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DIDN'T MAKE HIS MARK
I played for Man Utd legend and ex-Premier League manager – he taught me absolutely nothing
EFL cup skipper reveals his surprising at learning so little under iconic ex-striker
MARK HUGHES was a huge disappointment as Bradford boss and lacked people skills.
That is the damning view of Bantams midfielder Richie Smallwood, who has revealed how underwhelmed he was by the Manchester United legend’s spell at the club.
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Hughes had an illustrious playing career which also took in 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 nation, Wales.
But he had 19 months in charge at Valley Parade before he was sacked in October 2023 with the club sitting 18th in League Two.
Smallwood, 33, took a two-division drop in 2022 having just racked up 42 Championship appearances as Hull captain because of the lure of Hughes.
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But Sparky could only lead the Bantams to play-off semi-final agony in his only full season in charge.
Asked if he enjoyed working for the former star striker, Smallwood said: “To be honest, no. We didn’t get the job done despite having a good enough team.
“I didn’t learn anything from him. I was expecting a lot more. That’s how it is in football sometimes.
“Hughes was the big draw for people to come here.
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“Because of the player he was and the capabilities he had you think that’s going to transfer over as a manager.
“But sometimes it didn’t and that led to us not getting the job done. That was the way it was. I didn’t learn too much from him.”
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Smallwood even hit out at his lack of man-management and communication skills.
He added: “That wasn’t one of his strengths. That’s my honest opinion.”
Bradford sit ninth, two points behind the play-offs and five off the automatic places ahead of entertaining Accrington on Saturday.
And Smallwood believes the team are 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’s intense and gets to work. He’s always early doing his analysis, research and getting his stats together.
“Graham got to know the players when he replaced Hughes and has put his stamp on things during the summer. It has paid off.
“The big thing is our home form, that’s improved hugely this season. We all respect him greatly.”
Bradford has been a tough job to crack 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 has been 20 years since they were in the second tier and 24 since the Prem.
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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’ve not been able to deal with it.
“We’ve had a lot of players here who haven’t played in front of those sorts of crowds before. That might be a factor.
“Also opposing teams set up to keep the crowd quiet and frustrate us — and they can get edgy if we don’t score.
“But things are changing. And there is a great stat that is consistent now — when we score first, we go on to win the game. We’re scoring the first goal more often.”
Smallwood’s drop into the fourth tier from being a Championship captain did seem a strange one from the outside — even with the lure of Hughes.
Yet Smallwood said: “Hull went through a takeover and you find new owners want to get their own people in.
“Often the captain bears the brunt of that.
“But I was excited by the project here. The head of recruitment, Stephen Gent, is a relative of my missus and he sold it to me.
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“My partner was also expecting at the time and while some players who left Hull were patient to wait for an offer, I wasn’t.
"I don’t regret it and, hopefully, we can be promoted this season.”
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