Exeter City v Bradford City 7/8/21 Matchday Thread

[Red Bill]

Well if nothing nothing else that game proved don't believe the hyperbollocks based on hearsay spouted on here.
Given that we had six debutants, two if not three players who if they weren't starting would certainly have been in contention for a start missing, we were far from the doomongers pre match assessment. And if Bradford are title contenders, with the return of three missing and a couple or three astute signings by Taylor in the next three weeks we won't be too far off ourselves.
Dawson looks like a very solid goalkeeper playing well below his level. The double save in the first half was unbelievable and was, quite rightly, celebrated as if we'd scored on The Bank. He shouldn't have stood a chance with the first effort and God only knows how he recovered for the second. The fact it wouldn't have mattered because the Bradford player was offside is neither here nor there.
Sweenz today was the Sweenz we know he can be and we need to see that out of him consistantly. Defensively was everywhere he needed to be and his distribution with the ball was of good standard throughout.
George Ray was rock solid all day long and barely lost a challenge either on the floor or in the air. Certainly one that my first line is about.
Grounds grew into the game. He was a little unsure at first and you can see he probably a couple of weeks behind in training. He probably wouldn't have started if Hartridge was available. Give him until the end of the month and you'll see what he is all about, nothing flash just solid and consistant.
Key flattered to deceive for me today. Looked exciting when he got the ball but didn't beat his man often enough and when he did get a cross in there was little or no quality with it.
Sparkes didn't get forward enough for me on the other side until late in the game. A lot of his crosses came from deep and this also showed up when the ball was on the other side where he was too deep to mop up Key's overhit crosses. There was plenty of space for him to exploit but he didn't put himself far enough into those positions.
Dieng looked like a more muscular version of last seasons Archie Collins. Got about well, did his job quietly and effectively but with the added physicality on Collins was able to win his battles more effectively.
Big Nige.......... oh Big Nige if only you could have capped off a MoM performance for me with a winning goal. He was a one man demolition show in the middle of the park. If there was a tackle to be made, Nige was there. If there was a block to be made, Nige was there. If there was a header to be won, Nige was there. And then having won the ball back, he very rarely wasted it. All you ever want from Nige in that role.
Jay wasn't his usual agile, mobile self today. Whether he was still effected by the knock or not, I don't know, but he clearly didn't game into the game today and was very quiet.
Brown, him and Jay as number 10's together doesn't work for me. As I said at half time, Jay needs to be around Nombe to be able to feed the sort of service Nombe needs. He looks tidy enough on the ball but didn't effect the game enough for me today.
Nombe got manhandled and bustled in every situation because Bradford defence was sh!t scared of him getting a march on them. As I mentioned above, he very rarely got the service he needs today but when he does.......... I anticipate good thngs. I wonder how he'd benefit from a Steve Basham type player along side him???
I wonder how Collins being fit would have effected the dynamic of the side today. Would he have come in as a straight swap for Dieng or would he have played in front of Dieng and Nige instead of Brown and allowed Jay to play more as I'd like to see him and how we are used to seeing him play.

Exactly as I saw the game to the last detail.
I was concerned about our defence before the match but although there wasn't the understanding that game time will bring initially, I thought every one of them looked assured and didn't really put a foot wrong. And Nige oh Nige oh Nige! My man of the match too, but how ever did he not score!!!
And a word of praise for the "collective" on the bank, great effort lads, the atmosphere was great!

 

[Rosencrantz]

A decent game for a 0-0 draw with either side thinking they could have nicked it. After the last week/10 days of pre-season going the way it has, it is certainly a point gained although the "Nige!" moment at the end certainly is one that got away. It took a while to settle down, especially at the back, but some good individual goalkeeping and defending kept the scores level and then we grew as the half went on. Although Bradford carried a threat in the second half, Cammy was largely untroubled. Thought we looked tired in the last ten/fifteen minutes but Kite gave us a boost of energy and we kept going to the end.

As others have already said, we struggled to get MJ and JB effectively into the game. I thought you could tell MJ was probably not 100% and although JB showed some flashes of quality, it didn't happen for them. This was largely because of a lack of space afforded to them with Bradford fielding a narrow diamond midfield four and sometimes going to a midfield box formation. This obviously gave us plenty of space out wide for Josh and Jack. Although the crossing was not great from Josh today, I think MJ and JB were hanging out on the edge of the area too much rather than supporting Sam in the box.

I think some of the signings have been a bit underrated on here with some objectivity gone to the wind with higher expectations. Dieng is a good signing and covers the ground well and passes well along with being a physical presence. You can see him holding as well as being more box to box as he was today. Whether we get another CM depends on Archie's injury or whether someone becomes available who is too good to overlook. It's a shame Archie has picked up his injury as I think he was going to be unleashed this season into a box to box role with Jake gone. Nige looked back to his best today, which follows good pre-season showings, and is a big presence in this form. Harry Kite is rarely going to do anything spectacular but is a real worker and efficient with his passing and will often go under the radar, potentially a "Tommy Doc" type.

Once they settled down, the defenders did well. Sweenz showed his quality early in the game and was good throughout. George Ray is a physical presence which we haven't always had at centre back. Grounds grew into the game and as cover for Hartridge showed his experience. Cammy already might have pulled the save of the season out (even though it was offside) and looked assured throughout.

It was quite a physical game as you generally get with Derek Adams teams but I though we actually stood up pretty well to it and gave some back. Certainly something we have not always done in the past.

On a general note, just so happy to be back at The Park and watch the boys play in a game with a good atmosphere again.

Also got a bit of a tear in the eye when Fullsy asked those who were able to stand. RIP TC and John.

 

[Egg]

Brown, him and Jay as number 10's together doesn't work for me. As I said at half time, Jay needs to be around Nombe to be able to feed the sort of service Nombe needs. He looks tidy enough on the ball but didn't effect the game enough for me today.

