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Big Bad Bradford Are Coming!
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Is it yet more cup final syndrome?
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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17/09/2009
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More On Bradford City
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So Bradford are up next at Underhill. The last home league game was against big spending moneybags Sven Goran Eriksson's Notts County, resulting in a 1-0 defeat and widespread slinging of mud towards little Barnet. But enough of that, it's been discussed enough, especially by us here at Downhill Second Half. However, you can't help thinking that a win on Saturday against Stuart McCall's stuttering Bantams could lead to similar proceedings.
It's not as if it would be a new experience for Bradford, having been humbled twice here in the past two seasons. One was courtesy of an incredible 90th minute free kick, the other being a full on 90 minute thrashing. The latter was another advocate of the view that it's all about the 90 minutes of football played on the hallowed turf, the larger followings, the swollen coffers and the rest are just a sideshow. Will big club syndrome rear its ugly head again this year?
To be fair, the Bradford fans were more concerned with baiting their own team in last season's fixtures. The 3-3 game at Valley Parade was an absolute stunner. At least if you were a Barnet fan, or a neutral. How the home side got out of that one with a point still remains to baffle, and the internet base of the 12,000 strong support seemed to subscribe to that view. It could have been about 6-10, with the way the game was being played. I double Bradford's score because we were just so fragile at the back. Still, the aforementioned fanbase were ruthless in the scathing of their team. It probably would have been the same whoever the opposition, their team got lucky and they weren't best pleased.
Perhaps that was partly borne out of expectation. To be fair, if you were looking for promotion, you would be expecting to beat a Barnet side who had, at that point (this is November), won three games. Same goes for the return fixture in February, where we had moved onto a grand total of four wins. Bradford's fans seemed to be stunned into a state of sheer despair that their side could possibly get beaten so comprehensively by one so bad.
Maybe they'd gotten used to their surroundings. It certainly wasn't the case when we picked up our first win of the season in September 2007. Bradford expelled an air that seemed to question whether a club of their size should even be playing against Barnet, let alone even be losing to them. As their large group of supporters stood somewhat unnervingly in the rickety old terrace, the same old chants were eventually heard. We know we have a shit ground, and we know we have no fans. It was as if it was the first time anyone had told us so. Oh how we laughed.
We laughed harder when Puncheon's free kick pearler sent the place wild. As soon as you had time to breathe, the words 'cup final' were being uttered from the mouths of the Yorkshiremen. Oh dear. Why is it we have to listen to this each time? It's become almost an added bonus to humbling these big clubs. To suggest that we, as a club, up our game just because we are playing these so called giants of English football is of course nonsense, but it's a whole lot of fun listening to everyone get in such a state about it. Just because we had the nerve to beat them sends them mad. It's hilarious.
So a little bit of me hopes that when the final whistle comes on Saturday, with three more points in the bag, that the Bradford supporters cry 'CUP FINAL!!!' once again. One suspects though that it won't happen, as surely they must be used to these humble surroundings by now? Surely losing to Barnet isn't THAT bad? After all, we're a half decent team this year.
That said, I hope they do. I could do with a good old giggle.
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