Bradford City A.F.C. - Application

Dear Mr Lawn & Mr Rhodes,

I'd like to offer my application for the currently vacant managerial position at Bradford City A.F.C.
Below is my C.V. for your consideration.

Experience

Currently have no actual managerial experience outside of the realm of Championship Manager 01-02. But am confident that the skills I have acquired from this computer game will translate into the real world.

As a demonstration of my skills I have played the entire 2010-11 season with Bradford City A.F.C. and following is the detail of how I got on:

First off, it’s been a while since my last application. I recently had a rejection letter from West Brom which knocked me for six & I had lost faith in the English football management system to be honest.

Also, I like the approach in sacking (come on – you’re fooling nobody with the “left by mutual consent” line) a manager in advance. It gave me a few days to prepare an application. As it happens I was busy anyway that week, which is why I only sit down to write this as the missus is watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (have you seen it? Appalling).

Anyway, on with the season, let’s see what the board expect:

Board Expectations:

Respectable league position? I always think that’s pretty ambiguous don’t you? Basically I’ll try and do a better job than peter Taylor. Playoffs do you? OK.

The Season:

July:

First thing was to sort out my backroom staff. Wayne Jacobs, Ian Ormondroyd & Junior Lewis all left the club by mutual consent (sacked) and were replaced by Keith Waldon, Dennis Booth & Tony Barratt. I also brought in Liam O’Kane as there was a slot previously unfilled. All these coaches were unemployed when I found them so no compensation was paid. I replaced the previous coaches because the new guys had higher stats.

Now the playing staff, short on a number of areas, but most notably wingers. Tried getting Robert Pires in on trial, but he wasn’t interested. I had £55K to spend & managed to get veteran Nicky Barmby in for that exact figure. A bargain, if he stays fit I reckon he’ll get loads of assists.

We played a few friendlies, but nothing of note really.

August:

I was still short a left back, a right back, a left winger, a right winger & a striker – but there was no money in the bank, so I looked in the reserves to see who I could sell.

Steve Williams and Leon Osborne made the cut and were promoted to the first team.

However Jake Speight, Lewis Horne, Lloyd Saxton & Luke Dean were all transfer listed. The first three were sold straight away to Carlisle, Carlisle (again) and Peterborough respectively for £95K combined, this was not as much as I’d hoped.

First game of the season was home to Torquay, Nick Barmby made his debut and I appointed him club captain straight off. The game was a thriller, but we lost 3-2. The board were not happy.

We won the next league game and outclassed League 1 Bournemouth in the league cup first round, which soon cheered them up.

The draw for the league cup 2^nd round was made and we got Bolton away, which should definitely raise some money.

September:

September started with a 4-0 smashing of Stockport, which made the fans happy.

I was still short on funds; Luke Dean was finally bought, but only for 3K by Bristol Rovers.

Midfielders David Syers & Mike Flynn were transfer listed and sold for £120K to Yeovil and Blackpool. A bit concerned that a Premier League team bought Mike, maybe I should’ve kept hold of him.

Then came the game against Bolton. After a 0-0 fulltime result there was a nervy period of extra time which was also goalless. In the end we triumphed 5-4 on penalties with Jon McLaughlan the hero, saving 3 penalties (and even scoring one himself!)

October:

So now I had £120K to spend, which used on Gillingham’s left winger Chris Palmer & Plymouth’s defensive midfielder Damien Johnson. Still a few players short, but I doubt there’ll be any further funds so I’ll have to make do with the squad as is.

How’s the league going you ask? Not bad, top half, but outside the playoffs.

Time for the league cup 3^rd round. Unfortunately we lost 1-0 away to Crystal Palace. We’ll be looking to the FA cup for another run.

November:

The cup run begins with a spotless 4-0 away win to Stains.

Peter Taylor was appointed as Oldham manager (who were bottom of League 2 at the time – I’ll let you know if he keeps them up).

The cup run continued with a posh 1-0 win over Peterborough at home. Let’s hope for a glamour tie away……….Wigan at home. The chairman will be hoping for a draw.

December:

Luke O’Brien started moaning about not being first choice, but he is simply not good enough. I would have sold him but he’s my only backup for Robbie Threlfall at left back.

The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy began and we beat Hartlepool at home 7-6 on pens after a 2-2 draw after extra time – unbelievable Jeff.

At the end of the month the loan deals of Louis Moult and Tom Adeyemi ended, so I’d be looking for loan replacements in January (in champ 01-02 you can only have a maximum of 2 players on loan at any time).

