League Cup Semi Final - Bradford City

[VinnieChase84]

This had got hall marks of 94 about it. Think they will run us close but we will go to wembley vs the much favoured Chelsea. Que, a 3-1 win with hazard being sent off for handball on the line, with Benteke putting the resulting penalty away. This being, after weimann has out us 1-0 up and then Benteke getting the second.

[Percy McCarthy]

Whoever said Oldham were a better team than us when they beat us in the Cup is having a laugh. We should have won the league that year.

[maidstonevillain]

To be fair how many times have we played lower opposition in the later stages of the of cup competitions?

Every time. But then again your definition of lower opposition may be different to mine.

[Matt C]

Dream draw.

[Gareth]

Its a great draw for us, likewise I'm sure Bradford wanted to play either us or Swansea so they will have a chance of Wembley so they'll be happy too.

If its like previous years sure one leg will be live on Sky and the other live on BBC - hopefully they will see sense and put the Valley Parade leg on the beeb to open it up to more fans to see.....though we all know logic dosent go through the tv schedules :-)

[OCD]

Chelsea may well be thinking: we'll murder Villa in the final. Let's not think like Chelsea.

Chelsea might not even make it to the final. I think Benitez said they've played 8 games in 24 days and they still have the Christmas games ahead of them. They should be knackered by the time the first leg comes around and then going to Swansea for the second leg won't be easy.

[Pete3206]

I am so fucking excited. The first leg is going to be a great day/night out.

[PeterWithesShin]

The Bradford view

"Perfect draw IMO that."

"yessssss great ground to visit and a real chance of a final if we can get a positive result at home."

"Can't see it over two games. I'd love to, but I can't. They'll have too much quality, and more importantly, unlike Arsenal, the bottle for the fight. Should be a great occasion all the same though"

"Doable"

"Personally think we got the best draw and stand a chance of getting into the final"

"Perfect draw and being at home 1st leg means we will still be in it for the trip to villa park"

[dave.woodhall]

Has anybody told them they're three divisions below us for a reason?

[dave.woodhall]

And I would be more than happy to get the same result as Arsenal at Valley Parade.

[tomd2103]

The fact that it is over two legs takes a lot of the potential for a shock out of the tie.  I expect there could be scenes like this at the 2nd leg:

Had a phone call from someone at the ticket office this afternoon trying to sell me a half-season ticket and he trotted out a line about it guaranteeing a ticket should we get to the final.

[mrfuse]

We will do these over two legs, I'm massively confident of that. They've had there BIG game. As long a the players are well drilled we will be fine. Benteke hatrick at Wembly and Stan to lift the cup?? Sounds bloody good to me

Thats a great shout about Petrov would make a lovely story

[PeterWithesShin]

And also

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!

I'll miss the home leg. I could cry.

Good draw though. Whilst we'll be long shots, Villa are probably the weakest of the 3 premiership sides. We'll sell out and I think they might as well, cos they'll smell a high probability of qualifying for Wembley and it's years since they won anything."

"That's the draw I wanted, we're still massive underdogs but it's far from impossible."

"No point in even playing it if you look on the Villa Twitter feed! They are already planning Wembley (just like Blackpool did)."

"We are underdogs, that's correct, and I can't help but smirk at everyone writing us off, of course they should beat us we are league 2 , they are premiere league, I am sure arsenal, and Wigan thought the same, I remember when we went up with kamara no one gave us a look in or a mention, I for one prefer it this way ,"

"Never been to Villa, looking forward to it (so long as the tie isnt over after the home leg!). They have a low key manager and low key squad, which perhaps isnt ideal, but at least the class differential isnt as big as versus Arsenal. Thinking about it, it was our best chance of taking a big away following, its closer than South Wales or Chelsea...so thats good. And their support is good given their past and they should bring a good number up here.
Bring on the Villa....."

"The draw i wanted and good to be home first too, although i wasnt too fussed either way. We are again underdogs but we can beat them and no disrespect to villa who will no doubt tonk us now, but they seem the most beatable.
Been to villa and we should get plenty of tickets, not sure about 6k, as it is a big old school stadium. Should be a terrific atmosphere if we can stay in the tie and a great trip for city fans."

"Glad we're at home first, I'd rather try get another cheeky result in the first leg and have something to defend in the second as opposed to the other way round - financially it's better that way too. Villa were who I wanted coming out of VP last week but they've hit a bit of form as of late and Benteke looks a monster (a lot better than Gervinho anyway haha). Can't believe I'm talking like this when in reality I was just chuffed to beat Watford away! I believe!!"

"Its a great draw.

Villa are shit. Yes they've picked up of late but out of the 3 PL sides that were left, Villa are the worst.

Home leg 1st and no matter who we would of played I feel we needed to take a lead into our next match and playing at home 1st gives us that chance. VP will be bouncing.

Away leg - its only 2 hours. We will full it.

Both legs are on tv with set amounts going to all clubs - so its win, win.

We've a chance here- BELIEVE!!"

"Win 1-0 at home and we'll take 10k I'm sure... lose at home and it wont be many"

"I wanted us to be at home first because I want a full house and big occasion at Valley Parade, last week was special and the first leg of the semi will be too.

Let's be realistic - we could quite easily get spanked 4 or 5 nil by Villa at home, they went to Norwich and did that, but even if that does happen at least we'll have had that night at VP again - if we'd been drawn away first and been thrashed there the return would be a massive anti-climax."

In a response to a Villa on there saying some were already booking time off etc
"Let them book.

Villa will lose to Chelsea in the final anyway.

Could end up like Birmingham and go down. So them fans booking better realise that really Villa are now a shit PL team with a lot to worry about. "

[PeterWithesShin]

And finally

"Haha love the optimism on this thread, when the reality is that beating Villa over two legs will be a literal miracle! I would fancy us in a one off at home. One thing or sure is, they will be a lot tougher than Arsenal were and nowhere near as soft!"

"Villa are a rapidly improving side and will see this as a wide open opportunity to get to the final. However, they are a a side in transition and have several players who have stepped up the leagues. Just like the Arsenal game if this tie was played 100 times Villa would win 99 of them, we have to hope, just like Arsenal, that the home leg is the 1 in a 100 and then we go to the other VP and do a Wigan.

Chelsea would have been fun because of their terrible record at VP and the fact that they are the Champions League holders. But Villa are one of the great historic sides of football, Brum is a fairly easy travel (in comparison to Swansea) and they will fill the Midland Road. Bring it on."

And finally finally, these words of wisdom from Villa fan Congo Waring
"Think this is a very hard draw for us and we'll do well to beat you. Good luck."

[OCD]

The Bradford fans don't seem to be allowing for the fact that it's over 2 legs and we're at home in the second leg. If it had been the other way round, maybe they could have made the Villa Park game tricky come away with a draw and make the second leg a real cup tie. As it is, the second leg will be an absolute cauldron and if we are behind, we have a history of turning it around over 2 legs (Tranmere in '94 comes to mind).