Bradford City expert on Aberdeen centre-back signing Tom McIntyre’s ‘strange’ loan spell – and long-lasting impact of ‘nightmare’ Portsmouth debut

Bradford City expert (and Portsmouth fan) has lifted the lid on Aberdeen signing Tom McIntyre’s difficult last two years ahead of a likely immediate Dons debut for the centre-half against Celtic on Wednesday night.

The 27-year-old, a free agent after his contract with English Championship Pompey was ripped up, drove through the night to help answer Aberdeen’s centre-back crisis call, penning a short-term deal.

With first-choice left-sider Mats Knoester set to miss “a number of weeks” after a bang to the head in the 3-0 defeat at Kilmarnock on Saturday, McIntyre could be straight in to the backline alongside Queens Park Rangers loanee Liam Morrison (set to make only his second Reds appearance) against the Hoops in the Premiership at Pittodrie.

Aberdeen new boy Tom McIntyre’s ‘weird’ Bradford City stint

Without a squad number at parent club Portsmouth, McIntyre spent the first half of the season on loan in England’s League One with Bradford.

But he was unable to become a regular in a promoted side who are surprise contenders for the English Championship play-offs this term under Graham Alexander.

McIntyre started just three league matches under his fellow Anglo-Scot.

In the final 10 League One games of his Bradford stay, the Scotland youth cap was on the bench for eight matches – but only came on for a total of two minutes of football.

Simon Parker is the chief sports writer for the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, and described McIntyre’s loan stint as “weird, because he didn’t play much, but he did all right.”

Parker explained: “When he came in Graham Alexander talked him up and said this guy will fit in well with our system because he’s comfortable on the ball, on the left side of a back-three.

“But he sort of found himself like third/fourth choice on the left side.

“He didn’t really have a dodgy game as such. There wasn’t a game where you thought: ‘Oh, he’s struggling here’ – it was weird, because he looked quite comfortable.

“They also brought him on a couple of times off the bench as a holding midfielder, where he did all right as cover for the captain Max Power. I think there was sort of a long-term thought that he could end up playing in there.”

Bradford boss’ stance on Tom McIntyre flipped quickly

Parker revealed he had regular conversations with Bradford boss Alexander about whether McIntyre – who made more than 100 Championship appearances earlier in his career with first club Reading – would see more game-time.

He added: “He (Alexander) said: ‘Look, I’ve chatted with him regularly. He’s really keen to learn.'”

And sports journalist Parker detailed how in mid-December, despite McIntyre having not started since October for Bradford, Alexander was clear all parties were keen to continue with his season-long loan at the Bantams.

However, the Bradford stance quickly changed.

Parker said: “He said: ‘We’ve not had that conversation (about him going back to Portsmouth), we’re not looking to do that, I don’t think they’re looking to do that, and I certainly know Tom’s not looking to do that.’

“And then about 10 days later, he changed his mind, and he said: ‘I don’t think it’s fair on Tom to keep him here because we can’t guarantee him game-time. So I think for his own good, he’s got to go back and end up somewhere else.'”

Despite McIntyre’s lack of minutes of the park for Bradford, Parker rated the 6ft 1in centre-half’s abilities with the ball – which he says stood out in the English third-tier.

Parker said: “He’s very comfortable on the ball. His distribution was good for a defender.

“Obviously, League One, you have to get involved with headers and what have you, so he’s quite physical.

“But I’d say he looks comfortable on the ball. He’s a bit of a ball-playing defender, left-sided.

“He always looks like he’s got time. At this level, you get some centre-halves who just sort of head it and kick it, but there’s a bit more intelligence about his play, which is why I think they saw he could play as the holding midfielder if need be.

“I can’t remember him being bullied by anyone.”

How McIntyre’s Portsmouth move was wrecked on debut

Before being released on Monday, McIntyre spent two years contracted to Portsmouth – although he was also farmed out for a League One stint at Charlton Athletic (four starts) in the second half of last season.

While he covers Bradford professionally, sports writer Parker supports Pompey, so  could also give the lowdown on the disastrous debut in January 2024 which effectively wrecked former Reading Championship regular McIntyre’s time at Fratton Park.

Parker said: “He had a nightmare debut where he went flying into a 50-50 with a winger (Northampton Town’s Sam Purkiss)… and he never got up.”

McIntyre had broken an ankle, quickly extinguishing any role in Portsmouth’s League One title-winning campaign.

Parker explained how circumstances meant McIntyre was forced to get back in the swing of things in the new campaign amid a centre-half injury crisis (*raises eyebrows*).

Ring-rusty, and back a league higher, the misfortunate defender was pitched in for 10 consecutive Championship starts – Portsmouth lost six of those, conceding 16 times in those six matches.

His only other second-tier start for Pompey, a few weeks later, was a 4-0 defeat to Derby County.

Parker said: “He struggled like hell, because that was a spell when the club were really trying to get to grips with the Championship and struggling that first half of the season.

“When he came in, because there were so many injuries around him, it was in a real makeshift team who were getting battered at the time.

“I think any defender would have struggled in that scenario – particularly a young one who had not played for a while.”

[Source: Press and Journal]