The Voice - Match preview #25: Carlisle United vs Bradford City Saturday 18th January 2025 12:30pm

Fitness should never be an excuse for any professional footballer. It is literally their full time job to be fit at all times throughout the season, if not all year round.

The only exception is if they are coming back from an injury lay-off as they weren't physically able to train properly.

For anyone else, i.e out of favour, younger, etc players, it should never be an excuse. Even if they're not playing, they're still training all week.

 

Apparently they are blaming it on the steward. The four lads were starting the fireworks Andy Cook chant they say, and the steward heard them wrong and got then escorted out by the police.

 

Evening chaps, I come in peace from the Carlisle forum.

First things first - if some little scroats have been chanting about the fire, I hope they have the book thrown at them. These words may ring empty, but that stuff has absolutely no mitigation. Horrible, and beneath contempt. I sit near the segregation, towards the back of the stand. There's a group of young lads who sit behind us, who often try to engage the visiting fans in 'witty banter'. Yesterday's efforts (which failed spectacularly when nobody joined in with them) consisted of the ridiculous Andy Cook fireworks kept him up nonsense which backfired at Valley Parade (Andy finally scoring his first ever goal against us to win you the game), and an equally pitiful 'we saw you cry on the telly'. They went down to the concourse just before halftime, and didn't return to their seating - which, coupled with something I read on twitter, makes me think it may have been them who were arrested. Pure speculation on my part, nothing more. Either way, anybody who has lowered themselves to that level needs banning from the ground, and disassociating from our club. Also had the misfortune to witness some pathetic 'handbags' on Warwick Road yesterday, with a few young wannabes from either side swinging at each other. Police were swiftly in to separate it (didn't seem to be making any arrests though), and sending those involved on their way. Utterly pointless - too much Football Factory and Green Street for some of the youth.

After that, the football. I thought we edged the first half, without ever looking dangerous. Some nice interplay, got ourselves into decent crossing positions... then inevitably turned and went back twenty yards. Infuriating, and the story of our season. I've never had the displeasure of watching a side so unwilling to put it in the box. Second half, GA had us sussed, and you completely nullified us, without ever having to get out of second gear. I'd say you did just about enough to deserve the three points, whilst we did little enough after falling behind to deserve exactly what we got - absolutely nothing. City looked well organised, didn't complicate their game plan, and looked like a solid side. The only word of caution I'd give you is that victory over us is hardly a measuring stick. Everybody beats us. If I wasn't a lifelong Carlisle fan, I'd probably find it funny. We've never had money, we've never had so much happening off the pitch - but we've rarely been so easy to play against. It makes no sense, and it's painful to watch.

Survival seems a long shot at the moment, though noises coming out of the club suggest even more coin is about to be splashed this week - up to 4 more players still to come is the talk around town. It's a massive gamble, and it's up in the air as to whether it will work. From our perspective, it really needs to. I can't face non-league again. We bounced back straight away first time round, but this time will likely be very different.

Either way, as much as it was good to see a quality away following yesterday (likely the only time our visitors will sell out this season), I sincerely hope you go up. Bradford City should not be languishing in League 2 for as long as they have been, and beyond that (on the off chance that we pull a rabbit out of the hat), a break from this bizarre 'rivalry' would do us both good. I know there are some on here who believe that it's one-sided, and forced from our side - but there are those on both who won't let it go. For me, banter is fine - but some of this has spilled over into genuine dislike and agro from both sides (coins and vapes being thrown from some of our rabble; some of yours breaching the segregation in the East Stand etc). It's ridiculous, and it needs to end.

Enjoy your victory, and good luck for the rest of the season. We'd really appreciate you doing us a few favours when you play the other sides down our end of the table. It's a horrible place to be.

 

We all have loons bud and tbh i hope you stay up at least you bring a decent following down here even with the distance

 

I’m only interested in the playing side , so no question re your observation on the other matters.

Someone at your club is ripping off , sorry hoodwinking , your free spending yet absolutely naive owners, who seem cluless as to the effect of what relegation means and how critical proper recruitment is. (We should know because we have made some terrible signings over time )

Especially so, for a club that probably has the largest playing budget in L2 as it’s turning out .
Who is doing your recruiting for coach, manager, support staff and players? Greg Abbott and a data analyst? On Abbots recruitment so far you have sadly plummeted nearly two divisions and yet I read you expect to see another 4 signings before Feb 3rd….Wow !
Tippy tappy , sideways football played properly is for class footballers not L2 journeymen or young kids starting their EFL careers. Possession doesn’t win games as your chief coach seems to believe . Your manager looks a beaten demoralised individual during the post game interview. Your players , no disrespect , were blowing out of their rears after 30 mins . It’s sheer lunacy to bring in 75% of a team who 90% of which weren’t even game fit and expect them to compete for 90mins.

We weren’t at our best , far from it , however it became easier as the game progressed and as a result so easy to nullify. I despair for the proper Carlisle supporter having to witness the shambles at BP.

 

It's a bit of a mystery as to how it's happening, but even signings which (on paper) should produce results at this level (Luke Armstrong, Jordan Jones, and Charlie Wyke are good examples) have failed to produce the goods under successive managers. Beyond that, I think there are some deep rooted problems behind the scenes which have lingered since the Simpson era began its fall from grace.

