Tag Archives: Bradford City

Did Phil Parkinson and Bradford City break Jose Mourinho?

A colleague of mine is a Chelsea season ticket holder and he just mentioned that last night’s atmosphere at Stamford Bridge had sent a clear message of support for their Special One.

I jokingly suggested that their woes date from the afternoon of January 24th, the day Bradford City turned 2-0 into 2-4. And we wondered what the data said. So I went to Soccerbase and had a quick look.

Since Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea they’ve played 129 times and he’s won 76 of them. That’s a very healthy 59%.

59 of those victories came in the 90 games before hosting Bradford City. That’s 66%; two wins for every three games Chelsea played.

But following that defeat in the FA Cup his side has failed to win 22 out of 39. After coming face to face with Phil Parkinson, Jose has won only 44% of the time.

The facts speak for themselves.

Update 17th December 2015

It took seven more games for mutual consent to see Jose Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea to come to an end.

In those six weeks he won 3, drew 1 and lost 3, knocking a further percentage point off his post-Bradford City win record.

Before Phil Parkinson outsmarted him The Special One’s side had lost just 13 times in  90 games. His final game, the 2-1 defeat at Leicester City, was his 13th defeat since his humbling at the feet of Stead, Morais, Halliday and Yeates.

Results over 90 minutes Played Won Drawn Lost
Before FA Cup Defeat to bradford city 90 59 (66%) 18 (20%) 13 (14%)
Post FA Cup defeat to Bradford City 46 20 (43%) 13 (28%) 13 (28%)
Overall 136 79 (58%) 31 (23%) 26 (19%)

The data I used, sourced from Soccerbase.

A perfect moment

I’m in the middle of a perfect moment that seems to have got a little bit out of hand.

It’s not the only perfect moment I’ve known in my life, and I hope it won’t be the last but when I take my seat at Wembley this afternoon I’ll know that it’s a notch on the timeline of history to savour.

It’s not the only perfect moment in Bradford City’s history. Jimmy Speirs’ winner in the 1911 FA Cup final might have been the first; in 1999 Stuart McCall got so lost in our promotion to the Premiership that he fell off a car; David Wetherall’s header against Liverpool; the saving of the club in the years that followed. Moments of joy.

But that joy is set against the pain of perfect moments turned to nightmare. May 11 1985 changed our club and our community for ever but it started with the delight at our league title. Those men, women and children will be remembered today.

Continue reading A perfect moment

Lack of Ambition at Valley Parade

We’re Bradford City fans. Next season is going to be depressing.

You might have missed the news in amongst the fanfare of Cristiano’s obscene transfer to Real Madrid that Bradford City’s Matt Clarke had signed a contract extension. Laughably the Bradford City website says that the ‘giant’ defender will now form part of the squad aiming for promotion to League 1 next season.

There’s no aiming for League 1 next season.

And that’s underscored by the other bit of transfer news. Nicky Law has gone to Rotherham. We had Nicky on loan from Sheffield United last season and then again this. And he’s a fantastic prospect. There are Blades’ fans who thought he was worth a shot in the Premiership and certainly good enough for the Championship. As it was it took Stuart McCall to nurse him back to his best.

At the end of last season after we failed to mount a serious promotion challenge it looked certain he would be coming back. Unfortunately something has caused him to choose the Don Valley running track over Valley Parade.

Ambition? Who wants to end up disappointed anyway. Not to write us off too early but I’m sure that the 2010/11 season will be our year…

Vital Bradford article on the subject here