The Voice - Match preview #13: Cheltenham Town vs Bradford City Tuesday 22nd October 2024 7:45pm

EFL League Two Fixture #13
Tuesday 22nd October 2024 19:45
Cheltenham Town vs Bradford City
EV Charger Points Stadium (AKA Whaddon Road)

Record:
Games Won: 6
Games Drawn: 4
Games Lost: 5

Last 5:
17 Jan 2017: Cheltenham Town 0 – 1 Bradford City [EFL Trophy]
17 Sep 2017: Cheltenham Town 3 – 2 Bradford City
28 Jan 2020: Bradford City 1 – 1 Cheltenham Town
01 Dec 2020: Bradford City 1 – 2 Cheltenham Town
20 Feb 2021: Cheltenham Town 0 – 2 Bradford City

Cheltenham Town:
Sat 17th in the League Two table, Cheltenham Town have made an inauspicious start to life in League Two following relegation last season. A 21st place finish meant that Cheltenham Town were the final team to be confirmed relegated from the third tier having made a brave fight back after a disastrous start that saw them pick up just 1 point from their first 11 league games. Manager Wade Elliott would pay the price for appalling start to the season with his job, and while Darrell Clarke did get The Robins firing, the damage was already done.

Fast forward until October 24/25, and the current season has got off to a better start, although that might be seen as a backhanded compliment to a side currently languishing in the bottom half and struggling for form. Michael Flynn is in charge having taken the reins following the departure of Darrell Clarke to Barnsley in the Summer, but despite a 3-2 opening day win over Newport County, things haven’t quite gone to plan for the ex-Bradford City midfielder’s side. A run of 3 straight league defeats were coupled with a first round EFL Cup exit, and that pattern of 1 league win being followed by a series of defeats has continued since.

A 1-0 home win over Harrogate Town saw The Robins pick up just 1 point from their next 3 fixtures, before a 2-1 home win over Accrington Stanley was followed by back-to-back defeats once again. Bradford City fans might be cheered, then, to note that Cheltenham will entertain the Bantams fresh off of a 2-1 away victory (their first of the season away from Whaddon Road) at Colchester United. The omens, then, are good for City.

Note also that all 4 of Cheltenham Town’s victories have come against other sides in the bottom half of the table, and that should provide even more cause for optimism for an on-song Bantams side.

Unlike some of City’s recent opponents, however, Cheltenham Town are not a side that have starved their fans of goals. Despite their lowly league position, Cheltenham have scored no fewer than 16 goals, just 2 short of Bradford City, and more than the likes of Gillingham, Barrow, Crewe Alexandra, and AFC Wimbledon, for example. It’s at the other end, though, that Michael Flynn’s Cheltenham are really struggling. 20 conceded across 12 league fixtures is a figure only exceeded by 3 other teams! Carlisle United, predictably, are one having made an awful start to the campaign, while Newport County and Grimsby Town are the only others to have shipped more goals than The Robins.

Cause for real concern, then, for Cheltenham in spite of their ability to find the net in all but 2 of their league fixtures so far.

Couple a creaky backline with the fact the club don’t sport a natural goalscorer, and Cheltenham Town share an issue with Saturday afternoon’s opponents, Gillingham. Ethon Archer, Ryan Bowman, George Miller, Joel Colwill and Jordan Thomas all share the lead in the scoring charts with 2, while 6 other players have helped themselves to a goal apiece. The positive spin here is that there are goals throughout the team, and indeed Cheltenham Town having 11 different goalscorers at this stage of the season is impressive in itself.

Cheltenham Town are also showing some real fight of late. In a recent derby game against Swindon Town, Cheltenham found themselves 3-0 down at home to the dismay of the Whaddon Road faithful – but goals from George Miller and Ethon Archer restored some pride, even if they were unable to rescue a point. Then, on Saturday, Michael Flynn lauded his side for “executing what we’re telling them to the letter of the law”, a mid-game switch from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 also paying dividends and allowing more control of the game.

Flynn did bemoan his side’s poor communication at times, however, and urged fans to “stick with us” as they try to build back better from a rocky start. Putting together back-to-back wins would be a fantastic building block, but they have a formidable challenge even at home against an on-form City side.

