Match Thread Doncaster Rovers Vs Bradford City EFL Trophy - Tuesday 11 Nov 2025 7.00pm

A tale of two halves, on that basis Donny edged it in the second

 

I didn't watch the game so won't comment.

This guy did....

 

He was weak, that’s why he was to blame. Allegedly he’s brought in for adding strength isn’t he?

 

He was , unusual. The game seemed to pass him by?

 

Agree will comments above. Stop the squad rotation and field the preferred XI week in week out if it’s working.
Pick a team at Bolton as close as we can to that which battered Cardiff and we’ll be fine.

 

when the league first started swan Sarcevic Pointon played together thats how we got into a
good position in the league now that cook is playing we have won nafe all just saying.

 

McCann completely out foxed Alexander last night.He brought on four decent players for the second half,to change the way Donny were playing,guessing,correctly,that Alexander would not make any changes to combat them until it was too late.And what's the need for all this rotation,we haven't got another match for 10 days,so he should have played the strongest eleven last night.You can understand why Donny did it,they have a match on Sat,and I think they have one next Tuesday,but City don't have that excuse.

 

I agree. Unfortunately some of the players

I said as much in the 'What do we need in January?' thread. The return to fitness of Cook and Kavanagh has completely disrupted the squad. I don't blame either of them but Cookie, try as he does, looks like he's running in treacle since his return and Kavanagh is just not up to this level. Sadly, GA doesn't seem to agree.

 

That's probably the worst take of the season given that since Cook has returned he hasn't yet started a league game and in that time both Pointon and Sarcevic have been injured and for some games both at the same time.

Yes it's probably our strongest front 3 at the minute but if they're not available what is GA supposed to do?

 

Having watched the game on Sky I've listened to the post match interviews on BBC sounds. I can understand Alexander's frustration and agree with his assessment .
The second one with stand in captain Byrne highlights his own lack of leadership skills. I don't remember seeing him organising the defence and unlike Max Power he fails acknowledge his own mistakes. He may be good in training but when did he produce an excellent match day performance?

 

He's to blame for the goal??? Seriously? He's in the Donny half, the Donny player is in front of him and backing into him. Kelly held him up and the guy laid it back to another Donny player who hit the long ball to Gibson. There's half a chance Kelly could have got a foot or a head in but other than that what else is he to do without going through the back of him? Meanwhile Tommy Leigh is watching. He might have his limitations as a footballer but no way is that goal Kelly's fault

 

Agree Loyal, GA is messing about too much with team selection. He needs to decide what his best eleven is and stick to it barring injuries/suspensions etc and stop pandering to players who are not playing.

For me we have a certain few players who are far from League 1 quality and need shipping out come January, sadly some appear to be on GA's "favourite" list.
The team don't know what's happening or who will be playing from game to game.

He's not the manager of Man City ffs.

 

Despite it been a dead rubber, it was a chance to get some confidence into the players and play a strong team with no game on Saturday, we failed on all fronts.

I'd rather players play a game than train and feel they get more out of it, the selection was another error by GA IMO. As for those who are always glad when we have a break to 'give players a rest' and 'get players back from injury' again have been proven wrong. Since our enforced break we've lost all momentum and when we have played we should be playing our strongest team. I know we've had injuries, but we still don't need to rotate as much as we have been doing. We need a settled team where the odd player can drop in and out of the starting 11.

Personally, I think we have been exposed and will likely be average at best for the rest of the season. We will end mid table, only thanks to the amazing start or it would be a struggle IMO. That said, it's hard to complain with a mid-table finish. Just got to accept what we are really, hopefully we can invest in the summer and improve the squad to be able to challenge for a top 6 place. Best not to get too wound up, similar to 13/14 under Parky where we went on a long streak without a win.

 

GA understands the ability within the squad. That is, if we're not on the front foot pressing, we are not good enough technically to pass the ball around and play through teams. Fitness may be an argument why we fell off the second half. If so it's up to the staff to utilise the analysis to its max to balance training output v rest. If not, the second half yesterday will see us free fall in this league.

 

I was surprised with Richards, not long in to the game and he was struggling...

 

Looked a very good combination with Wright and Touray for 45 minutes though

 

I think the players are suffering from burn out. Liverpool under Klopp in his second season (I think), played at a high tempo and pressed all over the park, but fell off towards the end. If players don't press then it is easy for the opposition to play around them. I think the reason it was successful in the early season is because those selected worked in unison, with Bobby and Sarc leading the press. As much as GA likes to think he has a squad of equal ability, it's become very obvious that a good few just aren't at the races. Do we have the technical skill in the squad to play any other way right now? The scary thing for me is how 4 players on an equally poor run, came on second half and flipped the game on its head. I wonder if GA was more upset that Mcann had his number for the 4th time in a row, than he was with the players who seem to have a mental block against Doncaster.

 

spot on. I really don’t rate Gibson but he raises his game every time against us. Molyneux ran rings around us when he came on too. I was surprised we held out for as long as we did

 

Hopefully Swan , Pointon and Sarc are all fit for Bolton then because that’s our best attacking options