By Gareth Walker

The progress made at Bradford City since the arrival of Mark Hughes to replace Derek Adams is plain for all to see. It’s enjoyable going to games again, the atmosphere is back and we’ve got a manager who most of us like and respect. Results on the pitch have been far better, we’ve finished much higher in the table and we qualified for the play offs for the first time in six years.

Despite this, many supporters were never confident that we would go up and – over the two legs against Carlisle – it felt like we were second best. Others can’t help but feel that we’ve missed a huge opportunity to get promoted. 

It leads us to a question of what we need to improve on and do better in order to go up next season.

Being better in the big moments

Just looking at the number of late goals that the team have conceded shows how we need to (game) manage the big moments better. 

On top of this, every time that we had a sniff of moving into the top three we seem to have wilted under the pressure. It goes back to Northampton at home in November. Then, towards the end of the season, Swindon away and Gillingham at home – after the great away day at Rochdale – and finally the Crewe game after we’d won at Northampton.

Individually it can be argued that the pressure has got to people at key times and has affected their decision making. Although it’s harsh to pick out players, Richie Smallwood lobbing a weak ball to the back post in the final minute of normal time on Saturday, when he looked far better placed to shoot, is a good example of this.

Even the vastly experienced Hughes was abrasive towards the brilliant Jamie Raynor in his post match interview. It’s something that we’ve seen from previous City managers, but not from Hughes before. And it just goes to show that the pressure and expectation of representing our club –especially at this level – affects even the most experienced in the business.

Tactics

Throughout the season Hughes has often faced criticism about his tactics. The accusation has been that our play is too slow and tentative – “We don’t move the ball quickly enough”. 

How much of a problem this actually has been is debatable. Many teams in League Two conform to the “kick and rush” method, and it’s admirable that Hughes wants to play the game “the right way”. However, there is definitely the feeling that we don’t progress the ball forward at angles and through the lines at pace. And when we do, we only do so for short spells.

These are the spells when we have looked like a really good team, but they haven’t been frequent enough – and are likely to have contributed to our struggles to break teams down who have come and set up in a low block at Valley Parade.

Are we too negative?

It’s an accusation that has been levelled at a lot of City managers during my time following the club so it’s difficult to know when it’s really justified. “He’s too concerned about the opposition. Let them worry about us instead.”

It’s a fine balance to achieve, and one that we appear to have struggled with at times. How many times have we subbed on an extra defender late in games this season, only for it to spectacularly backfire?

This culminated in the second leg at Brunton Park when having just created our goal and having been our best attacking threat, Scott Banks was subbed off in place of Matty Platt to the astonishment and ire of anyone of a claret and amber persuasion. It was the first time in the game where we had the momentum, so to surrender it immediately with such a change was both bewildering and anger inducing.

Hughes said afterwards that Banks was tired and was coming off before his involvement in the goal, but even so you’d expect Dion Pereira or Thierry Nevers to have been brought on as a direct replacement whilst we had the ascendency. 

The fact that despite having three central defenders on the pitch we still then managed to concede to a totally unmarked man in our box means that the substitution will go down as one of the worst that we have seen in recent years.

Has such a substitution ever worked this season? And why do we persist with doing it? What message does it send onto the pitch, both to our players and the opposition? In Carlisle’s case on Saturday, they looked absolutely shattered in the second period of extra time and were there for the taking for the first time in the tie.

Squad issues / transfers

For many years prior to this, the club’s poor business in the transfer market had become embarrassing. Last summer with the much-lauded appointment of Stephen Gent, and the contact book and pull of Hughes, things finally took an upturn and we were all mostly pleased with the signings.  

Unfortunately, the unavoidable yet huge loss of Tyreik Wright in the January transfer window and the arrivals of Nevers, Dara Costelloe and Tolaji Bola undoubtedly left us weaker – especially on the left hand side. When Harry Chapman picked up his season-ending injury, Hughes struggled to find a solution and resorted to a change in shape with Adam Clayton playing alongside Smallwood and Alex Gilliead in a narrow midfield. 

It can be argued that we didn’t see the best of our attacking midfielders behind Andy Cook all season. Largely this was due to injuries and Chapman having to play out of position as the number ten for long periods, but we need more output from that area of the pitch next year.

What else did the squad lack throughout the campaign? Well, not much when we had everyone fit and Wright was with us. But for me, it also would have been better to have some more legs and ball playing ability in central midfield. It would have helped with the moving of the ball and progressing it through the thirds quicker.

In League Two, it’s not just about upgrading on the weaker players in your squad but also about trying to keep hold of your better players too. The two standouts for City this season have been Cook and Harry Lewis – even to the extent that some claim that we have been over reliant on them.

Cook is now out of contract and given his stellar season is sure to receive offers from elsewhere. Lewis is under contract but could receive offers to move up the pyramid. How likely is it that both are still with us on the opening day of the 2023/24 season?

When you add the doubts over those two to the losses of loanees Romonay Crichlow and Banks it’s a little concerning. As always, we have to make sure that the squad is stronger next season than it has been this year if we want to progress.

I know that we say it every year but League Two really does look like it will be tougher next season. Many of the current crop will be stronger – Gillingham and Doncaster to name two. Wrexham and Notts County will splash the cash and be far stronger than Rochdale and Hartlepool, who they have replaced. Those coming down might not look great. But as a whole, the division definitely appears like it will be more competitive and difficult to get out of at the top end.

Hughes deserves huge credit for not just the progress made on the pitch, but also the feeling of togetherness that he’s brought back to our club. But he’s going to have to show that he’s learnt the lessons of this season if we are going to go one better next year. 

Categories: Opinion

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