The 2023/24 Width of a Post Player of the Season
08/05/2024 09:00
Width of a Post regular writers Jason McKeown, Tim Penfold, Alex Scott, Adam Raj, Jake Verity and Gareth Walker have voted for their top five players this season.
Pre-amble
By Jason
The conversations between WOAP writers over the top five players of the season was surprisingly one of argument and contradiction. I think we each began the process with the belief that, short of one obvious candidate (spoiler alert, the Ginger Cafu is our winner), it would be a struggle to name four other contenders who deserved a top five finish.
But then the ballot began, seven different players were the subject of votes – meaning that two have narrowly missed the top five cut. A new debate began over how unfair and harsh it was that these two don’t get a placing. Turns out, that there were actually a good few best of rests behind Brad Halliday.
So let’s begin with half congratulations, half commiserations. Matty Platt, you just fall short of votes for the top five, despite the fact you clearly made a big difference. City won 53% of the games where Platt played, and only 26% of those where he didn’t (they won just one league match, at Accrington, where he didn’t figure).
Also not quite making it, Jamie Walker. Sorry Jamie. Your nine goals from 32 starts (three sub) – plus five assists – was enjoyable. That’s one goal involvement every 179 minutes. A really good season for Walker, but alas not quite enough to make the list.
Our top five had better be good…
In 5th place…Andy Cook
By Jake
Since the turn of the millennium, there have only been three seasons where a Bradford City player has scored more league goals than Andy Cook did last season. Dean Windass (04/05); Nahki Wells (12/13); Andy Cook (22/23).
To say Cook has 25 goal contributions in 41 league games, and comes only fifth in the awards, would imply we've been outstanding in all other departments. But, we haven't.
So, why does Andy Cook come in fifth place?
Well, he was so utterly fantastic during the 22/23 season, it was always going to be hard for him to live up to that remarkably 32 goal tally. We have almost expected too much from him at times, but that's only because we know just how good he is.
Cook's season got off to a rocky start. Ignoring a tricky game at Crawley, and a reasonable performance against Colchester, it was a Tuesday evening away at Stockport which cemented the feeling that things weren’t quite right. Not only did Cook miss a late penalty in that game, but he also failed to convert a one-on-one chance minutes afterwards. You'd have expected him to score that chance 99 times out of 100.
In fairness, though, Cook did get an assist in that game against Stockport. The reason why that assist is pertinent is because Hughes initially began using him in a different role. Cook's golden boot from the previous campaign meant that teams were marking him far more intently, and limiting his chances.
In response, it seemed like Cook had been asked to become a provider rather than goalscorer , and that Alex Pattison's arrival was part of a wider plan to utilise his excellent hold up play and share goals across the team. Great in principle. But the reality is that Pattison got injured, results became difficult, that plan changed and Mark Hughes was gone by October.
But the thing about Andy Cook is that he embodies everything this football club should be about. He never gives up when it's tough, and he never goes long without bouncing back. Whenever he goes through a bad period, or is struggling to put them away, he'll always pop up when you need him most.
That’s why before Hughes' departure, Cook's season looked like it might burst into life with a perfect hat-trick away at Newport. This came after he went the first five league games without a goal before missing three matches through injury. He quickly followed up on his hat-trick by scoring in successive games against Walsall and Tranmere; he always has enjoyed playing against his old teams.
Then, besides a goal at Sutton and several missed chances in other games, it took a while for him to return to form. But when he did, there were some moments where the football was practically irresistible. He produced what can only be described as a perfect performance away at Doncaster over the festive break. Two goals, and a genuinely unbelievable assist. Go back and watch the highlights for that game, you won't be disappointed.
Another reason why Cook is in fifth place is that his performances were synonymous with the team’s form. This squad either went on long winless runs; or unbeaten streaks. In the winless runs, Cook rarely scored. In the unbeaten streaks, he was in fine form. This meant he never quite felt as consistent as Halliday or Alex Gilliead over the season, but it doesn't stop us from recognising and realising how important he is for us.
A real high point was that match away at Wrexham. The team had gone eight league matches without a win, and spent a good eighty minutes behind the ball as the Welsh side looked all but certain to grab a late winner. But the big twist came as we managed to win an unlikely penalty towards the end of the match. So, when Cook missed, it felt our only chance had gone.
