Bradford City have 'ignored history' in League One - and created a new expectation level
The best example of Bradford City’s progress was served up before either of their goals against Reading hit the back of the net.
It was at half-time, when there were grumblings on the terraces and on social media.
Bradford’s lack of attacking inspiration was lamented after a 45-minute period in which the Bantams had not raised the roof.
This was midway through a goalless meeting between a newly-promoted outfit and a side that finished seventh in League One last term. Reading only dropped out of the Championship in 2023 after a decade in the second tier.
Ignoring history
Rapid ascents increase expectations and the frustration felt clearly demonstrated there are now greater demands at the University of Bradford Stadium.
"We might be favoured now in some games because of what we’ve done earlier in the season,” said Bantams boss Graham Alexander. “We certainly weren’t favoured when we started the season when we were playing all the highly-fancied teams.
"The players have just ignored history. They’ve just gone about their work and made sure we are the best team. It’s not about individuals, it’s about the best team. I think we’ve got a real team that believes in each other, that knows how we want to play.”
Bradford City’s ‘strong mentality’
The breakthrough craved came shortly after the restart, when Antoni Sarcevic drew first blood. It was nothing less than the hosts deserved for a sharp start that had Reading shellshocked.
Bobby Pointon made sure of the win late on, although a Reading resurgence never looked likely.
Even when the second-placed Bantams struggled to innovate in the final third, they played with a level of control and poise Reading never got close to reaching.
"It was a tough game first half,” said Alexander. “Teams at the top, teams at the bottom - it doesn’t matter.
"They’ve got all got good players, they’ve all got good organisation, they’ve all got good coaching.
"Our mentality was really strong today and we had to get back to being that team that’s difficult to play against and difficult to score against. I think we’ve seen that in the last few games especially.
"When we took the lead, we had even more composure and scored the second goal.”
Importance of context
The wins dried up for Bradford in October as they embarked on a run of four consecutive draws. A first home defeat of the campaign followed, as did another draw.
It was hardly alarming form for a newly-promoted club but the mentality shift has been severe and Alexander had to emphasise the importance of the bigger picture.
"We were all a bit frustrated picking up draws instead of wins,” Alexander said. “But if you looked at our whole record, we were a hard team to beat and we’d scored a lot of goals over the first 10 games.
"It dried up a little bit but that’s sometimes down to the opponents as well. We had to have a bit of context - me as well. We’re doing good things, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves and let’s not beat ourselves up.”
Bradford City: Walker, J. Wright, Baldwin, Kelly; Halliday, Power, Metcalfe, Touray; Sarcevic (Pointon 73), T. Wright, Humphrys (Swan 79).
Unused substitutes: Hilton, McIntyre, Tilt, Leigh, Neufville.
Reading: Pereira, O’Connor, Williams, Dorsett (Yiadom 62); Abrefa, Savage (Fraser 78), Wing, Williams (Camara 88); Doyle (Marriott 63), Ehibhatiomhan (Garcia 79), Kyerewaa.
Unused substitutes: Stevens, Burns.
Referee: Paul Howard (London)