Who really holds the power at Valley Parade?

It’s been a pretty tough start to the league campaign for Bradford after having lost on the seaside to Southend on August 18th. The 2-0 defeat at Roots Hall was the second loss in a row for the Bantams and left them 18th in League One before a Jack Payne goal saw them edge out Burton in mid-week yet there is still a sense of unease at Valley Parade.

When Stuart McCall was sacked in February 2018 the Bantams were on a wretched run where they had lost six games in a row but despite this, they were still in the League One playoffs and all hope hadn’t yet dwindled. McCall’s dismissal was seen as harsh despite the losing run but you can see why owner Edin Rahic acted quickly with promotion hopes fading.

The German owner brought in League One promotion specialist Simon Grayson to give the club a shot to the arm and hopefully benefit from the upturn in fortunes a new manager can bring.  That wasn’t to be the case as Grayson only won just three of his 14 games in charge as Bradford City limped home in 11th place. The 48-year-old Grayson decided not to stay at Valley Parade after discussions with the owners and turned down the opportunity to extend his contract.

Many Bradford fans were concerned but none were unhappy to see the back of Simon Grayson. The hope was an experienced, more progressive manager would be brought in with Mark Warburton’s name strongly linked to the job. Instead Rahic appointed 32-year-old Michael Collins as Grayson’s successor in a move that was seen as somewhat out of left field with Collins becoming the youngest manager in the Football League.

After the Bantams shaky start to the season, there have been rumours circulating that Collins was brought in to be a yes-man and really the power and decisions lie with owner Edin Rahic. Collins has ignored the puppet rumours and instead is focused on seeing Bradford City win football matches but it’s hard to turn a blind eye to all the red flags in the build-up to Collins’ appointment.

Experiencing trouble so early on in the season always makes fans jumpy and you only have to look around the Football League and even Premier League to see the same trends happening. After the loss to Brighton, the odds on Man Utd to win league 2019 went to 999/1 on the Betfair exchange with supporters and pundits drawing radical early conclusions. As far as Bradford City goes, it does feel like there is still a lot of tension between supporters and the owners.

Bradford are one of the biggest clubs in the third tier and fans will be hoping that a decent summer of recruitment can help return them to a level more deserving of their size. It wouldn’t be a surprise, however, to see the toxic atmosphere return to Valley Parade should the Bantams struggle and getting more support to Eoin Doyle will be crucial if they are to challenge at the top end of League One. It is still early days but this is a club that could go either way this season – for now we watch and wait.