And this is what I mean about him never giving up. Just minutes later, a clever piece of skill saw him find the space and time to get an effort on goal and eventually put the ball in the net. My moment of the season, and certainly the best away end I've been in for some time.
Cook finished the season strongly as well. With the exception of that awful fortnight in March where the whole squad struggled, he gave strong performances away at Accrington and Walsall where he managed a goal and an assist in each; a lovely assist against Barrow to keep our play off hopes alive; and a goal in that final day game against Newport.
An interesting thing that's also worth pointing out is his form home and away. During the 21/22 and 22/23 season, he scored roughly an equal number of goals both home and away. This year, however, he scored four goals at home and thirteen on the road. I'm not sure why there was such a difference,but the hope is that he can score plenty of goals both at Valley Parade and away from home next season
Another limiting factor that prevents him from being higher on this list is that Cook continued to lead the line when there was no cover, perhaps to his detriment. As a result of injuries and changes to the squad's formation and structure, he had to play different roles at times which didn't always work, but he always tried to keep the team moving even when things were tough. He was also injured himself, but still gave 110%. You can never question his commitment.
It feels we've now found a role for him that really works. The team has a structure where he can influence wider play, but doesn't limit his ability to create and score chances. The hope is that next season he continues to work well with Calum Kavanagh and our other attacking options and keeps moving up the all-time goalscorer rankings.
Whatever the system, whoever the players alongside him, and even when both he and the team aren't at their best, there's one thing that is certain. Andy Cook is a remarkable player at this level who gives his everything for the club. We are lucky to have him – and long may he be in a Bradford City shirt.
In 4th place…Sam Walker
By Alex
Sam Walker's revelatory second half of the season earns him 4th place in the vote for our Width of the Post Player of the Season.
It's not an exaggeration to say Walker's signing transformed City's season. Some of this arguments have been rehearsed before, but in short, over the past four months, Walker has immediately turned a weakness into a strength, creating the platform for the team's late run at the play offs.
Walker has proven a really remarkable signing from Stephen Gent (recommended by Colin Doyle), exceeding any realistic expectation. Gent turning an out of sorts Harry Lewis into a top 3 goalkeeper in the division, and then investing the balance of the transfer income in the permanent signing of young forward Calum Kavanagh was a home run from Gent and the team. City's Head of Recruitment and the wider team have come under a fair amount of flak in their time at City, but this January's business was absolutely A+ work from the City recruitment team, which almost salvaged an otherwise lost season.
Sam Walker was the central part of that. From the moment he arrived, he was one of the best goalkeepers in the division.
Over the first half of the season, Harry Lewis earned a 'goals prevented' score of minus six goals: i.e. he conceded six more goals than he was expected to have conceded. He had become a huge liability for the team, one of the worst performers in the division by most metrics.
If you want to take a look back over the season and wonder where things went wrong, this is probably where you'd start. If Lewis had performed at even a league average level, City would have enough points over the season to make the play offs.
Forget league average, though. Sam Walker came in and was immediately one of the best goalkeepers in the division, statistically just about surpassing last year's version of Harry Lewis. This overnight turned an underperforming side into one who finally looked like it could reach its potential.
Sam Walker hasn't been attributed with an 'error directly leading to a goal' in his time at City, whereas Lewis had three over the first half of the season. And this backs up what your eyes tell you. It's hard to really think of an error from Walker outside of conceding deflected free kick against Barrow which he probably should have saved.
He's essentially been flawless in a City shirt, and given the expectations of a player who has had one season of meaningful minutes in the Scottish Premiership since 2018, he's proven to be an unbelievably good signing.
Outside of a horror fortnight in March when injuries and international call ups fatally depleted City's back line, under Graham Alexander they have been a tremendously good team defensively.
The difference over the final stretch was that they could marry this up with being dangerous going forward. They found their balance. Ironically, this materialised in the formation Mark Hughes tried to pick at the start of the season but had to abandon as they were too loose in defence. Looking back, a lot of this may be the result of having one of the worst performing goalkeepers in the division.
Walker's emergence has helped give the team the defensive platform they need for that formation to work and for City finally to find their balance. If Lewis had left for League One last summer and was replaced by Walker at that point, you wonder how the season might have played out for City. You wonder how things might have played out for Mark Hughes.
