Sonny Bradley

[Caerphilly Ram]

I think he did well enough yesterday, as he has done most of the games he’s been involved in the last few months. One heart in mouth moment as the ball deflected off his heel just wide of our goal, I thought I’d jinxed him by asking pre match when his last gaff was.

My only criticism is he either gets unnecessarily involved in wrestling during attacking set pieces (or is genuinely being fouled but not getting the decision 🤔).

Does make for pretty epic pics though! 

[Loughborough Ram]

I've seen at least 3 stonewall penalties that he should have been given this season, where he's been assaulted at a set piece.

I'm hoping that when we play one of the other teams at the top, we will get a better referee that has the gumption and fortitude to make that big decision.

[Ellafella]

13 minutes ago, Loughborough Ram said:

I've seen at least 3 stonewall penalties that he should have been given this season, where he's been assaulted at a set piece.

I'm hoping that when we play one of the other teams at the top, we will get a better referee that has the gumption and fortitude to make that big decision.

This ^. Problem is Sonney has the image of the villain & not the victim so the Lilly-livered Walter Softeys who most refs are these days will never give the foul. 

[Scott129]

3 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

I think he did well enough yesterday, as he has done most of the games he’s been involved in the last few months. One heart in mouth moment as the ball deflected off his heel just wide of our goal, I thought I’d jinxed him by asking pre match when his last gaff was.

My only criticism is he either gets unnecessarily involved in wrestling during attacking set pieces (or is genuinely being fouled but not getting the decision 🤔).

Does make for pretty epic pics though! 

 

[S6 boy]

6 hours ago, Scott129 said:

 

I'm not very good at classical art, but I believe you are saying Macaulay Gillesphey is god.

[S8TY]

Really pleased for him and definitely should’ve won us a penalty yesterday …he hasn’t had a bad game for us for a while  now and think should be cut a bit of slack by some …he looks more intimidating than he actually is but quite a few Charlton fans on train were saying they thought he was good for us 

[Gaspode]

I think a lot of us were guilty of forgetting how long he’d been out injured before he joined us. At the start of the season he may have been physically up to speed but was nowhere near match fit - which was probably the underlying reason for the mistakes he made in the early games - and cocking up so visibly in front of far bigger crowds than he was used to at Luton probably destroyed his confidence. Credit to him (and Warne for they way he’s managed him back into the team) for overcoming those early set backs and seemingly rebuilding his Derby career….

[sage]

It was probably his best performance, it was quite good. No more, no less. He did miskick a clearance almost into his own goal and it wasn't a penalty, he pulled the defender over him. He does it regularly.   

An improvement but still some distance behind Cashin and Nelson. 

[S8TY]

3 hours ago, sage said:

It was probably his best performance, it was quite good. No more, no less. He did miskick a clearance almost into his own goal and it wasn't a penalty, he pulled the defender over him. He does it regularly.   

An improvement but still some distance behind Cashin and Nelson. 

He was trying his best to get to a dangerous cross across our 6 yard box and I for one was glad he got something on it and it went wide as I thought it was a certain goal at the time 

[sage]

34 minutes ago, S8TY said:

He was trying his best to get to a dangerous cross across our 6 yard box and I for one was glad he got something on it and it went wide as I thought it was a certain goal at the time 

It turned out well, I'll give you that 

He did well, buts let's not suggest its the second coming

[sage]

16 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

I think he did well enough yesterday, as he has done most of the games he’s been involved in the last few months. One heart in mouth moment as the ball deflected off his heel just wide of our goal, I thought I’d jinxed him by asking pre match when his last gaff was.

My only criticism is he either gets unnecessarily involved in wrestling during attacking set pieces (or is genuinely being fouled but not getting the decision 🤔).

Does make for pretty epic pics though! 

He pulled the attacker over. At away games you are often close behind the goal and have seen him do this several times.

[Scott129]

15 hours ago, S6 boy said:

I'm not very good at classical art, but I believe you are saying Macaulay Gillesphey is god.

His pass to Bird was a gift from the Gods, to be fair.

[FKANorwichExile]

I think he's a victim of just how good Cash and Nelson have been this year. They're probably two of the top 5 CB's in the league playing in a team who've only conceded 28 all season. He had a shocking start but he's not been anywhere near as bad as some fans seem to make out, which I think is probably more a reaction to not liking us playing a back 5.