Colchester United 1 – 2 Cheltenham Town


Cheltenham Town 2 – 3 Swindon Town


Bradford City:
There was a sense of pride among those leaving Valley Parade on Saturday afternoon after a spirited and hard-working team performance merited 3 excellent points against a Gillingham side who had been hovering above them in the league table all season. City leapfrogged the Gills into 5th courtesy of a come-from-behind 2-1 win. Defenders Neill Byrne and Jack Shepherd proved to be the goalscoring heroes, with Shepherd firing home a particularly classy volley from outside the area before half time to seal the victory.

Now Bradford City, riding a 3-game winning streak, will look to push even further forward ahead of a crunch tie with Doncaster Rovers this coming Saturday afternoon. Before that, Tuesday night sees the apparently illness-stricken squad travel to Cheltenham Town, a side struggling for form, but who have traded wins and losses at home at an even ratio of 3:3. While City have at times relied on 7-goal hitman Andy Cook, Saturday afternoon was an evening where he was not required. Byrne and Shepherd may not be the likeliest of candidates to step into the breach, and it might be a while before they do again, but they did increase City’s goalscorer count to 8 different players so far this season. That none of those goalscorers are Vadaine Oliver, Tyler Smith or Calum Kavanagh is a cause for concern, of course, but as things stand City have a front line led by a high quality frontman who can turn a game on it’s head at any given moment: just ask Tranmere Rovers and Carlisle United fans, and they will attest to that.

One of the other promising statistics for City fans is that defensively, things are improving. While City had conceded 2 goals in all of 3 of their opening 8 league games, they have conceded just 3 in their last 4 since a dreadful display at North Yorkshire rivals Harrogate Town in late September. In reply, they have hit 8, more than twice the volume of goals shipped at the other end.

The football, too, feels like it’s improving. Jack Shepherd was in fine form against Gillingham spraying some superb long diagonal balls to Brad Halliday and Tyreik Wright/Lewis Richards to turn defence into attack at a moment’s notice. That isn’t Graham Alexander’s sides only out ball, however, but it did work particularly well to frustrate a more possession-oriented Gillingham side who struggled to make clear cut chances despite taking an early lead.

Bradford City fans will hope for more of the same and to put one over their ex-player in manager Michael Flynn, as well as George Miller. Whether City loanee Sam Stubbs is allowed to be played remains to be confirmed, although likely not.

Bradford City 2 - 1 Gillingham


Tranmere Rovers 0 – 2 Bradford City


Prediction:
City loanee Sam Stubbs has made 10 starts for Cheltenham Town this season and has been the bedrock of a creaky backline that has struggled for clean sheets. He has formed a partnership with Scot Bennett that has been a consistent part of the Robins’ starting lineup, so if (as we expect) Stubbs is unavailable to play against his parent club, that will be a further major blow to Michael Flynn’s side.

Looking at the league table, though, some City fans might want Stubbs to play! With the fourth leakiest defence in League Two, Cheltenham Town have some way to go before they can lay claim to a formidable defensive unit, and Andy Cook in particular must be rubbing his hands in expectation. If he can add to the 7 league goals he has already picked up, that will spell real problems for Michael Flynn’s side.

Note, however, that Cheltenham Town have been involved in 5-goal thrillers no fewer than 3 times already in the league, so hitting back has rarely been a problem – but sadly for the Robins, they have lost 2 of those 3-2 results and won just once, on the opening day of the season against Newport County.

Cheltenham Town aren’t picking up wins over top half sides, either. Grimsby Town, AFC Wimbledon, Walsall, Fleetwood Town, and Barrow all beat them, while Chesterfield have been only side in the top 12 to fail, and even they picked up a draw. That appears to speak of a lack of overall quality in this Cheltenham Town side, and that is something Bradford City must punish, much as they did against Tranmere Rovers and Newport County recently.

It will be easier said than done against a side still seemingly gelling under Michael Flynn, but with Graham Alexander’s side looking fully up to speed already, the prediction will be a Bradford City win. The chances of both sides scoring looks very high based on both sides results, and while the Bantams are improving at the back, a 2-1 or 3-1 away win seems to be the pick if City can continue to take their chances.

Let’s back the Bantams to march to a fourth straight win down in Gloucestershire on Tuesday night!

Final Score:
Cheltenham Town 1 – 3 Bradford City