Sonny Bradley

[Anag Ram]

12 minutes ago, Srg said:

He’s so tentative. He’s a massive guy but doesn’t attack the ball at all. He’s supposedly a captain type but there’s no communication and nothing commanding about him. Truly, truly awful. 

There was no comparison between him and the big centre half for Oxford.

[Srg]

48 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

There was no comparison between him and the big centre half for Oxford.

That was exactly how you’d expect Bradley to be playing. Instead we’ve got a broken turnstile. 

[Steve Buckley’s Dog]

Very underwhelming isn’t he. I expected a leader after his signing interview but instead we have a disinterested mouse stood behind a rabbit staring into the headlights. Looks like his legs are gone to me. Their big number 5 - that was what I expected, and hoped, Bradley to be.

5 defensive signings and our best defence is still probably Smith, Foz, Cashin and Sibley. Dear oh dear. 

[RoyMac5]

He's another who would look better in a back four. He's an old-style centre half. He does not want to be coming out of defence with the ball and he's not got the pace to play a high line. Stand him at the back and let him kick it and head it! Although he missed another good chance from a corner, he doesn't seem 'aggressive' enough.

You remember players wanting the ball, wanting to score (Curtis!), well that's not Bradley. 

[Srg]

2 minutes ago, RoyMac5 said:

He's another who would look better in a back four. He's an old-style centre half. He does not want to be coming out of defence with the ball and he's not got the pace to play a high line. Stand him at the back and let him kick it and head it! Although he missed another good chance from a corner, he doesn't seem 'aggressive' enough.

You remember players wanting the ball, wanting to score (Curtis!), well that's not Bradley. 

You got one thing right. Old-style.

He doesn't head it or kick it. He shies away from it like a child afraid of the ball.

[OoooMarkWright]

I can’t believe the hype our fans had about Bradley when we signed him. Some went way OTT. Made out we were signing the new Stimac. Ridiculous. That being said, I didn’t expect him to be a Bragstaad/Albentosa wannabe. For a player of 6ft4 he is shocking at attacking the ball. Soooo slow. Nelson not much better. Great recruitment. 

[eccles the ram]

I don't think he is up to playing in front of big crowds. His confidence took a big knock in the Wigan game when he gifted them a goal. Same with some other of the recent signings. They don't want to feel the wrath of the crowd so take the easy option of a sideways/reverse pass or let someone else go for the ball. Confidence is everything. Unfortunately Warne doesn't seem to be instilling this into the team with his square pegs in round holes system. We the fans need to encourage the team and they have to show us by wanting to win mentality. Saturday to me is going to be pivitol as a 3rd consecutive home league would spell disaster for our confidence and promotion prospects. Hope the management and staff turn it around big time. Long way to go though and,with the transfer window still open we may be able to sell Sonny!!! UTR!

 

 

[RoyMac5]

25 minutes ago, Srg said:

You got one thing right. Old-style.

He doesn't head it or kick it. He shies away from it like a child afraid of the ball.

There was one of the friendlies where he looked competent in tackles and headers when in the box (ours not theirs 😄 ) can't remember which one.

But the rest of the time he's looked lost. You can see some qualities in Nelson and I feel he's getting slated, as is Cashin, through playing a poor system with Bradley at it's heart (long stopped beating!).

[StaffsRam]

Legs going is not necessarily the end of the world. By the time he arrived here Big Dave was essentially just a heading machine, but boy could he head. Before that, Paul McGrath - couldn't even train, and yet was an amazing defender for us. 

Sadly, whilst they were both utilized to accentuate their remaining abilities and to cover for any deficiencies that doesn't seem to be the case with Bradley. Looks like we've committed a good portion of our wage budget on a white elephant (in this system).

[TuffLuff]

Tbh, I’m more concerned with Cashin. Positionally all over the place and opposition players are targeting his lack of pace. I think this stretches Bradley’s defence work. Mix this with our midfield not gelling and I think he’s just a bit exposed whilst learning about the players around him. 

I’m not one for showing my starting 11’s or completely ripping up the tactics board, but id Fozzy back into a back three or as two cbs for a couple of games. If we stuck with 352 id have Smith and Thompson sitting and take your pick from Bird, Hourihane or Sibley in the more attacking role. Smith covers the defence, Thompson breaks up play.

