‘Think we’ve made a mistake here’, ‘Didn’t make the step up’ – Bradford City fans on Shay McCartan

The Imps have pulled off a coup this afternoon, with Northern Ireland international striker Shay McCartan joining on a season long loan.

Danny is a long-term admirer of McCartan, who made his name at Accrington Stanley in 2016/17, earning himself a £200,000 move to the Bantams.

Having a player on a season long loan is a double-edged sword. If he does well in Imps colours, his price goes up and with two years to run on his current Bradford deal, we’d have to pay big money if we wanted him permanently. If he doesn’t do well, his price wouldn’t be too high, but why would we want him then?

For now though, we’ve got a good player on loan for a full season, the striker we needed twelve months ago and perhaps the striker that, had we signed him in January, could have fired us to League One. He’s another option, if Matt Green of John Akinde struggle for goals, McCartan is there to pick up the pieces. There’s also the possibility that we go 4-3-3, with Akinde central and McCartan and Green either side.

He could be used as a Matt Green alternative or replacement depending on form and fitness. The possibilities are endless, which is exactly what we needed up front. Along with Matt Rhead we now how many different facets to our attack. I know one thing, swapping Ollie Palmer for Shay McCartan and John Akinde makes our attacking option infinitely better.

Bradford City fans are divided as to whether this is a good move or not. They’re short of attacking options and with Charlie Wyke linked with a move to Sunderland, it makes the situation even more dire. Some were happy to see McCartan come to City, underlining the fact if he is a success, they’ll get a better player back in a season’s time.

Others felt he was worth a run out in claret and amber this season, lamenting their rookie manager’s choice. Either way, he’s ours now.

Here’s a selection of their responses from Twitter this evening.

Think we’ve made a mistake here, would’ve liked to have seen him given a chance, better option than Alex Jones or Omari Patrick for me, they should’ve been the ones going out on loan

— Chris Hilton (@ChrisHilton83) July 24, 2018

Aye. Think he showed some real potential at the back end of the season. Thought he’d kick on from there if given the chance. Would have liked to see him more involved but hopefully the loan spell will benefit both parties. Good luck to the lad. #bcafc

— Labeeb Aslam (@nottmbantam) July 24, 2018

Fair play, he needs game time and wasn’t gonna get it here with Payne playing. #bcafc

— tb (@bcafctb) July 24, 2018

Get rid of Omari Patrick instead of McCartan, at least he showed he can control a football unlike Patrick last season

— Tom Ryszkowski (@TomRyko) July 24, 2018

He never set the world on fire at city, rarely in the team

— Andy Mac? (@redmac24) July 24, 2018

https://twitter.com/BGx4000/status/1021773737539133441

Good luck @shaymccartan !!! Sorry to see you go! Hopefully you’ll come back stronger ! ??????

— nick clifford (@clifford_nick) July 24, 2018

https://twitter.com/bcafcjames/status/1021773128811380736

Needs game time could improve on loan

— Leon Mckenzie (@LeonMck69130470) July 24, 2018

Disclaimer: There was another tweet that read: “Should have sold him…. Got cash back on him… But good luck Shay enjoy come back stronger.” I haven’t used it in its entirety because instead of ‘have’ the user opted for the word ‘of’. The two are NOT interchangeable and I won’t encourage such lax use of the English language.