City progress offers real hope for next season

Heads are held high again; shoulders pinned back. Pride has been restored to some degree.

Nope, I’m not making my pitch to join Gordon Brown’s team of spin doctors. This is not the equivalent of the government trying to rewrite the election.

Fourteenth place is not the finish that anyone had envisaged when the first ball was kicked nine long months ago. City still ended up in the bottom half of the bottom division.

But Peter Taylor seems to have instilled something positive into the Bantams. There is a belief about their play in recent weeks that has not been there for a while.

Saturday’s encounter may have had end-of-season stamped all over it but it was still another win – that’s four in the closing five games.

City rounded off the campaign unbeaten in six. Who would have thought that after the meek surrender to Macclesfield at Valley Parade on Easter Monday?

It’s easy to read too much into the odd decent result when the season is pretty much over but there has been a discernible spirit about the last month which you can put down to more than just stir-crazy thoughts of the approaching summer.

The Crewe fan sat in front of the Gresty Road press box had detected it. Halfway through the second half, he turned to his mate and announced that the Bantams would be his banker bet for next season! Such is Taylor’s reputation in League Two circles for plotting promotion success.

The man himself had cut a calmer figure than usual. He restricted his outings from the bench and there were few touchline bawlings at individuals.

The City boss had plenty to be content about. His mantra since taking on the job in mid-February has been for gradual improvement – Saturday was more confirmation that things are progressing in the right direction.

Player morale is proof of that. Taylor has got the players feeling good about themselves and he will wish happy holidays to a far rosier dressing room than the one he inherited.

“You could tell that just from being in the changing room before the game,” he said. “They’ve finished off the season well and they are happy.

“Everybody in February was disappointed. They were disappointed that Stuart (McCall) had left and disappointed with their own performances because they probably felt that was why he left.

“Nobody was proud about that. But they’ve had a go and they’ve recovered their season.

“It would have been an unacceptable one if they hadn’t but I’ve got got a group of players battling extremely hard.

“It’s the same in all sport. Sometimes when you’re running low on confidence you don’t feel like doing that normal run and your performance isn’t anywhere near what you would expect.

“But they have kept on working and then all of a sudden you nick a result, then another and the confidence comes flooding back. It gives you that extra buzz and everything becomes better and gets easier.”

City comfortably saw off the challenge of a poor home side who were booed off by their crowd. Crewe came back for an apologetic lap of “honour” afterwards but few supporters bothered to stick around.

In contrast, the 736 travelling fans saved a rapturous reception for Taylor and his Bantams. Their journey had been worthwhile for more than just the legendary fish and chips behind the main stand.

The winning margin did not tell the whole story. Once again, City had the chances to have eased well out of sight.

That will be an area that Taylor will focus on during his summer shopping.

But this was another victory secured without the services of top scorer James Hanson. And Gareth Evans, in such red hot form of late, also dipped out when he was forced off after half an hour with a thigh injury.

By that stage, City should have been a couple to the good.

Enjoying the acres of space afforded them by the generous hosts, City poured forward at will.

Michael Flynn, who played the guvnor, tested former Halifax stopper Adam Legzdins within three minutes with a diving header from Simon Ramsden’s cross.

Adam Bolder forced another save after some neat triangles with Flynn and Gavin Grant and then sent a 25-yard strike narrowly wide.

City’s control of possession was such that Ramsden was able to carry the ball nearly 40 yards into enemy territory without a Crewe tackle in sight.

Losing Evans was a jolt to the system but it gave Ryan Kendall a final chance to catch Taylor’s eye before the rebuilding begins in earnest.

The Hull youngster has hardly scratched the surface since that memorable lob against Dagenham. There have been no opportunities for the shirt to come off since.

But handed an unexpected hour back in the first team, Kendall at least delivered the goal which finally rewarded City’s superiority.

As with Evans’ equaliser at Chesterfield a fortnight ago, the credit for the assist should go to Flynn for spotting the opportunity so quickly.

Fouled by Joel Grant just over the halfway line, the Welshman wasted no time in whisking the free-kick forward and Kendall caught Crewe on their heels with a first-time shot from the edge of the box beneath Legzdins.

Taylor has no plans to hurry into any signings this week but tying down Flynn must be his top priority. He has been the heartbeat of the team and will surely play a crucial role going forward.

City’s back four, now minus Matt Clarke, kept a firm grip on Bradford-born Clayton Donaldson and a disinterested Calvin Zola – there was no repeat of that Valley Parade wonder strike.

Zesh Rehman and Steve Williams generally had their number, though Donaldson could have hit the target with a free header after Jon McLaughlin palmed a cross in his direction.

The keeper then made sure that his remarkable unbeaten career goes on with a finger-tip save from Luke Murphy’s free-kick, getting enough on the ball to turn it on the bar.

Legzdins matched him with good saves after the goal from Flynn and Kendall as City threatened to score at will.

They failed to add to the tally but finished the campaign very much on the front foot. City fans will be thinking that August can’t come around quick enough.