The Voice - Match preview #28: Bradford City vs Doncaster Rovers Saturday 31st January 2026 12:30pm

So going back to my second question if the mic and ear pieces are so good why did he have to come over and speak to them and what are the vibrating arm band for that the ref wears and the button on the flag that vibrates the arm band? Is that just back up for when the ear piece isn;t great?

 

2m 42s - can anyone lip read? What’s the 4th official saying?

 

if it’s when the fourth official is talking with Alexander “ I still saw it “ that’s what I think he is saying.

 

But if he did see, why didn’t he immediately tell the ref. As @bailiff bridge bantam says they are all miked up these days. “I still saw it” implies strongly that GA was not happy with his first explanation as it involved Doncaster.

 

Your Guess would be as good has Mine. Without the knowledge of the full conversation I make no assumption.

You could also ask if all the Match officials are “fully miked up” why did the Referee need to come to the side line to speak with the fourth official?

 

Grab him when they get relegated. Far too good for the division below. Lose him and they will struggle to make it back up

 

McCanns take on i-pad gate......

https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/sport/football/doncaster-rovers-boss-grant-mccann-clarifies-controversial-ipad-incident-against-bradford-city-5500318

 

I haven’t listened but “He would say that wouldn’t he“ ? Lol!

 

Well he’s no Mandy Rice Davies though, is he?

 

Lol.. is McCann living off immoral earnings?

 

Irrespective of whether the ipad was or wasn't shown to the 4th official on Saturday, in my view the fact that it was there is completely wrong. The Donny Assistant Manager, Cliff Byrne, was in the 4th's ear and would probably have said something like 'we've seen the replay and it's clearly handball' which would have put a huge seed of doubt in the 4th's mind. Psychologically making him unsure or perhaps more unsure than he was originally...

That should not be allowed to happen. That ipad needs to be in the stands not by the dugout....

By the way Cliff Byrne was so far towards the 4th official tonight he was almost in Burton's dugout!!

 

Does anyone know if this is being looked into officially or is it all water under the bridge? Seeing as how Jackson had his back to the 4th official he 100% didnt see it without some outside influence

 

I’m don’t understand this ‘he had his back to the fourth official’ stuff. Jackson was facing the goal square on and the fourth official was at 45 degrees behind him. The ball struck Jackson’s right arm (ie the same side of the pitch as the the 4th official). All of us sitting in C block, behind the 4th official, clearly saw it strike his arm. So, unless his view was obscured by other players, I can see no reason why he wouldn’t have seen the handball. The only puzzle is why it took so long for the decision to be made and whether the Donny staff told him they’d seen it on a replay.

 

It looked like it hit his chest before striking his arm which was by his side

 

Anyone seen this picture from the incident right at the end of the game?

If that's not altered and a true picture it's an absolutely ridiculously poor piece of play and if it had been given I'd imagine his teammates would have had plenty to say.

 

That's surely been doctored. I don't remember it being vaguely like that.

 

My grandson picked it up on instagram I think. I would be very cautious about taking that photo as correct. I didn’t hear any penalty shouts?

 

The seats don't look right...one new set of seats next to an old faded set of seats in the same stand....

 

That's how they are, the end, uncovered block haven't been changed.

@Onside, it was in the last minute (or injury time), I definitely remember the appeal and it's in the match highlights as I watched it from a link on the Donny forum where they were all talking about it.