The Voice - Match preview Most liked posts in thread: Bradford City vs Newport County Saturday 13 August @ 3:00pm

Smallwood is making gillehead a better player …

 

Saw 4 or 5 medical incidents, one that I noticed looked particularly unpleasant in the Midland Road, hope everyone made it out okay in the end.

That sun was nothing to mess around with.

 

That’s a great point and MH is playing him in a position where his skills and fitness levels actually work. Hats off to both!

 

Todays game was strange one, we scored early doors and you'd expect us to dominate yet it seemed to give Newport impetus and they had what seemed a lot of possession up until Drysdale got a red, but until we got our second they looked very much in the game.
We saw what both Chapman and Banks could do with the ball at their feet going direct at the Newport defence exactly the type of player we needed against Doncaster, I wonder why Hughes never brought Chapman on against them.
Two away days at 5th bottom and 2nd bottom two very winnable games if we can build on what we showed today.

 

Yes, we didn’t create a lot in the second half but we didn’t and shouldn’t have to go 100mph when the game was well won.

 

It’s nice to get a win under the belt and certainly makes for a better evening! Enjoy Dave

 

He has been very good since he moved back to that position it’s made for him

 

Not quite sure why I should refrain from commenting on a good performance.I think the squad are coming together which is great to see. However, in my view we are beginning to see a really good team emerging out of the squad. Everybody who comes on is putting a performance in. Are we there yet? no we are not but we are most certainly getting there.

 

I thought the game was quite even in the 1st half, the sending off and our 2nd goal killed it as a contest. Dont think we were as comfortable as others and that they got in behind us a few times and caused us a few problems, particularly down our left side. Angol was much better offensively in the 2nd half and Chapman put in more effort too. I was suprised he got motm as I thought he was a bit poor in the first half, static in his movement and not really providing much link between the midfield and Cook, but again, others seemed to feel he played really well. Was much better in the 2nd half I thought.

Think Gillead, Critchlow and Smallwood were far and away our best players, really like the combination of Smallwood sitting a little deeper alongside Gilleads willing running, dribbling and endeavour. Platt looked solid too and good to see we have a keeper with a bit of variety/quality in their distribution.

One thing that suprised me was in the last 15 mins or so we moved Halliday into midfield a few times and Smallwood to right back. Is this something we've done in previous games does anyone know? Those two plus Sutton played some nice passes to maintain possession so it worked but couldnt quite figure out the motivation for it. Either Hughes has watched Pep play his fullbacks as extra midfielders and thinks "I'll have some of that" or else we're having a look at Halliday in midfield in case of injuries. Was a bit unusual anyway.

 

I didn't understand why Hughes had him playing in that position I like the lad hes got loads of ability but not playing where he did yesterday, first half most of our wide attacking play came down the right flank through Halliday and Banks you could see Angol getting more and more frustrated shouting and throwing his arms about.

 

I m not the excitable type. I am in the main a positive person yes I am. I wasn’t feeling positive about the start of last season.


I disagree with two things you have said, Hull wanted to win that match, ask their manager. Secondly that was not a poor Newport Team. They suffered a lack of confidence after we scored, but they came back at us, and passed the ball around, I think they will do well

I think we are looking the part which is just great to see. If we lose on Tuesday it still doesn’t negate my position today. We are not the finished article we have much more to come. Will we make it to league 1 this season? not sure but it would be brilliant if we could, but the most likely outcome given where we have been is 2 seasons.
I said I would give them 5 games in the league to get going, if after 5 games we are still winning and draws, then we move onto 10 games, then Christmas.

 

I think it is Foulds who qualifies, but I don't remember where I read that -- on here? Parker?

Speeling and grammer nazi alert: "it's" rather than "its" in 34.11 ("it's Squad List"). Tut tut! Must do better, EFL!

RCB

 

It was a clip from a Ryan Sparks interview from memory

 

As @Kevin1954 says it was from "City Talk: Issue 18", here's Ryan's full article :


Good evening Bronco, and welcome to Issue 18 of our City Talk e-newsletter.

I write to you after a bit of a mixed start to our season, which has seen us take a win, a draw and a loss from our opening three fixtures.

Our first game of the campaign was unforgettable on many levels, if not bittersweet. It was incredible to break our fourth-tier attendance record for the second game running - by the best part of over 1,000 people - having last done so in the final game of 2021/22.

