The Voice - Match preview Bradford City vs Crewe Alexandra Saturday 26th August 2023 3:00pm

There's a balance clearly but the result does not mean that the performance is irrelevant. If I'm predicting the outcomes of the team over the course of the season I'd rather see us batter the opposition and see us frustrated by a sensational goalkeeping performance 0 - 0 than do absolutely nothing and get battered by a team who have an off day with their finishing but win 1-0 after benefiting from a flukey own goal. I think that's fairly obvious that the former would bring more confidence about the season ahead.

I'll ask you, if we replicate our performance against Crewe every week, do you think that'll see us finish in the top 7?

 

I doubt you'd want to watch us batter someone and not win.

Stockport fans are watching that week in, week out, and I'll tell you this: they're not exactly thrilled about it.

I get your sentiment, but whenever people make the "I'd rather watch us do this or that" statements, they're usually not telling the truth, exactly.

I've read and heard everything from "I'd be happier if we could defend" to "I'd be happier if we scored goals even if we didn't win games", and whenever the circumstances arise, folk still aren't happy.

The only style of football that fans actually want is winning football, and that's not a style.

 

It goes very quickly from it's all about results to okay we won but the performance wasn't good enough. It'll never be good enough for some and even if it is they'll be something else to moan about.

 

Its simply not true for myself. I was encouraged and fairly positive after the Stockport game. I thought the game was indicative of a team pushing for promotion. I felt better after that game about our prospects for this season than I did after the a Colchester or Crewe game. I'm not even talking about attractive football. I'm talking about using performance as an indicator of our seasons prospects based on how likely we would win future games on the basis of the immediate performance. Surely that's the sensible approach. If we look dominant and comfortable against Mansfield and get stung with a sucker punch I'll be feeling optimistic. Likewise I'm not going to get excited if we score a scruffy penalty against them and see them pepper our goal with shots only to keep missing easy chances. Surely you can see my logic?

 

Well of course I'd rather we win but at least I'd go home knowing that if we play like that every week we'll have a chance of going up over a 46 game season.

I don't know if Stockport are battering teams. All I've got to go on is bbc stats that don't tell the full story. Based of their performance against us if be fairly confident they'll be top 7 this season.

If you offered me the city performance against Stockport or the city performance against Crewe as the standard for the rest of the season I'd take Stockport and so would you.

 

Well the performance against Crewe got 3 points, another 40 odd like that we go up as champions

 

I agree. Would I take a season of scruffy, unattractive 1-0 wins to get us out of this division? Of course I would!! We all would! However the reality of that happening is slim.

I’m not expecting Brazilian flare and Man City type football. I simply hope to see a team that is organised, clear and confident in their roles and the ability to translate that into performances. So far, apart from the glimmers we have seen in 1-2 select games, we have looked far from that IMO.

 

The point is though that the performance against Crewe won't yeild 3 points even half the time, never mind the majority.

That's the point @Bumblebee_Tuna is making and I fully agree.

 

And on the flip side, even the Morcambe performance is good enough for some.

It is what it is. Some people crave success and some are just happy to get out of the house for a couple of hours on a Saturday. It doesn't necessarily make one parties argument stronger than the other and it certainly doesn't make acknowledging that something was poor, "a moan".

 

I'm not even sure what other posters are disagreeing with. I could understand if they thought our performance against Crewe was indicative of a team who will get promoted. I'd disagree but it would be a valid counter but to say the result is all that matters is really shortsighted.

 

So basically you are saying a 0-0 with a top performance is preferred over a 1-0 win with an awful performance. NURSE!!!!

And to answer your last question = No. But if we replicate the result we will win the league.

 

The second half performance against a form team might.

 

Yes, but too suggest he would rather see a stonking performance that ends 0-0 over a drab performance that yields 3pts is baffling. We got the 3pts, and we are all hopeful of better performances but if we play like that the next 40 games and pick up 25 1-0 wins I will take it. Parkinson made a decent career out of that (cup games aside).

 

Went to the Fleece (not the best pint of Boltmeker despite being a Taylors ownerd pub) and the Kings (nice pint of Emily) then had a meal at Pave, which is excellent. Great afternoon out, not spoilt at all by missing a win.

 

You're dismissing his point though in that if we put in similar performances for the next 40 games it's highly unlikely we get 10 clean sheets, never mind 25.

The performances so far are absolutely a concern and if Hughes doesn't feel the same then we're bang in trouble.

 

That's fair enough. I'm glad you agree performance matters even if we might disagree on the standard

 

Yes!

Shouting 'NURSE' is ironic. You aren't doing a lot of thinking. Let me guess, your thought process is..

3 points is better than 1. That's some sophisticated critical thinking there.

 

I am not dismissing that point - I was dismissing the point of a 0-0 with a good performance is better than a 1-0 win where we look shite. Its an absolute nonsense.

 

I never said drab. It's encouraging to see that you're misrepresenting what I said so that you can get some leverage. A drab performance where we snuff out the opposition, stifle them, sneak a winner and play pragmatically would be more than welcome.

 

Take the 3pts and worry about the performance when we pick up 0pts.

Different opposition creates different opportunities and performances. No two games are ever the same.