Jake Reeves Show The Fans You Care

JAKE REEVES – SHOW THE FANS YOU CARE

Since Jake Reeves was substituted against his former club AFC Wimbledon in front of a crowd of 19,103 against a backdrop of boo’s as City trailed 2-0 to 19^th place AFC Wimbledon, little were we to know that over a year and seven months later he would still be unavailable for selection through the tenure of four managers, not including the caretakers. The main problem that lead to the relegation of Bradford City from League One last season was key players who were hiding on the pitch, most of them have gone, but still there is one player who seems to be hiding off of the pitch, and yet, he continues to pick up a wage, and hasn’t even updated us himself about his well-being, as not only has he been unavailable for selection, he seems to be unavailable to talk to the media.

Signed for £153,000 from AFC Wimbledon on July 7^th, 2017, Jake Reeves appeared to be a solid signing. He had been almost an ever present at his previous club and the fans thought highly of him. He joined a Bradford City side brimming with confidence and with excellent crowds to boot.

The 2017/18 season would see City in the top five for the best part of 2017, coinciding with Reeves playing regularly. But at the during the 2017 Christmas period, City would suffer back to back defeats for the first time that season. It was after the second defeat that Jake Reeves became unavailable due to “pelvic problems” missing the following three matches against Oxford United, Fleetwood Town and the now infamous Yeovil Town match in the F.A. Cup. 

Some will claim that reading anything into his injury is a bit conspiratorial, but you have to bear in mind, since the pelvic injury he returned for another four matches and that has been all we have seen of him since.

Let’s rewind to the start of his career. Jake Reeves started life in the youth team at Tottenham Hotspur before moving to Brentford. He made his debut for the Bees in a 4-4 draw with Huddersfield Town in the 2010/11 season as an 82^nd minute substitute. Having signed a 2-year contract, aged 18 he made his full debut against Yeovil Town on August 6^th, 2011, this must have felt like the big time. But just over a month later, Reeves was supposed to go out on loan to Blue Square Bet Premier side Hayes & Yeading.

This must have felt like a backwards step for somebody who had so recently played in League One. But the move was cancelled after Reeves came down with a chest infection that initially delayed the loan move.  Interestingly it was Brentford who decided to pull the plug after an injury to Kevin O’Connor meant Reeves was needed again. Kevin O’Connor picked up his injury on the 12^th November and Reeves came down ill on the 17^th, just 5 days later. If this was just a coincidence, it was a very fortunate one for Reeves and Uwe Rosler.

On the 29^th August 2014 his contract with Brentford was terminated by mutual consent as new manager Mark Warburton stated that Reeves needed regular first team football. From there he moved to Swindon Town on a short-term deal in August 2014 but only managed to make three starts for them, he left in December. 

But it was at AFC Wimbledon where he would make a name for himself and clocked up the majority of his career appearances. Out of a total of 212 career appearances, 122 of them are for AFC Wimbledon. Again, coincidentally, in his last season at AFC Wimbledon he was ever present except for one EFL Trophy match against Newport County. The season before, he only missed 6 games in all competitions.

This is where the conspiracy starts. The appearance for Bradford City by Jake Reeves was when he was substituted at Valley Parade in the 62^nd minute against his former club AFC Wimbledon. The Bantams lost 4-0 and Reeves came in for criticism from the home fans as he went off. Many supporters understandably have come to the conclusion that this event happening in front of AFC Wimbledon fans, is more to do with why Reeves hasn’t played since for City, and the long-term absence is more than just a long-term injury.

The original groin injury also coincided with the departure of the manager who signed him, Stuart McCall. But when talking about Reeves and this unusual withdrawal not only from the team, but media duties as well, with players sporting the “Mind” logo on their shirts, it could well be something to do with mental health, or anxiety about getting injured again. Are the club using the services of any psychologists to support Reeves, or at least get an idea of what is going on? 

And it is worth pointing out that Jake Reeves did have an operation in April 2018, but by November 2018, then manager David Hopkin had shown signs of frustration in his lack of progress with a revealing comment about Reeves recovery “every time we seem to be getting somewhere with Jake, he starts to feel problems somewhere else”. As recently as August Gary Bowyer gave an update about Reeves which seemed to have echoes of exactly the problem David Hopkin faced with him. Bowyer said diplomatically “He’s been making some progress out on the field in terms of running”, but the echo of Hopkin followed “He had a little bit of a setback last week but hopefully nothing too serious”. Well no sign of him returning any time soon.

The updates about Jake Reeves are always second hand from the current manager, so of course they are going to be diplomatic and put a positive spin on the situation. If the Telegraph & Argus haven’t tried to contact Reeves for an interview, I’d be very surprised. And remember when Filipe Morais had a long-term injury? He was regularly interviewed for the Bradford City Official Website and updating us about how keen he was to get back to playing football. But there has been none of this from Jake Reeves. In fact, looking at all of the different interviews, it is hard to tell whether he goes to matches or is getting involved with supporting his teammates. If he would just do one interview and communicate with Bradford City supporters, whatever the reasons, it would put an end to speculation, and maybe, if it is something to do with mental health, we would have a lot more sympathy for him. The ball is in his court.

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to play for Bradford City and is happy to run down his contract, picking up his wage whilst doing nothing for the club and sticking two fingers up at the manager, his teammates, and the supporters. We can’t sell him, we won’t get anything for him in the summer, and he’s taking up a position in our squad that his wage could free up for somebody else.

What do you think of the situation with Jake Reeves? Do you think his injuries are genuine or do you think he is taking us all for a ride? Or maybe you think it could be something psychological. Leave a comment with your thoughts.