fun time frankie wrote:Where Bradford are at the moment the players are bound to move on unfortunately for them we just have to stay in SL for it to pay dividends in the long run
This season is now just about staying SL, I agree.
However, I think beyond that we need to see more ambition for investments to have a good chance of paying-off. I think expectations have been lowered so far and for so long that it might even be self-fulfilling now.
From Sandercock’s weekly ‘we’re facing a team full of internationals’ pre-game interviews, to Chester talking about making sure we enjoy our day at Wembley (rather than focusing on trying to compete, never mind win), to Crossland regretting a fourth place finish because it raised expectations too high (fourth!), to Peacock’s 5-year plan (5!).
Patience and realism are important, but any virtue can be taken too far. If our plan is to bounce around 9th to 11th until a cohort of young players rescues us, then... well it won’t happen. They’ll go clubs better able to compete, if they’re good enough.
While the fear of relegation is justified, years of being cack in SL will undermine support too. I’m not sure Hudds ever recovered from 4 consecutive bottom finishes, it terms of being able to rebuild a sizeable support base - an extreme example admittedly, and they’ve had good seasons since despite that.
