realistic signings (for me) include Sammut, Witt and Withers from Crusaders, Luke George from Wakefield, Tony Clubb, Chad Randall, Rob Purdham from Quins for example.

Think George would be a good shout. Witt defo if we're lookking for another HB. Not sure about Sammut, he's a good player but his greed sets him back a bit. Randall 2 years ago, Purdham, not for me. Possibly Clubb.

As usual some challenging points. The crowd is an interesting one. Bradford City have maintained a crowd c10,000 (I think) despite almost dropping out of the football league. That is largely down to their season ticket offer I would reckon. Bulls will certainly drop next season, unless some major signings or a late season surge, but by how much I'm not sure. Probably below 10k except for the big games.

I would like to see more of Clubb, he showed down under what he can do but always strikes me as a lazy lump of lard. Purdham I think is about the most underrated forward a round. He does seem to struggle to maintain his fitness but absolutely cracking workhorse when fit.

witt would be a good call but crusaders have just re-signed him on a three year deal. think sammut already under contract too and apart from the odd flashy thing he does which looks fantastic when it comes off dont really think hes that good. If we retain l'estrange then no point looking at withers as we dont need 4 hookers on the books. Agree with clubb and randall but didnt clubb sign a new deal at quins last year?

Clubb led the SL for missed tackles last year with an amazing 92 in 27 appearances. So far this year he seems to have tightened up a bit but I still have reservations. Attacking wise he seems ok but hasn't a lot of pace, he's more of a bulldozing type of centre.

Of Eddie's examples I quite rated Witt but he's resigned for Crusaders. Sammut's a good impact sort of player but is difficult for others to play off because he's too instinctive. I think Luke George has potential, wasn't he once in our academy briefly?

Think clubb maybe falls into same category as LMS did whilst at quins. looks good in quins side but would look distinctly ordinary in a better side. see LMS this year as example. not saying we're a better side than quins at moment though, before anyone say anything

A fair bit of sense there, imo.
In terms of the rest of our season, the performance on Sunday, particularly in defence, is far more important than the fact that we lost, and as you say, it could be the turning point. Whether we'll make the eight or not I dunno, though I don't think we'll necessarily gain a better idea by looking down the fixture list and counting (or discounting) chickens. I guess there'll be a few surprises on the way. My gut feeling is that we might get another heroic failure, a bit like the last few games of last year, but I won't be shocked if we do sneak into the play-offs. Come on you Bulls!

Seems to me that the players can do one of three things:

1 - Look down the remaining fixtures list, and do what the doom-merchants on here are doing and write off the season.

2 - Analyse the remaining fixtures to the nth degree, and determine every conceivable permutation of results that might result in us making the play-offs, with all the caveats attaching to each.

3 - Don't worry overmuch about the fixtures list. Instead, take every match as it comes, and do their level best in each match to grind out a result, and let the final table placings look after themsleves.


I presume we would expect the players to adopt option 3, without any question of a doubt?

In that case, why the same should not apply to the fans right now escapes me.

It does doesnt it

No problems about looking into the future...as you say, that is human nature. I do it every day when I fantasise about that multi-million pound legacy that just might appear one day from some long-lost relative...

It is those who are clear they already KNOW the future, and indeed may be in, er, raptures about it, that perplex me the most.

No it was his older brother Marcus.