Goal shy Bradford City rank in the bottom seven lowest-scoring teams in league two with just one game left to play. The Bantam’s meagre haul of just 48 league goals is far lower than expected. Looking at the stats, it is clear to see why Bradford City are so goal shy.
Goal Shy Bradford City Struggling for Momentum
The Stats Paint an Ugly Picture
Bradford City’s current top scorer is Andy Cook with eight goals to his name in all competitions. Just behind Cook, is Lee Novak with seven and, Clayton Donaldson with six. The top three scorers for Bradford sit on just 91 shots attempted.
Four Bradford City players have managed to score five or more goals in all competitions. Worryingly though, no player for Bradford has broken into double figures as of yet. In comparison with the highest-scoring teams in the league, City’s top scorers are way off the mark.
Oldham Athletic, 18th, are leading the way with 72 goals scored in all competitions despite their low league position. The Athletic’s top scorer is striker Conor McAleny with 19 goals in all competitions.
Davis Keillor-Dunn, midfield, is second with ten goals and defensive midfielder Alfie McCalmont is in third place with nine goals. Seven Oldham players have managed to score five or more goals. Oldham’s top three scorers have a combined 166 shots attempted.
Cambridge United, second, are having a fantastic season and have 70 goals scored. Paul Mullin’s 31 goals scored in all competitions means he is leading the way, striker Joe Ironside sits behind him with 14 goals and in third place, the evergreen midfielder Wes Hoolahan has six goals.
Just three players have managed to score five or more goals. However, this is not surprising as Cambridge use Paul Mullin as their focal point of attack. The striker clearly shoots first and asks questions later, with a whopping personal effort of 128 shots attempted, their top three scorers have a combined 292 shots attempted.
Exeter City, eighth, are on par with Cambridge with 70 goals scored. Striker Matt Jay is Exeter’s leading scorer with 18 goals, target man Ryan Bowman is second with 14 goals and midfielder Joel Randall is third with ten goals. Exeter are also a trigger happy team with their top three scorers attempting 175 shots combined.
The Stats Show Why Bradford City Are Goal Shy
Bradford City fans will admit that the club’s reputation as a ‘strikers’ graveyard’ is somewhat accurate. Since the days of the James Hanson and Nahki Wells dream team, there are few success stories to be told.
Charlie Wyke is probably the closest player to reach Well’s mantle but even then, it is still by some distance. During the relegation battle in 2019, David Ball showed a work ethic that Bradford fans appreciated but with the club in disarray, Ball left.
Eoin Doyle is the story of what could have been, but, mismanagement at Bradford and perhaps a lack of desire from the player meant the story ended as a tragedy. James Vaughan, at the time the club’s top scorer, also left the club much to the bemusement of fans. Danny Rowe is the latest victim of the striker’s curse.
The mismanagement and poor performances in recent years have seen good strikers leave the club. Doyle, Vaughan, and Rowe are all examples of this. These frontmen were used as square pegs in round holes or not given enough game time.
These stories will not help convince strikers to join the club and the managers Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars need to adapt and create a positive atmosphere that will see goals return to Valley Parade.
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