[CapeTownRams]

Just watched the game back in full (amazing how u can relax and enjoy watching when u know we have won 😎).

Bradley did much better but his positional sense still seems off to me. Several times Cash or Nelson had to run in behind him to cover. 
There was also much talk about his ‘physicality’ … but I just don’t see it. When he’s jumping for a header or going into a 50/50 I still see him (for such a massive guy) being pushed off the ball too easily. I want to see some fearsome aggression from him so as the opposition’s CF is scared sh@tless.

I think the result is rather tainting some folks’ view but hey, credit where it’s due, he was much better and if he can keep on improving then he may become the player we thought we signed.

Still intrigued what PW does in terms of either three or four at the back. We are too strong with Fozz and Nyambe in a back four to waste that set-up in my view and if CBT is to feature I don’t see how that happens if we stick with 3-5-2.

Gonna be interesting with Wilson as well- I don’t want to see him dropped- offers too much for us going forward in my view …

 

[SKRam]

On 04/02/2024 at 08:38, Caerphilly Ram said:

I think he did well enough yesterday, as he has done most of the games he’s been involved in the last few months. One heart in mouth moment as the ball deflected off his heel just wide of our goal, I thought I’d jinxed him by asking pre match when his last gaff was.

My only criticism is he either gets unnecessarily involved in wrestling during attacking set pieces (or is genuinely being fouled but not getting the decision 🤔).

Does make for pretty epic pics though! 

They’re having an ‘ink-off’ 

[CapeTownRams]

On 04/02/2024 at 03:38, Caerphilly Ram said:

I think he did well enough yesterday, as he has done most of the games he’s been involved in the last few months. One heart in mouth moment as the ball deflected off his heel just wide of our goal, I thought I’d jinxed him by asking pre match when his last gaff was.

My only criticism is he either gets unnecessarily involved in wrestling during attacking set pieces (or is genuinely being fouled but not getting the decision 🤔).

Does make for pretty epic pics though! 

Great photo 👍😎

[BatRam]

think hes finally showing his abilities. i do worry when hes last man tho , even tho curtis davies was as quick as canal boat he wasnt beat often and used his knowledge to do correct decisions. But iv seen bradley get done for pace a few times.

[Srg]

2 minutes ago, CodnorRam said:

think hes finally showing his abilities. i do worry when hes last man tho , even tho curtis davies was as quick as canal boat he wasnt beat often and used his knowledge to do correct decisions. But iv seen bradley get done for pace a few times.

My main concern has always been how tentative he is in the air. For a guy as big and commanding as he looks, he either let it bounce or cowered away from it so regularly it was bizarre to watch. Admittedly, I haven't watched the Charlton game, so I can only go on what others have said in that he played well... so let's hope he's put that behind him.

[Carnero]

1 hour ago, Srg said:

My main concern has always been how tentative he is in the air. For a guy as big and commanding as he looks, he either let it bounce or cowered away from it so regularly it was bizarre to watch. Admittedly, I haven't watched the Charlton game, so I can only go on what others have said in that he played well... so let's hope he's put that behind him.

Agree, especially in his earlier games this season.

It may have something to do with the bad injury he suffered at Luton last season when going for a header?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/20292971/luton-sonny-bradley-reading-championship-injury/

Hopefully he's getting back in the swing of things now.

[Gabby'sThighs]

It's great that Bradley performed well against Charlton, and I hope it continues until June.
On a human level, I have felt bad for him as he was clearly struggling after being out injured for a long time, and his confidence has been shot for months. It must have been a crap time for him.
Well done to him and Warne for managing his way back into the team but I still think we should probably boot him in the summer, definitely if we're in the Championship next season. Signings like Bradley - I assume he's a top earner - should justify themselves by consistently performing to a high standard.
Obviously, once a club in Derby's position have invested in a player like Bradley you are obliged to work your nuts off to get him back up to standard, but I really wish we'd seen this level of time invested in a young CB. Giving someone like Bartley ten or twenty minutes every week could reveal a quality player, whereas we now have a wobbly 32-year-old who is probably going to be gone in summer 2025 either way.

p.s. he didn't get fouled for those penalty shouts, he just grabbed a defender and yanked them over