The arrival of Dion Pereira on loan to Bradford City from Championship side Luton Town was met with excitement in some quarters at Valley Parade. With a reputation for being technically gifted it was hoped that he would slot into Derek Adam’s side and be able to offer something different to a team that lacking creativity.
Unfortunately, until Mark Hughes replaced Adams in the Bradford City hot seat, the most we had seen of him was a photo on Instagram of him out for a meal. This didn’t exactly help endear himself to the City fans, and at Kenilworth Road the timing of his injury sparked memories of his brief loan spell with Yeovil Town. That loan spell saw him return to his parent club after only 90 minutes of football.
Fast forward to last Saturday, having already made three appearances for Bradford City under Mark Hughes, and being available for selection only two games into his tenure, the timing of his return could be seen by some as a little convenient, but as will be discussed later in this article there may be another reason for his sudden return from his injury that inspired his recovery.
His introduction to the action at Valley Parade as a 61st minute substitute against Newport County was a real eye opener. Few would disagree that from the moment he came on through to the final whistle he looked like a player of absolute class, and a player we definitely need to sign. And if a footballers worth could be judged on 29 minutes of action it would be a no-brainer to sign him. The impact he had in that number ten role is exactly what we need. Unfortunately that isn’t how football works. How many times have we seen a what looks like a quality signing turn into a massive disappointment? And to be absolutely honest, totally focusing on this performance alone would be ignoring his previous performances for the Bantams. In his defence he will have been lacking sharpness and match fitness due to a lengthy absence from competitive football, and although he did offer glimpses of the potential he has, he still has a long way to go to prove to Bradford City supporters, and evidently his own manager Nathan Jones that he is the real deal.
Having said that, if Dion Pereira can show from now until the end of the season that he is capable of putting in consistent performances that are anywhere near the same as he did he did against Newport County, it might just be worth pursuing his signature on a permanent basis when his contract expires with the Hatters. But that is a big IF.
The question about Pereira clearly don’t rest with his ability, he has that in abundance. The real question is about his own mentality and approach to his footballing career. If what we are seeing is a much needed new approach to his career, he has a very bright future ahead of him and he could find himself in years to come, being a regular at a Championship club at the very least. But this is IF he is willing to put in the graft consistently and rely on himself, rather than god to take care of his future (he talks often about his faith on Instagram). Although faith is a good thing to have, I personally detect a bit of over-reliance on the divine through the many quotes he shares on social media, rather than anything about the importance of self-belief, self-determination or self-discipline.
Wayne Jacobs was famously known for his christianity but it was his work ethic and those “self” things I mentioned that took him all of the way to the Premier League with Bradford City. That’s not to say his faith didn’t play a big role in his success, it did, but there is always a balance to be struck between faith and the work required to earn it.
And on that, so far, when it comes to what he is willing to put in, the history of Dion Pereira is not as favourable. This is why at this moment in his life in what is such a short career, he is at a major crossroads. Should he continue as he has in the past, Dion will be just another of the many players that end up plying tier trade in the National League or below. Alternatively he could one day look back at Bradford City as the club where it all really started and he never looked back. But this is down to the choices he makes, it doesn’t lay in the hands of fate.
At Luton Town there are hints that he is not quite making it there, and manager Nathan Jones hinted when he joined Bradford City that he needs to toughen up. He said “We felt it was really important that Dion goes out and plays game and learns the importance of not just being a wonderful technical player that can create, but one that has to put his body on the line for points”. If you read between the lines Jones is telling Dion he needs to toughen up and learn how much work is required to play at the level of the club he is contracted to. Jones had already tried to give him a chance by arranging for him to go out on loan to Yeovil Town, but that ended somewhat acrimoniously. Unsurprising considering he only made one appearance for them in a 2-0 defeat to Notts County before returning to his parent club.
Much like with his introduction, or should I say non-introduction to Bradford City, there was a bit of confusion about what was going on. Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll said the player was “massively fatigued” after playing the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 defeat to Notts County. On Luton’s part they stated Dion Pereira has temporarily returned to his parent club having picked up “a slight injury“. However Sarll disputed this version of events by stating categorically that “Dion was not injured, he reported before the game that he was massively fatigued from the Saturday, so I don’t think he’ll be involved for Weymouth because he’s gone back to Luton for treatment”.
