| MK Dons 4 |
| Tomlinson 4, Payne 31, Dean 59, Gilbey 90 |
| Bradford City 1 |
| Gilliead 17 |
By Nikhil Vekaria
Bradford City suffered their first defeat under caretaker boss Kevin McDonald in a game which acted as a stark reminder of the issues which had plagued the end of the Mark Hughes era.
The Bantams had gone four games unbeaten under the Scot prior to the trip to Stadium MK, with calls for him to be offered the role on a full-time basis growing in some quarters. However, a hammering at the hands of The Dons, in a game which was new boss Mike Williamson’s first at home, will likely only sharpen the focus around the new manager search.
City’s team selection was impacted by suspensions to Richie Smallwood and Jamie Walker, both missing after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Wrexham. These suspensions shone the light on some of the weaknesses in City’s squad, with caretaker boss McDonald being forced into taking the far from ideal step of naming himself in central midfield – this despite the official club website listing 31 first-team players as currently at the club.
Adam Wilson, the scorer of Saturday’s late equaliser came in for Jamie Walker, whilst Ash Taylor retained his place at centre-back next to stand-in captain Sam Stubbs. There was no room on the bench for Jonathan Tomkinson, who Hughes worked so hard to get in on deadline day.
MK were searching for their first league win in nine games, but their first home performance since the appointment of ex Newcastle defender Williamson suggests that they were previously in a false league position. It is very early days for the 39-year-old, but based on the evidence of this one, City may regret not moving for a man they were linked with after the sacking of Hughes.
MK started brightly but were helped by City keeper Harry Lewis conceding a soft corner which could have been avoided. From the resulting set-piece, ex-Bantam Jack Payne found Joe Tomlinson on the edge of the box, with the midfielder sweeping The Dons into the lead after just four minutes. MK continued to keep the ball, pushing forward and making the most of the possession they found themselves in. They could have been 3-0 up within the first 15 minutes, with Alex Gilbey, Max Dean and Tomlinson all coming close to doubling the lead. One effort looked so goalbound that goal music was actually played in the stadium, despite the ball bouncing back off the post.
Despite this bright start, The Dons were unable to double their lead and City hit back through Alex Gilliead after some bright work from Bobby Pointon. The youngster, who had already shown some bright touches, worked hard to keep possession and after a good advantage was played by the referee, Gilliead thumped home from outside the box. The travelling Bantams, tucked away in the upper-tier, hoped this would be the catalyst for City to grow further into the game after what had been an undeniably shaky start.
However, Payne restored MK’s lead just after the half-hour mark, a free kick from 25 yards flying in past Harry Lewis. MK continued to impress, with Williamson seemingly having had an impact with his possession-based football already. They could have easily extended their lead before they did, Lewis making a superb save and ex-Leeds youngster Max Dean hitting both the post and bar before he eventually added the third from a Tomlinson cross just before the hour.
MK missed more chances to extend their lead, Lewis denying Payne from a one-on-one which the attacking midfielder should’ve done a lot better with. However, they did add a deserved fourth late on as Stubbs failed to control a sloppy pass from his defensive partner Taylor, with Alex Gilbey taking full advantage to slot home past Lewis.
This was a tough night for City. One that again showed some of the major holes in player recruitment over the summer. Just two suspensions, one of which was to a player who couldn’t even get in the side towards the end of Hughes reign, seemed to have a major impact on City. Taylor, who kept his place after a solid performance against Wrexham, looked completely out of his depth, with MK able to get behind a slow centre back pairing time and time again. It is not an exaggeration to say that a more clinical side could’ve racked up eight.
Another major issue was up front, with Andy Cook appearing to be carrying a knock and seriously below his best. However, Tyler Smith doesn’t appear to be trusted to start games and looked off the pace when he came on, albeit into a difficult situation. The lack of competition for Cook is a major concern, with Vadaine Oliver still out injured. City will be desperate for the frontman to find some of the form he showed at Gillingham when he returns, especially as the decision was made to give him a three-year deal in the summer of 2022.
