Five talking points from the EFL weekend including Mark Hughes' first game in charge of Bradford

Gabriel Sutton
28 February 2022

EFL pundit Gab Sutton has his say on the action from the EFL weekend, including Barnsley's hopes of safety and Mark Hughes' first game at Bradford.

Mark Hughes represents a high-profile capture for Bradford.

The wily Welshman has worked at the top level throughout his career, last managing in the Premier League with Southampton. He got Wales to the play-offs and just missed out on qualifying for the Euros, he led Blackburn to the UEFA Cup and got Stoke to three successive top-half finishes.

Nonetheless, Hughes has been out of the professional game for four years and may have limited knowledge of the lower divisions.

Whichever way you choose to look at it, Saturday's 2-0 loss to Mansfield represented a reminder of the work Hughes still has ahead of him.

The 58-year-old admitted that his side need to put together a run of results that will enable them to play with the confidence that their last opponents did, but the defeat - as Hughes indirectly admitted - means a play-off push this season is out of the question.

Barnsley have a chance

Just 20 days ago, a 2-1 loss at Luton left Barnsley bottom of the league and eight points adrift of safety having played one game more than Reading, the team just outside the drop zone.

After a run of three victories in four, however, Poya Asbaghi's side are six points off safety with a game in hand and look the likeliest of the three teams in the relegation zone to escape.

Key to this turnaround has been the signings of Domingos Quina and Amine Bassi, with the former scoring a stunning effort which turned out to be the only goal of the game against QPR , while the latter was directly involved in each of the goals in the 3-2 victory over Middlesbrough.

For much of the season, Tarn have operated with two or three out-and-out centre-forwards without anybody to bring them into play, but Quina and Bassi have provided a much-needed link between midfield and attack.

Tough start for McCann on Peterborough return

Grant McCann has returned to Peterborough United as manager and the two-and-a-half year contract suggests the plan is very much for the 41-year-old to start next season at the helm, regardless of division.

After McCann oversaw a 3-0 defeat to Hull in the first game of his second spell in charge, it looks likely that the division in question will be League One.

The good news for Posh is that the Northern Irishman has just led Hull to the title at that level in 2020/21, as well as having guided Doncaster to a play-off berth in 2018/19.

If McCann is to inspire another successful campaign at that level in 2022/23, though, his side will need to tighten up on the defensive lapses that allowed his Tigers successor, Shota Arveladze, to pick up three points that move his side a step closer to Championship safety.

Sunderland on the march?

Sunderland celebrate scoring in League One

Alex Neil looks a coup for Sunderland.

Although still in that category of being a young coach at 40, Neil is also experienced and boasts an excellent CV.

He led Hamilton from the Scottish Championship to the top of the SPL, he led Norwich to 46 points from 21 league games in 2014/15 and achieved Championship play-off success, and also guided Preston North End - with a bottom six budget - to top six contention for three seasons running.

Neil looks capable, therefore, of not only taking the Black Cats up this season or next, but also eventually leading them into the top half of the division above and potentially beyond.

After an uneventful start - draws with Wimbledon and Burton sandwiching defeat at MK Dons - a 3-0 win at second-place Wigan could be the boost required to spring the Neil era into life.

Race for automatic promotion opens up

That defeat for Wigan means that, while Leam Richardson's side remain very much in the driving seat behind champions-elect Rotherham, the race for second spot is not the foregone conclusion it once looked.

That's because MK Dons are unbeaten in their last eight league games, having beaten Bolton 2-0 last time out without truly breaking sweat.

Scott Twine is grabbing much of the attention, but the run of three straight wins has coincided with David Kasumu's return to fitness.

Liam Manning's 3-4-3 system demands a lot from midfielders in terms of covering ground and requiring a range of skills, not least because the three includes wide forwards as opposed to two number 10s, which was seen under Russ Martin last season.

Kasumu has the energy, dynamism and ball-carrying ability to meet those demands, which makes him perfect for Manning's setup.