Agree with this. MJ's forte is finding pockets of space off the frontman but he dropped much deeper today to accommodate Brown. I thought Jevani did okay but that MJ – or, at least, a match-fit MJ – has more end product.

 

[hillview red]

Agree with much of what has been said. I'm worried that Jay will struggle until Collins returns. Both Atangana and Dieng had good games but they're not going to slide a 5-10 yard pass to Jay through the lines which he can receive on the half turn.

In turn, this will have an impact on Nombe and a lack of service.

Defensively we were much better than I thought we'd be but I think we're going to struggle to create without a ball player in central midfield.

 

[crocks]

Totally agree ran around like headless chicken and tackled like one
Still not sure what position he was meant to be playing
For me never a captain Taylor would of been having a right go at the referee for some of those decisions
Did Seymour touch the ball when he came on
All in all happy with a point just need a stronger bench but the new players did well although grounds was poor first half as was Key
Sweeney made two awesome stops first half UTC

Seymour touched it once, a cut back that didnt reach Nombe

 

[Egg]

Seymour touched it once, a cut back that didnt reach Nombe

Seymour did well to win the header which propelled the ball to Nombe who gave it back to him before his mishit cross.

 

[andrew p long]

highlights. The double save is unbelievable (as is the miss!)

Exeter 0-0 Bradford

Highlights of the Sky Bet League Two match between Exeter and Bradford City.

www.skysports.com

 

[grecIAN Harris]

highlights. The double save is unbelievable (as is the miss!)

Exeter 0-0 Bradford

Highlights of the Sky Bet League Two match between Exeter and Bradford City.

www.skysports.com

It's very rare you see save of the season and miss of the season in the same game. I don't think I've ever seen it in the first game of the season.

 

[Pobbop]

It's very rare you see save of the season and miss of the season in the same game. I don't think I've ever seen it in the first game of the season.

Boringly the flag was up for the second effort, but the 'keeper didn't know that.

 

[A Slacker]

Well if nothing nothing else that game proved don't believe the hyperbollocks based on hearsay spouted on here.
Given that we had six debutants, two if not three players who if they weren't starting would certainly have been in contention for a start missing, we were far from the doomongers pre match assessment. And if Bradford are title contenders, with the return of three missing and a couple or three astute signings by Taylor in the next three weeks we won't be too far off ourselves.
Dawson looks like a very solid goalkeeper playing well below his level. The double save in the first half was unbelievable and was, quite rightly, celebrated as if we'd scored on The Bank. He shouldn't have stood a chance with the first effort and God only knows how he recovered for the second. The fact it wouldn't have mattered because the Bradford player was offside is neither here nor there.
Sweenz today was the Sweenz we know he can be and we need to see that out of him consistantly. Defensively was everywhere he needed to be and his distribution with the ball was of good standard throughout.
George Ray was rock solid all day long and barely lost a challenge either on the floor or in the air. Certainly one that my first line is about.
Grounds grew into the game. He was a little unsure at first and you can see he probably a couple of weeks behind in training. He probably wouldn't have started if Hartridge was available. Give him until the end of the month and you'll see what he is all about, nothing flash just solid and consistant.
Key flattered to deceive for me today. Looked exciting when he got the ball but didn't beat his man often enough and when he did get a cross in there was little or no quality with it.
Sparkes didn't get forward enough for me on the other side until late in the game. A lot of his crosses came from deep and this also showed up when the ball was on the other side where he was too deep to mop up Key's overhit crosses. There was plenty of space for him to exploit but he didn't put himself far enough into those positions.
Dieng looked like a more muscular version of last seasons Archie Collins. Got about well, did his job quietly and effectively but with the added physicality on Collins was able to win his battles more effectively.
Big Nige.......... oh Big Nige if only you could have capped off a MoM performance for me with a winning goal. He was a one man demolition show in the middle of the park. If there was a tackle to be made, Nige was there. If there was a block to be made, Nige was there. If there was a header to be won, Nige was there. And then having won the ball back, he very rarely wasted it. All you ever want from Nige in that role.
Jay wasn't his usual agile, mobile self today. Whether he was still effected by the knock or not, I don't know, but he clearly didn't game into the game today and was very quiet.
Brown, him and Jay as number 10's together doesn't work for me. As I said at half time, Jay needs to be around Nombe to be able to feed the sort of service Nombe needs. He looks tidy enough on the ball but didn't effect the game enough for me today.
Nombe got manhandled and bustled in every situation because Bradford defence was sh!t scared of him getting a march on them. As I mentioned above, he very rarely got the service he needs today but when he does.......... I anticipate good thngs. I wonder how he'd benefit from a Steve Basham type player along side him???
I wonder how Collins being fit would have effected the dynamic of the side today. Would he have come in as a straight swap for Dieng or would he have played in front of Dieng and Nige instead of Brown and allowed Jay to play more as I'd like to see him and how we are used to seeing him play.

I agree with almost all of this. Six debutants is unusual and the team showed a superb attitude and spirit throughout the game. They worked really hard for each other and you could see an understanding starting to develop. At times there was some good football but at other times it was very much a work in progress.
Defensively we got stronger as the game went on and although Grounds (not surprisingly) started slowly, the back three and Dawson looked fairly solid most of the time. Lack of pace will be an issue though. Particularly impressed with Atangana - a really superb game apart from the obvious but he was ably supported by Dieng.
From an attacking point of view we didn't offer a great amount and we never really worked the ball consistently well to create chances. Not a huge amount of guile and it will be good to see if Coley can add a bit of creativity.
Happy with a point but the strength of the squad as a whole worries me. Reinforcements are needed particularly in the attacking sense.