As the pressure starts to build on Mark Hughes following an underwhelming start to the season, Bradford City captain Sam Stubbs has stated the blame is “100 per cent on the players”.
With just one win in their last five league games, Stubbs has backed his manager after a parade of boos was directed towards the team following the Bantam’s 3-1 defeat to Walsall this past weekend.
Off the back of heartbreak in last year’s League Two playoffs, Bradford was hotly tipped to fight near the top of the league this season, however, with three wins from their opening ten league games, Mark Hughes’ men sit in 14th place with a negative goal difference.
A Hot Manager’s Seat
Despite the defeat to Walsall being the Bantam’s first home loss of the season, back-to-back 1-1 draws with Grimsby Town and Harrogate Town beforehand led to frustrations being let out at Valley Parade.
Now 19 months into his spell with Bradford, Hughes’s appointment shocked the league initially, however, less than two years into the job, his back is firmly against the wall.
Who’s To Blame?
While fans are taking their frustrations out on the Welshmen, club captain Stubbs insisted the team’s recent defeat is solely on the players. With a lack of goal threat outside last year’s League Two top goalscorer Andy Cook, a leaky defence from set-pieces has also led to poor results.
What’s Been Said:
When speaking after the defeat this weekend, Stubbs spoke about how himself and the players take responsibility for the underwhelming start and what they can do better, with quotes from the Telegraph & Argus.
“There are no excuses from us, the formation was fine, we’d watched them, we’d won well last week so this was 100 per cent on the players.
“They (the fans) should be frustrated. It’s not been the best start and we have to take responsibility as players.
“We have to be better. There’s a standard that they want to see and results and that’s not coming at this time.
“There are going to be ups and downs throughout the season and we need the fans. Our biggest arsenal when we are at home is to use them. But we need to give them something and we never did that.”
Writer’s View
Bradford’s start to the season obviously hasn’t been ideal, but I do think it is too early to start calling for Hughes’ seat. Consistency has been a major issue for the team as there have been particular games where Bradford looks like a promotion-caliber team.
However, with far too many performances also in there like last weekend’s, a difficult run of fixtures across October might be what makes or breaks this team.
