The Voice - Match preview #15: Bradford City vs Burton Albion Saturday 8th November 2025 3:00pm

I have to ask what has happened to a clear and obvious scoring opportunity denied by foul play ?
As I said to @NorthernMonkey , the refs get out of jail was the man coming in from the left .

 

Teams know Neufville is a danger man are marking him out of more games now but we are also killing ourselves with the three centre backs. Kelly is a unit but like Byrne, no good on the ball. Wright is a similar type too.

We are actually missing Baldwin a lot right now. I’ve no idea how McIntyre isn’t starting. Better than Byrne and Kelly.

we don’t build chances from the back like we used to. Just aimless hoof from the lumps we keep starting.

we also need Pattison alongside Power, or Melcalfe, not Leigh.

 

We got a penalty which is a clear and obvious goalscoring opportunity and why the law was changed in 2016 as it was often seen as very unfair to award a penalty, sent off the player and for that player to get a ban when players make honest attempts to win the ball e.g. Duke in the Cup final. Like all laws players will use them to their advantage and know ways around them which is what I think happened in this situation as the defender hesitated to make a challenge outside the area then made one as soon as it was in the area knowing he wouldn't get a red card. Even if the defender wasn't to the side I am 99.9% certain it still wouldn't be a red card

 

Yes based on the laws as they currently stand, I didn't expect a red but the lad most definitely knew what he was doing.

 

So are you saying he preferred to give away a penalty and stay on the field . The chances of scoring from a penalty are probably 10 times higher than scoring from a direct free kick ? For the player to judge such outcomes in that split second is fanciful in all honesty .

Wonder if the outcomes would have been the same in the Premier League?

No wonder fans and referees get confused?

 

I was referring to our CD who as I posted had a mare at Doncaster and the few games he's played in since looks to still be suffering with his confidence, but what's happened to McIntyre IMO in front of Kelly, Byrne and Pennington, but I don't see them in training every day as Alexander makes out how they train a big issue. Humphry's and Kavanagh must be the best on the training pitch.

 

Players are more intelligent that they are given credit for, it is the reverse of why players are often fouled just outside the area and stay up but as soon as they hit the penalty area they hit the floor. At that late stage I think they would probably rather take the chances with the penalty but have 11 players to defend for the last 15 plus injury time rather than with 10 men.
I'm certain this is only a yellow card in any competition because of the way the law is written, they've probably gone too far the other way but it does make it more simple to understand as you know if it is a challenge with the feet then it is only a yellow card unless it is a blatant trip absolutely nowhere near the ball. I think anyone would struggle to name an example like this incident that has resulted in a red card since 2016 when the law changed and even more so since it was relaxed further a couple of seasons ago. There was an incident in Spain vs Germany at Euro 2024 that people said should have been a red card but a yellow was correct.

 

Lets hope this poor form of no win in 5 is our bad run .

 

I'm certain he knew what he was doing and the referee most likely knew what he was doing but he is powerless as the way the law is it's a yellow card. I can remember playing Coventry early in 16/17 just after the law changed and they had Turnbull sent off for pulling down Clarke in the area when they were 1-0 up and I said at the time it was such a silly thing to do as he was in a position to try a tackle which would have got him a yellow card.

 

Just shows how much confidence Alexander has in Bobby when he tells seasoned pro's he wants the kid to take the penalty, and boy didn't he do well.

 

Your grammar certainly has.

 

Yep.. 2 Wright's don't make a wrong.

 

Agreed. Our two central midfielders were both dropping far too deep for the whole first half. Gary Jones was going mad about it after the game. This meant that every time play broke down in their half there was a massive gap for Burton to exploit in midfield. We need our CMs to play in midfield and be linking play, not receiving three yard passes from the CBs and playing lots of square or backward passes. It was like a return to the turgid stuff under Mark Hughes.
GA said afterwards that too many players were passing the buck and failing to take creative risks to get us going forward. So why didn’t he either change the shape much earlier or instruct Power and Leigh to play 20 yards farther forward?

 

There was one occasion when their attack broke down and Kav was carrying the ball upfield on the right. Neufville was ahead of him out wide with acres of space ahead of him. Kav should have quickly passed to Neufville and set off himself to get in the box for a cross or square pass. Instead he delayed, cut inside, ran into trouble and ended up passing to Neufville too late, once he was static and marked. The break came to nothing. Just appalling decision making.

 

Absolutely spot on. GA mentioned this in his post game interview. Fail to understand why it wasn't addressed during the first 45 minutes whilst 0-0.

 

That’s why he’s struggling in a higher league Offy. Yet to see his ball control improve too?

 

Just listening to play back of the BBC Leeds Football Forum, gigantic over reaction from some of the callers! We were really poor on Saturday but bit of perspective, it’s the standout worse performance of the season and up till now we’ve surpassed 99% of our expectations. A little perspective needed, are some of our supporters really that short sighted?

 

Like this person says, if he makes a tackle here, they don't score. This match needed Metcalfe to start.

 

That's all because Leigh was jogging about in midfield watching the ball. As I've just posted above - if he tackles the lad who held the ball up instead of watching him then it's a throw in to them and we get players back.

 

What we've also lost is Touray playing LCB and then Richards/Wright as LWB. That set up makes us much more mobile. Especially with Pointon at left sided forward.

Everyone knows (including Burton and Stevenage as they did this) that Kelly isn't confident passing the ball and won't get up and down the pitch like Touray or McIntyre will so they can focus on Neufville knowing there is little threat on the left.

We need mobility and energy at home in the team to get in front. We were sluggish and slow and that is down to the players selected.