The Voice - Match preview #25: Bradford City vs Cardiff City Saturday 17th January 2026 12:30pm

Gonna be a tough game. Cant afford a slow start. Need to get out the blocks and press them from the get go. Imagine Swan will start this one to lead the press. Need Tilt to keep Sulech in check. Big game for Neufville. Need his pace to hit cardiff on the transition. Power and Metcalfe gonna have their work cut out of them. A lot of chasing and harrying but if we do it right, we should win comfortably

 

"They blew us away"

 

They drew their last 2 away games at Orient and Wycombe, surely we are better than them.

 

I'm a bit nervous about this one. It will be interesting to see what our back three is. As I've said before I think the three who played at Mansfield are basically league 2 cloggers, hence the result. The other four we have available are fine for me. At Cardiff Baldwin marked Salech and completely nullified him before coming off and GA commented on that afterwards. So, is Pennington fit to play RCB and would we risk starting him with Baldwin in the middle, Tilt at LCB and Touray LWB? We should also consider the positive impact Pennington has on Neufville. If not we could go as at Blackpool. Or will he be tempted to play Wright to combat Salech which I think would be a mistake as Salech is very quick and mobile for a big lad and Wright isn't . Fascinating stuff, though we have to trust GA to get it right

 

Yes.

Touray
----------Tilt---Baldwin--Penno------

Is absolutely the best use of those defenders.

 

Baldwin is an absolute liability in the middle. So much so that he's been switched over to the right on 3 separate occasions that he's started there. He either starts on the right or sits on the bench for me.

 

I don't think it's a game for Kelly, and I've heard there might be a stiff breeze which could turn Joe Wright into a kite, so it's not like we're drowning in options

Tilt at CB, but please not Touray in the back 3, he's much better at WB.

 

Might be worth remembering that Touray played in the back 3 in the reverse fixture. Wouldn't surprise me to see Touray left cb, Baldwin right cb and Tilt or Wright man marking Salech.

 

I think Touray will stay at LCB. Gives us good cover for pace when King Curt is alongside him - and we’ll need him to try contain this mob.

I guess we might see Ashby from the bench but not expecting any of the new lads to be pitched in yet.

 

Sorry Jon, for me Id play Baldwin/Tilt/Touray as I feel that line up gives us the most mobility and I feel that we'll need it against a Cardiff team that will attack with pace and in numbers.

 

It’s a right pea souper up here, hope the game doesn’t get fogged off! Do sky tv have a fog removal device?

 

they have got some big hair dryers , to blow the fog away

 

Foggy up here as well. Rain forecast for about 10, so hopefully this will clear the fog, anyway Sky is bound to come up with a solution

 

Just get Edin Rahic over this morning - the hot air will soon clear any lingering fog just like it cleared the clubs payroll and the stands!

 

Good news is that Met Office reckon it will clear by 12.00. Bad news is that there's a 40% chance of heavy rain during the game!

Currently waiting to be sent home from a minor op yesterday, so Sky for me if i get there early enough. Not bothered how bad the weather is as long as we win!

 

Hope you get home in time for game, and have a speedy recovery

 

Let's hope your discharged early so you can make the game and watch it on TV, hopefully the lads will get a result that makes your recovery faster .

 

Thanks for good wishes and looks on track at moment.

Definitely not any influence on any special day for me. Can't remember anything better than a draw on my birthday! I was match ball sponsor on my 65 birthday, which was great until we lost 0-5!!

 

A speedy recovery bud and here's to a great game.
BTW.. I hear Tilt is operating today. He's performing a Salech-dectomy on Cardiff.