The Voice - Match preview #27: Lincoln City vs Bradford City Tuesday 27th January 2026 7:45pm

Maybe so Broncs. I've no more idea than anyone else about what's going on at VP but sides don't just collapse like we have for no reason.

 

Lets just summarise this team, because apparently this team is sufficient in the eyes of Sharp, GA and co


Walker is a sound keeper and is safe of any criticism

the defence

Tilt - very aggressive. Good in a one on one and has pace but piss poor on the floor and his aggressive play style pushes him out of position too often

Wright - Chips in with a few goals but gets bullied way too easily for a man of his size; an even worse than Tilt on the floor

Pennington - Steady but ain't been the same since his Injury back in October

Baldwin - the best of a bad bunch on the deck but other aspects of his game leave a lot to be desired

Kelly - Good in the air but limited elsewhere

Touray - ideal for LCB. Good on the deck, can attack and very good in the tackle, but because our Wing back options is so poor, he's got to play there instead

Neufville - been told deliberately to stay further back and gets ganged up on because we have no outlet on the left. Being in an out of the side so much means his confidence has dropped rock bottom

Wright - don't really care what Opta says. He is scared to take his man on; barely gets an assist and only score’s if he’s playing in the tin pot cup or against Accrington

The midfield

Power - been a box to box midfielder all his life but is told to sit alongside the defence and spray pass like he's paul scholes, even tho we have two runners (usually Humphrys and Neufville). Scarred to put in a challenge because if gets stuck with a suspension, we have to play Leigh

Metcalfe - been carrying his seasoned pro for the last 3 months. Looks knackered cus he spends his game chasing balls over his head and has to do the job of 2 men

Leigh - lightweight. Doesn’t belong in a midfield two or as a wide attacker. Funnily enough, a switch to a 3 in midfield would actually suit him but GA only does that after halftime when we’re chasing a game

White - don’t like the look of him. Crashed at Leyton Orient, lightweight; no pace. Does appear to be technically gifted though; but guess what? We no longer like playing football on the deck

the attackers

pointon - off the boil since his injuries. Gets marked out of games and his support is Tyreik “the false winger” Wright

Sarcevic - dont win if he doesnt play. Ageing and injuries catching up. A smart man would bring in quality cover.

Lapslie - hasn’t been given a chance. He may not be the most technically gifted but he's one of the few that is capable of the press and gets in good positions to score. Oh well; at least we’re on Cheltenham's Christmas card list. A free pass into Round 2 of the cup and a decent player to boot

the strikers

Humphrys - Just on the blower to Wigan and Barnsley. “Hes a winger you say, very effective off the left you say and needs the ball to his feet. Very good in division in his natural position. Lovely stuff”

“so Graham, whats your plans with Humphrys for this year, apparently he's a really good winger”

GA : “Im gonna stick him up front and tell the team to boot the ball to him like its 1999”

“But he's a winger Graham and he’s crap in the air”

GA : “Nah he's a striker mate, James Hanson v2”

…..

Swan - In the words of the great Gattuso “sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit” hes also injured so that helps

Kavvanagh - Its like seeing an elephant in a tree. Not really sure what hes doing up there but maybe he’l surprise us. Actually never mind, he isnt going to

dont care what anyone says, we should of kept Cook.
“but hes past it” - yeah because our current crop of strikers are firing on all cylinders
“But he doesnt suit our style” - yeah because were playing like prime Barca arent we these days
“He aint as clinical in this division” - well Humphrys and Kav couldnt hit a barn door with a bazooka and Swan is injured

the longer this window goes on, the more I feel inclined to say that our recruitment this window is nothing short of gross negligence

 

Exactly, there’s loss of form and then there’s our January so far where we’ve barely mustered a shot on target even in the game we won.

9 shots on target in 450 mins of football since New Years Day.
For a team that were flying high in 3rd place, that’s wrong.

 

Sadly Dave, we have been here before
Lack of the proper investment at the right time has cost the club dearly time and again
You hope it will be different the next time, but appears not
If we are not pushing the boat out due to potential
Investors from outside
Well that is clearly madness

 

The stat of 9 SOT in 5 matches is beyond belief

 

As a matter of interest, did anyone park on the common last night, that was a laugh wasnt it.

