Whenever I’m asked who I support, I beam and proudly say “Bradford City” (obviously). The sense of pride, personally, in recent years has stemmed from the fact our club has been run by fans, for fans. When you hear about the manager merry-go-round across the football league and premier league, mainly as a result from foreign ownership using people’s football clubs as toys, has made me feel even more lucky that we had Mark Lawn and Julian Rhodes. This personally made up for the lack of finances, bumpy pitch and shocking ticketing website; wouldn’t you take that over Vincent Tan or Massimo Cellino?
Things don’t last forever and the new owners at Bradford city, for what I can see, seem responsible and in it for the long term. They came in and didn’t seem to want to change too much too soon which appeased many grumblings from fans and worry that they would want to sack Parkinson. Parkinson was always going to manage in league one next year, but I never thought it would be at Bolton Wanderers.
The Bradford City Parkinson leaves behind is a polar opposite one that he inherited. He has dragged this club from the doldrums of league two and transformed it into a well-run league one club, most importantly one with an upward trajectory. Furthermore he has given us the best cup nights any club could ask for. With hindsight it may seem that this was in fact the right time to leave. He seemed to throw everything he had at promotion this year and next year did have the possibility of going stale.
Nevertheless you’d struggle to find a city fan who didn’t want Parkinson to see out his contract and give promotion another good crack, but you can’t fault the man for wanting a new challenge. He made a clean break at a good time. Typical Parkinson; calm, collected and calculated ruthlessness.
The question, though, has to be asked whether this clean break is a good time for the club. Our new owners have never owned a football club in England so presumably they could have gained a lot from Parkinson’s presence. They could have left him to manage transfers and the football while they found their way behind the scenes. Now, instead, inside their first month they have to appoint a new manager while they’re getting their ‘sea legs.’
This is where bookies odds, paper talk and your ‘mates mates cousin’s boyfriend who saw Edin Rahic on a train to Sheffield’ all add to the rumour mill. As this article is written Uwe Rosler is around evens and our beloved Stuart McCall is odds on. Other names such as Steve Cotterill and Nigel Adkins have also been floated into the mix.
Steve Cotterill and Adkins represent experience at a higher level. With Adkins you have to take out his year at Sheffield united because his failings there were more to do with club structure as opposed to his management. Steve Cotterill’s Bristol City beat us 6-0 at home when they won the league at a canter two years ago. He plays flowing attacking football so would be an obvious and adventurous runner.
These two names are longer odds, though, than Rosler and McCall. Personally I’ve seen a lot of Brentford play and Rosler laid good footballing foundations for Mark Warburton, which ultimately propelled them into the championship play-off semi-finals two years ago. These foundations allowed Brentford to over achieve, a feat Bradford would love to achieve. The only problem is he was dismissed from Wigan and L**ds which tarnishes his reputation. Furthermore, do we want someone in the dugout who managed ‘them’ so recently?
Rosler does seem to split opinion. At a time where new owners have come in and pretty much the whole management team have left, there seems to be a massive hole left at Bradford city. I don’t want to be dramatic but in the space of a month it could seem that the heart and soul of the club has been taken away from us. In a situation like this a popular, galvanising figure, who knows the club would seem a perfect candidate for the job. Someone who can emotionally and figuratively fill the gaping hole left behind by Phil Parkinson. In an ideal world maybe a club legend. Not just any club legend though, one with high up managerial experience?
Not one city fan in the past six years since he left hasn’t in the back of their mind fantasised about Stuart McCall’s home coming and envisaged him taking us into the championship. This, though, is the problem with Stuart. His emotion, and our emotion, can get the better of us and cloud judgement. With detachment, this could have happened if Parkinson would have stayed for a long time. His previous achievements could have halted progress down the line because nobody would want him sacked.
McCall would be a gamble. Much like Rosler, or Adkins, or any manager. Appointing Parkinson after lean spells at Hull and Charlton was a gamble in 2011 but see how that paid off. On a personal note, no matter what you can say about Steve Cotterill his Bristol City team romped this league two years ago and he would be an exciting prospect. Although personally I can’t seem to look past McCall. Maybe this is emotion clouding judgement but he has the potential to come in, right the wrongs of his first spell and keep his, and our, beloved Bradford on the current forward trajectory. He could be the only option who would have the presence in Bradford to fill the hole left by Parkinson.
Going back to the start of the article I was talking about being proud to support Bradford City. Our new owners or a new manager won’t make me less proud of Bradford City. The point I am making is this new era we are entering is representing uncertainty. We don’t want to stall and get on board the manager sacking bandwagon. Our next appointment needs to be in tandem with a clear plan and be thought through. The last thing we want is our new owners jumping the gun. The only thing we know is us fans are the only ever-present force and true heart and soul to the club. Our task is to support whoever comes in and not let what Parkinson built for five years go to waste.
Rosler would be obvious, Cotterill would be adventurous, but McCall COULD be glorious.
@LewisKilminster
