Bradford City (H)

[Johnnyrotten]

2 hours ago, Winchester White said:

I was pleased when I saw Dempsey starting but he didn't really have his best game.

Morley isn't doing it, there are 2 players ahead of him for me.

Christie is a decent player, prefer him at left back than Cogley.

Should have been ahead at half time but by the end a draw was a reasonable result.

I've got divided opinions on Christie/JDC.  Christie more composed and greater strength/height/nous.  But I thought a huge part of our lack of cutting edge today was not having JDC overlapping, Christie simply can't do that because he can't get back.  So Duberry doesn't have much of a link up with his full back, it was all down to him and on the day he was below par.

Twice today Christie was running through treacle trying to recover, and this against a team with no noticeable pace.  Once he should have got booked and the 2nd he was saved by someone else doing his job for him, on both occasions I'd back JDC to recover with his pace.  And taking set pieces doesn't help, it can put him out of position if its on the left, and the delivery is just average.  Not having JDC on the bench to replace him when he's spent after 70 minutes is a strange one for me.

[Kane57]

He is a good corner taker, mind you

[masi 51]

Had my reservations with both the team and the system SS keeps employing

Keeper has improved and looks more commanding in the last couple of games no coincidence since Christy was included

The defence is now solid Toal again immense.....Conway is allowed a blip with the season he is having.

Midfield needs three in it and those three need to be Dempsey/Sheehan and one of Erhahon and Simons

Play with one winger Duberry giving him freedom to play both flanks and play with two up top Burstow and Forss

Playing two wingers and one alone up top is hindering us.

And  i do not get why you would select Morley then take dead balls off him  its 60% of his game

And no more TuTu on the wing unless its the EFL cup

Edited November 22, 2025 by masi 51

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

How shit was Sarcevic?

Arse was twitching a bit seeing them come on at half time, because it felt like the script was written, and to be fair to Humphries he did make a difference and is a half decent player - Sarce was garbage though!

Strange we see it different.  He looked composed, tidy in possession, without getting any chances to score (thankfully), how did he look bad?  Compare his controlled, intelligent passing to one of our subs, on the left wing.  If we could have swapped those two our chances would have improved IMO.

[Kane57]

Burstow having a stinker and being allowed to take that free kick on the edge of their box was a shocking decision

[Farnywhite]

23 minutes ago, London Wanderer said:

😂😂

Fuck me 

If you don’t like facts bury your head in the sand ostrich 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Kane57]

3 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

If you don’t like facts bury your head in the sand ostrich 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

We're 5th and it's barely mid November with a team that's 75% new

[Johnnyrotten]

1 hour ago, Kane57 said:

Ok makes sense then. He starts every game for me, unless unavailable. Watching Sheehan makes me upset 

If I had to pick only one midfielder, it would be Sheehan.  By far our most consistent IMO, including Simons.  Has improved this season, looks championship quality to me now, hardly ever wastes a pass, but today like 90% of others, he wasn't at his best.  But still our best midfielder, just ahead of Simons who has had a lot of anonymous games away from home.

[Farnywhite]

3 minutes ago, Kane57 said:

We're 5th and it's barely mid November with a team that's 75% new

Glad your happy I think it was a poor result today Bradford would take it the run there on 

[Kane57]

6 minutes ago, Farnywhite said:

Glad your happy I think it was a poor result today Bradford would take it the run there on 

Sorry I'm really struggling to see your point, captain obvious 

[miamiwhite]

Still gelling, tough game today, both sides had chances 

End of the day, they're slipping, we are not. We are moving in the right direction

Expecting a serious second half of the season push 92/93 style from us, even though we are very handily placed as it is.

As it stands now.....

 

And now you'd better beeeelllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeee us

The Whites Are Going Up.....

The Whites Are Going Up

[Tombwfc]

3 hours ago, ianofcleveleys said:

He just needs wingers to go down the wing and twat the ball into the box. Anything more cultured than that's outside his comfort zone.

 

That's fine when we're chasing a game against a team camped in their own area who'll just let us launch cross after cross. In an even game his strength (singular) is outweighed by his weaknesses. He slows down our fast breaks and his attempts to shoot with his feet have been embarrassing.

Humphrys must just hate us and be shit against everyone else, but his all round game leading the line was miles ahead of anything Dalby has shown. 

[Tombwfc]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

He was on the gels about an hour in. I don’t think he’s got his stamina levels high enough yet, it’s a regular occurrence that he’s on his arse for the last 10 mins of the game. He was poor today on the ball and going forward, touch was off from the first minute, but to be fair he defended well.

We should have won it in the first half an hour by taking one of those 3 chances. Other than a long throw or a corner, they wouldn’t have scored if we were still playing tomorrow - they were shit and 1 goal would have won it for us.

We just lacked any quality today. Other than Toal (who was far and away the best player on the pitch), GJ (who had another good game) and TSL (feels like he’s showing what he can do now, great save at the end!), not one of them had a good game. 5/6 out of 10 all over the pitch - first touches poor, decision making poor, shooting poor.

So be it. These things happen. At least we didn’t find a way to lose it. Unbeaten at home still and in no way bothered about Bradford’s challenge for promotion - we’re streets ahead of them and will be 10-15 points clear of them come the end of the season.

edit - great to see Dempsey back. Considering how long he’s been out for, it was a decent first start back. I don’t think he was helped with Morley pushed up alongside him, he’s better given a freer role with 2 behind IMO. He looks sharp though and he’d be my starter in that ‘10’ role for the next few games.

 

Bradford had a bit of Derby about them. It might not always look amazing but they'll win a lot of games. And to be fair to them, they showed a decent amount of intent throughout that second half when they always knew a point was a good result.

If we finish above them this season at all - never mind by 10-15 points - I think we'll win promotion.

