The Voice - Match preview Colchester United vs Bradford City Saturday 16th November 2024 3:00pm

That was an atrocious performance. Nevermind time wasting at 0-1, we were time wasting from the first minute. No urgency and no desire to play anything even remotely resembling football.

Bradford City away at Colchester and Alexander has us set up like a newly promoted non league side with a ten quid budget and squad of semi pro players.

The 'style of play' is laughable. Kick and rush stuff which a five year old could coach, nevermind a manager with thousands of pounds worth of qualifications. This is really what we've descended to, hiring dinosaurs off the scrap heap who are ten years past their sell by date.

Nothing changes until Rupp and Sparks go, but Alexander should be next out the door.

 

Without Cook we’d be genuine candidates for relegation.

 

And with Cook we should have been in league one by now.

 

After watching todays game aren't those who wanted Danny Cowley as our next manager glad he turned us down and chose Colchester instead, another manager who had success at the one club.

 

Ok just watched the equaliser again from the highlights. It's actually a really good far post corner. Walker comes into contact with Halliday and stumbles as a result and so can't try to make the save as he is basically on the floor. I don't think he necessarily could or should have caught it. Bit of a calamity yes, but things do happen. What is criminal is the marking, or rather the absolute total lack of it and any challenge on the free man. Free man perfectly positioned for a very good corner. But totally unchallenged at the far post where basically there should always be some cover. Evans covering near post. Nobody far and the man markers missed the fact that Halliday (who is shocking in the air) was trying to cover two Colchester players far post.

Walker getting pelters again, but he is perfectly adequate, not 100% to blame for the equaliser, and had not long before made a really good save after Halliday got shown how to run at pace by their sub.

Blame the marking, the markers, or whomever is instructing that set up for corners pre match.

Edited to add how absolutely ridiculous it is to have Halliday far post whilst 3 central defenders on at the time look at each other in the centre.

 

Sam Walker, Haliday and you can throw even Kavanagh in there as players who were decent last year but have gone backwards this season. Can't see how GA stays. Someone mentioned last week about the players ignoring him from the sideline and honestly think he's lost the dressing room

 

The “Highlights”
It’s not a long clip.

 

I think Walker was getting more stick for letting it be a corner to begin with. He's tipped it over because he has no idea where his post is, rookie keeping. He didn't even jump to tip it.

The crossed ball wasn't going in, he wasn't even at full stretch to tip it, but he decided to put it over when he probably could have caught it if he knew where he was. Poor keeping for sure, but someone in the box should call that it's free, call that there's no runners around him. Instead, when it was tipped behind Byrne and I think it was Jamie Walker threw their arms up and one shouted toward him, guessing it was a "why didn't you catch it" type moan. But it's not his first poor punch or misread, remember Carlisles goal when he failed to read a ball?

But for the corner, there's Oliver, Diabate, Byrne and Halliday all in the 6 yard box and just 2 Colchester players within arms reach of those lads. The keeper should be screaming them away to give him room to come for the ball if needed. When the corner comes in, none are checking their space and as said, Halliday has ended up the odd man out with a couple of runners. Just an awful setup with a string of errors that could have been avoided with communication.

 

Missed the game but one shot one target? We're just a bang average L2 team and that goes for the manager, boring negative football.

 

I didn’t watch it. But the stats and result tell the story. Not good enough. We also now don’t have a left back.

 

I think that's spot on.The standard of football is appalling,considering these are supposed to be professional footballers,they can hardly string two passes together.

 

Just back a short while ago, another abysmal showing from that shite gaggle of misfits. Another slow start and just didn’t look up for it whatsoever. Fortunately went 1 up, why didn’t we go for the jugular?? Another goal knocks the stuffing out of a crap team near the bottom and kills the game. It’s like going back to Mark Hughes games where we sit back and invite the pressure. Yet again smallwood proving he’s a crap leader. Look up before kicking the ball you fecking idiot!!!!

And for all those stood round me pissing & moaning as to where the 10 mins came from, get a grip and stop making excuses for a woefully assembled squad and abject display. There were 2 or 3 long stoppages and silly time wasting from our lot, and the equaliser was coming all day long. Thankfully it came late, cos if there was still 5 mins left we would’ve lost without a shadow of a doubt

We are a very poor side and will go nowhere this season. In fact, it really wouldn’t surprise me if Sparks & co tried taking the piss out of us even more in January and sold Cook

 

It’s kind of symptomatic of why I can’t get excited by this team. They try but frankly have more success shooting themselves in the foot. We’re the spursy team of league 2 and it frustrates beyond belief. 3 steps forward then two back. a constant catalogue of injuries isn’t unlucky anymore. We’re a problem to resolve in that area and soon.

 

As usual people want to give the manager the boot. feck all changes and our fans learn nothing. You hit the nail on the head in the first part of your final sentence above. You think GA wanted to sign half of the shite we’ve been lumbered with? Cos I don’t. He’s been given a playing budget probably comparable to a mid-table team, and It’s like a boxer trying to win the heavyweight championship with one hand tied behind his back. GA often leaves me scratching my head with his tactics, but he’s probably as flummoxed as the rest of us and every manager before him, wondering why the hell he came to work at Bradford City

 

When will the people running our club give the fans a remotely competent return for their money and unstinting support?
The players worked hard, but isnt that the minimal expectation of everyone in their jobs. The ending was obviously a *@?$ up but at all levels these things happen. Under Alexander we are dull, uninspiring and largely one-paced - and this is with the best goalscorer in the division often saving our sorry arses.
The injuries are not just coincidence and bad luck, they are also down to shoddy recruitment and fitness regimes. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear we'll be ok when the crocks return - on what basis?! I'll bet you some will quickly return to the physio room and be joined by others. Its a shambles.
League 2 is there for the taking this year and we are clinging on to even be in the playoffs (teams around us have played less). Rupp, Sparks, Sharpe and Gent are failing us massively and most of them have done so for a number of years. Ive had friends of other clubs message me this evening (who were able to watch on Sky) asking are we usually that bad - but in a very uncomfortable post match interview Alexander thought it was a good performance! Our standards and 'best version of ourselves ' is at a bloody low bar.

Sorry for the whinge, I just despair at what is being served up by the muppets in VP Towers

 

You go down Steve?

 

Don’t apologise, every single fan deserves to call us out for what we are - shite mid table team, and certain relegation fodder should cookie get injured god forbid

 

I did unfortunately. I have something loose upstairs

 

Was it around 600 away fans there today Steve? Feel for each and everyone of you and hope you're all safely home

 

Not too sure pal, we guessed at about 500 but it’s hard to tell when you’re in there? There was a lot of frustration when they equalised, they don’t deserve our fan base home & away

Home now thanks, Chinese demolished and boxing on