[Gerry Daly]

22 minutes ago, TuffLuff said:

Tbh, I’m more concerned with Cashin. Positionally all over the place and opposition players are targeting his lack of pace. I think this stretches Bradley’s defence work. Mix this with our midfield not gelling and I think he’s just a bit exposed whilst learning about the players around him. 

I’m not one for showing my starting 11’s or completely ripping up the tactics board, but id Fozzy back into a back three or as two cbs for a couple of games. If we stuck with 352 id have Smith and Thompson sitting and take your pick from Bird, Hourihane or Sibley in the more attacking role. Smith covers the defence, Thompson breaks up play.

Cashin needs to go back in the middle of a back 4. This guy Bradley? A dud, no doubt about it

[TomG]

1 minute ago, Gerry Daly said:

Cashin needs to go back in the middle of a back 4. This guy Bradley? A dud, no doubt about it

You may be right GD, I was wondering if Bradley would be more comfortable/confident in a back 4?

[BaaLocks]

43 minutes ago, eccles the ram said:

<snip> We the fans need to encourage the team and they have to show us by wanting to win mentality.

<snip> Long way to go though and,with the transfer window still open we may be able to sell Sonny!!! UTR!

We need to get behind the team by selling our most prominent signing before the window closes? Err, OK!

[duncanjwitham]

1 hour ago, Steve Buckley’s Dog said:

Very underwhelming isn’t he. I expected a leader after his signing interview but instead we have a disinterested mouse stood behind a rabbit staring into the headlights. Looks like his legs are gone to me. Their big number 5 - that was what I expected, and hoped, Bradley to be.

5 defensive signings and our best defence is still probably Smith, Foz, Cashin and Sibley. Dear oh dear. 

Curtis Davies last year was a player who's legs had gone.  You could see he still had the mental side of it, he could still read the game, sense danger, organise players around him etc, he just struggled to react quickly enough to it at times.  Sonny Bradley seems to have none of that.  He doesn't seem to read the game at all, attackers wander off him, he lets them go, they get the ball and we're in massive trouble.  Rinse and repeat.

[Yoxoram]

7 hours ago, Gee SCREAMER !! said:

I disagree with Hourihane.  I'd lose Smith or Bird to accommodate the fact he's the only midfielder who's getting 7 or 8 goals,  We did it with Idiakez in the past.  The trick is having the right players in midfield to do the other jobs on a consistent basis. 

I sort of agree with this but I would ditch Bird. We need some legs in forward midfield and based on our current squad that would be Thompson or Sibley. Smith is not as bad as some people make out and he certainly is a better defender than Bird. Hourihane needs to be in the team as he is the most likely player to create something and he chips in with important goals.

[Gerry Daly]

42 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

Curtis Davies last year was a player who's legs had gone.  You could see he still had the mental side of it, he could still read the game, sense danger, organise players around him etc, he just struggled to react quickly enough to it at times.  Sonny Bradley seems to have none of that.  He doesn't seem to read the game at all, attackers wander off him, he lets them go, they get the ball and we're in massive trouble.  Rinse and repeat.

The big difference between Bradley and Davies is that in his prime Davies was a top class, premiership defender

[FKANorwichExile]

He's so low on confidence. You can see he's constantly caught in a battle between his instincts and how he's been told to play, resulting in him somehow doing neither. If he was told to just win the ball and get it upfield we'll see a better player (couldn't be much worse!)

[duncanjwitham]

6 minutes ago, Gerry Daly said:

The big difference between Bradley and Davies is that in his prime Davies was a top class, premiership defender

Oh yeah, of course. But you watch Bradley play and he just doesn't look like he was ever a "proper defender" at any level, if you know what I mean.  You watch say Cashin play and he just looks like he knows where to stand (to steal an old Ian Hall from Radio Derby commentary phrase), I just don't get that with Bradley.

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

2 hours ago, Steve Buckley’s Dog said:

Very underwhelming isn’t he. I expected a leader after his signing interview but instead we have a disinterested mouse stood behind a rabbit staring into the headlights. Looks like his legs are gone to me. Their big number 5 - that was what I expected, and hoped, Bradley to be.

5 defensive signings and our best defence is still probably Smith, Foz, Cashin and Sibley. Dear oh dear. 

The new Dave Walton

[The_Sheriff]

Not ready to write off Bradley. Its only been a few games. Actually thought he was good against burton to be fair.