The Voice - Match preview Most liked posts in thread: Carlisle United vs Bradford City Saturday 26th January 2022 @ 3:00pm

This season is yet another lesson in judging progress on performances rather than results. I don't know how long it will take for the penny to drop that are forecasts need to be judged on how well we are playing rather than where we are in the table.

Anybody judging our performances since September can tell you that we will struggle to finish top 10. Despite this some supporters persist in referencing our current league position / how many points we are off play offs. It's meaningless. Watch the games. There's been about 3 performances this season where we've looked remotely like a promotion side. Somehow we've scrambled enough points to stay in the picture but the performances eventually start to reveal our true league position.

 

Never in the last few seasons has any lower league club been given so much support by there fans and given so little back as Bradford City. City fans deserve Championship football, the club deserve National league.

 

No matter how bad things were today and over the last 4 games, we have to head into the Harrogate game with the full backing of the crowd. I suspect that the first misplaced pass or slow build up play will have the “home” crowd baying for blood, thus handing the initiative to the opponents. We’re in a sticky patch of the managers doing, let’s not get on the backs of the players or we’ll repeat the cycle of the last 4 seasons. I’m not a happy clapper by a long shot but the only way out of this Is together.

 

Critchlow to platt. Platt to critchlow. Critchlow to smallwood. Smallwood to critchlow. Critchlow to full back. Full back to wide player with full back up his chuff. Loses ball. Touches into touch. Back to our fullback.

Repeat ad infinitum.

Platt to critchlow. Critchlow to platt. Platt to halliday. Halliday to Lewis under pressure. Diagonal ball to foulds head / carlisle player who has been primed about this pass / or into touch.

Repeat ad infinitum.

I could set up a team to counter this repetitive predictable shite.

 

I cant take one positive from that first half, thank goodness I didn't go.

 

Unfortunately it looks increasingly like our biggest barrier to success is Hughes. Insistent on imposing a playing style that's ill suited to the squad and the league.

We're awful to watch. Now, I don't think we have a group of world beaters but I think other managers would get more out of this group, consistently.

This isn't good enough and hasn't been for a while. What looked like a steady start that looked unconvincing but ready to kick on looks more and more like the high point of the season.

Piss poor.

 

It is incredible really that he hasn’t been taken off corners. Surely someone can cross the ball within our staring 11.

 

This is as bad if not worse than under Adams or Bowyer. Then we’ve got Kiwomya telling us how resilient we are. It’s called riding our luck. Should be 3-0 down

 

It's about time City broke the hoodoo of Brunton Park having not won there since 1985.
I've seen some shocking performances away at Carlisle, so this Boxing Day I am staying at home ( family visiting} and watching on I Follow.
Does anyone remember the wet night when Pickford was in goals for Carlisle? I guessed it would be a poor match when MacLean couldn't even score in the empty net during the warm up.
Enjoy the match and don't rile the ex City players, it didn't work last season.

 

There's no fight in the team, if nothing else you expect effort.

 

4-2-3-1 does not work. Its too rigid

The full backs aren’t quick enough. They are capable given a specific formation, but in one where they are relied upon to produce the width an the bulk of our chances, its a recipe for disaster

The midfield is a joke and has been all season. We have 2 players that bring attacking flair to it. Osadabe, who brings drive an creativity, an Walker, who provides creativity and goals. Both injured. Both will take time getting back up to speed.

The wingers look frustrated. Analyse Wright’s body language. He was pissed off. Isolated. Given the ball when he’s being marked tightly. No one to work alongside. Foulds can’t hack running up an down the wing every 2 minutes, an Halliday can’t on the other flank either

The Centre Backs, given too much time an too much responsibility. They’re entrusted to create our attacks an dictate them. It slows our game down

This fault solely lies on Hughes. Its his team. His formation, His tactics.

Stop playing that god awful formation, it does not work

Get Walker back in the team. He’s the only player that can play behind the striker. I recon Jake Young could do a better job than Chapman in that position. Get Chapman back on the wing. its the only place he looks effective

Drop Smallwood. Im all for pinning the tail on the Gillead but today he actually played decent. And if you had to put them 2 in comparison, i’d honestly say that Gillead comes out on top. Get East in because at least he passes the fecking ball forward

I guarantee you, the moment Hughes grows some balls an chops up that shitshow of a midfield, we’l see a different Eisa, A different Wright, A different Chapman an most certainly, a different Perriera. The one of last year

This bs game plan Hughes has drawn up means every single game we lose the midfield battle an every single game week, we have the opposition team pressing and doubling up on our wingers, meaning we have no creativity

 

As you and Onside allude to that midfield pairing has been a problem for a couple of months. Doesn't protect the back four and creates very little if any quick ball to start our attack. At one point our number '10' Chapman was having to drop back in his own half just get some possession of the ball. If Cook isn't firing, like today, then where are the goals coming from? Every time we bring Oliver on we look worse than we did before, the poor lad doesn't seem to have any instruction as to what his role is. All in all the future for the season is worrying, you can excuse to an extent the losses to Orient and Northampton as they look decent sides, more so Orient. But Carlisle, with no disrespect, are bang average yet should have been out of sight by half time. I spent a fair chunk of money and my boxing day to watch that today. I feel cheated. Hughes had better turn this around because the results and the way we play and keep making the same mistakes is pissing me right off.

 

If Sutton is the answer then what is the question? I can't see a single position on the pitch where he could improve us. We lack creativity and that's probably the lowest attribute you'd associate with Sutton.

 

We could be 3-0 down already if not for lewis

Embarrasing 23 days without a game and we resume with same garbage.

In fact same formation, same passing side to side or trying to.

 

It's embarrassing how this club manage to sign so many shit players ever bloody season.

 

We look poor in possession and that's when were playing it out from the back if a radio commentator can see it why cant a couple of ex pro's see it, Carlisle are quite happy letting us have the ball at the back then as we come forward they press and we lose the ball one way or another piss poor Mr Hughes.

 

This is awful. I’m not interested in hearing excuses for this, it’s unacceptable. Hughes needs to sort it asap by either shipping out half of these lot in Jan and replacing with players that are capable or changing the system. It’s garbage.

 

you have a 20 man squad to pick from. each player has experience in League two an you pick the same shit every fecking week expecting different results. Hughes are you deluded pal? we’ve been playing like shite for months. The only two games we dominated was at the start of the season against Doncaster, who were down to 10 men, An Newport, who were fecking useless. You insist on pissing about the back for 70% of the game an then shake your head thinking what went wrong? Il tell you what went wrong. Every team in this division has sussed us out because not once have you made an adequate change. Not once have you shaken up the team a bit an given the fringe players a go. Not once have you told your captain to stop hording all the set pieces cus all he does is blast them into the first man or into row Z. You spent an absolute fortune on this squad an were playing as bad as we did last season with Adams. Its a fecking joke. Drop your precious love childs who do feck all in the middle of the park, grow some balls an switch things up because not once in the last 3 months has this 4-2-3-1 formation worked effectively. Teams steam roll us an on occasion, we’ve gotten lucky by opening them up, Were fecking shite an were lucky that this league is so piss poor that were still in the top half. Fix it up or feck off

 

to give someone a pasting don’t you actually have shots on goal ??