Match Thread #39: Burton Albion vs Bradford City Saturday 21st March 2026 3:00pm

Love it and I bet it really p1sses them off to see where Bradford City are in the league , well there's always next season Shep.

 

Post of the day.

 

Our football is really dull and predicable, Alexander seems to have run out of ideas. Had no interest for this game because I knew we would lose against Burton who are no mugs. We are poor and have been for months bar the odd game such as Peterborough, and the concern is what happens next season if this away form continues and these narrow home winds turn into draws.

 

The positive in amongst all the negativity surrounding our January business is that Jackson aside, all the signings are loans or in Evans case, a short term contract, which means we won't be lumbered with them next season.

 

Just had that same conversation this week.

 

One point from Wigan, Mansfield and Burton is poor and we don’t ever really show performances of a team that are promotion standard. I still think we’ll make the playoffs but unfortunately can only see it ending in tears.
On a side note… where is Sibley and anything on Sarcevic?

 

Graham said he was substituted as a precaution, so hopefully he will be for for Good Friday

 

Its the bizarre situation with the strikers that baffles me

We only play one striker yet brought in Jackson, Mullin, Wheatley to compete with Swan and Humphrys.

GA has now confused himself as to who his best option is.

Maybe he thinks it’s Jackson and has been unlucky he got injured, but the regular striker subs at HT are indicative his plans aren’t working.

why can’t he get his message across? Why are we slow at starting?

 

What about Gavin?

 

Our pressing game is now much the same as other teams.
we can’t pass for toffee and it’s getting worse.
Maybe get Evens to tell the team how passing is done!
He looked up to see where Wright was and dropped right on the dot.

 

Top post, and important context for all criticism.

It's too easy to forget context when you spot something that's been/is being handled particularly poorly, such as the striker situation or away form, but it's important to remember where we are and what we've accomplished regardless of those weak areas.

One of the other sides apart from Plymouth who have improved in January are Wigan, and though they won't trouble the playoffs this season, they were able to sign a striker we a) couldn't get from a playoff rival and b) whose wages we probably couldn't afford either.

I have some serious concerns for our prospects in the Championship if we can't "even" afford someone like Joe Taylor, who isn't Championship level, but that's a concern for tomorrow. We have come up, haven't spent a fortune, and have competed very well indeed.

Unfortunately football being the way it is, the ONLY way we could compete in the Championship is a buy out because it's just a ludicrous farce. We're already overachieving in League One. While GA is clearly mismanaging the striker situation, it's not like he has a £3million player he can call on (unless we count Ashby lol - what were Newcastle doing there?!)

 

Anyone still think Baldwin is a good defender in that central spot?

If so, you're wrong. He's an absolute liability in there.

All I want is a defender to stop goals going in. Someone who can hit 60 yard pass now and again but can't win a header in the 6 yard box is absolutely no use whatsoever.

 

Cookie wouldn’t have been selected Gaz, GA told him , hence him wanting a loan so he could get game time to get fit . We couldn’t afford to spend time getting him fit , however Grimsby did as they don’t have much to play for ?

 

Another Walker error. Need new GK in the summer.
Power and Metcalfe were poor. No drive or creativity in CM.
Our loan signings have been abysmal.
Anyone seen Josh Hmami play for Halifax? 12 goals is impressive from CM. Could he make the transition to L1.

 

He's getting too much stick for me, but we will definitely need a viable number 2 no matter which division we're in.

Sam Walker is 34, can stay for me for sure, but there has to be competition in all positions including the GK spot now.

I get Hilton is in the building but I'd almost expect us to sign an emergency loan if Walker got injured at this point, he's not a player I expect to be seeing (not based on my own judgement, based on the sheer lack of minutes).

