MARK HUGHES was a huge disappointment as Bradford boss and had no social skills.
That is the damning view of Bantams midfielder Richie Smallwood, who has revealed how disappointed he was by the Manchester United legend's time at the club.
Hughes had an illustrious playing career that also included stints at Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Southampton, Everton and Blackburn.
He also managed Rovers, Manchester City, Southampton, Stoke, Fulham and QPR in the Premier League, as well as his home country Wales.
But he spent 19 months in charge at Valley Parade before being sacked in October 2023 with the club 18th in League Two.
Smallwood, 33, dropped down two divisions in 2022 having just made 42 Championship appearances as captain of Hull due to the appeal of Hughes.
But Sparky could only lead the Bantams to the playoff semifinals in his only full season in charge.
When asked if he enjoyed working for the former star striker, Smallwood said: “To be honest, no. Even though we had a good enough team, we didn't get the job done.
“I didn't learn anything from him. I expected much more. That's how it goes sometimes in football.
“Hughes was the big draw for people to come here.
“Because of the player he was and the ability he had, you think he will pass as a manager.
“But sometimes that didn't happen and that prevented us from getting the job done. That's how it was. I didn't learn much from him.”
In fact, Smallwood stood out for his lack of man management and communication skills.
He added: “That wasn't one of his strengths. That's my honest opinion.”
Bradford are ninth, two points behind the play-offs and five points outside the automatic places, ahead of Accrington on Saturday.
And Smallwood believes the team is heading in a better direction under Hughes' successor Graham Alexander.
The former Salford, Scunthorpe, Fleetwood and MK Dons boss may not have had the glittering career of Hughes, but he has played at all levels from League Two to the Premier League.
Smallwood, who played for Alexander at Scunny, said: “He is intense and gets to work. He always starts early with his analyses, research and collecting his statistics.
“Graham got to know the players when he replaced Hughes and put his stamp on things over the summer. It has paid off.
“The most important thing is our home form, which has improved enormously this season. We all respect him enormously.”
Bradford has been a tough job in recent years.
The Bantams get almost 17,000 fans at home and yet this is their fifth season stuck in League Two – and it's 20 years since they played in the second tier and 24 years since the Prem.
Smallwood said: “People look from the outside and see we get big crowds and have a big stadium.
“There is a big expectation that comes from that, but we haven't been able to deal with it.
“We've had a lot of players here who haven't played in front of that kind of crowd before. That could be a factor.
“Opposing teams also try to keep the crowd quiet and frustrate us – and they can get tense if we don't score.
“But things are changing. And there is a great statistic that is now consistent: if we score first, we win the match. We score the first goal more often.”
Smallwood's fall to the fourth tier as Championship captain seemed strange from the outside, even with the appeal of Hughes.
Still, Smallwood said: “Hull has gone through a takeover and you see that new owners want to bring in their own people.
“The captain is often the victim of this.
“But I was excited about the project here. The head of recruitment, Stephen Gent, is a relative of my wife and he sold it to me.
“My partner was also pregnant at the time and while some of the players leaving Hull waited patiently for an offer, I did not.
“I have no regrets and hopefully we can get promoted this season.”
Comments