The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs MK Dons Saturday 22nd February 3:00pm

Baldwin has started to develop into a very solid player which is great to see. I think the initial concern over the summer is Baldwin was signed with Bryne and Johnson. One who clearly isnt good enough and the other who was a crock. They replaced Platt, Tomkinson and Oyegoke which was clearly a downgrade.

That was eased by the signing of Shepherd who has been a fine signing and the ranks now boosted by Crichlow too. Add to that Halliday finding his 23/24 form finally, Kelly been solid and Richards becoming a real asset, we now have a backline we can rely on.

 

I'd add Huntington to that list, has been solid whenever he's been called upon and a very experienced head to have at our disposal.

 

Surprised Byrne came on instesd yesterday.

 

The tight games you have aluded to are against teams that where happy to sit in and do little hoping for a draw or a breakaway win ...........any team that comes and has a go will no doubt get beaten and as the season goes on and teams are desperate for 3 points i can see a lot more convincing wins.

Honestly after the Notts C game i was thinking but midtable mediocrity but you have to give the squad and GA all the credit going for actually making going down to VP a joy rather than the chore it did become.

 

Just to add to that, the midfield and especially Smallwood have been excellent at screening and protecting that back 3 so I think they also get huge credit for the run of clean sheets lately.

 

I don't think he would have if it had still been 1-0.

 

I thought we might have got him about two years too late, but at this level (and above?), he is absolute class. I “loved” his play when he was at Bolton and thought, what a player. So glad we have him.

 

Smallwood is doing what he should have been doing since the day he signed.
The difference now is he’s got players round him whose first thought is to go forward,leaving RS to do what he’s best at.
Not knocking Gilliead ( I am) but his first thought was never to move forward with any urgency.
This left RS to be the defensive midfielder and the attacking midfielder,which was physically impossible.

The big question should be why has it taken so long and different managers to see that RS is most effective with legs alongside him.

 

Thats a fair point but Harrogate and Accrington were good for a point. We had lady luck that day.

 

I think it just down to GA.
Best manager we've had since Parkinson, really like him to be honest.

 

Gilliead had legs, one of the fittest players we have had in L2. He just wasnt good enough. TBF Pattison has spent half his City career injured too. Fully fit we would have seen this RS alot more.

Smallwood has been excellent and its finally clicked.

 

Depends what you mean by well on top. Bar the great finishes from Dykes and Stanfield it wasn't like we were overrun. Yeah they deserved the victory but they weren't well on top for 70 minutes

 

Think we have a manager in that realises that pissing around at the back and in midfield aint gonna get you anywhere ...........look at MK dons how many times did they arse about with it only to lose it time and time again ???
I actually thought that yesterday was gonna be ropey but in the end a 2-0 win didnt really tell the full tale and a bit of care in the final 3rd would have resulted in a far bigger win margin.

Hopefully at some point some our fellow contenders hit the buffers it gonna be a tough run in but our squad may hold the key in getting us out of the piss poor league

 

I think if we play like we did yesterday consistently we will have few issues in getting the points needed.
My worry is the gruelling Saturday Tuesday schedule and whether we can make it through without losing Sarcevic, Smallwood, Pattison or Pointon for any length of time.
We have lots of decent cover in defence so less worried about that. It's the midfield that we are reliant on.
Losing any of them will make the task harder.

 

Absolutely.
It’s taken a bit of time but he looks to finally have his core 11 sorted and strength in depth should any injuries occur.
I thought he was a bit dull tbh and never seemed over excited with a good win.
It’s obviously just the way he is and irrespective of personality,it’s results that count.

 

As a case in point , MKD did the opposite . Their midfield did zero to protect their back 3 yesterday leaving them exposed to our deep runners aka Sarcevic.

 

Getting the right supporting midfield has taken time, too long for sure. I can’t imagine where we would be if Patto and Sarcevic didn’t get those early season injuries ? Them fit and a rotating squad supplimented by January trading….

 

I remember getting lambasted on here for saying Gilly should have been released instead of being given a new 2 year deal. 'But he's so versatile and such a good squad player' they said, even though it was obvious he wasn't being signed as a squad player and would continue to be one of the first names on the team sheet alongside Smallwood, and so it came to pass.

 

I know but its not as if they created chance after chance was it ????? I just think that them 2 including Morecambe seemed happy to come here and get a point resulting in us not looking that good yet we won all 3 i just think that any teams who actually comes out a goes for the win from the off will more than likely end up getting beat .............Bromley and Salford come into that catergory as we enter the last section and both probably have to start winning games

 

Key thing is GA now has options. Byrne found out pretty quickly, Odour was never good enough, Smith sent out on loan, Walker on the decline - better players to turn too now than 2 months ago.