 

To summarise on the game. As predicted, with Swan in the team, and playing with a high press, we looked a very decent side in the first half. Created a few chances, and should really of put 2 of them away at least. Burton got a goal against the run of play and went into the break with a lead - the writing was on the wall there. Surprise surprise, second half was a shambles

3 factors -
1) Walker has began to decline over the last 3 months. Seems like every other week, he’s at fault and its leading to a goal. He will drop off next year which means a new No.1 in the summer is a priority

2) no reason to switch the system at half time. Metcalfe is not a wing back (not really sure what position he was playing but Im gonna say RWB for arguments sake) If GA really wanted to take Neufville off, bring on like for like (Ashby)

3) We are shit when going behind and the players tend to panic. We have no plan in place when a team plays a low block against us and is aggressive with their press when we get close to their box

The tactical implications from the half time switches :

Power and Evans getting in each other’s way. Two similar types of players, both like to sit deep and knock the ball side to side. Not what we needed. Kudos to Evans for the assist though.

lost our attacking nous without Swan. He isn't match sharp yet but he was causing Burton all sorts of problems in the first, Wheatley wasn't and hasn't for some time now

The signings

Ashby - either he's extremely pissed off at being sent to Bradford on loan an he's not putting 100% in, or he's not as good as made out to be and does not belong in a top LG1 team, let alone a Championship team, contrary to what many fans from other teams were suggesting, that he was allegedly “too good for LG1”

White - A mare at Huddersfield and we havent seen him since

Evans - Decent cover but not enough to displace our Captain (Power) or our POTS (Metcalfe)

Jackson - The one good bit of business we did, but for a man whose gained a reputation for being injury free for most of his career, he’s now on the sidelines for god knows how long

Wheatley - That miss at Peterborough has been a butterfly effect. I called it then and I called it now. Had he scored that, we’d be seeing a different player, unfortunately we’re seeing one shot on confidence, and is unable to strike a ball. He's also getting worse as the games go by ever since Port Vale

Sibley - completely off at the pace at wimbledon. If we never see him play again, it wouldn’t surprise me

Mullin - Bare minimum you expect from a player is 100%, and he gives that, for which I cant fault him. I still haven’t seen him presented a chance to shoot, and it’s been about 10 games since he was brought in, and he's played in about 7 of them. That is shocking. And the fault lies with the management. If you aren’t structuring your team to give the striker service then what was the point in bringing him in?

Other issues

Neufville - Im getting the impression hes home sick as his form has dropped off a cliff. Expect him to move to a team down south come Summer

Walker - Needs replacing; bar a monumental turn around in the next 2 months

J Wright - Think he deserves a spot in the team. Pennington has been poor but its been brushed under the carpet because he's scored a few times recently

GA - needs to stop tinkering with the team so much and go back to what we were doing at the start of the season. You dont change a winning formula, but he has for whatever reason

we’l make the play offs. But don't expect us to win them. We aren't gonna win away from home in the semi final leg, and we wont turn up at Wembley. Guaranteed

 

This sideways passing we have adopted when we go behind does my head in.. its like the players are scared to “have a go”

 

I thought Evan’s looked good when he came on, a little rusty on positioning, but he played well.

I am now hoping this two week break will revitalise them all. What I also hope for is that we can plan better. We most desperately need a plan B. We just look thrown together when we change the team. We need to concentrate on our midfield in the summer.

At this stage if we can’t find our start of the season mojo, I am not sure we will be able to handle the playoffs. I really don’t want to lose at Wembley again.

 

Jackson isnt a CF, never has been, never will be. He was brought in to give us options to Bobby and Sarc. He played CF because the rest are absolutely shite.

I was talking to a Burton fan I know. He is well connected, and he says we bid £400k for Beesley but the club wanted £1m for it to be worth their while. He obviously isnt worth that so we left empty handed but it wasnt a PR stunt. Player was intetested so maybe we go back in the summer and Burton are more reasonable in their valuation.

 

He had a poor game yesterday but results and defence has been better this season with him in the backline, than those games without him. This is a fact.