Bradford City v MK Dons: Actions speak louder than words for Stuart McCall

Namely, that no one at Valley Parade was guilty during those successful campaigns of shouting their mouths off about the club’s chances of going up, leaving any boastful talk to their rivals.

It is a trait that served the respective squads well during those pressurised run-ins of 1996, 1999 and 2013, and Stuart McCall insists remaining humble is an attribute that will characterise City again this time around as the League One campaign enters the final two months.

“What you can’t do as a dressing room is shout your mouth off,” said McCall, captain of the Bantams side that won promotion to the Premier League under Paul Jewell 18 years ago.

“That hasn’t ever been our style here. Look at Chris Kamara’s team in 1996, they came with a late run (to finish in the play-offs) and just got on with it. Phil Parkinson’s team was the same. So were we in 1999, we weren’t seen as the team likely to go up by anyone – especially after a bad start to the season.

“But, as others were being tipped to do well, our dressing room and Paul Jewell just got on with it. We didn’t shout about this or that, just kept going and ended up finishing second.

“I have always been the same because I know football can kick you. It is why I hate crowds gloating when 2-0 up. I appreciate it can be a natural thing to do but how many times do you hear the opposition fans later chanting, ‘Two-nil up and you ****** it up?’

“It was similar at Port Vale on Saturday. Their fans were booing Jonesy (former Vale loanee Alex Jones) and I thought, ‘We’ll see’. And he went on to get the winner. That is why I prefer not to get involved in that side of things.”

McCall may frown at the prospect of anyone doing so but City’s season has, considering the huge upheaval of last summer, been something to shout about.

Parkinson’s departure to Bolton Wanderers along with his entire coaching staff came just a few weeks into the reign of new owners, Stefan Rupp and Edin Rahic.

McCall’s appointment was then followed by a dozen new signings so for City to be hosting Milton Keynes Dons tonight having spent all but the opening ten days of the season in the top six is commendable.

Asked by The Yorkshire Post what expectations he had ahead of the League One season, the former Scotland international said: “If we are being honest and considering where the club was at when we first came in with new owners, ten players contracted and no staff, then I think the noises at the time were about being mid-table and starting to put the building blocks in place.

“That would have been the aim. From my point of view, I am always the ‘glass half full’ type and want to be positive – and I just asked the players to improve on what they did last season.

“It was a big ask and still is. But, if you ever accept mediocrity then that is what you will be.

“As for the others, I thought Charlton and MK Dons would have been higher than us, but maybe not Fleetwood. Millwall were another who looked in good shape after keeping last season’s squad so, maybe, they could have been expected to be above us.

“Scunthorpe finished brilliantly (last season), Bolton and Sheffield United had brought players so were going to be strong. So, we are probably slightly above where we could have been expected to be back in August.

“We are happy where we are. We know performances probably deserved more points than we have got but we are where we are and are all getting on with things, one game at a time.

“There will be no mention from us of what we are going to do – top two, top six, whatever. Our only focus is on what we can affect, which is each game – starting with MK Dons.”

City are one of only two clubs in the Football League who remain unbeaten on home soil this season.

Doncaster Rovers are the other but, whereas Darren Ferguson’s men have collected more points on their own patch than any of their League Two peers, Bradford’s 11 draws from 17 outings at Valley Parade means their own tally at home is eclipsed by the rest of the top seven.

Back-to-back home games against MK Dons tonight and Peterborough United on Saturday offer an opportunity to change that.

“We want to win them both but if we took four points from every two games between now and the end of the season then we would be more than happy,” added McCall.

“We have done that in the last two against Bolton and Port Vale. So, if we kept that ratio up for the rest of the season that gives us another 24 points. That would see us exceed what would probably be needed for the play-offs.”

Last six games: Bradford City LDDLDW, Milton Keynes Dons DWLDLW.

Referee: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire).

Last time: Bradford City 2 Milton Keynes Dons 1; February 9, 2015; League One.