Like you say, the playing budget has to be close to the biggest in the division. That we're bottom of the EFL at this point is totally absurd. Recruitment, ostensibly at least, should now be the domain of the Sporting Director (Rob Clarkson) we appointed a few months ago. The Simpson/Abbott recruitment over the previous two windows was shambolic - a scattergun approach which left us completely unbalanced across the squad. It's too early to say whether this latest influx is a failure, and there are at least some promising signs from a few of them - Callum Whelan looks a decent player, and Will Patching showed some quality in the first half an hour yesterday before fading out of the game. Patching being in the lineup was a surprise, as we know he's not yet match fit. I have a hunch he started because the loanee from Sheffield Wednesday (Fusire, who had a nightmare debut when he replaced Patching) isn't up to the job, and won't be getting much of a look in - especially when Callum Guy is back to fitness. I'm not convinced with the signing of Cedwyn Scott either, and both Elliott Embleton and Steven Wearne are a long way from convincing me that they're the answer. I'd like to give them time to prove themselves, but that's a luxury we simply don't have. A lot of those who started yesterday have played little 1st team football this season, and I believe that's a big part of us dropping out of the game as it progressed.

I can't disagree with much of your analysis. We gave debuts to six players yesterday, and another two were playing at Brunton Park for the first time. It wreaks of desperation. We're throwing mud at the wall in the hope that some of it will stick. And, despite all the money being thrown around, we're still lacking wingbacks - which is a major problem, given that Williamson's style depends on them.

It's a crazy thought that by the time we go to Fleetwood on Saturday (a side we've never beaten in the EFL), there may well only be Sam Lavelle in the starting lineup who was here at the start of the season. We're a basket case of a club at the moment. It must be giving folk elsewhere plenty of comedic relief at least.

 

Thanks for the comments, we all have banter, we sang going down, but I hate clubs to go down I hope you stay up along with Morecambe. But thats football. Good luck for the rest of the season. Let's put the phantom rivalry behind us.

 

You mention the Abbott/ Simpson recruitment , don’t forget your new data analyst chap must have recruited all your Jan recruits who on that performance yesterday , not one would likely get on our bench . Has he ever actually seen them play, I bet he hasn’t ? Non of us really find it funny because one never second guesses what is round OUR corner. Your boss is the wrong man in the wrong job , in the wrong division, with the wrong playing staff. A tad like our ex Mark Hughes? Why your owners , or whoever is advising them can’t see that I can’t begin to imagine, hence the “ hoodwinking “ comment.
I hope you pull off a miracle, sadly I’m struggling to envisage it.

 

I'm giving Clarkson the benefit of the doubt for now - the new signings weren't helped by being thrown in together, despite the fact that some of them had only arrived late in the week, aren't clearly aren't 100% match fit. As for MW, I think he may have done better had we appointed him at the back end of last season, rather than insisting on clinging on to Paul Simpson (club legend though he may be) for as long as we did. Simpson should have been gone this time last year, not allowed to preside over a second shambolic transfer window. Williamson has tried to impose his 'philosophy' on a bunch of players who simply weren't compatible with it, and the desperate attempts at bringing in players who are seems like a last roll of the dice.

Sadly, you'r final comment is aligned with the commonly held views of the fanbase up here. We're really struggling to see a way out, and apathy reigns supreme - as you'll have noticed from the lack of atmosphere around the ground yesterday. It feels like the conference is calling us, for the second time in our history. C'est la vie!

 

Dont get to down you could easily go on a winning streak this league being that bad

 

Well I was going to post something similar, however 'Moonie', has got it spot on, so there's no point.
Oh and for Christ sake get out of this bloody division, Bradford are far to big to be knocking around with the dead men.
All the best.

 

My heart goes out to you. It is a terrible feeling that your club is running on a wing and a prayer. Please do not despair just yet. I saw some nice football from your players on Saturday. Yes they ran out of steam and ideas but that is just lack of fitness. Let’s hope Mr Miserable Williamson can mould them into a fighting force. The very best of luck for the rest of the season.

 

We are where we deserve to be at the moment.

 

Thanks for that.I think Moonie is the guy who runs the Carlisle forum,so credit to him for standing up and saying what he did.

 

Football aside , something is seriously, seriously wrong up there. They actually have an owner, unlike us , really splashing the cash since November 2023 yet are in utter free fall, yet pouring more cash down the hole . Just imagine if it had been spent wisely ? I know we critique our guys and rightly so , however compared to their tenure ……….

They seem like a bunch of horrendously advised , well meaning but naive owners who thought they “knew UK soccer” , well where have we heard that before?

 

The owners seem like well intentioned people but jeez they need to wake up and smell the coffee quickly. Keeping hold of Simpson was their first mistake, getting promoted didn't really help them taking over at the time they did as their club was in no way fit for league 1. I'd argue they were gonna drop straight back down no matter what due to incompetent staff running on field matters. Then being advised to bring in Williamson, who to be fair had a good run with Gateshead and MK, but is not the sort of manager I can see turning round a sinking ship.
Nothing against Carlisle, always seem them as more of a football club than quite a few sides in league 2. But the owners have now backed Williamson to the hilt and can't really sack him now..They are the ones responsible if the ship hits the ocean floor.

 

Absolutely….. The catalyst over multiple tenures, there is one individual largely responsible for an awful lot of the recruitment…. Can’t be a coincidence?

 

Think you've got that more or less spot on there Roger. Although to be fair the damage had already been done when they took over with little or no time to 'fix it'. However what has happened since, has been quite simply baffling, player after player has come in, all seemingly on very good money. I cant help feeling that they've been stitched up good and proper, by agents, and other people 'in the know'.
And your dead right the owners are NOT going to sack Williamson, they just have to hope to hell he can turn this mess around. I for one am not convinced!!

 

Crazy because you have owners who seem transparent and willing to engage and invest on and off the field, something we at Bradford would bite your arm off for. Just looks like they've been put their trust in folk simply not upto the task. Heck I could have told you how poor a buy Luke Armstrong would be, what transfer guru worth his salt signed that deal off? And the same with others. As fans we are helpless, we are the ones that truly suffer for the misgivings. I just hope for your sake your owners are in this for the long haul even with relegation looming.