The Voice - Match preview #31: Bradford City vs Stockport County Tuesday 17th February 2026 7:45pm

I think the key to our win was Metcalfe and Evans they shut out Norwood and co completely. I don’t know if scouts are watching him or not but if he keeps up this level of performance up I am sure Metcalfe could play in the premiership in the future

 

Sky panned to that bloke who works for us, who is always in photos when we get new sponsors. The guy sat next to him was probably the ex-Sunderland CEO, but the Sky commentator didn't say who it was

 

Tilt doesn't take any prisoners.. that's for sure.
He has had poorer games but against the likes of Cardiff, Blackpool and Stockport he didn't shy away from taking the main threats out of the game.

 

Im sure he did the same thing when we beat them at there place ????? Throwing certain players under the bus ..............hes done ok dont get me wrong but comes across as a Grade A prick

 

Banks??

 

How many successful managers are likeable and humble? Not many.

I thought most of his interview was about driving standards for his players, but the bits that surprised me was specifically naming certain players in a negative context. That's generally against man-management 101, but they've done well under him, so who knows.

 

A lot of comments about the pitch at the moment which is the same for a lot of clubs due to the incessant rain. But I have seen it a lot worse in the past

 

Sorry Evans

 

The biggest thing for me, in our last 2 games, is that we've gone back to what we do best. The tone of our game has been set by what we do off the ball, how we press, then how we get the ball forward quickly when we get it. I think we lost sight of that a bit in that January spell, but hopefully its out of our system. GA seems to have got the players heads back to where they need to be, and lets hope that continues. When we stick to what makes us, us, we're a match for anyone in the league.

Also, its noticeable how much more mobile we are now than we were 12 months ago. We've got legs and pace all over the pitch. Tilt, Touray, Neufville, Wright, Metcalfe, Jackson. We get across the ground really well - another reason why sticking to our game plan works.

 

I know folk go on about Pointon going for decent money but if he continues the way hes going ( Metcalf) then he wìll go for a hell of a lot more.
Moan and groaned about the recruitment for some years now but credit to ever found him and hes only gonna get better.
Hes still gonna have the odd bad game but he will put in a hell of a lot decent performances

 

I agree. Its not great, but its playable. It could even be an asset, given how we play. We're a physically dominant and direct side, so if teams want to come to VP and play out from the back on a bowling green - good; we'll eat 'em alive!

 

Metcalf is the template for the type of signing we should make more often, and where the club/Rupp should invest. I'm not a fan of owners throwing in money to prop up running costs we can't afford, but putting in cash for 'assets' like Metcalf, who could develop into a 2-3m player inside the next 12 months, is how we could become sustainable at a higher level.

 

I agree, but only if we can pick them up cheaply because for every player who developes well there will be a lot who fail to make the grade. I don't know how much we invested in signing Jenson but we know there's a substantial sell on fee to Everton. If we can pick up Prem and Champ academy kids in the same way, it's a good model.

 

Totally different game to Saturday
Two evenly matched teams on the night
Fine margins all over the pitch, which we came out on top
Delighted with the win
It does look like the playoffs are on and anything can happen in those situations

 

We spent quite a lot on the pitch over the past few seasons and it’s starting to look bare again. In the unlikely event we get promoted, I’m not sure how much more can be done to make it last longer than a couple of seasons. Drainage doesn’t seem to be an issue, but the binding together is the problem. Let’s hope for better weather until spring.

 

Thanks , I didn’t recognise Sparks tbh. Wonder what the relevance is ?

 

Quite right.. the way we played last night was totally different to the way we grinded out wins against the likes of Exeter and Port Vale. We were in charge, we were hard, we battled and frustrated. Stockport really weren't up for the challenge.

 

TBH he reminds me most of a young Stuart McCall. I’m not saying he’ll ever become as good as the legend that is SM, but he has the awareness, passing, tackling, box to box engine and forward threat that the young Stuart did.
Watt has a better passing range than Metcalfe but was a defensive liability for us; Josh read the game superbly, tackled and passed well but was never an attacking threat. Other than Gary Jones perhaps (who was vastly experienced when we signed him) I can’t think of another City midfielder I’ve seen with Metcalfe’s all round game. It’s pretty extraordinary for one so young.

 

You would have thought it was they who had a game on mud last Sat ……instead of light training . I’m never convinced that missing a fixture is good for a side because impetuous can be lost as a result.

 

I agree. Although Jenson plays further forward than Watt, who was more the quarterback than the midfielder driving forward in my opinion.