Match Review: Rotherham 3-0 Bradford City‏

Article by Bradford City Correspondent Timothy Feather

First Round Nightmare for Bradford

Rotherham United 3-0 Bradford City – att. 7,677 (2,138 away)

FA Cup 1st Round

Bradford City will have to focus on the league this season as they have fallen at the first hurdle in every cup this season. Rotherham made it three wins out of three against the Bantams with an emphatic 3-0 victory.

The Bradford team was unchanged from the one that played against Crewe a week earlier. There was a change on the bench, Caleb Folan being dropped and Bradford starlet Oliver McBurnie taking a seat.

The scoring was opened by Kieran Agard, who now has eight goals to his name, as he managed to volley home from close range after Bradford failed to clear their lines. City thought they had got themselves back in it within a minute of the Millers going ahead after Hanson headed home but he was adjudged to have fouled keeper Adam Collin in the process. The sides went in at half time with the scores at 1-0 after Bradford really hadn’t created many chances. The game was made difficult for Bradford when poor defending from a Rotherham free kick allowed Alex Revell to get in front of three City defenders and smash the ball in at the front post. Bradford really did not look defensively strong and the misery was compounded when Agard managed to fight off two defenders in the air and his flicked header lobbed a clawing Jon McLaughlin.

The only positive on a day to forget for the Bantams was Oliver McBurnie, who is a Bradford City youth player who has shown a lot of promise, made his debut with the team 3-0 down. Saturday was hopefully a wakeup call for Bradford City and the fans. Last year suddenly feels a long time ago and life goes on. Phil Parkinson came out after the match, seemingly the most irate he has ever been as Bradford City manager. He criticised the whole squad for the result including the fringe players. Parkinson prides his teams on a tight knit group of players but the team has remained relatively unchanged. After letting three players available for loan, Alan Conell, Andy Gray and Ricky Ravenhill, he stated the fringe players are not doing enough to challenge the first team squad for a place in the team. His criticism then moved onto the starting eleven who he believed was a group of players who “thought they were better than they were.” It is certainly a strong statement for the manager to make, but he backed it up by saying he knows they are better than what they showed.

September’s player of the month nominee, Kyel Reid looks the shadow of his former self. Against Preston he had the game of his career and had the Preston wing backs running in circles trying to keep up but he now seems worried to take players on. Our defensive frailties demonstrated how much we miss Andrew Davies at the back. Nakhi Wells, who has returned from a month on the touchlines, isn’t as sharp as he was at the beginning of the season. The normally reliable, Nathan Doyle and Gary Jones, who were conducting the games at the beginning of the season, are getting over run. A wake up call for all the team is needed and hopefully an FA Cup first round defeat will do that.

All the talk before this fixture was about Rotherham manager Steve Evans, he did not say much before the game but he certainly let all his players do the talking on the pitch. According to Parkinson, Rotherham were hungrier than the Bradford players and that was the real difference on the day. It is now worrying that Bradford City have failed to win in six matches and although there has been some good performances, particularly against Preston and Wolves, the results have not been in the Bantams favour. Something tactically needs to change for Bradford City and it is going to be a painstaking week on the training ground. They welcome the Sky Sports cameras and Coventry City to Valley Parade next Sunday and nothing but a first rate performance will be adequate for an expectant crowd.

Bradford Squad: McLauglin, Darby, Meredith, Jones, McArdle, Bates, De Vita (Yeates-63’), Doyle (Kennedy- 74’), Wells (McBurnie- 82’), Hanson, Reid.

Unused Substitutes- Thompson, Ripley, Taylor, McHugh.

Rotherham Sqaud: Collin, Bradley (Brindley- 84’), Skarz, Frecklington, Morgan, Arnason, Agard, O’Connor (Milson- 76’), Revell, Tubbs, Pringle (Tidser- 89’)

Rotherham unused substitutes- Shearer, Davis, Mills, Nardiello.

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