We have very recent evidence showing us that goalkeeping performance can be fragile and doesn't always carry over from season to season, so we shouldn't just assume Walker will continue performing at this level. But, what we can say is that if Sam Walker can repeat his performance into next season (a feat his predecessor failed to do), City will have a real chance to be a top three defence in League Two.
With a platform like that, and continued goals in the front line, as they found in the final month this season, they will have a chance. Sam Walker has proven a great signing so far, he has a chance to be a truly transformational one over the next twelve months.
In 3rd place…Bobby Pointon
By Tim
Is there anything better in football than watching a local lad – a fan of the club from a young age – come through the youth system and make a real impact at first team level? It’s something that Bradford City fans have not witnessed enough recently, but Bobby Pointon's breakthrough has been possibly the highlight of the season.
Pointon has been highly thought of at academy level for a while. He was a late developer physically, which probably stopped larger clubs from poaching him, but had a superb campaign in 2021/22's all-conquering youth team and earned his pro deal. The following season had been a mixed bag of loans – outstanding at Brighouse, which earned him a move up to Farsley where he wasn’t really given an opportunity, then injury-hit at Liversedge. He recovered, though, and spent this pre-season showing that he was ready for first team football.
Mark Hughes gave him that initial chance, with a few sub appearances followed by a fine full debut live on Sky against Grimsby, where he set up Alex Gilliead's late equaliser. Another start followed at Harrogate, and then he vanished – not even on the bench for Mark Hughes' last game at Tranmere, with fans wondering why.
This became a pattern for the middle part of the season – Kevin McDonald recalled him and he scored his first goal at Valley Parade against Swindon, but he was a victim of Alexander’s tactical shift from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 and then was mysteriously left out even when Jamie Walker and Alex Pattison were injured. Fans were confused, and City’s season wobbled and faded away, before Alexander finally turned to Pointon against Tranmere with the play offs a distant dream. Pointon scored a stunning individual goal, kept his place alongside Walker and Smallwood and grabbed a couple more goals to jolt the season back into life, albeit just too late.
Pointon has obvious qualities – his technique is excellent, and he links well with other attackers. He’s not lightning fast but has quick feet and can change direction away from defenders. He ranked eighth in the division for open play chances created per game, and has shown a goal threat late on in the season as well. With the way City’s form revived once he was given a run of games, you wonder if Alexander regrets ignoring him for so long, and whether we would’ve been involved in the playoffs had he been given a chance sooner.
You have to go back a long way to find a City youth player who had a breakthrough season to compare to this one. Reece Staunton showed promise before injury in 2020 and Danny Devine looked neat and tidy in 2016, but you have to go all the way back to Luke O'Brien's player of the year campaign of 2008/09. Even then, he didn’t look as obviously destined for a higher level as Pointon has at times, and you’d have to go back to Simon Francis – more than 20 years ago – before you find a player who had comparable potential.
This is the next challenge for Pointon. We’ve had plenty of players come through, show initial promise and fizzle out. Reece Staunton got injured then had the misfortune to have Derek Adams as a manager. Joe Colbeck had nine excellent months in 2008 before reverting to inconsistent form. Danny Forrest got stuck behind the many average strikers Nicky Law signed in 2003, stopped playing regular football and stagnated. Even the obviously talented Francis somehow got stuck behind Gareth Edds for a few months.
At this age, the most important thing Pointon can do is play games, and you hope that Graham Alexander will continue to give him that chance. He’s definitely earned it.
In 2nd place…Alex Gilliead
By Jason
Understandably given it came in the midst of the 11-day March madness where Bradford City's season imploded, it was largely overlooked that Alex Gilliead reached the milestone of his 200th appearance for the club. It is some achievement for a player who often flies under the radar, not always fully appreciated or loved.
For context, Gilliead has now clocked up more appearances for the Bantams than previous long-termers Stephen Darby, Rory McArdle, James Meredith, Jamie Lawrence, Robbie Blake and Bobby Ham. If next season he repeats the 48 games he played in 2022/23, Gilliead will climb into the club's top 30 all-time appearance makers.
