The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Swindon Town Saturday 7th October 2023 3:00pm

If he plays players in their normal roles that will be a start.

 

Are you venturing out tomorrow Mrs O......to the match I mean ?

 

Not convinced by McDonald in his interview. Seems very nervous, which could be due to doing media but just the way he talks doesn't come across like a manager. I'm a bit nervous for tomorrow and expect a heavy loss

 

A bit like the PE teacher in KES

 

Yes, I know I said I would not go back until there was good improvement but I feel we need to support the lad’s whatever the result.

 

In fact there's a resemblance between McDonald & Brian Glover.

 

Not used to TV interviews.

 

We all need to get down to VP tomorrow and get right behind the lads, whatever team old Mcdonald selects.
Support from first to last minute.
Its a new start and hopefully an end to sideways boring football.

 

It was for BCAFC YouTube, not TV. But I get your point

 

Thinking about it I'm gutted I can't go tomorrow. I didn't dislike Hughes as a bloke but he football really made it a tough watch 90% of the time.

I know nothing has really changed as of yet but it's got that new season feeling now and it feels like I've got the buzz back.

Genuinely feel like it's a win coming tomorrow and I'm going to miss out!

 

I'm the opposite.

I don't want to be, but I'm dreading it.

The missus isn't going, but daughter wants to...

Feel utterly despondent with zero confidence.

 

I think we'll win tomorrow. We might well see a completely different set of players. A very tiny part of me wonders if they somehow played a part in Hughes' demise, subconsciously or otherwise.

 

Players are absolute ‘see you next Tuesdays’ if they want a manager out.

 

Alright Fordy, calm down fella.

 

Not really. Plenty of people in work hate their boss and it demotivates them.

It's not a conscious lack of effort, it's just a lack of desire to go that extra yard or through the pain barrier and the drop off can be substantial

 

I disagree with this.

It was Hughes who;

- Picked the team
- Picked the formation(s)
- Set the team up to play in particular ways (i.e defending corners 11 men in the box, short GKs, always keeping x amount of players at the back, etc etc etc)
- Worked on various tactics in training and instilled a type of play in them for 18 months
- Shipping players out who dared question him (meaning players had little freedom to express themselves)
- The list goes on..

If McDonald changes all the above then that has little to do with desire - it's down to footballing nous. You could have all the desire in the world but if you're set up to defend for the best part of the match the results and performances aren't gonna be as pretty as a more forward thinking approach.

 

You can only scratch the surface in two training sessions. The best we can hope for is to do what Morais said we should do last week. That’s work harder at closing down which will allow us to be better on the ball

 

How? If a manager (in any line of work) is making you [as an individual or as a collective] demoralised, demotivated, and perhaps miserable - why would you want to have them around?

Let's say for example the players were completely fed up with Hughes's tactics and management style as we were - and they had the same opinions as us (especially in recent weeks) - if we had the opportunity to down tools to force an exit then I bet the majority of us would. Many on here were actively hoping for losses to force him out and we care even more about this club than the players do so it's not really beyond reality that this occurred is it.

 

I think that kind of outlook tells us everything about the youth of today or anyone under 30 for that matter.
Many people don’t like their boss or the idea of being asked to do tasks they don’t want to do but you can’t just down tools or perform badly until you get your own way.
I’m not saying I was happy with Hughes and you might be right that the players weren’t happy either but fans pay money and the players have an obligation to give 100% in every game.
I was at Tranmere and for 25mins we battered them so I’m certain they were trying their hardest. What might de-motivate them more is the persistent mistakes from team mates that makes the hard work all for nothing.