Am I gullible?  The answer to this must be a resounding YES.

Having sat and watched the 'team' last Friday I realised I'd been had good and proper, and more to the point so have the Bradford Bulls board.

A couple of years ago when Nobby decided that a Meat and Potato pie was preferable to anything on offer in Bradford a well respected (at the time) coach of our nearest and dearest backed the appointment of McNamara as Bradford's head coach as he was 'one of the best up and coming coaches in the business - and British too'.

Tell me why we all listened to an Australian coach of the L**ds Whinos??????  To be fair he was not the only one harping on about his credentials but with hindsight, it looks now like we made a hurried and very wrong decision.

The fact that other teams were interested in him at the time seems to have blinded us to the fact that, with all due respect, he really can't coach at the highest level.

What do I base this on?  For me the basics on the pitch are all wrong and many of you share this opinion and have said so on the forum.  We've been patient, steadfast and loyal to him in the face of our team crumbling and have called for more time for him to develop.   How much more time can we give?

What really sticks in my throat is the fact we are now approaching joke status.  Each week we read the same fairy tales in the T&A spun by a different player each week.  'We're not far off', 'They boys are ready', 'There's a great spirit in the camp' yadda, yadda, yadda.  Whilst the T&A readers jump on this and abuse each other, the more eliciudated bretheren at Bradfordsbulls.co.uk sit, scratch their head and generally put forward plans which actually make sense.

Following on from my last blog I have to admit that I sensed a lifting in the atmosphere around Odsal last Sunday even before hapless Cas were put to the sword.

Spring was definitely around and there seemed to be a lifting of the spirits or at least the green shoots of recovery as the club did put on a bit of a show both on and off the pitch.  I was even astounded to see Mr Harry Gration erstwhile rhinophile of the Yorkshire Television parish urging the great Bradford public to get down and support their local successful team.

Once again the good people of Bradford responded magnificently in the only way they know how.  Total apathy!  As mentioned previously we appear to be in a downward spiral where the club appear to be unwilling to break the shackles and cut loose on the entertainment front and you can see all too clearly why.  Ten thousand out of a population of 492k on a comfortable spring afternoon.  Appalling.

Is this then the sole fault of the club?  Is it the fans?  Or is it something, to turn all Monty Python for a moment,  completely different.

Last weekend was the anniversary of the very first Super League game to be played.  The self same weekend just 12 years later and we are already a third of the way through the regular season.  Can you see where I am going with this?  Summer Rugby...where has it gone?

As we appear, as a club,  to have remembered our aim was to be a family club we now find ourselves with another layer of complexity.  Families don't bring toddlers/younger children out in conditions which have been, to be fair, approaching arctic! 

Whether this also affects season ticket sales when we see the first round creeping earlier week by week each year I can only speculate on but you can be certain when the temperature drops that fairweather supporters rather keep their brass monkey's inside rather than risk the alarming complaint they are prone to!  Carry on as we are and we'll all be having Christmas Dinner in the Touchdown, watching the Queen's speech before turning our attention to the pitch rather than James Bond.

I know people will be pointing to the Leeds crowds and asking if they can do it why can't we?  Answer, they have a whole different demographic.  Leeds' mostly male following are used to standing in the cold as United have never played Association Football in the summer .  I know it's controversial but you have to say that the coincidental rise of the Rhino's during the demise of United has swelled the crowd and these new fans are used to winter games. 

Cue howls of derision from the Rhino fans but true loiners will acknowledge that their crowd was as low as 3.5k during the Dean Lance days and will also question why they play a football anthem each time their team takes to the field.  Working in Leeds it always amuses me that there are ten thousand fans who'll tell you they were loyal during the reign of Lance despite the stats clearly showing the opposite...

That's enough bashing the Rhino's for the minute but the point is valid.  There is a large amount of floating fans at all clubs. These fans need all the ingredients to be there to attend games although they will claim to be loyal supporters.  One missing component and they may still attend, get two or more and they don't go.  Leeds are winning so the crowds remain despite the cold, Bradford are mis-firing, in addition to the cold, this is enough to keep people away.

So here we are, the fans who attend the games in all weathers and temperatures, we have that warm feeling inside knowing we support our club don't we?  Well actually we could do more.

It's us that make the atmosphere in the ground (hence Russ Abbott?!!?!?!) and I am sure we all remember the early SL years when the singing was constant, the chants were funny but clean and we all wanted to be at the ground to be part of it.  Going back to the floating supporters atmosphere could also bring them back.  Unfortunately, we just don't seem to be able to get any going anymore.  It seems to be an unwritten rule that you should not repeat the 'Come on You Bulls' chant more than three times.  Lord help you if you do! Everyone else stops, you are on your own and you get laughed at. You learn you lesson and next time you don't join in!

Those of us with tickets in the stand are hamstrung at this point but those with ground tickets I call upon you to join together for the Toulouse game (after a few nerve settlers of course) under Steve Macs box.  Introduce yourself to the BradfordsBulls.co.uk massive and sing.  'We love you Bradford', 'Come on you Bulls', 'Are you Keighley in disguise?', 'Who's your father referee? anything clean but sing! 

Let's get the atmosphere back and with it the floating supporters and let the team know we are about and getting behind them. 

