Joe Davis column: Fleetwood Town can make up for Bradford City play-off disappointment

Excitement, suspense, heartbreak, ecstasy – if there is one occasion that brings out the fluctuating emotions of English football it is the play-offs.

The fine line between devastation and elation is what makes the EFL play-offs so riveting. Ten months of perpetual toil potentially thrown away in just 90 minutes of end-to-end football.

Tonight, the League Two final between Northampton Town and Exeter City will take place, and upon the final whistle, 11 players will fall to Wembley’s hallowed turf in disappointment, 11 others will jump for joy.

For those that retreat to the dressing room with their heads bowed down in defeat, the sinking feeling that seeps into the pit of their stomach is a sensation that will linger for much longer than the post-match pizza.

I witnessed it for the first time in May 2017, when we lost to Bradford City in the League One play-off semi-finals. Over the two legs Bradford deserved to progress but that offered little solace to a group of players with unfulfilled promotion dreams.

Throughout the majority of that season we had “snuck under the radar”, as the manager Uwe Rosler frequently described it.

There was an unbreakable sense of self-belief among the players, but rather than voicing our optimism publicly, Uwe would tell us to play things down during interviews, with overused cliches and banal responses to defuse the media hype.

He instructed us to say the usual things: we are taking it game by game, we are doing OK... give away nothing.

After 46 games we were fourth – a grand achievement in comparison to the relegation near-miss of the previous campaign.

With a ‘Mr Consistent’ mindset and quiet media presence, we’d tiptoed into a play-off position and were hanging around with the big boys of League One.

“We are three games away from creating history,” Rosler reminded us. Unfortunately, we underperformed in the second leg at Valley Parade but it was clear that the football club was on the rise once again.

Uwe, along with his assistant Rob Kelly, had completely reinvented the dressing room culture.

Mobile phones would be switched off as we entered the building.

Recovery leggings would be worn to and from away fixtures, which Rosler would check we were wearing on the platform of Preston Station prior to our train’s arrival.

The food improved dramatically, with freshly-cooked cuisine served each day. In training, shinpads and water bottles were compulsory. Body fats and heartrate monitors were observed under a watchful eye, and if we fell short of the expected standard a collective fine would often follow.

Rosler’s modifications helped to build a winning mentality but, more specifically, forced us to become accountable for our performances and conduct off the field.

The handful of excuses we would have previously used in moments of underachievement were eradicated. Rosler and Kelly named it the ‘no excuse policy’ and it gave myself and my team-mates nowhere to hide.

Fast forward to today, and the football club demands equally high standards under Joey Barton, who is a big believer in hard work and honesty – values that are backed by the man in the big chair, Andy Pilley.

When I visited the club at the beginning of the season, it was the intensity of training that caught my eye.

Barton watched from afar while Clint Hill was among the players. Through my eyes the standard seemed high, yet Barton and his staff demanded more.

As a former professional, I knew that a managerial team with passion, organisation and knowledge often formed a successful recipe – and this was certainly it.

Friday brings the first hurdle in Fleetwood Town’s quest for Championship football, and although Town fans will be dreaming of a similar outcome to the Wembley triumph back in 2014, overcoming Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe Wanderers will be no mean feat.

A crucial part of Town’s success will be taming Adebayo Akinfenwa, a muscular journeyman who has scored 10 times this season and has been a pivotal part of Wycombe’s glory in recent years.

While I expect him to cause havoc, plans must also be in place to diminish the threat of Joe Jacobson, the left-back who also chipped in with 10 goals before the hiatus and whose left-foot wand is Wycombe’s go-to weapon.

That being said, Friday presents an opportunity for Barton and his players to control the game on home soil, and if you take a look at the form book it could be argued there is an expectancy for Fleetwood to come out on top.

But then again, this is a behind-closed-doors fixture following a break of almost four months due to a global pandemic, so I think it’s fair to say Fleetwood’s 12-game unbeaten run goes out the window for this one.

As we enter the final week of match preparation, one thing I do know is that Barton will reduce the physical demands of training and turn his focus towards the tactical elements.

The game-plan will be established in more depth, patterns of play will be reinforced and set-piece responsibilities will be nailed down.

When Friday evening arrives, the seats that encompass the Highbury turf will coruscate red under the floodlights , the melodious beating of the Memorial Stand drum will be unheard and the Cod Army chants will ring around living rooms rather than the terraces.

For the players, though, when the clock strikes 7.30 it will be business as usual.

The football club’s habit of defying all odds over the past decade fills me with the sanguine expectation that during such uncustomary times Fleetwood will thrive.

And I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that the cherry that was missing three years ago against Bradford has been preserved for the top of this season’s cake.