Bradford City: an underwhelming promotion?

Hello

I am Ipswich Town fan who has recently begun a blog on substack, writing weekly articles about the EFL. This week I have focussed on Bradford City's season so far, as well as the club's recent history and potential future prospects. I've linked the article below.

Any subscriptions would be appreciated, it's free and all the articles will land in your email inbox. Similarly, I'm happy to take pointers because you'll know more about your club than I do.

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on the article and the club's future. Are you confident of making it fourth time lucky and finally getting back up to League One? I had a little read around here and the other Bradford forum on here and it seems not everybody is totally sold on Hughes.

Hope you enjoy.

Jacob’s Substack | Jacob Powley | Substack

 

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. Most of my League Two articles rely on highlights, podcasts and wider reading because I don't get to watch as many games as I do from the other divisions. Naturally it makes me a bit more wary about posting them so it's great to get positive feedback.

As you say it's all about the results and the fine margins. Even if the football isn't great it must be good to at least be on the right path again.

 

Thank you. Part of the reason I chose Bradford to write about this week is that I see a lot of similarities with Town. The clubs were relegated in 2019 but despite having big budgets and large crowds, have underachieved up until now, when both could finally be promoted.

We also had a huge overhaul in the summer of 2021 with a whole new, expensive squad. A lot of us got carried away and expected us to storm the league with our shiny new players but even though budget helps, there's a lot to be said for continuity too.

As I mentioned in the article, I think the fact that Hughes was a Premier League manager actually makes the promotion push more impressive, rather than less. Unless he spent a lot of time studying League Two before he was appointed, he's essentially gone in blind and taken the club to a very promising position in his first full season. It's also been quite an interesting experiment to view as a neutral. Who knows, if he takes you up, maybe we'll see a few more ex-Premier League managers who have fallen off the merry-go-round (Allardyce, Pardew etc) roll their sleeves up and have a go in the lower leagues?

 

Fair play, thought that may be the case because there probably aren't any other EFL managers who are sitting in the play-offs but aren't universally supported by the fans.

When Mick McCarthy was at Ipswich we generally accepted the poor football because he was consistently performing above expectation with no money, but when the results turned, there were no redeeming qualities left. While promotion is the most important thing, I can understand why some aren't happy with Hughes serving up a boring style because he's got more resources to work with than most of the other League Two managers.

 

Hopefully you're right. I'm making the trip up to Oakwell in a couple of weeks, it's an absolutely massive game. I'd still make Plymouth the favourites due to their run in but the results at the weekend have given us some hope again.

I agree with you about the pragmatic football, I can understand why some don't like it but if it gets results, it doesn't matter. I did an article about Gillingham a few weeks back and made a similar point, it's the easier way of getting short-term results but also makes it easier to adjust to League One because many of the teams who play nice football end up back down again within a couple of seasons.

 

Thanks. I'm in the same boat with Town, we've been in this league for four years now and really need to get out. Obviously we're a bit easier on the eye so we don't have the style vs results debate, but personally I'd choose promotion playing direct football over mediocrity and high possession stats every time.

 

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed