Hi all Bradford fan here in peace,
McCall wasn't in charge when we dropped into Division 2, Colin Todd was sacked after 2 wins in something like 18 games & replaced by caretaker manager David Wetherall who couldn't halt the slide.
The crowds are impressive for 4th Division football but one of the main reasons is the season tickets are/were dirt cheap (You could buy an adult season ticket for £100 ish).
In his first season in charge we finished a dissappointing 10th (big spenders MK Dons & Peterboro filled the top 2 positions), his 2nd season started very very well playing some great football with 2 out & out wingers on top of their game, a run of 9 games without a win in March/April saw us drop out of the play-off places in the end finishing 2 points off 7th.
McCall had threatened to quit if we did not make the play-offs but supporter power made him stay on, however failure to make the play-offs cost the club £250k and the budget was slashed by 40%, McCall took the same pay cut.
All the high earners were released & unsurprisingly last season was a struggle (it was rumoured that a joint chairman didn't speak to SMc for weeks), bad refereeing decisions and down right bad luck took there toll and Stuart walked away.
Just look at the job Peter Taylor is doing this season with the same budget & you'll see what a tough job Bradford City manager really is.
Having watched the game today I think if Stuart can get the same level of performance out of the players every week you'll finish in the top six for sure but every manager needs time to bring in the right players and impose his playing style on the side, next season will be the time to judge not after 6/7 games.
I notice he's signed Steve Jones for you, he had some good games for us & can play up front or wide right, he's not going to score loads of goals but he always gave 100%.
Good luck for the rest of the season, I'm still hoping to visit Fir Park before the season ends to take in a game,
All the Best.
D.
