Mike Dodds is mirroring Matt Bloomfield trend at Wycombe Wanderers - it must change to oust Wrexham AFC | OneFootball

Is the Tuesday night curse plaguing another Wycombe Wanderers manager once again?

Wycombe Wanderers fans are seeing a familiar pattern emerge with results under Mike Dodds as they did when Matt Bloomfield took over mid-season in 2022/23, leading to worries about whether the 'Tuesday night curse' is back.

The Chairboys haven't been victorious on a Saturday since Sam Grace masterminded a 2-1 win over Mansfield Town back in mid-January. Despite this, Wanderers have won four times since that landmark win, but none of these have come on a Saturday.

Since Dodds took over in early February, he's guided Wycombe to three victories over Bristol Rovers, Burton Albion, and Rotherham United respectively. However, an interesting trend that supporters are all too familiar with is that these wins all came in midweek.

Two years ago, when Dodds' predecessor, Bloomfield, took charge of the club, it became a running joke among supporters that Wycombe could only win on a Tuesday. The former Wanderers boss won four matches in his first three months as manager, all of which came under the lights, and fans dubbed this the 'Tuesday night curse'.

Now, two years later, that trend seems to be continuing under the new head coach. Whilst this is all just superstition, both Wycombe and Dodds will want to ensure this doesn't continue for much longer, especially in a promotion fight.

Mike Dodds sharing similar results pattern to Matt Bloomfield

It's coming up to two months since Dodds was named as Wycombe's new head coach. The 38-year-old has certainly had his work cut out for him, despite the club's excellent league position. The first-time head coach has been tasked with guiding the Chairboys to promotion in his first proper head coaching role.

The ex-Sunderland interim manager's tenure so far has been a rollercoaster of emotions, with some excellent performances and wins, to some performances where his side looked devoid of ideas and lacked the identity they developed earlier in the season. Whatever way fans look at it, it's still early days for Dodds and there were bound to be some bumps in the road.

Previous manager Bloomfield's time at the club started similarly to this, as he was getting to grips with his new squad and trying to establish an identity. The 40-year-old took charge of Wycombe in February 2023, and won four games in his opening three months, which saw Wanderers finish just outside the play-offs. Interestingly, all of these victories came on a Tuesday night.

Two years later, a similar situation is unfolding with a new man in the dugout. Dodds has been in charge for just under two months, winning three matches, which have also all come on a Tuesday. This trend is very similar to what happened with Bloomfield when he took over, and whilst the 'Tuesday night curse' is all just superstition, it's a record both the head coach and the club will want to end soon.

Wycombe and Dodds will be keen to end Tuesday streak in battle with Wrexham

When Bloomfield took over, Wycombe were on the cusp of the play-offs and ultimately the pressure was nowhere near as high as it currently is on the man who replaced him. Dodds has the task of keeping up what his predecessor started and gaining promotion in his first head coaching role.

With nine games left to go, his side sits in third place in League One, three points behind Wrexham but with a game in hand. The failure to win on a weekend has got some supporters pondering if we're going to see a repeat of two years ago. With the Welsh outfit cranking up the pressure, there's no room for error in the race for promotion.

The Blues were defeated at Adams Park by their promotion rivals last Saturday, but were able to bounce back on Tuesday with a win over Rotherham. However, the defeat last Saturday completely changed the complexion of the promotion race, as the Red Dragons are now seemingly in the driving seat, having previously been just passengers.

With that in mind, Dodds will be keen to start securing wins at the weekend if his side is to oust Wrexham in the battle for promotion. This pattern of results is strikingly similar to when Bloomfield took over, and whilst it's merely a coincidence, it's certainly one that must be overcome to keep the pressure on Wrexham.