The Voice - Match preview League One Playoff Semi-Final: Bradford City vs Bolton Wanderers Thursday 14th May 2026 8:00pm

Disappointed we lost on the night, we didn’t deserve that
Limited Bolton to crumbs
This game was won at their place and we were lucky to be only 1-0 down
If last night had started goalless, I think we might have done it
The atmosphere was fantastic by the way, if you were sat at home watching , it didn’t do it justice

 

Thanks...
There was a blatant 2 handed push on the back of Jackson (I think) in the first half that looked like it should have been a penalty as well (or so it looked from the Kop)

 

Hmm i think i quickly filled that one under Jackson making a meal of it to be honest!

 

Proud of the players, fans, club, manager everything. Felt like a punch in the stomach, we thought we'd equalised only for them to score 70 seconds later to kill us off.

Next season we need a quicker number 10 and a big striker. We play long balls to not very tall strikers and we put a lot of crosses in where there's no one.

 

Agree with that. Thought GA got his tactics spot on last night considering the fitness levels of the players he had available. Man for man they are streets ahead of us in terms of quality, but they were massively wobbling last night when we put them under the cosh 2nd half. Sadly one defensive slip up killed us, but no doubt the best side got through.
Agree totally re the atmosphere. I thought it was amazing, but it will never come over that way on TV if the away fans are in the Midland Road stand where the cameras are.
Gutted this morning but not as much as I would have been had we missed out on the play offs.

 

Don't disagree thst the ref was never going to give it, but if the same shove is committed by Jackson against their defender it's a free kick all day long. In fairness we see our own degenders falling to the ground in a heap to win a free kick after a fairly innocuous challenge. Why should there be a difference, a foul is a foul wherever on the pitch it takes place?

 

Anybody know what DATM think about last night?

We get their thoughts on every other thread.
Might as well get it on this one as well.

 

Agree with all of this.

Got to credit Bolton, especially in the first half. They had us playing at least 5 yards deeper than we would have wanted.

That 20 minute spell where we were all over them, with the great support from the stands, was fantastic. It wasn't enough but it also gave a snapshot of how we need to think about next season.

 

Bewildering why anyone would spend time on another teams forum ain’t it

 

Not really. They are great for getting footie perspective from rivals fans viewpoint. I listen to a fair few. Huddersfield's is currently comedy gold. Best one, strangely, is Notts County's - but Peterborough's run them close.

 

Great season. On to the next!!

 

Talk about 'in your heads', they haven't shut up about us for months.

 

We wasted a full hour last night in a set up that effectively gave us half an hour to construct a goal. Throwing Bobby back in didn't work at all, he was off the pace all night. Looked better after the subs when the in form Lapslie and Tyreik were on. Unfortunately seen that first half performance too many times this season, coming off the pitch without a single effort on goal, the lack of genuine goal threat was always gonna bite us on the arse at some point and it did last night.
An interesting summer transfer window coming...

 

Feel like Lapslie has played himself back in the mix and definitely deserves a chance next season. He was great when he came on last night and linked up well down the left.

 

I dont disagree with most of that. Unfortunately I think the fitness levels of Bobby and Tyreik dictated how GA approached the game. Neither had 90 minutes in them, so he couldn't really have them both on at the start.
We really had them under the cosh in that 2nd spell but unfortunately got hit by the sucker punch.
Bottom line is that ultimately the limitations of the squad as a whole caught up with us last night.

 

Night and day difference between him and Humphrys attitudes and work rate.

Both players on the fringes, both need to start showing they can make a difference when given the time. Lapslie committed to challenges, pressing, breaking up play, getting involved in the moves...... Humphrys just had terrible body language once again. Give me a team of lads like Lapslie, who obviously isnt the most talented or threatening but is willing to play for the cause and give a committed showing over someone who looks class on their day but their day doesn't come often enough.

 

The portly linesman , second half , main stand side , Bradford End made three outrageously poor decisions all repeated in slo mo.

Handball to prevent a cross should have been a pen. His hand was at least a foot away from his body.
A shockingly bad offside decision to nullify a goal. Even the TV showed the crosser ( Neuf?) was well onside.
Another foul given against Neuf when breaking away on the right hand side of their box. Their player dived across Neuf brought him down, and the Lino gave it to them as a foul.

He couldn’t keep up with play!

 

An accomplished CF would have hit that...he wanted to much time, made a mess of it and then went looking for the pen. Jackson is better as a wide forward imo...he didnt win a header last night from memory either.

 

The handball was never a pen. I was sat in the South stand and right infront of it. His hand was in a natural position and was absolutely leathered at him.

 

That’s fine, I reported how it came across on the box , why it did and the mic placement reporting makes it understandably so has been answered already.