Match Thread Cheltenham Town v Bradford City FA Cup 1st Round - Sat 1 Nov 2025 3pm

And that is exactly how Alexander will treat it, seriously but confidently!!

 

No one said there was , likewise we fear nobody , just because we saw them beat Walsall …woopie, we need to think it’s a hard game? We mustn’t worry about them , let them worry about us!

 

I think what people are saying it is that it's a tougher game than what it would have been a few weeks ago as there is no doubt Steve Cotterill has improved then and their current league position isn't a true reflection of how they are play at the moment. Since taking over they've got 10 points from 4 games and only conceded 1 goal so it won't be an easy tie and one that if we don't perform there is a possibility of an upset. What I think will also make the tie a bit harder is that we are coming off a tough 3 games including a 350 mile round trip yesterday and a big game on the Tuesday before whereas they have a Trophy game so I'd expect they will rotate their squad a lot.
It's not about fearing them but being respectful and professional, if you don't get them right that is often when the upset will happen in the FA Cup. Like others have said if anyone should know about upsets in the cups it's us.

 

I don’t see how it’s harder just because they beat Walsall…… No one has suggested we wont be anything other than professional . I’d expect under GA , nothing less than respectful.

 

It’s like saying Newcastle thought we’d be a hard game. It wasn’t. They could have and probably should have put 10 past us.

 

It shows that they are an improving side and nothing like the side that they were under Flynn when they were conceding for fun, in their first 10 games they conceded 24 but in their last 4 they've conceded 1.
Personally I said at the time of the draw it wasn't going to be easy as some were saying it would be as I expected Cheltenham to be on a wave with Cotterill returning and since the draw they've picked up some good results including yesterday.

 

Stop worrying about them. If GA picks a full strength team we’ll win comfortably. Only if he doesn’t will it be hard.

 

Did anyone actually say it would be an easy draw? Or was it just that it was a winnable draw where we’d be favourites instead of a terrible draw some made out? If we live in fear of a team near the bottom of league 2 because they have new manager bounce then we may as well give up as a league 1 side.

 

Spot on!

 

Nothing to worry about. It's a L2 side

 

I think Man Utd said the same

 

And Chelsea .

 

Famous last words

 

If Alexander takes it seriously we really should be putting them to the sword. No excuses really

 

Doesn't matter how well they play if we play anywhere near our best we wallop them. Cup upsets are called that for a reason.

 

If they beat us, then so be it. The main thing is to avoid any more injuries

 

We said the same when McCalls side played Yeovil in 2018. Top 6 league 1 team couldn’t possibly lose to rock bottom of league 2 Yeovil. That went well!

 

That was the beginning of the end for Rahic, something to do with Lee Hendrie if i remember correctly ?

 

Yep. Cup upsets happen when the better team don’t take it seriously enough or the manager selects a weakened team.
Cheltenham is not a cheap away day and the fans who make the effort to travel deserve the respect of seeing the first team trying to win the game.

 

I suspect Alexander will be putting out his strongest team but then saying that we didn't at Newcastle and rightly got our arses handed to us, should and could have been double figures