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

Lapslie is really good off the ball, on the ball not so much. At 29 he aint improving...no issues if he sticks around to June though. A solid pro.

 

You’re either on the wind up, or a very very strange man. I’m thinking the latter.

 

I might be an old git living in the past but for me last night was an example of what is wrong with English football. Burnley, proper old school football club, with a team packed full of fancy dan foreigners. No argument that man for man they had more skill than any of our players, but where's the soul. Did they have just one British player in the starting 11. Pre-match radio Leeds said they had 10 different nationalities in the matchday squad. Must be hard to build proper team spirit and in my opinion hard for the fans to truly get behind.

 

I know i was shocked but that too but they've seen their team not win (in 90 minutes) since February so i guess it grinds you down.

So pleased that city are on the upward not downward trajectory

 

TODD OUT!

 

Or both.

 

Dont feed the zoo animals, and they die.

 

Excellent post.

 

Something that I was thinking about last night. This was a second string team by Burnley, but you can tell even their back up players are a step above. Surely there are players out there we can loan in that will drastically improve the team

 

Google confirms this:

- Albania: Armando Broja
- Belgium: Mike Trésor
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Anel Ahmedhodžić
- Brazil: Lucas Pires
- England: Josh Laurent
- France: Grégoire Coudert & Ugo Raghouber (The only country with two players)
- Kazakhstan: Dastan Satpayev
- Sweden: Hjalmar Ekdal
- Switzerland: Zeki Amdouni
- Wales: Connor Roberts

Technically, individually pretty good, but looked like they'd never played together before. I thought their number 12, Satpayev, was good. On loan from Chelsea and only 18.

 

I thought he had a bit of the Robbie Blake about him in stature and style.

 

Can we talk about what a Sh1t House Powell is! Love him. Exactly what you need bringing on with 20 mins to go. An absolute unit too. You can see he’s enjoying himself.

 

He’s a lot better in an attacking role. Always likely to score too. As much as I like him, last nights position is not him. He looked well off it.

 

For the stat nerds, Nathan has you covered:

https://nathanevans.substack.com/p/bradford-city-vs-burnley-the-stats-match-report-2026-2027-league-cup-home?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=18mkd2

 

Yes, that movement to get past players at ease. A joy to watch.

 

I think the ref deserves a bit of credit for how he handled the scuffle with Powell and their subs on the main stand touchline. He looked to be laughing with the 2 players about it while handing out a talking to. Other refs might be throwing cards around like confetti

 

At that point I don't think their fans cared whether they turned it around or not. It's a very unhappy fanbase and not surprising when they haven't won a game in 90 minutes since February and that includes pre-season. Their pre-season was a mess with being rejected by a lot of managers meaning they didn't get a manager appointed until the pre-season games had started. Added to that the club is in a lot of debt due to the owners and a lot of bad feeling towards them. I think Burnley fans are realising this is the end of their days of being Premier League or Championship promotion.

 

I was thinking the same thing.
But just the very fact that this is an issue is absolutely brilliant. We made Burnley look nothing at times last night. This is the very same Burnley who have spent the last 15-20 years, on and off, competing with the cream of the crop.
Like you say, internationals throughout.
It was brought home to me with the sight of the lad hanibal who played a few games for man utd. Remember seeing him on t'tv and he used to stand out for some ghastly reason.
The very fact we not only competed against Burnley the way we did for so long and so persistently, but certainly at times, looking decidedly better than our local cousins, is a complete testament to the incredible strides Bradford City have taken over the last few seasons. Its mental the way Graham Alexander has this team purring the way it currently is.

It's in the football fans remit to moan. And I hear you regarding the lack of gratitude that can sometimes be perceived by this whingeing. But it's almost nice to hear. After all, complaints about our gameplan and tactical drawbacks last night is a great moan to have compared to the dark days of Derek Adams etc

Isnt this such a nice position to be in.
We're playing with an authority that emits confidence, togetherness and great leadership. Yes, there were times Burnley pulled our lads out of position too many times, but not once did we allow em to expose us properly.
We were solid from back to front, never looked like conceding and carried a threat going forward.
I'm so proud of the boys.
Every bit an upgrade on last year.
And as you pointed out well, finding it (not so tough) against a premier league squad is a fantastic place to be In.