So i'm still up and its 5.27am. I've been working on puting a blog on the site for the last 3 days and i think i have found one i like.

I hope you all enjoy it and leave some feedback.
I doubt that i have found 100% of the bugs, so please leave me a message if you come accross any,

signing off
Phil

Back in the nineties the people running our great game got into bed with Sky and, to dust off a useful old phrase, the rest is history.

One team quickly emerged from this new dawn and established itself at the forefront of the new movement with some innovative marketing and some effective forward thinking. And so the staid old Northern became the vibrant new Bulls and it seemed all wanted to join the party. Keighley fans will no doubt be shouting that they came up with Cougar's first in the nickname stakes and Huddersfield before that were the Barracudas but without doubt the energy and enthusiasm the embryonic Bulls threw into the venture picked up most of the city and all wanted to ride the roller coaster.

Possibly one of the greatest innovations at the time was the buzz the club generated in the schools. I was working in Bradford Education at the time and Monday's during the summer were a joy as all the kids came to school talking about Rugby League and their heroes at the Bulls. Coaches went into schools, teachers were put through coaching courses to bring the game to a wider audience and the stars themselves applied the icing on the cake with visits to the school sending the kids delirious.

Crowds rose sharply as a result of two things, a winning team and the fact that the entertainment before and during the game was outstanding. It was honestly possible to take children to the game two hours before kick off and have them entertained right until the final hooter. Who can forget the little lads in their kit, faces screwed up in an attempt to look intimidating like their favourite players, the little girls with red, amber and black ribbons in their hair and 'Robbie' on their shirt? If you have these memories I can bet your memories involve warmth and sunshine!

Even the new stadium seemed possible and with Tesco's at the helm it seemed Bradford would hold sway over the league for a generation.

Contrast this to the last couple of seasons. Gone are most of the bouncy castles and games, no longer have we the myriad of choice for the food outlets, no more have we semi-household names like Carol Decker or the great, if slightly over the top, Bullman's parade.

Odsal is beginning to feel old and cold again and the buzz is a long distant but still warm memory. So what's gone wrong?

Back in '97 after being awarded the Super League trophy during the party after the Paris home game Matthew Elliott spoke of a dynasty being built over the next 5 years. In hindsight you can say he was just about right. In 2003 the Bulls took all three titles in the same season. The first time this feat had been achieved and it seemed to many that the Bulls could do no wrong.

Just below the hysteria, however, cracks were beginning to show. Stars such as James Lowes were retiring, others moving on and the club remained tight lipped on replacements along with other aspects of the clubs general running. Over the next few years the openness the club had displayed in those first 'salad days' seemed to evaporate and slowly but surely the entertainment package was dismantled along with the team.

Bradford have often been accused of having no plan B and this appeared to have infected the club management too. As the buzz died down they seemed incapable of communicating with the fans and at no time was this more spectacularly evident than during the Friday night Rugby debacle. We were told the fans wanted it. The only fly in this ointment seemed to be the fans talking with each other could not find the one of us who wanted this. Friday removed the entertainment, made it difficult for families to attend and really challenged the logistical skills of those of us who do not live/work in Bradford.

'It's worked for Leeds and Saints' was the reply and in that statement there was the glaringly obvious mindset change... Watch any game with Leeds or St's at home on a Friday evening and at least three times during the game Sky will have to turn the crowd mikes off because a section of the crowd is chanting foul and abusive language. The family club had abandoned their image in an attempt to make a cheap and quick buck.

We took control of the stadium in a disastrous piece of business which was only topped by the very expensive Iestyn Harris mistake. It's hard now to shake the notion that this was only done to poke the Rhino's in the eye. Another costly error. As was trusting the City Council.

Most cities have a stereotype for their inhabitants, kick a scouser and they all jump, all Leeds inhabitants believe their city is paved with gold regardless of Harehills and the many other deprived areas and Bradfordians tend toward self destructive cynicism and negativity. So when subsequent plans for a new home were released it was no surprise when the city exclaimed 'it will never happen'. No-one supported the effort, most people actually mocked the plans so you can understand the total apathy displayed by all concerned.

So, where are we now? The club stands at a biggest cross roads since the sixties and needs to make big decisions. In one direction lies mediocrity and fighting for league positions with the likes of Wakefield and Castleford, in the other a gargantuan challenge. Getting this club back where it belongs and at the top again.

One thing is certain in all this, the supporters need to rally around the club and support it. The Sporting Village looks to have died and the short-sighted council seem intent that the Bulls share Valley Parade. Whilst some welcome this, the majority of the supporters do not. The club cannot afford to lose more of it's fanbase. What is clear is investment is needed as is clear and forward thinking. And it's needed right now.

With the return to Sunday the crowds have never really recovered helped by the fact that the entertainment at times can be rather lacklustre and the team is currently less than inspiring. The stadium is at the end of it's life and like it or not we'll soon have to say goodbye to our beloved home once and for all.

Other clubs are currently planning for this and we too need to find partners who can help us achieve the holy grail of a new stadium away from Odsal. There is so much land on the M606 corridor why waste it and the transport links? It's time to put the grand schemes to bed once and for all. We need a simple, effective 20,000 seater stadium and a winning team to fill it. Just how we get the backing is the greatest challenge the club and it's fans face. Without it, it's hard to see a bright future for our Bulls.