Nearly fell on my arse in the mud three times trying to get to the car, then need 4 run ups at the small hill just to get on to the concrete area. Bet its in a right mess this morning

 

A great post pal i got told in the summervabout Humps and where not to play him so why oh why is GA seeing different ?????
Either GA is blind to it or GA is openly pointing out that this is the best i have to work with ????

 

Surly if Rupp has any sense he would invest a little to potentially turn the club into worth a lot more unless the deal is more or less done .............i honestly dont believe there is anyone out there hes having us over with more bullshit.
We have the money to get to the championship did he not say ????
Did Sparkes say " we would not put up with Mediocrity "

Both big statements backed by bullshit btw where is Sparkes ??????? Come flying here there and everywhere when we had a good year but gone missing again i see

 

Alexander's post match interviews are stating to grate on me to be honest. Feels like I'm tuning into a philosophy lecture rather than listening to a football manager. Blaming the ref on Saturday and then moaning that Lincoln players are taller than us last night whilst leaving our tallest player on the bench.

I don't want to know how much you love the players, I want to know why we've had 9 shots on target in the last 5 games and what he plans on doing to change it.

 

And his response on Saturday, when asked, was to say that we have scored more goals in the first half of this season than we did last season.....a tad baffling and not really relevant.

 

I can vouch he attended Terry Yoraths funeral at St Vincent's yesterday.

 

But 22 SOT in the previous 5 games prior to Mansfield where even at Orient we had 8 on target in a game we lost.
Something absolutely not right in the camp.

 

Lincoln players taller than us yet he continues to play long balls ??????????
Does he grasp what he is saying ??????

 

I hope you are right, and it would fall in line with my thinking that Rupp must go if he can't invest. Let's really hope so. I won't lie I was happy to just stay up at the start of the season, but to be in the position we were at the start of January has completely knocked the wind out of my sails, similar to how Rahic ripped up the Wembley final squad and brought crap in like Dom Poleon. I agree we'd need heavy investment if we went up, but just for being there you get £10+ million in TV deals, we'd still need investment of course, but in football you need to take your chances when they come and then worry about changing the team.

To counter any big investment or takeover rumour, I would say that Rupp's business would be worth far more in the championship, let's say the club is worth £5 million now, he could invest £5 million in the squad and get promoted, and it would be worth £15+ million. Such is the difference in value, because investors know they are one step away from the big time. It is why I just think it has been a failed window and lack of ambition, but time will tell.

 

Just on Walker, shot stopping has been great and he has to be up there for player of the season at this moment in time. However, I disagree that he is safe from criticism. For me he is part of the issue. His distribution is often awful, like the defence, he gives the ball to the opposition far too often and you can't afford to at this level. I can't stress enough how much a negative impact our poor pass accuracy has on us.

And don't get me started on him hesitating to come out for the ball, between him and Kelly they should have cost us a goal yesterday.

We need to be ruthless and that means we need players that are far more comfortable on the ball.

 

Nah, you don't understand football m8.

Some people on here will let us know when we're ready apparently. Until then it's best if we just sit in 12th for a decade until these mythical 'resources' have built themselves up.

 

Why would you decide to push for promotion next season from a level playing field in terms of points rather than push for it when you sit in the top 3 with a healthy gap on the teams below 6 months earlier? It just makes no sense.

The only thing that does make sense is that we're cost cutting to get back to the "sustainability" model we've slightly gone away from in the last 12 months.

 

His distribution often has to be rushed,he can't pick up a back pass,and often has very few options ,or targets to aim for.I would say he finds our players just as well as any of the outfield players.Walker is not the problem.

 

Maybe (and this is stupid) a push for the play offs without really pushing the boat out financially. In the event of a getting beat Wembley, SR completes the sale with the additional revenues from said run to ease the pain of failing.

 

cook would not be doing any better than our other strikers not the way we are playing.
bit unfair on swan he is the best of the bunch gives 100% all the time its the service
thats been the problem not the forwards.