The Voice - Match preview #17: Bradford City vs Exeter City Saturday 29th November 2025 3:00pm

Nobody can say anything other than we got away with one this week. Very reluctant to criticise GA but I my opinion he got the substitutions wrong today we started he second half and we lost all cohesion then but 31 points magnificent achievement so far

 

think 2 up front is better. swan puts a shift in every time he is on the pitch, if we can sign somebody
with the same attitude, I think we will get back to winning ways.

 

We never had any cohesion, it wasn't the subs that affected the game, it was just a poor all round performance considering the high standards we've been setting this year.

 

He does seem to struggle against short stocky lads with a low centre of gravity, I think cos he can't get shoulder to shoulder with them. However, he put everything on the line and made some really, really good blocks so I feel it makes up for it

 

I strongly disagree. The subs made a massive difference. Pattison was a passenger in the first half and was deservedly hooked for Swan at HT. We looked much more cohesive playing 352 for 25 minutes after the break and we dominated that period with Swan and Humphrys pressing them into mistakes and nervy clearances. We had six shots to their one in that period. Then it all went to shite when GA brought Cooky on for Humphrys. Cook looked like a fish on a bicycle, the press disappeared and Exeter resumed the domination they had in the first half.
Humphrys is deeply frustrating. He does great things but consistently makes wrong choices at the end of them. But we do look threatening with him and Swan harrying defenders and we create chances. Paradoxically, Cook is our best finisher by a country mile but without the press we don’t create the kinds of chances that he would stick away for fun.
Everything about the team is set up to press, create mistakes high up the pitch and/or to make fast, direct transitions from defence to attack. Cook can’t do those things. I still think he has worth against teams that sit back and park the bus, but in open games like today where we rely a lot on pressing to create chances, he’s a passenger.

 

Completely the opposite to @Park bantam comments then who thought we lost cohesion with the subs.

Mind you, I think you're both wrong and imo Exeter dominated pretty much the 90 minutes and at no point did we have a spell where we looked like a better side than them.

And all this blaming Cook, it's just bizarre as Cook wasn't on the pitch for the first 65 minutes and if we'd have been playing as well as you suggested and Humphrys was being that effective, GA simply wouldn't have made the change.

 

The first 15 minutes of the second half they got t together and could have scored a couple but after the changes it was big boot to Cook and we didn’t have a serious attack after that

 

With all due respect that was most certainly not another great day out at VP. For most of the game we were chasing shadows. If that delights you then you have a very low entertainment bar. Very low.

 

Have to disagree with you there Monkey, first half of the second half we were comfortably the better team. Sadly Humphrys can’t shoot as he missed a simple header from about 3 yards out and had two big chances to just hit it across to the far post which he wasted. Neufville also got in behind and put some dangerous balls in, one of which unfortunately Boddy fell over it otherwise we could have won more comfortably. The subs absolutely made us worse.

 

We had six shots to their one between half time and when Cook came on. We were clearly the better side during that period, and only during that period. Of course it could just be coincidental that it fell apart when Cook came on, but I don’t think so.
I love Cooky. I really want him to get back to scoring for fun like he used to. I just don’t think it will happen with this team and these tactics.

 

Fully agree, he was completely ineffective. I really think we have to revert to sticking with Metcalfe if fit, and using Pattison from the bench. I just am not seeing enough from Pattison this season. Granted he’s been unfortunate with some injuries but he looks like he’s struggling. His press is good, but distribution, finishing, positioning have mostly not been great this season. I want him to be the power house we saw at times last season, but it’s not happening right now.

With Leigh looking down the pecking list now, I’d be disappointed if we aren’t prioritising CM in Jan. Power and Metcalfe are the standout starters for me right now, but they need much better competition and/or cover than they currently have.

 

You think he’ll get fully fit and become a L1 standard striker? I just don’t see it happening, that’s my point. At the start of the season I was ok with our recruitment on the hope that Cook returned to the player he was. From what I’ve seen I’m not sure he will now. A striker in January is key, as you’ve alluded to, none of the strikers in the squad are looking capable of being a regular goal scorer.

 

He's a strange player. Clearly has plenty of ability, but his awareness and/or decision making is awful.

Your earlier post about having us punching above our weight is spot on. We're doing so on the basis of a work ethic and intensity, which is fine by me. But if we want to maintain progress, we need to bring in a more technically sound players over the next 6-18 months.

 

January has to be quality over quantity. A strong CM and number 10 is what we need to be in for.

 

I agree. I love Cooky too, he’s a top top lad and ill be gutted if he goes, but he just isn’t suited to a side with our press. When we are chasing a late goal, or for cup games, great, but as a starting option in our main league matches, we need legs that run themselves into the ground like Humph and Swan do.

Humph should have cut back for Pointon today in front of Kop and often takes the wrong option! He’s frustrating to watch.

 

I'm surprised at the diverse opinions here.

It was a close game of football.

I don't think either team dominated, nor was either team disgraced.

Walking in, wasn't that what we were expecting? Sure, Exeter might have won on another day, and if their goal hadn't been ruled offside the point was nailed on. I didn't think we were great, nor awful, nor did I honestly think GA's subs made much difference for better or worse.

We beat a side who aren't miles off where we are, but just aren't finishing their dinner. They've got some work to do, and we have to build on a win of the narrowest margins.

 

Just thinking back to the 2015/16 squad we had under McCall and 5 of our first choice starting 11 that season went onto play Championship football (Burke, Cullen, Evans, Wyke and Meredith). You then throw the likes of Marshall, Vincelot etc into the mix and it was a team that had genuine, out-and-out quality from back to front.

In comparison, I wouldn’t say a single player from our current squad is irreplaceable. For the most part they are honest, hardworking players, but I genuinely wouldn’t be upset if we lost any of them bar maybe neufville.

 

This is a good point. You could perhaps say Neufville, Pointon, Metcalfe have the potential of being able to make the step. I’d say Toure and even Humphry’s (albeit a gigantic improvement required on the latter) might be able to providing they were part of a stronger squad. However to your point, hard to match them to your above list - although 3 of them weren’t actually our players. I get your point though…

 

Was it the best yesterday ????? No far from it but the whole aim yesterday was to break the winless run which we did muster up a few more wins before January and see what goodies we get in the sales

 

Completely agree. And even Neufville won't play higher than L1 unless he improves his final ball.

I think part of why we're doing well is that there isn't an obvious 'weak area' of the team. I don't mean that we can't improve because we obviously can, but the level of quality is pretty consistent in each area of the team.