One bright spark for the Bantams was the return of Harry Chapman from a long-term injury. When he limped off at Swindon in April, City were on the verge of the automatic promotion spots. They would go on to lose at eventual play-off winners Carlisle in the semi-finals. Six months on, Chapman returned to a side sitting 15th in the League Two table after 15 games, still without a permanent manager since the sacking of Hughes.
The good work that Kevin McDonald has done since stepping in shouldn’t be overshadowed by one performance. And this season is still young enough for City to have a real go. However, this was a harsh reality check which showed that the new man in charge will be inheriting a large squad with a lot of holes.
Categories: Match Reviews
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widthofapost.com 
Weakened by injury and, no doubt, the enormous effort we put in against Wrexham, we were off the pace all night. It pained me to see Lewis’s 30-minute appearance at a recent press conference, gushing over his indebtedness to Hughes, seemingly oblivious to the likelihood his goalkeeping mistakes contributed to the former manager’s sacking. I’ve lost track of the times he’s been beaten at his left post and from direct freekicks. He was probably at fault last night for both the first two goals – which proved too big a handicap to overcome. For all the size of the squad, it seems lacking in key areas. There is apparently no alternative to Lewis, and Cook had to soldier on with his leg strapped. At centre back, however, we do have several options and I suggest we don’t want to send out Stubbs and Taylor as a pair again. It’s one or the other, preferably Stubbs. They are too slow to play together. A big job lies ahead for the next manager, whoever it is. We need to send back all the loanees at the end of the year and bring in a couple of major players, not a handful of squad-fillers. Bad recruitment was another contributing factor to the poor start to the season. It seems illogical that Hughes and Hodges had to go but Gent is still with us. Surely he isn’t the man to be trusted with replacing the duff players he himself brought to the club. Notwithstanding last night’s result, I still hope McDonald is offered the job but the chances of that are now looking slimmer. I thought his post match interview was refreshingly honest. He is an impressive man and I think he will ultimately enjoy a career in management.
Was one of the 700 or so City fans at the game last night, my first trip to the soul-less £50 million home of MK Dons and their very small ‘fan base’ – three quarters empty, a weird atmosphere for a game. Scarily poor performance by City, which took a lot of City fans (me included) completely by surprise. Possibly the worst I’ve seen since Edin Rahic was pulling Michael Collins’ strings five years ago. Could so very easily have been 7-1 or 8-1 to the home team. We sorely missed several players, either suspended or injured. Third goal well worked, the other three conceded were really poor from a defensive point of view. Felt for Kevin McDonald attempting to combine managing and playing. Will be at Sutton on Saturday – not entirely clear who will be City manager by then but the team has to do much better – and fast.
Wow is all I can say! MK Dons what a sensational performance .
We had all the ball until Lewis inexplicably gave them a corner. And from then on, it was like playing a team from another division. Probably even more dominant than Middlesbrough were.
I’m not a football expert but clearly our tactics must have been wrong as they aren’t from another division! It’s not an exaggeration to say 7-1 would not have flattered their dominance.
We need to get a manager in. I worry that the City hierarchy as the fan base and they were leaving it until we lost. If that reactionary attitude is true, it is very poor. I hope that we are interviewing and waiting for the right man.
I disagree with Mitchell about Gent and the signings. On the whole they have been good, if a little imbalanced, but we need someone to set up them right.
In my opinion Rob the tactics were wrong, but for the “right” reasons.
The intention was to overcome their possession football by pressing high and forcing mistakes -it worked for our equaliser. However, the high press created a lot a space for MKD to utilise, which is, of course, one of the main aims behind possession football and the reason behind defenders passing the ball to each other in, and around, the 18yd box. They took advantage of the space that became available by giving their player with the ball easy passing options to players in close proximity and also players in space in wide areas.