It's easy to be snobbish towards Gilliead, and I think we've all been guilty of it at times. He initially had two loan spells at Valley Parade in 2016/17 and 2017/18, where he was billed as an exciting younger winger from Newcastle. And though he ran around a lot and was busy, he contributed next to nothing in goals and assists. After being brought back in 2021 under Derek Adams, Gilliead initially continued that trend of hard-working wide player with little end product. It was only after Adams left, and Gilliead was converted into a central midfielder, that has he really started to be appreciated. And even then, it’s often come with the belief that City needed better.
So it was that Gilliead came into this season with faint criticism and some frustration the club had decided to retain his services after being out of contract last summer. No one would ever question Gilliead's character or commitment, but if City were to be successful, you suspected they would need better in the centre of the park, and for Gilliead to retreat from certain starter to bench warmer. With 33 starts in 2023/24 that would have been more but for a few injuries, Gilliead has remained a mainstay after all. And after a season of excellent personal displays, it's fair to say the club are better off for that.
Because make no mistake, this was a really good season for Gilliead. There's always a danger that a player who can do a good job in several positions gets damned with the 'utility player' tag, and that when everyone is fit they don't have a specialist enough role to be first choice. But of course, football doesn't work like that. Injuries happen, others struggle for form, tactical reshuffles demand flexibility. Gilliead is a perfect player to have in a squad when reality inevitably strikes. Someone to count upon as you go through plan A, B, C, D and E.
The biggest compliment you could pay Gilliead this season is that you wish you had two of him. Firstly, he did an excellent job in the centre of midfield, providing energy and thrust that allowed City to transition from defence into attack. He'd win the ball and help the team push on, popping up on the edge of the box to support attacks. And if possession was lost and the opposition went forward themselves, there was Gilliead athletically getting back to protect the defence.
He is the sort of player who goes under the radar on the stats. Yeah, he still doesn't score enough goals and assists (three goals this season was actually prolific by his recent standards), but he's often the person beginning forward moves, playing in the player who sets up the goal. His energetic running drives the team. He makes a difference in so many little ways that collectively add up to a lot.
And secondly, he was really good as left wing back. It's well documented City did not recruit well in this area last summer, at least not until after the games began and a big glaring gap emerged. Gilliead's ability to run out wide and defend saw him turned to as a solution, and he did excellent. It was something Graham Alexander became wise to over the second half of the season. And in tight games at home especially, where opposition teams play defensive and try to flood the centre of the park, having Gilliead as left wing back was a really promising way of setting City up to have good technical players on the ball in slightly deeper positions, who could positively influence the game and help City get through low blocks.
It was a really clever idea that was only undermined by one problem – taking Gilliead out of the centre of midfield meant the centre of midfield was often left much weaker.
It all meant Gilliead had a season where respect for him grew and grew. Whatever the failings in the team at times, no one was ever pointing the finger at Gilliead. A guy who cares, who gives everything to the cause, adding value in anything that was asked of him. Whereas with Richie Smallwood and Kevin McDonald, you could never be 100% confident what you were getting – an 8 or a 5 out of 10. Gilliead would always give you a 7 or an 8. Mr Dependable.
And yet, you can't still can't fully shake off the feeling that – in a perfect world where everyone is available and bang on their game – Gilliead might not actually be first choice. City won 39% of the games Gilliead appeared in this season, but without him they won 53%. He went off injured in the March during the Notts County thumping – right in the midst of the Bantams’ crisis – and wasn't fit to return until right at the end of the season. By that point, City's 3-5-2 was thriving with Smallwood at the base. The Bantams were winning games of football, and Gilliead saw out the season from the bench.
It means you once again go into the summer wondering just how much football Gilliead will play in the season ahead. And whether his jack-of-all-trades approach leads to harsh conclusions that he is the master of none. But then, reality will return again. Injuries and poor form will strike within the squad. And we will once more be very grateful to have Alex Gilliead in our ranks.
And the winner is…Brad Halliday
By Alex
In a unanimous vote, Brad Halliday is the 2023/24 Width of a Post Player of the Season.
As shown by the landslide vote, this isn't a controversial decision, Halliday also took home the club's Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, and several other fans' groups' Player of the Year Awards too.
