Quantcast

  1. Welcome to Bantam Talk

    Why not register for an account?

    Not only can you then get fully involved in the community but you also get fewer ads

  2. Premium Membership now Available


    Please see this thread for more details

    Dismiss Notice
Welcome to Bantam Talk Premium Membership now Available

Simon Parker's opinion on his 17 Bradford City bosses

Discussion in 'City Talk' started by Stafford Bantam, Oct 7, 2025.

Page 1 of 4
  1. Stafford Bantam

    Stafford Bantam
    Staff Member Moderator P.L. 20/21 Top 30 Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2018
    Messages:
    5,191
    Likes Received:
    9,250
    A fascinating article, in two parts, on the 17 City managers that Simon Parker has worked with in the 25 years he's been covering City for the T&A.

    Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. They are behind the usual paywall, but I suspect most on here know how to read such articles.

    A few snippets:
    • On Chris Hutchins: "The last chat I had with Hutchings as City boss was explaining Collymore’s absence from a defeat at Charlton due to “having his wisdom teeth removed”. I later found out that Collymore’s wisdom teeth had been taken out several times before."
    • On Phil Parkinson "whose attention to detail was second to none. This was a manager who drove to Buckinghamshire on his 48th birthday to watch Chesham beat Frome four days before they played City in the FA Cup."
    • On Graham Alexander: "He always finds the time to take a weekly call and clearly understands the job I have to do - even making himself regularly available during the off-season. He’s also proof that nice guys do win in this cut-throat sport. That promotion celebration had only been 12 years in coming! Ask any of the media who cover the club now and they will say the same thing. Alexander is a popular figure and reporting on City’s fortunes is enjoyable again. Being presented with a signed shirt after the press conference last week for reaching my 25 years covering the club was a lovely touch that I never saw coming. But it again demonstrated that human side."
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    #1 Stafford Bantam, Oct 7, 2025
    Gateway38, Rudie, JonButterfield and 11 others like this.
  2. Bantamshell

    Bantamshell Squad Player

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2018
    Messages:
    1,091
    Likes Received:
    2,085
    Really enjoyed reading these articles. They provide an interesting peep behind the curtain. Colin Todd stands out as a particularly nice bloke and there was a lovely comment from a former city employee saying about how supportive he was of non-playing staff, and always took pains to include them in the same way as players, during the challenging periods of administration.
     
    #2 Bantamshell, Oct 7, 2025
    Wakefield Bantam likes this.
  3. Bantamshell

    Bantamshell Squad Player

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2018
    Messages:
    1,091
    Likes Received:
    2,085
    This is very honest about Simon Grayson, always found him pretty vanilla, Parker clearly not a fan! -

    SIMON GRAYSON
    Club secretary Mark Harrison sounded apologetic as he conveyed the bad news.

    “The manager has asked me to tell you that he hasn’t got time to take any calls during the week.”

    I had been told that Simon Grayson was a dream to work with for the local media. Clearly, that was not the case at City.

    He had announced that the club were lucky to have a Championship manager in charge and that seemed to be his attitude to dealing with the press. The Bantams version of Grayson had that air of arrogance.

    The form was hardly Championship during his short tenure – his best quotes came after an absolutely-woeful spanking by Blackpool – and I wasn’t too upset to see him decline the offer to stay on.

    He obviously felt the job was a step down from where he should be – and hasn’t been since.
     
    #3 Bantamshell, Oct 7, 2025
    Bantam75, Doodle, Sergio Pinto III and 4 others like this.
  4. Kevin1954

    Kevin1954
    P.L. 23/24 Top 20 Euro24 PL Entrant P.L.24/25 Entrant Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2018
    Messages:
    25,969
    Likes Received:
    23,318
    Another example of GA being a “people person” !
     
    #4 Kevin1954, Oct 7, 2025
    Bantamshell and Onside like this.
  5. Botswana Bantam

    Botswana Bantam
    P.L.24/25 Entrant Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2018
    Messages:
    81,016
    Likes Received:
    68,827
    Quite enjoyed reading his favourite 25 games as well. Brought back some memories!
     
    #5 Botswana Bantam, Oct 7, 2025
    meelin likes this.
  6. borderlescott

    borderlescott Squad Player

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2018
    Messages:
    5,786
    Likes Received:
    10,392
    How do you remove the paywall? I know, i know, should know…….
     
