The Voice - Match preview Stevenage vs Bradford City Saturday 11th February @ 3:00pm

Ahh was pretty last minute . Maybe next season in league one

 

Yeah I was . Good set up . Think I might book Newport …

 

If Stubbs can be even half the player Davies was, I’ll be over the moon. He had a very decent first game today, looked controlled and assured.

Also though Kelly looked decent. Came on and didn’t look nervous. Decision making and timing was good in a which might have got the better of some young players making their debut. A solid, albeit short, first outing.

 

The rising cost of buckets, shammys, sponges and Turtle Wax biting into your profits making you grumpy?

 

Bristol Rovers didn't look a better team that we were last season, when Joey Barton was busy telling his side how lucky they were not to be 5-0 down at half time - when they came to our place.

Plus it's totally irrelevant anyway. It doesn't matter if Bolton were as good as 17/18 Man City. What matters is how we are compared to those around us.

And you were telling us the league was poor last season and the season before that etc!!

 

Excellent result today. First half was fairly even until they scored and then they had a couple of half chances but we did very little going forwards, so much so that I wanted a change in shape for the second half.

But credit where its due, they were revitalised in the second period and whilst Lewis made a couple of excellent saves, I thought we defended really well against a really awkward side.

They're a horrible side to watch, which is fitting considering who is in their dugout. Set pieces and long balls is the order of the day down there. Not for me, little talent and footballing ability to make it work but it does which is why I detest this league.

Fair play to Stubbs and Kelly who did well. Won their headers and stood up to the physical challenge well.

 

Opening paragraph, 'Bolton and Bristol Rovers were better teams than us.'

Followed up by the second paragraph, '...but in truth we should be walking this league.'

So what's your point here? Are you comparing this Bradford team to the Bolton and Bristol Rovers teams and insinuating we are not as good as they were and therefore unlikely to put a run together and nick promotion? Yet, in the next paragraph you state we should be walking League 2?

So what is it, are we good enough to put a run together or not?

 

Seriously, we shouldn’t be 8th.

However, I am not shocked we are where we are because we are poor club from the top down.

 

Stubbs is dominant in the air and no nonsense.
Kelly is a man mountain.
Just what we needed to see the game out.

 

Yet despite been incompetent in finishing off easily half a dozen teams at home and having a minimum of 12 more points, we still set handily placed.

My point is, that there is not such a drastic upturn in points conversion needed. The first 10 matches gave a very poor 14 points. We've got 7 from the last 4.

I'm with you, if the home form was still as miserable as it was up to the Northampton match - but it's clearly improved.

And yes, of course needs to improve further.

 

Fordy is quite easy to understand. As he stated in his latest reply to me he thinks we're poor from top to bottom. So even if we won our last 18 games and got automatic - he'd still argue we were crap, because it's a poor league

 

Well at least he's consistent.

 

He really doesn't know how to give his insight into the modern game without contradicting himself frequently.

 

Difficult to get a tune out of a flip flop?

 

An excellent awayday. So great to put one over on the fat abuser and his bunch of route one beanpoles.

I still can't quite work out how we won that game. We looked completely bereft of attacking ideas or execution in the first half. I could see no way of us coming back from behind after the break. But in a break from our recent pattern we made the most of very limited chances by finishing clinically.
Hughes has spoken about the leadership qualities of the January recruits like Derbyshire, Stubbs and Clayton, so perhaps that's significant in our first win all season when conceding first. And hopefully the addition of Derbyshire, the return of Walker and the continued form of Cook will give us the firepower to make a serious promotion challenge in the remainder of the season.

 

Ah right, I haven’t made myself clear here!

Really i was referring to those who were moaning after the game i.e after we won. Saying that we were poor or didn’t deserve the win! You talking about the game as it happens and providing valid criticism isnt moaning its being critical. Thats perfectly normal and justified!

at the end of the game people just saying we were poor or didn’t deserve to win the game isn't even criticism its just whinging. It really drives me up the bend too!

 

Andy Cook has the weirdest feet in football. Check out the penalty pics

 

That's been happening all season and it's been pointed out on here several times so Hughes and co can clearly see it but for whatever reason seem to be reluctant to change it.

One of the big problems I have with the zonal marking is that all our big lads have to win it from a standing jump whereas the opposition players usually have a clear run at the ball. That's one of the biggest factors why we lose so many headers from set pieces situations imo.

 

Zonal marking does not work for me as the big lads from the opposition just attack the area where the smallest players are.
Pick a man to mark and follow him everywhere, if that means leaving gaps so be it because if the opposition attack that gap then he will have a marker going with him with momentum,,, as my learned freind stated,,,,and not from a standing position.

 

Im still upset about the 91st minute equaliser last week, but the win yesterday has softened that blow. Can we restart our season now? We have a massive opportunity to go on our first real run of the season now. We have some very appealing fixtures on paper coming up but thats usually the problem....

The hard run in at the end vs promotion hopefuls and relegation candidates doesnt phase me, its the dross we are facing in the next 10 with the majority out of form or hanging around below midtable.