The Voice - Match preview Most liked posts in thread: Bradford City vs Mansfield Town Saturday 4 February 2023 @ 3:00pm

As a fan only totally agree. Should have played Nevers onto a golden chance, then gave the ball away leading to their goal and stood watching. Capped it off with his glory seeking, utter waste free kick. Derbyshire experience would have been far better, hope I don’t see much more of Chapman, he brings nothing.

 

Just on a different note, & admittedly I’m not his biggest fan, but personally I thought gillead was superb today. As most supporters crave passion, heart, desire, he has it in abundance, for once trying to drive forward & bring the rest of the team with him, maybe Clayton & east are the foil for him. Is Smallwood straight back? I’m not sure

 

Our issue is simply not being able to scrap out a second half often enough and turn typical league 2 games from a draw to a loss. Today was a case where with some good finishing we could have been 3-0 up at the break, but inevitably that does not transpire. In that situation the promotion winning side 3 out of 4 times scraps enough to keep the lead or sneaks another second half. We are just not doing that with enough regularity in these tight games where we are ahead.

Positives today - Clayton was immense. Bola showed why Hughes brought him in. Walker was really good but blowing out of his arse due to lack of match fitness. Gillead was fantastic - yes he was folks. Just two many folk seeking fitness in today's side and two few changes too late in all probability.

 

Need a mention of Lewis this season. With an average League 2 keeper we would be only mid-table. Some of his saves have been totally outstanding.

 

Yesterday followed the pattern of so many games we are involved in. A good first half with strong pressing and often taking the lead followed by a second half where we step of the gas allowing the pressure to build until eventually we crack.
Wether this is caused by attitude and instructions to hold what we have or are we not fit enough to press for 90 minutes. Where is the strategy to relieve the prssure we seen unable to ride it out. Why don’t we leave a player up at opposing corners.
I saw Mansfield keeper yesterday launch the ball three times from hands and I think it was their left sided midfielder charge into open space without looking up with the ball coming to him obviously a rehearsed move..
We played some lovely football yesterday first half just as we did against Salford but this time we didn’t get away with it. I like Hughes as a bloke but I am losing a bit of faith in him as a manager although I am not calling for change we have to stick with him and hope he adapts to this level

 

Chapmans decision to run down a rabbit hole on the left as opposed to a simple pass to Nevers who had the freedom of Midland Rd, Queens Rd and Canal Rd on his right was absolutely criminal.

 

It was just a perfect team to watch wasn’t it. Aerial threat of Mills, the twists and turns of Blake and Beags and then the explosive power of Jamo on the right. Stuart getting stuck in and Whalley rarely wasting a pass.

i wish my kids got to watch that side, or the Parky one, rather than the Bowyer onwards stuff they’ve been subjected to!

 

Apart from the obvious disappointment of the Mansfield equaliser and not taking our chances, I wasn't as annoyed dropping 2 points as I thought I would be. Some of our fans forget that Mansfield are a decent team, we have no real edge over them. We have been much improved by Clayton, who I thought was fantastic. His corner was on the money for Cook, pisses all over Smallwoods contributions this season. Just what we have been missing!

I thought Bola was much improved, and earned his start for that goal-line clearance alone. Although if he stays on throw-ins then he seriously needs to work on his upper body strength. Eisa I find extremely frustrating, as he is very capable but I don't think I have ever seen a weaker player on the ball. It seems a gust of wind would blow him over. And anyone saying Critchlow isn't vocal enough and is not a leader - deluded IMO. The guy is a natural and we'd be bottom half by now if he was still injured or got recalled in January. I think some of our fans don't realise how worse we'd be without him

 

Fair summary. Saw some of the best football of the season in that first 45 today. Could and probably should have had a couple more goals for our efforts. And for the first 25 minutes of the second half we battled and ran for every ball and tackle. We simply gassed out, the excellent Walker and the admirable East due to lack of game time. The substitutions were needed but had the reverse effect, Chapman showed why he's currently on the bench and Nevers couldn't get into the game. Mentions today for Clayton, Cook, Eisa, Bola and Walker who I thought were excellent. Gilliead a worthy man of the match. A lot of positives to take from the performance but jeez Hughes needs to address this second half form. It's beyond embarrassing.

 

Two sides trying to win. Entertaining game. Another lesson in when you’re on top you have to take your chances. We should have been 2 up and uncatchable. However Mansfield showed loads of endeavour and deserved their point. If we had won 1-0 most of the whiners wouldn’t be piping up. We play quite well today but didn’t put away that second goal. So we leave ourselves open for them equalising. Gilleard was good today. Bola yes bola despite all those who wanted to send him back after 1 game shone as did walker and cook.
I’m not sure what happened to Crichlow in the second half. He was all over the place.
Chapman sadly continues to disappoint.

 

Agree what a good time to bring Sono'o on .

 

So frustrated with a point but having seen them hit the bar and also have an effort miraculously hooked off the line by Bola, we can’t complain.

Eisa should have buried his chance early and when Cook scored, it would have probably been a different outcome.

Gillead had his best game in his central midfield role IMO. East didn’t look out of place. Lewis pulled off a couple of good saves.

If we build on that performance we should be in the hunt for sixth or seventh. Clearly little between us and them. Good effort lads, unlucky.

 

Wimbledon, Crawley, Swindon, Rochdale, Mansfield , all home games that we were winning at some point and ended up with just four points. To get promoted you’ve simply got to win most of your home games when you are winning.

 

2 wins in the last 10. This team just isn't good enough to win promotion. The same deficiencies remain on display every week and Hughes has so far looked unable to resolve them, either through coaching and tactics or through recruitment. The question come the summer will be whether we stick with a manager that's underachieving with the backing he's been given and hope that some stability pays off, or whether yet another change is needed.

 

Someone said his wife had given birth that's why he wasn't in the side, it will be interesting to see if Hughes brings him straight back, for me after yesterday performance from our midfield he has to sit on the bench, let's see if Hughes agrees.

 

I thought we played well yesterday until the 70th minute then lost all composure.
Players like Walker, Clayton, Bola and even Cook who haven't played much or at all in the last 2 months looked improved us in areas of the pitch.
It's giving me reasons to be optimistic going into the back end of the season.
I've always said we will finish in the play offs and I stand by that, and after the failures of previous seasons that's a marked improvement.
There is no guarantee that any of the managers employed at the top 2 teams would have brought success here.
The pressure here is 10x what it is elsewhere, and imo Hughes has revamped the whole squad and playing style in 12 months and has us fighting for promotion.
We've been dealt some really crap hands with injuries.
I think once the team settles going into the last 12-14 matches we will be strong enough to go into the play offs on form and a match for anyone.

 

Cookie monster, your learning Sparkie.

 

Feed me!!!

 

Gillead’s best half in a city shirt.