By Jason McKeown

As Mark Hughes headed over to Bradford City supporters at the final whistle to face a torrent of anger, Sam Stubbs walked just behind his beleaguered boss, pleading with the away end to stop their show of dissent. As gestures go, Stubbs’ actions proved as futile as the dismal midfield play that allowed Tranmere Rovers’ Kieran Morris to charge through and win this game. And as ineffectual as the weak goalkeeping from Harry Lewis that had enabled Tranmere to open the scoring. Stubbs’ appeals fell on deaf ears. The away end was not holding back in its verdict on the City boss.

Mark Hughes’ time at Bradford City is seemingly over. The noises before this crunch game strongly suggested that a Bantams defeat would see him sacked, and the woeful way in which the visitors lost at Prenton Park gave the travelling fans plenty of ammunition to make their feelings known. We’re now left sitting and waiting for someone at Valley Parade to take a picture of the corner flag, so it could head up the seemingly inescapable announcement of a parting of ways.

Stubbs clearly remains behind Hughes. And to be fair on this evidence, so did most of his team mates. Some had collapsed on the floor at full time, perhaps knowing the inevitability of what happens next. They didn’t stop trying all game – that much was obvious – but their lack of guile, quality and aptitude to come back for a point that might have saved Hughes proved well beyond them.

This was in many ways a re-run of the Walsall game on Saturday. You could go further, in fact, and say it was a re-run of so many of the 82 Bradford City games Hughes has overseen. A good start – this time with some decent chances created – before it stalled and ultimately fell apart. If football matches only lasted 25 minutes, Bradford City under Hughes would probably be top of League One right now, a few short years away from winning the Champions League. Games last much longer of course, and this one felt like an especially long night.

It all began to unravel when Tranmere’s Regan Hendry found a bit of space on the edge of the box, hit a pot shot, and somehow Harry Lewis made a complete mess of palming it away, the ball nestled into the back of the net. Lewis began as he left off on Saturday – confidence completely shot to pieces. His nerves were evident by several misplaced passes and shaky clearances early doors. Hendry’s shot lacked ferociousness, and probably could have been caught by Lewis if he’d just stood and got his body behind it. Another unfortunate howler.

At that point another hard luck story was forming. City were the better team in the first half for sure. Tranmere at times looked utterly woeful. But they grew into the game thereafter. For Hughes, the misfortune continued when the returning Alex Pattison went down injured and had to go off. Attempts to have both Jamie Walker and Pattison in the same starting XI – however dubious of a plan it looks – were over before it had really had a chance.

In the second half the fall away continued. Like on Saturday, you expected City to emerge from a half time team talk full of determination and urgency to come back. But like on Saturday, it didn’t happen. Eventually City did start to mount some attacks, but timidness was evident everywhere you looked. A collection of players passing the ball around too often and, with it, passing on responsibility too often to others. Who is going to be brave enough? As scorn began to pour down on young players Daniel Oyegoke and early sub Rayhaan Tulloch – who had replaced Pattison – you began to fear the team was folding.

To their credit they did find an equaliser. Adam Wilson played a short corner to Brad Halliday, who swung over a superb cross. The ball seemed to be slightly behind Andy Cook, but City’s number nine displayed remarkable aerial prowess to rise highest and send a powerful header crashing into the back of the net. That’s five goals in the last three league games for Cook, who is most certainly back. If only the team around him weren’t so feeble at creating him good chances.

You thought that would be the catalyst for a City win. That the team would seize the moment – seize on Tranmere fragility – to power on. But Tranmere were undoubtedly the better side in the second half. They pushed City back, and the visitors continued to look disjointed and slow paced when they did go forward.

Tranmere controversially won a penalty just after the hour when Kevin McDonald was ruled to have his foot too high in the air as he attempted to block a rebound attempt. He seemed to win the ball, but the referee Scott Oldham – who had an abysmal game – ruled against the veteran midfielder. Josh Hawkes took the spot kick. Lewis saved. A huge moment for the City keeper personally.

Again, you hoped it would be a turning point.

Again, it wasn’t.

The fact was that City could not change the direction of the tide. Richie Smallwood – not seen in action since he was jeered off when substituted against Harrogate a fortnight ago – surprisingly came on. Was this moment the City skipper began to prove his critics wrong? Where he went into bat for Hughes in a heroic way? Nope. Smallwood was dreadful, giving the ball away in the build up to Tranmere’s winner. It was a goal well taken by Morris, but the way in which Smallwood and Oyegoke lost runners in the build up was criminal.

There were still seven minutes of normal time, and a further seven minutes of stoppage time, for City to come back. They huffed. They puffed. But what was the game plan? At no stage did they create any meaningful pressure that hinted they could nick a point. They looked completely out of ideas.

Hughes copped for it big time at the end as he came over to thank the fans. He does deserve some credit for coming to face the inevitable backlash. I still remember two years when City lost here under Derek Adams, and the players got all the abuse while the Scot ran down the tunnel at full time to leave them to face it on their own. Feeble leadership.

As the axe prepares to fall, it’s hard to make any case for why Hughes deserves more time. If you are judging him purely on this season, there is just so little to be impressed by. The players are not set up effectively. They don’t seem to operate in a way that suits their strengths. Here – as on Saturday – the substitutions only made City weaker.

There’s a scattergun approach to team selection. Wilson was thrust into a full debut here, when on Saturday he wasn’t even brought on from the bench. He did okay and no arguing about the effort, but sadly there was absolutely no end product. The experiment of playing Oyegoke as a central midfielder shows flashes of promise, but is this really the right moment for Hughes to do this when his job is on the line? Dropping Alex Gilliead was really curious. City needed willing workers with bravery and, for all Gilliead’s faults, that is what he gives you.

You look at the signings made this summer, and it looks an absolute mess. Only Pattison can count as an early success. So many others do not look good enough to play week in week out. The drive to go 3-5-2 saw us place too many recruitment eggs in one basket, leaving us incredibly short in key areas. We’ve got players signed to play a certain way, which we’ve had to move away from, leaving many new faces already surplus to requirements. It reflects so badly on not just Hughes, but Stephen Gent.

It’s 40 years this very month since Mark Hughes made his professional debut, when he came on as a substitute for Manchester United in a Milk Cup win over Port Vale. It’s 24 years since Hughes began his managerial career, taking over the Wales national team.

An incredible career. Two spells at Manchester United, successful periods at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He was popular when he turned out at Chelsea, Everton, Southampton and Blackburn. He’s managed some of the game’s biggest names, along the way of being in charge at Blackburn, Man City, Fulham, QPR, Stoke and Southampton. More than 600 club appearances as a player. More than 650 club games as a manager.

But it seems that an amazing 40-year career ends here. With boos and with fury. Hughes has offered scant evidence of late that he can turn this situation around. And as much as swapping managers has repeatedly failed at Bradford City, it now seems an unavoidable outcome.       

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/24, BCAFC, League Two, Tranmere Rovers