The Voice - Match preview Harrogate Town vs Bradford City 23rd March 2024 1:00pm

Sutton was the best central midfielder on show yesterday. Admittedly I don't think he's good enough in that position but it shows just how bad we are when a player like Levi ends up looking competent by the end of the game. There is no magic wand to make it right but this club goes nowhere with Rupp and Sparks in charge. If folk are happy to pay a 25% increase when the best outcome is mid table league 2 football under these two clowns then we might as well pack in.
Damn I'm pissed at this club right now.

 

Total shambles from top to bottom.

 

Injuries have hit us at the wrong time, as happens with other clubs. A defence of Kelly, Platt and Tomkinson was very solid, with Halliday and Richards as wing backs. Missing Pattinson,Young and Walker (for large spells) has decimated our forward attacking options. GA has the bones of a decent starting 11 next season. Ditch Oyegoke, Taylor, Ridealgh, Derbyshire and Wright and try to keep Tomkinson. Replace Cook, Walker and Smallwood with more agile dynamic players and we shouldn’t be far away.

 

Enjoy

 

Wright has been an absolutely massive disappointment , despite his two at Stanley. He never seems to be “ in a game” .

 

I know you have never rated Sutton Kev, and to be fair he isn't the player he was before covid and injury. But yesterday I thought he epitomised the difference between the 2 teams with the ground he made to put in that crunching tackle on Pointon as he was trying to break away. If it was the other way round our midfielders would have tried to pull his shirt or trip him up....or just let him go and hope somebody else picked him up.

 

Harrogate are currently 13th and were below us before our recent losing streak, let’s not pretend that our former players are suddenly world beaters off the back of smacking our spineless lot about.

We were right to get rid of everyone of those players on display yesterday, where we were wrong was the replacements. We should be aiming for far better than the 22 that were on the pitch yesterday, Harrogate also have lost more at home than us so I bet most of the time they have as much bottle as our lot.

It’s no coincidence that former players raise their game against us, but also have the same character flaws this lot do, Parky used to put a lot of emphasis on a player’s character and our last successful team had his spine still in tact. Ever since we’ve struggled.

 

What d'ya do that for - I was enjoying a lovely spring morning ... ar5e!

 

NO!

 

As far as I am concerned a plan is only a plan when it fails there is another a plan of how to rectify it. How will you mitigate the shortfall in income. Timescales etc., scratching your head when it goes pear shape is not a plan.

 

Everyone has a plan, even Rahic talked a good game off the pitch. How that plan is implemented determines the effectiveness of the first eleven on the pitch. Problem we've had is a CEO who had flitted between plan to plan while hiring and firing managers. The bloke is clueless.

 

As a manager myself, I’ve always found the best way of man management is to give leeway to an extent as long as the lads know where the is drawn. Also put an arm round them when they need it, and don’t make a song and dance when a mistake is made - especially in front of the rest of the employees. It doesn’t do anything for anyone, except damage the morale. We’re all human and make mistakes, anyone who says otherwise doesn’t do any work. That said, they have to demonstrate that they have learned from their errors. If you keep having to gently tell them about the same thing over and over, well that is when you have to have a serious conversation with them

GA has been over protective of these players from day dot, enough is enough. It is about time he publicly lambasted them, clearly nothing else has worked has it? It is his & Luckettis reputation on the line too remember. I admit his selections and tactics are somewhat baffling at times, however he is probably as devastated as the rest of us that this bunch of mercenaries are tarnishing the name he’s built for himself

 

I say it again, The players attitude yesterday stank the place out.

 

Wright isn't a footballer, it's a terrible signing.

Yet another person been given a contract with a PL youth team because of his athletic abilities but technically, the lad is awful.

 

No never rated him technically whatsoever . Runs around , energetic , heart on sleeve type player great . Not knocking him for that at all however Gilly is twice the player technically , that’s why Sutty was released and far less adaptable to boot ,however we would make anyone look good yesterday .

 

Don't necessarily disagree with that. Gilly has all the attributes, should be better than he is. My post was intended to highlight the difference in desire levels yesterday.

 

They are all good on there day but when it matters really matters a hell of a lot of these go missing and you camnot do this at this level.

Dont get me wrong we have had injuries but a fair few of these lot injured where about when the likes of Morecambe where battering us.

 

Yes agree completely

 

Bang right, club's at this level don't have a footballing "plan". They may well have a financial plan, and so they should. The managerial appointment either works or it doesnt.

 

It was a shit show at Morecambe and the beginning of the end for Hughes.