January:

I got in youngsters Julio Santa Cruz from Blackburn and James Hurst from West Brom. A striker and a right back respectively. Probably my last action in the transfer market this season.

Unfortunately the FA cup run ended at home to Wigan, a 1-0 loss, but we quitted ourselves admirably against the top-flight side.

But the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy dream lived on with another win on penalties, this time away at the seaside in Morcambe.

Then Zesh Rehman requested to be put on the transfer list. I rarely turn down a player’s request, so I agreed.

February:

The road to Wembley continued with a thrilling 5-2 home win against Oldham. Santa Cruz scored his 5^th in 2 games after taking a while to settle in.

And further still…..A 3-0 home win over Notts County saw us reach the North section Final. Our opponents? Bury.

Santa Cruz was really firing now; another hattrick was part of a 5-0 demolition of Port Vale.

March:

Time for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy northern final. A two-legged affair against Bury. Both games ended 2-2 – and unfortunately we lost on penalties. Really disappointing as we should have battered them at home.

Usually I do a screenshot of the league table on the day that the real-life manager was sacked, this time I forgot to do it, so here it is a couple of games later:

Not bad eh? Right in the mix for promotion, better than Peter Taylor.

Oh yea, I terminated the loan deal of James Hurst as I needed cover on the right wing. Unfortunately all my bids have been rejected so far.

After the above picture was taken we went on a bit of a bad run, only taking one more point from twelve for the rest of March.

April:

OK we’re on the cusp of the playoffs, automatic promotion is probably beyond us, so we needed a decent April to get in the top 7. 3 wins, 2 draws and only one loss made us 7^th, 2 points clear of Port Vale in 8^th with one game left.

May:

Due to our superior goal difference, a draw would be good enough to make the playoffs. We were home to Burton Albion, but were dealt a blow before the game as top scorer Julio Santa Cruz’s loan had just run out. 20 goals in 25 games – we’ll miss that.

At half time we were 1-1. Port Vale were winning 2-0, so we were in the playoffs at that point, just.

Second half we conceded a goal and could not get one back so lost. Luckily Port Vale shipped 2 goals in the last 45 minutes, so we ended up in the playoffs anyway!

The 2010/11 League 2 Final Table:

We had Chesterfield. First leg at home won 2-1 after leading 2-0, not bad

Second leg, were 1-0 down at half time, but a late Hanson goal saw us win 3-2 on aggregate

In the final (incidentally played at the Millennium Stadium??!!) we had Aldershot, and a Gareth Evans hattrick meant we won promotion in front of 20,000+ travelling Bradford fans!

Transfers:

Roll of honour:

Club Most Appearances:

Gareth Evans                 53 (out of 58)

Club Most Man of the Match:

Gareth Evans                 6

Steve Williams               6

Club Most Assists:

Chris Palmer                 21

Club Top Goalscorer:

Julio Santa Cruz            20

League 2 Young Player of the Month:

Chris Elliott                   April

Chris Elliott                   May

League 2 Player of the Month:

James Hanson               May

Fans player of the year:

Gareth Evans

International Callups:

Omar Daley                   Jamaica

League 2 Manager of the Month:

James Rees                  November

James Rees                  May

Attendances:

Lowest:              4,004  vs. Hartlepool                 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy North 1^st round

Highest:           22,256  vs. Peterborough            FA Cup 2^nd round

Average:            8,841              (35% capacity)

Finances

 

Future

I’m not going to bother with another season, but here’s what I’d do:

·         Sign a right back, 2 left backs, a defensive midfielder, a left winger, 2 right wingers & 2 strikers. 9 players in total, I should have just over £1 million to spend though.

·         Obviously just aim to survive in League 1.

·         Improve the backroom staff if stand-out coaching talent becomes available and I can be bothered.

Summary

A great season, somehow managed to scrape promotion

Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern finalists

A financial profit made.

As you can see, I would be a great addition to Bradford as my vast experience on Championship Manager has helped me learn a lot about man management, tactics & how to work with a limited budget. All of these could be translated into a real-world environment.

I think I’d also fit into the surrounding area & according to Wikipedia, there are many famous Bradfordians I admire: Adrian Edmondson, Richard Whitely, Kimberley Walsh and Gareth Gates to name but a few.

I assure you that my knowledge is invaluable and you will not find a better (virtual) manager anywhere else.