“Best years behind them” – Bradford City problem that Mark Hughes has inherited outlined

Bradford City’s recruitment has gone under the spotlight on FLW TV this afternoon, with Marcus Ally suggesting there may need to be an overhaul in the striking department now Mark Hughes is in-charge. 

Hughes has inherited a squad that have scored just 37 goals this season, with Bradford drawing another blank on Saturday as Hughes tasted a 2-0 defeat in his first game in-charge.

Only Andy Cook has reached double figures in terms of goals this season (10), despite the fact that Bradford have a roster of attacking talent that should be able to do so much more damage in League Two.

During FLW TV’s The Debate, where Hughes’ appointment went under the spotlight, Marcus discussed the need for Bradford to recruit that elusive 20-goal striker to lead them to glory in the coming seasons.

He explained: “They have got six strikers at the club at the moment: Andy Cook, Theo Robinson, Lee Angol, Tom Elliott Caolan Lavery and Nathan Delfouneso. All of them, for my money, have their best years behind them.

“That could point to something as to why they’ve struggled so much in the final third this season. Cook and Robinson are quite similar strikers that were put in a front two against Mansfield.

“It’s a cliche to say, ‘go and get that 20 goal striker and it will help you climb up the league’, but that is clearly an area of the pitch that they need to improve.

“The chances have been created this season. Bradford have been able to open up opposition, they just haven’t been able to make a scoreline comfortable and they’ve ended up getting pegged back.”

Despite defeat to Mansfield, Bradford did show flashes of the quality they have building into the final third.

They dominated possession for large spells of the game and had 14 shots on goal