They excelled at passing by moving into space to receive a return ball or to receive the “second ball” as part of a “triangle” of passes. City players were closing down ONLY after an MKD player had already had enough time on the ball to have a couple of touches as opposed to having already been in a close marking position and being able to “pounce” should he be picked out by his team-mate for a pass. And even if an MKD player had to play a pass “first-time” the pass was made easy because a team-mate was in space and easy to pick out.
With the benefit of being able to see MKD play like that against another league 2 team prior to us having to play them KMc would have set-up with a more defensive counter-attacking approach -I would have thought- due to the incredibly impressive way they operated there possession based approach.
And with the benefit of hindsight, City should have shelved the high press approach and have reverted to the defensive counter-attacking tactic after Gillead had got us level. But, it was still understandable to be tempted to continue with the high press due to the fact it brought about the winning of possession by Pointon that lead to the equaliser. Once MKD took the lead again the option to defend and counter-attack had practically gone. If your KMc how do you explain to the fans that you had set up to concentrate on defending when you are 2-1 down? Especially against a team with the recent form of MKD and after the toe-to-toe, out and out, attacking performance against Wrexham.
I see last nights game as a great opportunity to learn from what caused the high press to fail and to coach how to improve the chances of the high press working in similar circumstances in the future OR why a totally different tactic should be employed. The supporters have been wanted 100% effort and an attacking approach but it didn’t work last night because of, in my opinion, at least those reasons I have mentioned.
I don’t think there is any need to panic. Let’s see how the team respond. Three very entertaining games with 7 points from 9 and then 1 embarrassing thrashing every 4 games sounds pretty acceptable to me. Although, having said that, I haven’t been bothered enough to look at where the points haul would likely leave us come the end of the season.
I’m a bit surprised that after less than a third of the season we have had 3 players suspended for 5 yellow cards. The suspensions of Smallwood and Walker may have been critical last night. I’m not pointing the finger at anyone but the squad may need a collective ponder over the amount of yellow cards we are picking up as the suspensions will become increasingly severe.
Before the season started I thought suspensions would play a bigger part across the whole FL. The tougher line being taken by refs this season will mean more yellows and more suspensions.
I think it would have been better to have East and Young available
Spot on and why get shut of songo?
Recruitment beggars belief this season
We wanted more front foot attacking football. Every game since McDonald took over we have given up chances to the opposition and could have quite easily lost the games won it.
Yes MK Dons exploited this and were very good. I don’t think McDonald should be permanent (this time around) but we need to accept that no matter who the manager is if we want to play offensive football there are going to be games where it doesn’t work and may result in sometimes getting battered.
Hughes played pragmatic, defensive football, limiting the opposition as he believed it was the best approach to success and we didn’t like it. We couldn’t accept the boring nature of the games.
There’s no doubt Wrexham are one of the best teams in the league but they’ve had 5 put past them on 3 occasions, including by MK Dons (+ Stockport and Swindon).
Notts County have also conceded 5 twice and 4 once. I imagine this won’t be as prominent over the course of the season as they become accustomed to life at this level and adapt (much like Stockport who look like ominously good at winning weekly).
Any new manager will need to find out what his squad is capable of and adapt accordingly to get the result we crave but while he is doing so our learnings could come from some humblings.
I think last night showed the need for a proper manager. I really like Mcdonald and believe his time will very much come as a manager but i feel whilst he has a desire to keep playing we need to recruit a more permanent figure on the dug out.
Last night came as no suprise if i’m honest. For me MK Dons away is by far the toughest game given the size of the pitch and the depth of squad they have. Given they have appointed a new manager and his first home game in charge the recipe was all set for it been a tough night and throw in losing 2 key starters you could say the writing was on the wall.
The concerning aspect for me and the most dissapointing is we didn’t set out correctly for what was gonna happen. Last night we should have switched to a back 3. Playing a high line on a pitch that size with 2 of the slowest CB’s we were always gonna be cut open and it proved to be the case on many occasion.