Last season, in this same poll, the industrious right back finished third in this same poll, behind only a once-in-a-generation year in front of goal from Andy Cook, and a standout year in goal from Harry Lewis. Anointed by Jason McKeown as 'the best of the rest', Halliday bounced back from a devastating injury at Fleetwood with a positive, if unspectacular, season at right back for Mark Hughes's team.
A summer change in system, however, provided Halliday platform to become a focal point for City, and his impact from the right flank throughout the year demonstrated the wisdom in that decision.
Given this platform, he managed to add some goals to his game with four in the league, including crucial match winners at home to Gillingham and at Salford, and only two peers from his position in the league scored more. But beyond the goal impact, it was his consistency that set him apart. There were games, many games, this year when his team struggled, and Halliday was consistently the only player to come out with any credit.
Over the year, City's number two clearly separate himself as a premier right wing back at this level, earning a League Two Team of the Year nomination.
Like most players in League Two, right backs tend to come in a binary style. One or t'other. Strong defenders who limited in attack (your Kayne Ramseys), or quasi wingers who can't really defend (your Remeao Huttons). Generally speaking, if you can do both, you are playing in League One.
In his time at City, Brad Halliday has proven himself an exception to the rule.
For the second season in a row, the City right back is the only player to rank above average amongst his position for each of these key statistics, whilst being in the top two in minutes played in both seasons. Statistically, he's been the best 'all-around' right back in League Two for both his seasons at Valley Parade, whilst also being the most consistently available.
By any measure, Halliday's signing has been an unqualified success for Bradford City and he's clearly surpassed any reasonable expectations of him.
And let's be clear, this wasn't necessarily a slam dunk signing at the time. Whilst he has spent a good amount of his career in League One, Halliday suffered a traumatic knee injury almost as soon as he arrived at Fleetwood, missing essentially an entire season before mutually agreeing to cancel his contract and rocking up at Valley Parade.
The injury is probably the main reason why City were able to secure a player like Halliday two summers ago, the offer of security much needed for a player coming off such an injury.
And yet, he's ended up playing 94% of City's league minutes over the past two seasons, whilst also separating himself as the best in his position in the process. The signing couldn't really have gone much better from the club's perspective.
In last year's Awards article, when discussing Halliday's third place finish, Jason tried to put Halliday's performance in a historical context. I won't reprise that in detail here, but after a golden era between 2012 and 2018, the recent history of City right backs has been… not great (with apologies to Paul Caddis).
Based just off last season, Halliday was already the best right back we'd had since the days of Tony McMahon and Stephen Darby. Does this Player of the Year season move the dial and elevate Halliday into that rarefied air of City right backs? Probably not. He probably is not be the defender Darby was. He probably does not have the same impact going forward (nor is he as much of a lovable shithouse) as Tony McMahon. But he certainly shares some of that DNA.
Looking at the post-glory days era over the past six years, he's probably been the second brightest light for City outside of Andy Cook. Already notching up over 100 games, he's become a mainstay for a team in desperate need of them.
What's more, is that the arrow is continuing to point up. Whilst the new City brains trust have – thus far – not opted to extend Halliday's contract long term, they have elected to exercise the one-year option the club shrewdly put in place two summers ago.
This will ensure, for next season at least, City won't have to worry about the right wing back position. Halliday seems clearly better suited to this more advanced position, showcasing his attacking instincts and relentless energy. The work of the club so far this summer indicates that they are probably seeking to maintain that system, which should again give Halliday, set to turn 29 over the summer, another opportunity to thrive.
Graham Alexander has spoken of the ruthlessness they are trying to apply in their transfer business this system. Every player needs to be assessed against a simple test: can I get promoted with him in my team?
Halliday's first season demonstrated that he wouldn't let he side down in that aim. His second confirmed that, and more. He can be a difference maker at this level, and is going to continue to be a key building block in next year's squad.
Past WOAP Player of the Season winners
2011/12: Luke Oliver
2012/13: Gary Jones
2013/14: Stephen Darby
2014/15: Rory McArdle
2015/16: Reece Burke
2016/17: Mark Marshall
2017/18: Matt Kilgallon
2018/19: Paul Caddis
2019/20: No award, as season curtailed
2020/21: Callum Cooke
2021/22: Paudie O'Connor
2022/23: Andy Cook