From the electric atmosphere to the awesome displays, it was a fantastic occasion and one I will personally never forget. I know Mark and Glyn feel the same way.

On the flip side, it was devastating to lose Emmanuel Osadebe after just five minutes to a horrific injury which, in many ways, clouded the whole day and visibly affected our players, and overall performance.

This, coupled with Doncaster’s style of play, certainly left something of a sour taste. I have also since held conversations with the head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, and had it confirmed by the body that the match referee made a number of errors, none more so than the failure to dismiss Liam Ravenhill for a challenge which will leave Emmanuel sidelined for a lengthy period, while Liam himself was able to return to action the following week.

Unfortunately, we were unable to respond in our next game, at Barrow, but we certainly did so in midweek as we knocked Sky Bet Championship Hull City out of the Carabao Cup in front of the Sky Sports cameras, securing our place in round two.

Tuesday saw another incredible atmosphere at the University of Bradford Stadium, in a competition which means so much to this club. We will continue to treat it with the utmost respect, in an aim to progress as far as possible, keep gathering momentum and hopefully emulate our success of 10 years ago.

Just before the Hull game, on Monday, we announced the signing of Scott Banks on loan from Crystal Palace. Our thanks go to Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman for helping make this happen, and allowing us to welcome a player we feel has a very bright future in the game.

We are delighted to have Scott aboard and believe this is the perfect place for him to develop and express himself. After watching him on Tuesday, where he showed some great touches and had a part to play in our winning goal, it will be great to see him kick on.

Away from the field, we were thrilled to welcome the University of Bradford to our commercial portfolio, in a deal which saw the official launch of the University of Bradford Stadium.

This is the start of an extremely positive, strong and important relationship for both parties, and comes during what is a great period for the City of Bradford as a whole, having earlier this year been crowned 2025 UK City of Culture.

Our commercial team is performing to a standard it has not previously managed at this level, and is this season on course to achieve a departmental profit which will supersede that posted when the club was operating in the higher echelons of League One.

This has helped massively to build our squad, alongside - of course - your incredible backing as season-ticket sales continue into August.

It would be remiss of me not to mention sales of our new home and away strips, both of which are now at a strong four figures of units sold since being made available. We cannot wait for the reaction to our third kit, which is now in the building and ready to be revealed in the coming weeks.

We are really pleased with our Macron partnership, supported by Pitch Pro Retail, which has delivered even more than we had initially anticipated. We are certainly excited to see where this will take us over the duration of the six years we have together.

Onto our ‘Your City, Your Say’ survey, and last month I attended a live listening session hosted by those at the club overseeing our brand refresh. Things are moving along and, in the next four to six weeks, we will be in a position to share where we will be looking to take the club from a brand perspective, as we celebrate 120 years of Bradford City AFC.

As always, you will be kept fully in the loop and we will ensure you have ‘your say’. The same can be said on the topic of our loyalty scheme, which is still in its infancy. We will be launching a survey on this prior to the turn of the year which will allow us to take in more feedback on how you believe it should operate in the future. Soon, we will also be in a position to launch an all-new membership package for 2022/23, which will allow you to obtain another boost to your loyalty-points tally heading into the winter months.

Finally, returning to the field, we look forward to being back at the University of Bradford Stadium tomorrow against Newport County, as we go in search of our first league victory of the season and prepare to take on Colchester and Hartlepool, before welcoming Blackburn Rovers in round two of the Carabao Cup. I look forward to seeing you all there tomorrow, and hopefully seeing you leave with a smile on your face.

Up the Bantams!
Ryan.

Only joking he didn't refer to me as Bronco .

 

I used to sell Bass beer to pubs and clubs down in the West Country. Tynan used to be the steward of Stoke Social Club in Plymouth and always happy to have a chat about his days against City. I always remember him scoring against us. He used to make me a cup of tea served in a dimpled pint glass. Now a taxi driver still in Plymouth I believe. Proper centre forward in the "Bobby" mould.

 

Not having that result. Our season starts on Saturday.

 

Must be key hole surgery?

 

Got to get off to a fast start before they drag us down to there dark arts tactics.............. get an early goal we should be in for a comfortable win

 

The way this government going. Osadebe is lucky he didn’t have the 12 hour A & E and the surgery taking place in the dark to save on energy bills