You can imagine the frustration of Nathan Jones when having sealed a loan deal with Bradford City in an attempt to get Dion ready for life in the EFL, history repeated its self. Only this time Dion didn’t even make it to being available for selection, and as it turned out, he would still be injured when Derek Adams had been sacked and Mark Trueman had ended his time as caretaker manager. The statements coming out of Luton this time from his manager started to have more of a menacing feel to them, more of a make or break feel. Although cordial, the language his manager was using had clear undertones. Jones seemed perplexed how once again Dion had gone out on loan, having had no issues with any injuries either before or after the Yeovil episode, yet all of a sudden, it had all started again. He said “He’s only done a calf, done it twice really, and that’s the really strange thing as he’s never injured here, there’s not many that train with more intensity than us, it’s just really puzzling, if that was to happen again for example, then we will have to really look into something, because it’s a lot of things that could cause that, not just a training session”. The kicker in this statement was the “if that was to happen again for example” part. This is as close as it gets to your boss telling you that if you keep being late for work, you’re going to be invited into a meeting for a chat. For anyone not familiar, that is usually code for a disciplinary hearing. They rarely say those words nowadays, but that is the intent.
Jones strongly hinted at his concerns about the attitude of Dion towards his football, and that to going out on loan. A lot of fans at Bradford City had issues with Derek Adams for singling out certain players unfairly, understandably, as it is unusual for a manager to go that far, but in the case of Nathan Jones, only a week before Mark Hughes took over as manager of Bradford City, it looked very much like his card had been marked. Jones continued “We have to look at everything, so it’s not just he’s a real talent, you have to work at certain stuff, it’s a learning curve about going out on loan for example, when he went down to Yeovil, he travelled down to Yeovil and then trained straight after” using his own experience to compare with Dion made it clear he didn’t think he was doing enough. “With me with my experience, if I’m going on loan and it’s three and a half hours away, I’m going down the night before, getting up, stretching, making sure I have good food, plenty of water and I’m ready to go on that day, so those things are learning curves for him and that’s what a career is all about”. It was diplomatic for sure, but there can be no doubting that if Dion Pereira does not play for Bradford City, he has no future at Luton Town.
The question is whether to Pereira clubs like Yeovil Town and Bradford City as being beneath him. And if we look at the half-an-hour we saw at the weekend alone, as things stand both clubs probably are. But first you have to show that you can play at those levels before you can be considered good enough to be picked ahead of other players at a Championship club, a club with one eye on the Premier League. In the words of The Smiths “you just haven’t earned it yet baby”. Put simply to make it at Luton Town, you first need to be able to cut it at Bradford City and most certainly Yeovil Town.
The timing of his recovery from injury to be kind is coincidental. Only days after the warning from his manager, and Bradford City gaining a manager of Premier League calibre, including Manchester City no less, a manager who anybody would want to impress, someone who Dion Pereira could look upon as his superior, he is suddenly available for selection. If he return was based on either of these two factors, it shouldn’t be. His reasons for being available for selection should be because he wants to be playing first team football as often as possible and show how good he is, not to impress Mark Hughes, not appease Nathan Jones, and not even to impress the Bradford City supporters. If he is to fulfil his potential he should do it for himself!
Only time will tell who he is really playing for. When the novelty of being managed by Mark Hughes wears off and when the warning from Nathan Jones has passed into history. When he is left to his own devices will he still be putting in a shift, giving 100% or will he just leave it down to faith?
I hope this is a real turning point in his career, and he is now genuinely going to give his career everything he has got, because from the evidence, so far, it doesn’t look that way. Let’s hope that we saw for nearly half-an-hour on Saturday was not just an exception to the rule, but how he will always play from now on. If he does that, I’d sign him in a heartbeat and with seven games remaining this season, it shouldn’t be too much to expect him to be able to maintain that level of performance until the end of the season, but if he is anywhere near the real deal, these levels need to be maintained for a full season. If so, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship and could take his career to a whole new level. I might have my own doubts, but for now all there is to say is good luck Dion, we want you to succeed.
3 responses