The Voice - Match preview #43: Barnsley vs Bradford City Saturday 18th April 2026 12:30pm

I took am sick of hearing this 'well I expected us to finish half way or in the bottom half, it's tiresome. We've not been out of the playoffs all season but that doesn't mean we can't critique performances without rose tinted specs on and with that approach I say today in it's isolation was a pretty lacklustre display not befitting a team wanting to gain promotion via the playoffs.
We aren't a team just happy to be here, our aspirations now to win a three game shootout for a place in the championship.

 

Enjoyed that today.
Great day out in Barnsley, cracking following from the Bantams just wish the players kept it together at the end

Can't wait for Tuesday to hopefully seal a playoff spot.

What a great season its been, much prefer to be going to Barnsley away then Barrow away.

UTFC

 

The way I look at it, this is our opportunity and we've earned every potential moment. Over the season, we were the team that was under the radar. We were the ones that people didn’t see coming. We were the team that snuck in the back door and then kicked it down. Well, those days are over, we're no longer under the radar, we're swimming at the deep end.

Nobody in L1 should be looking past Bradford City anymore. And I don’t want it any other way. I want the expectations. I hate the "under the radar is a nice thing" bollocks, f*ck that, royaly f*ck that. The best place to be mentally is when expectations are high and we need to get used to it. We're a big fish and we need to start having a mentality that we'll slap the shit out of anyone coming up against us. I fully believe that when we play at our best, we will beat any team in this league.

But it’s one thing to talk about it, it's another thing to go out there and be that team. We gotta be physical, aggressive, demanding and play like we want it and lately we just aren't. Realise what's infront of us, get some drive and f*cking take it!!

 

It's Cook by the way.

We don't have a good goal scorer.....

 

It would if we could get balls into the box. When did you last see Touray cross? He always plays it back

 

How could you enjoy a capitulation like that? You should be as pissed off as the other 5K away fans.

 

Missed aright sitter second half. He could have ket it roll down his shin and it would have been a goal but some poor sod in row Z got it.

 

Only if he gets longer than 15 or 20 mins which is usually Grahams default.

 

All 3 have only improved due to match time. They clearly have a talent but i doubt any of their improvement is down to Alexander's coaching.

 

We played right into their hands today. Never really stretched them and looked to slow things down and pass backwards for the relentless diagonal balls out wide. We’re at our best when we play at pace, but today we waited until the last 20 minutes to do so. Pointon and Wright are such big misses at the moment. That left hand side just doesn’t create anything, add to that Neufville has started to look like Bambi on ice. He never seems to have the ball fully under control, but is capable of delivering balls into the box the occasions he beats his man.

Tuesday is huge and at the very least we can’t afford to let the gap close between us. Team selection is huge.

 

Neufville nowhere near the million mark in last 3 months. Maybe its the team play but it would take a manager with foresight to pay that for him at the moment.

 

Hes been well off it since Christmas. Had a great first half of the season but gone well off the boil. It happens.
I'd be tempted to start Ashby on Tuesday.

 

Not when he’s in Gillingham he diesnt

 

Pretty sure Big Jim wasn't in Gillingham mate, unless he was collecting some o/t in his wagon.

 

He refused to play Pointon for best part of a year. Was only one at VP that understood it!

 

Same. Its not even that he’s being marked out of games. His touch has been terrible lately. Weird.

 

How did a side playing 10 men a goal in front find themselves with 2 minutes to play with hardly any defenders in or around the box, do they not talk game plans, unbelievable.

 

fecking pissed off with that result and performance but find some of the criticism of Alexander perplexing. Days like today actually make him go up in my estimations since so many players in this squad just do not look like they have the quality we need to legitimately aspire to get promoted. At least not consistently.

I'm not saying he's above criticism or that I like or understand every decision but I think it's deluded to think someone better will automatically walk in the day he leaves or to think that manager will make every decision the fans will love.

Plymouth massive now. Hope we have another big performance at home in us otherwise it's squeaky bum time. Would be gutting to miss play offs now having been in them basically the entire season but not sure how optimistic I am of winning them. Especially if Tyreik and Bobby aren't back.

 

Stumbling over the ball hell of a lot. He’s trying to hard and needs to calm down .