Match Report 2001-2002

Sunday 23 December, 2001, Division One

Coventry City Away

Jefferies (re)signs off in typical fashion

It would seem that Jim Jefferies has managed his last game at Bradford City. One doubts that many City fans will find that too hard to cope with.

It seems that Jefferies will follow Billy Brown in quitting City on Monday. Like Brown the official reason will be that he "Cannot settle in Bradford". Rumours tell us different.

Word has it that Jefferies and Geoffrey Richmond have fallen out for the last time. Stuart McCall, the player that Jim Jefferies has always seemed to have some problem with, seems to have been a major factor in the fall out. GR thinks that JJ should build bridges with his captain, JJ guards his right to pick the team.

Jim Jefferies has a right to pick the team, his job depends on the results that that team produces, but a blind man with one eye could see that Lee Makel into the side over Stuart McCall is lunacy. If Geoffrey Richmond pointed this out to JJ and JJ took offence that the chairman was trying to pick the team then BfB backs Richmond, because frankly if Jefferies would rather have Makel's half hearted displays over the guts of McCall then I would not want him as manager.

Jefferies has a reputation. He is the hard man manager. He packed off Dan Petrescu and Stan Collymore because they would not work hard enough, exiled Benito Carbone for the same reason, yet he is prepared to allow Makel to ply his trade with the Bantams. He criticised the effort put in by a number of players including the three mentioned previously, but his fight against relegation last term and for promotion this have been limp. At Coventry on the final game of last term he wept into his beer at the resources afforded to him, even when City were doing well at the start of the season his language was overtly cautious, not instilling belief into his squad.

For that is all City lack. Belief. Of the fit squad one could assemble a team of Walsh, Locke, Wetherall, Myers, Jacobs, Jess, McCall, Whalley, Carbone, Ward, Blake, a group of players good enough to match anyone in this division if they were geared correctly. They are not being.

City are taking to the field with the wrong attitude. The full squad are too brittle of confidence and mind. They believe that they are not good enough, so they are not good enough. The dropping of Gary Walsh is a prime example. Davison is never going to be as good as Walsh, dropping the former Manchester United man has only served to undermine his confidence.

The reserves who are utilised, especially in times as injured as City face now, are also approaching the game wrong. They seem to play like they are apologies, not players who are fighting for a first team place.

Tonight City had a team of mostly reserves out, but there was a level of resignation in evidence. Ashley Ward should have scored after 40 minutes when he missed from four yards, but he did not and Lee Hughes twice, David Thompson and Julian Joachim panned the Bantams.

So this is it for Jim Jefferies at City, or so it seems, and to many City fans this will be Christmas come early. It's not Jim's quality that is a problem, indeed I would stand by my previous comments that he has more ability as a manager than anyone else who was given the job at Valley Parade. His track record made him the best appointment; everything seemed to be the right move following the sacking of Chris Hutchings. The players brought in by JJ are good players, but e is not getting the best out of them. Jim Jefferies is the man who sold Stan Collymore who some would argue is the best technical footballer ever to wear a City shirt. In his pomp he was an English Ronaldo, better even, but by the time he got to City his head was so far out of shape that he was 50% of what he should have been. He should have been brilliant, but his attitude was wrong.

The same is true of Jefferies. He treats being Bradford City manager as a curse, as something for his sins, when many people would give their right arms for the job.

When Jim Jefferies offers Geoffrey Richmond his resignation GR's first thought should be to the Jefferies logic that sold Collymore. If JJ got rid of Stan then the same logic says GR should get rid of Jefferies. The first thing Richmond should do is accept Jim Jefferies resignation.

The second thing should be to get on the phone to Stuart McCall and to give this job to someone who wants it, at least on a caretaker basis.

And then Jim Jefferies can return to Scotland. His reputation there is excellent and his time at Bradford City will probably be viewed as "the best he could do with the resources available".

Two month ago Jim Jefferies told City fans a falsehood. When pressure came on him to resign he said he was not a quitter. He lied.

Man of the Match

Beni Carbone [Derby County]

City man Benito Carbone scored his first goal for the Rams in their impressive 3-1 win over Villa. He deserves this week's award because his attitude, of mixing skill with graft as Peter Beagrie did, is what is missing from the Bantams now.

City Team:

Davison
Halle Tod Caldwell Jacobs
Jess Locke Sharpe Etherington
Ward Blake

Subs: Jorgensen, Walsh and Juanjo