A week is a long time in football, or so the saying goes, so 11 can seem like a lifetime in this fractious industry.

But it is now almost three months ago since Conor Sellars and Mark Trueman stepped into the breach left in the wake of another managerial departure at Valley Parade, a spell that has seen positivity pour back to the once-mighty Bantams.

It’s a stark contrast to the mood that washed over the West Yorkshire club in mid-December following another abject defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic, the club’s third such loss to the Latics this season.

Despite recently having signed a new deal with the team, Stuart McCall was dismissed shortly after the 3-1 defeat at Boundary Park leaving Bradford City looking for their eighth manager since the start of 2018, if you include caretakers.

With the club sitting above the dreaded relegation zone, a place a club like Bradford City should never have been allowed to sink to, by virtue of just a single goal, the club started a search for the new boss.

For the short-term, the club’s hierarchy turned to Conor Sellars and Mark Trueman. Sellars had been working as the team’s youth coach while Trueman was in charge of the under-18s.

At the time, it was seen as a very temporary appointment with the rumour mill immediately linking Paul Hurst as the favourite for the post.

Fast forward 11 weeks and the Bantams are sitting seven points off the play-off places with a game in hand and a whopping 14 points above the drop zone.

The management duo have picked up 24 points in 11 matches, a total that equates to 2.18 points per game. If they’d maintained this ratio since the start of the season they’d be sitting comfortably top of the division.

Yesterday the Bantams made the common-sense decision to make their interim role, which was extended last month, into a permanent appointment. They have been given the gig until the end of the 2021/22 campaign and with it, a sense of euphoria has descended on Valley Parade despite the country still being in the midst of a global pandemic that is currently denying fans the right to enter stadiums.

It’s great to see. If you are old enough to remember David Wetherall’s last gasp header that secured the club’s Premier League survival two decades ago, then you’ll know what potential Bradford possess.

From the outside, it feels as though this is the best the atmosphere at the League Two outfit has been for a very long time. These two young coaches have revitalised a side that was plummeting towards the National League.

They enjoyed an excellent January transfer window, coming first in D3D4’s winter window rankings, yet these additions, which included the likes of Andy Cook, Charles Vernam and Danny Rowe, are not the reason for the resurgence. It is tactical, man management, players turning up and enjoying their work again. In short, it is down to Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars.

They were given an opportunity and took it with both hands.

“Myself and Conor are obviously delighted, first and foremost, to have been given this opportunity,” Trueman told the club website following yesterday’s announcement.

“The players have taken to us really well. We have been pleased by how everyone is gelling and are looking forward to keeping that going.

“We are desperate to be successful and, now we have been given the chance to manage this club on a permanent basis, will do everything in our power to ensure that is the case.”

Conor Sellars also echoed his colleague’s words. “We are extremely pleased,” he added.

“Me and Mark have worked incredibly hard so far and have been given a brilliant opportunity by the club, which we are very excited about.

“When we first came in, we were confident in our ability to express our coaching methods. Thankfully, the job we have done so far has been deemed good enough to warrant the permanent appointment.”

Sellars is only 29, younger than eight players in the squad he now jointly commands. It just shows how being a good coach has nothing to do with age. It is about how you get your ideas across, how you prepare and how you enthuse those you are coaching.

Let’s not get carried away. These are still early days into the duos management career, but we are all hoping the club will finally start, like an oil tanker performing a manoeuvre far out at sea, to turn back in the right direction.

The Edin Rahic era did untold damage to this proud club that started its football life 118-years ago, but with this exciting appointment, there is a sense of optimism emanating from a corner of West Yorkshire that has been long overdue.

words James Richards, D3D4 Football