The return of Jon Mellish from a short spell on the sidelines with a troublesome knee injury on Monday afternoon brought a typically energetic performance and the winning of a bottle of champagne as he picked up the man of the match award.
“He’s full of running and he cause so many problems,” manager Paul Simpson said. “It gives you a real threat, because nobody knows who can pick him up. He runs with a purpose and it’s a great skill to have.
“I’ve said this many times to players that being able to run isn’t a bad trick to have. It’s really hard to deal with. Because he comes from deep areas, it causes even more panic.
“Just after I’d changed the shape to put him on Smallwood, he had one where he took it and he was gone. He pulled it back for Jordan Gibson, unfortunately Gibbo put his shot over the bar. But that’s what Jon Mellish is about.
“In the first half he was making overlaps, we had a three-v-one overload at times on the left with him, Charters and Armer, and they were causing problems. Unfortunately we weren’t clinical enough when we got those chances to really take the game away from Bradford.”
His other asset, much used already this season, is the fact that he’s versatile and able to switch roles within games, often at the drop of a hat.
“There were spells in the second half where I felt as though we were losing it too much,” he explained. “I was comfortable with where they were having the ball, with us dropping in deep, but they were getting it in more dangerous areas after the break.
“I wanted Mellish to sit on Smallwood because Hunts and Morgan were coping with Andy Cook ok. It worked and we started to get more of a foothold.
“When Mellish went on his run as soon as I changed it – if he’d scored from that I think I’d have just walked down the tunnel, because that would have been perfect.
“With his left foot he gives you that balance on that flank. Along with, what’s the word, unpredictability - because I’m not sure he knows what he’s up to sometimes.
“You do miss him when he’s not there because he’s a good player. In any side, if there’s a player who gives you balance, and this isn’t in any way disrespectful to Corey, who has done such a good job – but I like to have left-footed players out on that wing.
“Whatever role or position, I like the balance that having a player who can use that foot brings. Mells does that for us. Like I say, there are so many times when I don’t know what he’s going to do, and I don’t think he does either, but he’s good at it.
“He causes so many problems and he’s prepared to run past people. He was cramping up at the end, but he carries on anyway. That’s his personality and you need that in the group.”
With scouts at just about every game as a matter of course, there’s always a danger that players who do catch the eye start to get talked about.
“I hope scouts aren’t watching it,” he insisted. “The good thing is that he’s under contract and we’ve got him tied down. We don’t have to let him go, we don’t want to let him go, and I have no indications from him that he wants to go.
“I’ve come to this club and I’m realistic, I’m not being stupid, so if we get financial offers for players that makes this club stronger if we accept them, then we have to consider it.
“What I also want to do is make sure we keep building to take the club forward. If players leave I hope it’s my decision that they’re going, whether that be as a transfer, going out of contract, or whatever.
“There will be those decisions that I’ll have to make, but they’ll be made with what I believe are the best interests of the club in mind. I certainly don’t want to be losing our star players in January. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.
“But, yeah, he’s done really well for us. I don’t want anyone to give him attention, but I’m realistic enough to know that if someone comes and offers us a huge amount of money, we might have to consider it for the safety and future of the football club.
“I’ll say it again, as I have many times, we do not have a bottomless pit of money. We have to do what’s right for the club.
“But I’ll say it again, I don’t want anybody to go unless I believe it’s the right thing for the club. Nobody’s putting any pressure on me, and the truth is I haven’t had any phone calls to make me make that decision.
“Thankfully that’s the case, I want it to carry on that way, we’ve got things lined up that we’d like to do in terms of bringing players in to give us a little bit of help, and let’s just hope it all comes off.”
“We do want to add to it, that’s something we’re actively trying to do,” he continued. “I think I’ve got a really good relationship with the ownership group, and they can see we’re trying to move in the right direction.
“I don’t know which situations there’s been where people might feel we’ve sold players cheaply; all players have a price, and if the club feel it’s the right price for them, then something has to be done.
“But I don’t want that to happen, I want to try and keep them. But listen, I’m not the person who puts the money into the football club, that’s not my call. I’ll make decisions on the footballing side, it’s for others to make the decisions on the financial side.
“What I would say is, when you get crowds over 8,000 for a home game, that certainly helps me to go to them and say listen, let’s keep these players together, let’s encourage supporters to come back again, and that’s what I’ll keep trying to do.
“It’s about building and we do have areas where I think we need to improve or strengthen. If nobody comes in, I’m not going to stamp my feet about it and sulk, I’m just going to get on with it.
“We have got some ideas of what we would like to do, and if we’re able to do it, fingers crossed they work. All signings, whether they be loans or permanents, are gambles.
“We’ve just got to try and do as much homework as we can to make them less of a gamble. Who knows what’s going to happen, or if these next two games will have any influence on that, particularly if we add more points.”
