Match Thread Bradford City V Burnley 26th August 2026 7.45pm Carabao Cup 2nd Round (with Poll)

Winning on penalties was the icing on the cake. I really enjoyed that.

Terrific performance against a team with some very good players. Every one of those City players can be proud of that.

I don't think I had appreciated just how quick Will Swan is. A great outlet on the left.

Powell was a monster in his short cameo. Bullied Championship players.

The need to add to the midfield remains, but we've got the basis of a very good team now.

 

A lot of positives from tonight

McCraken looks like a class signing.

Considering its his first game and hes up against former PL players, Welch did okay. Good signs

Pennington was solid but his passing was more miss than hit

id go as far as saying that was Gillesphey’s best performance for us so far

Jackson did better than I thought at RWB. Touray solid as always but he seriously needs some crossing practice

Contrary to what a few on here have said, I think Cartwright had a good game and showed lots of potential. Some good challenges and knows how to make a forward pass

Lapslie on the other hand was all over the place but did make a solid challenge in the first half. Is not a CM and needs moving to a position further forward on the pitch

Phillips looks to have some class about him and im excited to see what he can do this season

Solid graft from Beasley as always

Swan had a quiet first half but picked up on the second half and was a real threat. Needs to realise that his left foot isn't only good for shooting

a shaky first half, where Burnley showed they were streets ahead of us in pretty much every aspect. We fought back and put a solid performance in the second, and some very well taken penalties

just a shame the next draw was about as crap as you could get. Away on a tuesday night in east london

 

Burnley were a good technical side and passed it around our front 3 very easily which isn't unexpected when they have a back 4 who are comfortable on the ball, it's always the risk of our formation but we got to grips with it more in the 2nd half. For all their play a combination of poor play and great last ditch defending meant McCracken was barely tested.
It's another game where we weren't great in the first half but hung in their and got our rewards for it.
Carwright did look a lot like Metcalfe early last season with some good touches but also some mistakes that nearly cost us, probably partly down to inexperience including the yellow card. It's a good base for him to learn from
Orient away isn't a great draw but both sides will see it as winnable.

 

I filmed the pens and did miss him doing that but just seen it back and pmsl

 

Game turned on Welch's spoon over the bar with the last kick of the first half. That was going in and I don't think McCracken gets to it without Welch's intervention. Second half I thought we were excellent, shades of the Wednesday game where we weathered a first half storm and came back stronger. Shame about the draw, as bad as we could have got. Would have been nice to see a rocking VP again or a decent away day.

 

Your asking for trouble posting comments like that .

 

Well said. People moaning about Lapslie and saying Cartwright isn’t a footballer, FFS. They were up against a midfield three of very quick, skilful players from a division above, in a side just down from the PL. Hardly surprising that they struggled. But they, and the rest of the team, ran their socks off and kept Burnley at bay. Did people expect us to control the game for 90 minutes?

 

Could see the gulf first but considering they have dropped down that was always the case ............2nd half very good only real moan of the night near on 5k Burnley fans and hardly a peep a really piss poor away following

 

Some on here do rather than looking at the bigger picture

 

Unbelievable comments, if you were at the game tonight the atmosphere was excellent, they were a good quick passing team but not capable of playing out from the back with any consistency, they'll get caught out in the Championship, the grandson said they paid Chelsea £20mill + add on's for the lad Broja and we paid £400K for Beesley I know who I thought gave the defender a more worrying time, great battling performance 4 quality penalties and all for a fiver, Yorkshire folk eh ?.

 

Well said @Offcomedun. Excellent post from @NorthernMonkey.

I don’t usually comment on the squad until 10 games. I think we are doing much better than I anticipated. We have ourselves a very gutsy squad. Never gave up and that is worth more in my view.
The draw is crap. Nevertheless let’s give London a sample of our team.

the pens were just brilliant. GA passing on the skill.

 

Really enjoyed that,second half we were excellent.

 

McCracken looks a great keeper and superb upgrade. Rest of them great. Happy Bantam toneet.

 

Absolutely loved the shithousery from McCracken tossing their keepers bottle into the crowd. Hopefully someone got a photo of him looking bemused when he picked up his towel

 

It was right near me, very smart lol

 

Best post on the forum for the past 4 weeks

 

Gillesphey hasn’t put a foot wrong all season. It’s clear he’s a Championship level defender

 

Was delighted to see Broja starting, not because I'm going to pretend he's hopeless or has no future, but because he just hasn't clicked as a first team pro.

Low confidence, not used to netting, low intensity.

Absolutely perfect for us tonight.

The key tonight was Burnley wasting chances, as always when you play a high quality, higher level side, and they fulfilled their end of the bargain nicely.

 

Well I’ve just come on here for the first time after the game and read the comments that were going on during the game, thankfully they’ve already been called out for talking out of their arses. Some absolute nonsense on here tonight, you know who you are without the naming and shaming.

On the game, we improved as the game went on. Special shout out to Welch, not many have a successful trial but in his first start against international players he was assured and composed on the ball. Also ‘not a footballer’ Cartwright got better as the game went on despite being out numbered by championship quality players.

As for super John, MOTM for me, some vital saves and then the penalty save as well. But all the back 3 were fantastic.

This place is like an alternative dimension at times.