By Adam Raj

Kevin McDonald is having quite the impact isn’t he? Three wins from three with two clean sheets in the process following the departure of Mark Hughes has seen a dramatic shift in atmosphere around Bradford City. None less so than amongst the supporters.

Football is a funny old game, certainly when it comes to opinions on the terraces and in this day and age, social media.
An upturn in results and suddenly the squad isn’t as terrible as it was two weeks ago. We aren’t as much of a one man team as we thought we were and Harry Lewis doesn’t need dropping for Colin Doyle.

I’m being fictitious of course. Comments such as those are barely ten days old but look on social media tonight and you won’t see one like it. But that’s what a couple of wins can do for morale. Right now, everyone is riding the wave of positivity, embracing the fact that we’re actually winning games and they’re not a complete eyesore.

McDonald has got this City side fired up with a lot more energy and a higher tempo both in and out of possession. The quality is still lacking at times, and that was particularly the case this afternoon in what turned out to be a very stereotypical League Two affair.

Put simply and I emphasise simply, that was two sides running at each other for 90 minutes. Both teams didn’t let the other play and both lacked the composure and confidence in possession to halt the pinball like play that plagued most of the contest.
It didn’t make for the most entertaining of games, most certainly in the first half which was a poor show from both sides.

The hosts, missing star striker Ali Al-Hamadi due to international duty, did come the closest through in-form winger James Tilley. The Wimbledon number 7 raced onto an Omar Bugiel flick-on but was thwarted by the feet of Lewis, who was indebted to the spin of the ball on the rebound which allowed Liam Ridehalgh to step in and prevent Tilley from tapping home the rebound.

City struggled to get the attacking quartet of Adam Wilson, Jamie Walker, Bobby Pointon and Andy Cook into the game at all. Credit must go to the Wimbledon defenders for keeping Cook very quiet this afternoon.

The second half followed much of the same story. That was until substitute Emmanuel Osadebe bagged his second goal in the space of a few days. A spell of head tennis allowed Cook to flick on for Osadebe who nodded beyond centre half Joe Lewis to send him through on goal. A slip from former Bantam Alex Bass left the Wombles keeper with no chance as City’s number eight placed the ball into the corner of his goal.

Osadebe is a weird one. One moment he looks like a player with an abundance of natural ability and the next he does something that wouldn’t look out of place in a park on a Sunday morning. However, his two goals have been real moments of quality and after another quiet performance by Wilson, he’s quite rightly pushing for a start.

This match was the very epitome of “the game needs a goal.” Wimbledon suddenly had to push, break shape somewhat and commit men forward in pursuit of an equaliser. It meant City found more space on the transition, managed to counter attack with more space and generally play with a bit more confidence. The game was better for it.

Walker would go closest for the visitors, forcing a comfortable save from Bass and then curling over after good work between Brad Halliday and Alex Gilliead created a great chance for the City number ten.
The hosts would ultimately go closest to finding the back of the net but a mixture of bad luck and bad finishing cost them.

Armani Little blazed over from eight yards out following a swift break away and Bugiel’s half volley flashed narrowly wide via a Ridehalgh deflection. The Wimbledon striker would go within a whisker of levelling the tie as his near post glancing header bounced off the inside of the post before being cleared. Wimbledon thought they had a shout for a penalty in the dying minutes as Halliday and Tilley tangled – but that one looks increasingly less of a penalty with every replay.

Wimbledon can probably feel hard done by that they’ve lost tonight. On another day, the result could’ve been different, just as it could have last weekend. They are a quintessential League Two side – 4-4-2, long ball football to two units. They certainly weren’t a side who were particularly pleasing on the eye and with Bugiel and Josh Davison up front they have two strikers who like to throw the elbows about and rough up the opposition.

But City stood up to it well. They didn’t shy away from the physical battle and remained resolute throughout. Admittedly, City rode their luck this afternoon as McDonald himself admits. And whilst that should play into the longer term thinking for him and his successor, we shouldn’t celebrate and enjoy the win any less.

Good fortune and the famous managerial bounce often go hand in hand. I think it would be slightly unfair to put the last weeks’ improvement totally down to a bounce and McDonald deserves huge credit for the turnaround. But it’s important to balance it out and not get too carried away.

He may not see it, but the changes McDonald has implemented have been quite drastic. The playing style has flipped on it’s head – no short goal kicks and players favouring the long ball over retaining possession. Set pieces, in particular corners, have also seen a change in approach – only Cook and Sam Stubbs have zonal marking duties, with the rest being deployed on a man-to-man basis. That in particular has eliminated the glaring weakness of the back post that every team has targeted (and had joy with) for the last six months. Despite nearly conceding from a corner, City stood up well to Wimbledon’s set pieces which arrived in their numbers.

McDonald is bringing out performances, which although far from perfect, are trending in the right direction. His successor (whenever he arrives) needs to continue this trend with the high pressing, high energy, aggressive football but also mix it with the controlled possession of Hughes’ tenure. We do need to get a hold of the ball more and be less chaotic with it. Turnover after turnover of possession makes the game unpredictable and uncontrollable and ultimately makes results unsustainable.

But right now, McDonald is doing more than any of us could have expected. He’s given us that winning feeling back, the optimism going into games and knowing that we’ll see a side who aren’t crossing the white line in fear of their opponents. He’s building the momentum for the next manager to hopefully come in and evolve this side even further.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2023/24, AFC Wimbledon, BCAFC, League Two