Bantams 0 Vale 1

Oh dear. What a time for City to hit the poorest form of the season. This was the fourth loss on the bounce, and the first at home for six months. We had our chances, and Vale set out to defend from the off, but with the players at our disposal we should be able to overcome such poor opponents. Up front Mullins won more headers than Baz, granted, but he is SLOW. His partnership with Boulding never really gelled either, but seeing as he only signed a couple of days ago, this could be forgiven. A better threat was Gillespie on the wing, who played some telling passes, and put in some great crosses, but is also lacking any real pace threat. He managed to get one on one, but couldn't find that extra step to take him clear. But since we lost Daley, where have all his detractors disappeared to, the whole team has lacked penetration. Jones could fill that gap, but has a tendency to over elaborate in possession, whilst Colbeck, on current form, would be lucky too crack the starting eleven of my kids under 10's team. Even Furman looked lacklustre. In defence Clarke continues to cough up the ball in dangerous areas, and Lee has gone to pot. He looks like a player in bad need of a rest. Rehman looks great as a centre half at this level. Shame McCall plays him at right back.

Back to the game, we did have several chances cleared off the line, or saved, but they were rushed shots, or straight at the keeper. The big problem is the way we revert to the big hoof up front. We seem to have no plan B. This is a real problem at the moment, as it looks like the rest of the league have figured us out. Pack the midfield and sit back. And it works. Luckily for us, apart from Brentford, no body else is turning it on. We remain one point outside of the playoff spots, and even third place is not out of the question, but on current form it is looking increasingly unlikely. A win against second from bottom Chester next weekend is an absolute must.

Kev Watch- Good bye Big Baz Conlon, who incidentally scored for Grimsby on his debut (and it wasn't a penalty), and hello Kev. For those of you who are unaware, Kev is my companion to almost every City game, and seeing as there are only a few games left this season, will fill in on the now defunct "Baz Watch." He was rubbish in the first half, all quiet and grumpy, after staying out on the lash till four in the morning. He did however perk up considerably in the second half, and briefly became quite animated, till Port Vale scored any way. He did earn some points for lending me his jacket, but they were subsequently lost, because quite frankly, he stunk like a back street hobo. On the whole a sub par display, and I will be looking for a big improvement for our next game, which will be in Munich. 4/10