The Voice - Match preview #22: Bradford City vs Port Vale Monday 29th December 2025 7.45pm

It wasn't the best performance, but how refreshing to see us fight toe to toe against a team of cloggers, rather than getting our heads kicked in like most of the rest of the last 10 years.

It does bode well... earlier in the season teams were trying to play round us and we were picking them off and battering them (someone said it would have been different against Cardiff or Huddersfield last night - well, yeah, we beat them both 3-1!).

Recently teams have been trying to go through us instead and we've met them head on and been shithousing wins. We really are a conundrum to come up against

 

I did finish by saying I can't challenge a manager who has us sat in 3rd place, all about options, I thought fresh legs would have given the likes of Sarcevic a breather, I need to have a listen to his post match interview, I certainly don't think he's a kangaroo .

 

Great shout. His goal against us and his goal last night was very 'Lampardesque'. He has that technique of hitting the ball that arches away from the keeper. I can see him doing it a handful of times this season. Nearly did it against Wigan. Let's get him in and around the d as much as possible.

 

My mentality now is i simply turn up watch us play win/lose or draw i aint that fussed compared to last season when every game involved a Grade A mentsl breakdown ...............i eould love us to go up dont get me wrong but if we slide down to midtable then so be it ...........in my opinion that bunch has massively achieved so far this season and considering that the bottom two in this league finished above us last season shows what a great job they have all done.

That lot has made the club and the game day a lot more enjoyable then the chore it had become up to 12 months ago.

Just simply get behind them because at least this group are giving it all and thats all you can ask

 

Impressed with GA, when talking in his post match interview....

"Could feel the frustration in the 1st half , amongst the supporters in the stands, the team and myself"

Best bit, I felt, was "I had to have a word with myself first as we've been here before....."

Fair play gaffer

 

Well once again we showed the opposition we don't have to attack the Kop end second half to win the game, I think it's a fan thing rather than the players, I believe there has been another game this season where weve attacked the Kop first but the old grey matter struggles at times ?.

 

And twice at Orient!

 

Barnsley I think mate. I remember their half way line effort first half.

 

It was very odd that GA didn’t make any subs until McIntyre, late into added time. They had three sets of fresh legs on at the end and several of our players, especially Sarc, were blowing out of their backsides. Strange to flog them all so hard with another two games to come this week.

 

Can't back this up with stats but it seems we've scored more at the Bradford end this season than the kop ....

 

I should have remembered that game and goal.
I believe Reading turned us around and we scored twice at the Bradford End second half.

 

I get where you’re come from but the fact is, you’re comparing apples with pears. A ‘better opposition’ wouldn’t have played the way that Vale did, with nine men behind the ball and unacceptable levels of physicality. So, in turn, our game would have been different.
When we’ve beaten or drawn with the ‘better teams’ this season - Cardiff, the Dogs, Luton, Barnsley, Stockport, Bolton etc - our possession stats have been below 50%, or even 40% on occasions, and we have forced defensive mistakes by pressing and/or caught teams on the break who have tried to pass their way through or around us.
When we’ve had the lion’s share of possession against teams that have sat behind the ball, like last night, we’ve had to play a different way and scrap our way to ugly wins.
The fact is that, nearly halfway through the season, only one team - PL leaders Arsenal - has lost fewer games than us. We are incredibly hard to beat, as even the ‘better opposition’ teams have discovered.

 

Maybe we are simply suited in going head to head with better teams ............it would seem that sll Citys best results have come against teams that will have a go at us and thats not a fluke ...........apart from the Stockport game the others where well deserved.
We would all love to see open end to end games but when teams come to play shithouse tactics and ate hsppy to camp in there half then simply get the result and move on.

 

Anyone know what the gate was last night?
Couldn't get there and curious!

 

19,697 with 639 Vale.

 

Cheers Ashton!

 

Should we now refer to you as SlightlyhappyGaz

 

It always makes me laugh that, play like this against a better team rubbish and we’ll get hammered. There’s a saying in boxing, styles make fights and it’s similar in football. We would find gaps that weren’t there against different teams, they made it a scrap, we stood up to it and won that’s what matters. I thought we actually played really well against Orient until we went 2-1 down and seemed to give in, but then again I know a loss will never get any credit whatsoever.

 

We’ve actually scored more goals in the Bradford end this season than in the Kop end Dave. Blackpool was another 1-0 win when they turned us round but still won. Reading was another with both goals in 2nd half. This City side are very resilient and playing the wrong way first half doesn’t seem to bother them.

 

I agree. For the first half hour we were relentlessly pressing them and controlling the ball well so they could hardly get out of their half. On another day we could have been three up at half time. And after half time we had a dominant spell. If Sarc hadn’t made a complete hash of that lob we’d have been 2-1 up and cruising. Instead, two minutes later we were caught out doing what we usually do to other teams who piss about with it at the back and after that we lost all our composure and never really looked like equalising. Definitely a game that we could, and really should, have got at least a draw from.