Next Permanent Manager (now with Poll amended to include Truemen/Sellars)

The rest of the season is a complete write off. The short term injection the caretakers have given us and the return to fitness of several injured players will ensure we stay up now - irrespective of who we recruit in January.

The rest of the season is an experimental period which gives us time to evaluate whether the interim managers are worth a longer deal (how will we react to going behind in a game and to losing?.....we don’t yet know).

We have settled on a 4-2-3-1 set up mostly and achieve promising early results with this group.

We need time for the recruitment team to identify long term targets that will improve us in this system and we need to decide which of the out of contract players are worth a new deal (if any) ahead of a potential summer rebuild.

Trueman and Sellars know the players and know how they want to play - the results speak for themselves. Under Stuart players were seemingly banned from doing media interviews after the game but how great was it to listen to Watt after Tranmere, saying these lads are sending him clips on the oppo and doing stuff we thought happened with Stuart - but took for granted.

Then you’ve got pictures like those doing the rounds the other day - Rich O’Donnell with his arms around Truey at the FT whistle. These players want to play for them.

What we, as fans, want doesn’t really matter. Football clubs are built on the foundations of the bond between players and coaches/management and this group wants to play for Trueman and Sellars. Look at Levi Sutton - maybe Stuart going was needed to spark him into life but he’s playing like he’s had a brain transplant. If the players perform for the manager and deliver results, they quickly win over the fans - its a fickle game!

Sometimes managers come from nowhere and people take a risk on them. We could be talking about a Sparks masterstroke here. But, at the same time, there is a danger the results might dip and maybe the form wasn’t sustainable. In that case, by appointing them as only interim bosses, we can replace them with a senior manager, while retaining T and S for the academy, where they’ve done a good job in bringing through Staunton, FCD, Sikora, Scales etc.

 

I hope to god that no one at the club falls into this level of complacency.

 

No Petrov, clarity is simplicity in football and there is simple clarity in what has been announced today - if you ask any of our key players I will guarantee they will be happy with this, the 'interim' managers certainly are and Turnbull is already well on the way with the January recruitment. An identity doesn't suddenly form overnight - it will be apparent as our long term objectives become clearer.
Let me put it this way - instead we appoint Hurst, we lose 3 of his first 4 games (which could easily happen), the players dont like his style of play, a player who was going to sign gives backword and we are back where we started - all I am trying to say is there are no certainties in football and I just think some are being over analytical over todays announcement

 

Not too sure on your opening line. We are on a good run but we need another 4 or 5 game unbeaten spell to pull well clear of relegation battle.
We are still deep in the mire. Last few weeks have certainly helped but we are not clear

 

Fine until a new manager comes in and doesn't want the players we signed in January and the whole merry go round of 'not my players/ give me two of my own transfer windows' starts again.

We had an opportunity to halt that cycle but its been wasted

 

Looks like my thoughts gave already been shared by many.

I'm pleased for T and S, but we can't even congratulate them properly per this announcement.

We now have to accept we are in managerial limbo going into January... And the players have to deal with the fact that one or two bad performances could now lead to a panicked, knee jerk appointment.

Dear oh dear...

Still, on the surface of it, T and S deserve the chance, and you could argue that is a solid move... But peel away that top layer of positivity and there's nothing there.

Sparkes has not made a good start at all.

 

Fine until a new manager comes in and doesn't want the players we signed in January and the whole merry go round of 'not my players/ give me two of my own transfer windows' starts again.

We had an opportunity to halt that cycle but its been wasted

 

Wow. You have a go at others being negative in your eyes then come out with a sentence that couldn't be more negative if it tried.

 

Spot on.

This is the primary concern. Most of us can see this. If a permanent appointment is made in February, we should riot.

A lockdown riot, which involves making a mess at home and them getting told off by our missus' and made to clean it up.

 

Turnball has been announced

 

There’s never been a problem with our XI being good enough to stay up - its the shite backup that has hamstrung us. We need better backup options to arrive in January so we don’t need to rely on BRE, Ismail, DMH, Guthrue or Samuels, as we can’t bank on key men (under T and S) like Paudie, AOC, Sutton and Novak keeping injury free.

 

The rest of the season is a write off? Deary me.

 

Damned if they do, dammed if they don’t.

Right now, ultimately, our league status is far more important - in the short term.T and S are riding a positive wave, I’m not sure why this needs to change?

Hypothetically, the club brings in a new manager, he loses his first game - pressures back on.

 

Its called realism. There is more danger of relegation than promotion, due to the lack of quality backup in the squad. If we get that sorted and first guarantee survival, anything better than that is a bonus. But you can’t start judging the success of the interim managers now based on a promotion push, surely?

 

Great to have them continue at the helm. They have shown a great deal of skill in turning the team around. If we win our next game are they going into the history books as the best start ever for a management team at City? Wow eh.

 

Would everyone be happy if we dished out 3 year contracts on a manager such as Hurst who we don’t know whether he could do the job or not? Sparks would be hammered if results took a downturn and he sacked him.

Let’s suppose Hurst came in on a long term deal, recruits players in January on 18+ contracts and gets sacked. The next manager comes in and has a whole host of players he didn’t sign. The way I read the statement is, continue the good work you’re doing, the results are way beyond what we expected but you’re very new to this role. Let’s review it further down the line and if things continue to improve, you’ll get the contract.

In regards recruitment, we’ve just won 3 out of 4, the players will no doubt vouch for Trueman and Sellars to other players. Turnbull in the background overseeing things is a positive too.

Let’s for a moment see the situation as if we had no connection to the club and a were reading a write up in a National paper..

Bradford City have recently appointed their youngest ever CEO in Ryan Sparks. Since taking the role he initially renewed the contract of the then management team of McCall and Black. Following a continual decline in results and performances he took the decision to terminate their employment. Promoting from within Sparks promoted the U18 management duo of Trueman and Sellars as caretaker managers whilst the search for a new manager took place. Following a string of impressive results and unrecognisable performances compared to the recent past, Sparks may have found what he wants right under his nose. It’s still early days in their fledgling career so the new CEO has taken a cautious approach, allowing them to continue in the interim without upsetting the momentum gained. With a recently created recruitment team believed to be led by Lee Turnbull in the background, the new CEO is looking to put in place all the pieces missing from the club in the last few years. I would imagine the club won’t waste too much time in offering more permanent contracts to the two new upstarts to ward off any interest from other clubs should progress be maintained.

 

It would be interesting to know how many fans have dodgy firesticks and are watching Ifollow on top of the 1.5k ish buying legit Ifollow passes.

How many of the whinge brigade are actually watching us?

 

Great bit of perspective

 

It's a good point to be made that we shouldn't just hire someone for the sake of it and we should hire the right person.

This is also a good point. Ryan needs to realise he can't do it all on his own. It's a mistake many people make when they step up to a senior position. They forget that they didn't make it there by themselves and had others to work with him. He needs someone to do his old role and probably one or two others in specialist roles too. I hope he sorts out these roles soon. I can understand holding off on players/playing expenditure with the pandemic still hanging over us but we need to get the right admin/support/management folks in place and he needs help. He can't do it alone.

 

I still think we are 2/3 short of a decent xi and then 2 more for a change of options or as you say with injuries. The primary aim wasn’t to stay up though it was to build a side to challenge the play offs. We got that so wrong it was scary.