Attacking perspective i’m confused how Osadebe was given another start. He’s had a good few cameo’s from the bench but he’s looked inaffective when starting against both Wrexham and MkDons from the wide position.
Cook is clearly injured and i feel it maybe time to drop him to allow him to rest for the 2nd part of the season.
With Cook i very much feel it’s similar to Harry Kane when he was Tottenham. I feel city have to play a certain way to accomodate him and there’s no doubt Cook is a brilliant forward at this level but whilst he’s carrying this injury and his movement is restricted opposition CB’s are finding it far easier to defend against him. I would very much like to see us go with two up top with maybe smith and tulloch and just mix it up.
I don’t expect any immediate change this week and expect Mcdonald to lead the team at Sutton and fully expect 3 points but i feel it’s time for a new man to come in and give them 18 months. If we can stay in and around the top 12 by January and recruit in the key areas and recall Young and East we may well could have a good end of season. Previous years both Bolton and Bristol Rovers have started poorly and gone on fine runs in the 2nd half of the season, Maybe it could be our time
Last night really hammered home just how bad the recruitment was over the summer. Since he came in, KMac has basically deployed a team we had last year and it’s worked, but with a few injuries/suspensions and tired legs after a big game on Saturday we got absolutely schooled by a much livelier squad.
Perhaps Pattison was a good add but hard to see him displacing Gilly, Smallwood or Walker.
No question for me that returning all our loan players in Jan and bringing all ours back would make us far better.
Why is there no conversation about the lack of preparedness shown in the recruitment of a new manager? Surely any well-run club would have had list ready before the sacking of Mark Hughes? There was plenty of evidence that he was going to fail and to wait until his demise to start a search looks negligent to me.
I really don’t think that sacking MH was on anyones radar, he was a good man that had done a lot to galvanise the club, he was coming of a playoff campaign and was promising a more attacking approach. I’m sure everyone involved was expecting another near-miss or promotion season, which i’m sure would have led to a new contract or a parting of ways at the end of the season.
It all turned very quickly, the team was seemingly unable to play the way Hughes wanted and he really didn’t seem to be interested enough to turn it around. The negativity exploded and the move had to be made just to give us some semblance of entertainment on match day.
To think that Sparks should have been able to see it coming and to have a string of quality replacement managers interested in this job (and squad..) just waiting in the wings seems a stretch to me.
What’s the sales pitch to a decent manager:
Big crowds ✅
big expectations ❌
average wage budget ❌
average (aging) squad ❌
shit training facilities ❌
Summarised absolutely perfectly
Thanks
I think last night showed up a weakness in the squad and yes McDonald made mistakes. A spine with 3 slow players – Taylor, McDonald and (an injured) Cook, was a mistake. The squad should have at least one other fit Striker with some presence (that’s not Derbyshire, Smith or Oliver) or how can you play the pressing game? And they looked tired and unorganised. I am confident that it’s a blip and going forward the return Smallwood and Walker, Chapman and Oliver, the inclusion of Richards and Tomkinson and the recall of Young and East will make it look a completely different story.
I wonder how McDonald views his own performance and how it was affected by the pressure of being player manager? Anyway, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.
It’s not a “proper manager” we are crying out for. It’s a cohesive and deliberate coaching set up.
Clear roles and responsibilities and the best talent that we are able to afford in each role.
Head of recruitment. (I’ve no idea if gent is good or bad)
Director of football / football operations.
Coach / manager
Assistant
Sports scientist
Fitness coach.
I think of the days of Parkinson / Parkin and in particular the role and positive impact of Nick Allamby. I’m not here for a Parkinson park in love in. But their roles were / are crystal clear. Allamby had our squad in amazing shape. I recall more than one occasion players and staff commenting on his impact.
I think nicks role and impact are often forgotten. I think he’s at Middlesbrough now with carrick. But having someone that good again or who can become that good is just as important as who the next manager is
My twopenneth.
CTID
Totally agree with your comment we don’t look as fit as we should be.