[Leyther_Matt]

3 hours ago, Kane57 said:

See I don't think Toal and Johnston are particularly good with the ball at their feet.

Despite that, Toal was excellent today - continuing his recent good form.

I do like Christie too - no nonsense though once or twice he could have a been a smidge quicker in giving ACD the ball.

Agree on Toal in possession. Has six touches when only two are necessary. But absolutely exemplary defensively which is all I want from him really, and probably summed up our second half when he ended up having a shot because half a dozen players in front of him showed the square root of fuck all in terms of wanting the ball. 

[Leyther_Matt]

#dramaticpictures

[Stig]

8 hours ago, Kane57 said:

Burstow having a stinker and being allowed to take that free kick on the edge of their box was a shocking decision

I agree. That smacked a bit of desperation on Burstow's part to get out of this goalless streak. 

He needn't worry though, if his general link up and hold up play is good, Bolton fans are more than happy with a Kevin Davies type who might not score for a while but is causing chances to be created for others.

And Sheehan should have pulled rank anyway. That was primed for him.

Christy on corners was another odd one, with Morley playing. He's a big unit I'd want in the box for headers 

[Eddie]

8 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

I've got divided opinions on Christie/JDC.  Christie more composed and greater strength/height/nous.  But I thought a huge part of our lack of cutting edge today was not having JDC overlapping, Christie simply can't do that because he can't get back.  So Duberry doesn't have much of a link up with his full back, it was all down to him and on the day he was below par.

Twice today Christie was running through treacle trying to recover, and this against a team with no noticeable pace.  Once he should have got booked and the 2nd he was saved by someone else doing his job for him, on both occasions I'd back JDC to recover with his pace.  And taking set pieces doesn't help, it can put him out of position if its on the left, and the delivery is just average.  Not having JDC on the bench to replace him when he's spent after 70 minutes is a strange one for me.

Saw it very much like you. Suppose talking about L1 players means there will be a trade off between 2 of them, neither are perfect. Christie wasnt great yesterday - similar to Conway in that he was poor going forward, seemed to struggle controlling the ball but looked solid defensively.

I definitely agree on the point around JDC helping ACD out. Although I think Bradford’s system was a big part of it too. I thought we’d tear them apart with wing backs but they actually managed to nullify the wings. They made it really hard for Conway/Christie to get forward and then managed to double up on ACD/Tutu - ACD only really got much joy when he came inside centrally. It should have left us with a spare option and gaps elsewhere but I couldn’t really see it. Probably Dempsey/Morley in the first half but we just couldn’t capitalise.

I think the JDC/Christie question will continue depending on who we’re playing. It does seem madness not having JDC on the bench though when you know that Christie and Conway are likely to be 2 of the starters who will run out of gas. There was never a chance that Randall comes on yesterday with the other players on the bench, so why JDC wasn’t on the bench just seems weird. Ah well, sure SS could explain it but it’s hardly an important one.

Edited November 23, 2025 by Eddie

[Kane57]

I think Dempsey is a better impact sub these days. Uses his energy better when those around him are tiring 

[Leyther_Matt]

31 minutes ago, Kane57 said:

I think Dempsey is a better impact sub these days. Uses his energy better when those around him are tiring 

I think when Dempsey’s main attribute is his ‘energy’, it makes absolute sense that he should be coming off the bench more often than not. Could probably argue similar for Tutu, too. 

[Matt Lofthouse]

Having slept on it feel more gutted now we didn’t take all 3 points, probably with  the away games coming up and the chasing pack also picking up points. Huge game against Luton now who just got pumped by 5.

[ianofcleveleys]

8 hours ago, Tombwfc said:

 

Bradford had a bit of Derby about them. It might not always look amazing but they'll win a lot of games. And to be fair to them, they showed a decent amount of intent throughout that second half when they always knew a point was a good result.

If we finish above them this season at all - never mind by 10-15 points - I think we'll win promotion.

I was impressed by their attitude, saw Alexander waving them forward in injury time, they wanted to win and thought they could.

Agree re Humphreys, no world beater by any means but looked more the part, caused us some issues. That turn and piledriver alone was impressive 

[Lostock Whites]

On a more negative, 4/5 years later and I still don't get Aaron Morley and what he brings. He's not a bad player but I just feel that he goes missing.

Granted there were a few of them yesterday who weren't on top form but he's been this way for a long time now. Came back to us with a bit of hype after his games for Wycombe and then reverted back to normality.

He's hardly dictating the play and spraying balls across the pitch like Sheehan does. He doesn't break up the play like Erahon & Simons. He doesn't drive up the pitch and battles physically like Dempsey does. He's just kind of a ghost in the middle.

He's not even on set pieces, there were 4 other players looking to take the free kick instead of him, says a lot.

For me right now, he's my last choice central midfielder. 

Sheehan has gotten a lot of stick in the past for his small stature and supposed lack of physicality. Well yesterday and most of this season he has put himself way more about than Morley has ever done.

[Matt Lofthouse]

7 hours ago, Leyther_Matt said:

#dramaticpictures

Great photo. Other than away games, I still can’t get my head around choosing to sit behind a goal though, for a sport played back and forth side ways to 2 goals you swap ends at.  
 

#halfwaylinenonce

[Whitestar]

13 hours ago, Dr Faustus said:

Only striker on a clean sheet bonus. He’s blocked as many goal bound efforts as he’s scored

LOL, i was saying that to my son in law, he was Bradford's best defender in the last 15mins.

Didn't he cost us 2 points dropped at home the Reading earlier in the season??

[masi 51]

1 hour ago, Kane57 said:

I think Dempsey is a better impact sub these days. Uses his energy better when those around him are tiring 

Is that based on his two games in the last 9 months?