    #6 borderlescott, Oct 7, 2025
  7. Klaatu

    Klaatu
    Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,510
    Likes Received:
    2,152
    Getting out your credit card is the easiest way.:p
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    #7 Klaatu, Oct 7, 2025
  8. king karl

    king karl
    Staff Member Admin Moderator Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2018
    Messages:
    3,739
    Likes Received:
    6,291

    Just google paywall remover and copy and paste the URL into it, theres a few out there
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    #8 king karl, Oct 7, 2025
    borderlescott likes this.
  9. borderlescott

    borderlescott Squad Player

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2018
    Messages:
    5,786
    Likes Received:
    10,392
    Never!
     
    #9 borderlescott, Oct 7, 2025
  10. borderlescott

    borderlescott Squad Player

    Joined:
    Nov 7, 2018
    Messages:
    5,786
    Likes Received:
    10,392
    Cheers!
     
    #10 borderlescott, Oct 7, 2025
  11. Offcomedun

    Offcomedun
    P.L. 23/24 Top 10 P.L.24/25 Entrant Qatar 2022 Entrant Supporter Euro2020 Winner Euro 2020 P.L. 20/21 3rd Place

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2018
    Messages:
    7,131
    Likes Received:
    12,514
    Good reads. Thanks.
    For some reason I didn’t get a paywall. I just clicked on the links and read both articles.
     
    #11 Offcomedun, Oct 7, 2025
    Keefly Bantam likes this.
  12. Wakefield Bantam

    Wakefield Bantam Squad Player

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2018
    Messages:
    2,901
    Likes Received:
    4,952
    I’m probably in a minority but I have a lot of fond memories of the Colin Todd era.
     
    #12 Wakefield Bantam, Oct 7, 2025
    DimitriPayet, Dennis, AngryGaz and 1 other person like this.
  13. Wakefield Bantam

    Wakefield Bantam Squad Player

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2018
    Messages:
    2,901
    Likes Received:
    4,952
    Paste the URL into printfriendly.com
     
    #13 Wakefield Bantam, Oct 7, 2025
  14. Bumblebee_Tuna

    Bumblebee_Tuna Squad Player

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2018
    Messages:
    1,761
    Likes Received:
    2,648
    Bridge Wilkinson with JJ and Holmes on the wing and Windass up front. Really good attacking side until it all went wrong. Probably the best spell during our steady decline post prem.
     
    #14 Bumblebee_Tuna, Oct 7, 2025
    DimitriPayet, Hampshire Bantam, Onside and 3 others like this.
  15. Offcomedun

    Offcomedun
    P.L. 23/24 Top 10 P.L.24/25 Entrant Qatar 2022 Entrant Supporter Euro2020 Winner Euro 2020 P.L. 20/21 3rd Place

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2018
    Messages:
    7,131
    Likes Received:
    12,514
    And a young Nathan Doyle on loan at right back.
    Letting JJ and Windass go was a disaster.
     
    #15 Offcomedun, Oct 7, 2025
    DimitriPayet, Wakefield Bantam, Bronco and 1 other person like this.
  16. Silverbantam

    Silverbantam
    Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2018
    Messages:
    2,287
    Likes Received:
    2,257
    VPN set to USa
     
    #16 Silverbantam, Oct 8, 2025
  17. Silverbantam

    Silverbantam
    Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2018
    Messages:
    2,287
    Likes Received:
    2,257
    Sold to pay January’s rent
     
    #17 Silverbantam, Oct 8, 2025
  18. Captain Grumpy

    Captain Grumpy
    P.L. 23/24 Top 20 Euro24 PL Entrant P.L.24/25 Entrant Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2018
    Messages:
    2,502
    Likes Received:
    4,823
    Only £5 for 5 months and help support the only written media that has any real interest in Bradford City. Once the T&A goes there won’t be much news about City. The National papers used to have local editions which covered Yorkshire football with reasonable match reports,now it’s all Premier league news.
     
    #18 Captain Grumpy, Oct 8, 2025
    Doodle, Jayteebee and Onside like this.
  19. Onside

    Onside
    Euro24 PL Entrant P.L.24/25 Entrant Supporter

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2018
    Messages:
    10,715
    Likes Received:
    18,593
    In what way? One of our more negative managers!
     
    #19 Onside, Oct 8, 2025
    Klaatu likes this.
  20. Offcomedun

    Offcomedun
    P.L. 23/24 Top 10 P.L.24/25 Entrant Qatar 2022 Entrant Supporter Euro2020 Winner Euro 2020 P.L. 20/21 3rd Place

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2018
    Messages:
    7,131
    Likes Received:
    12,514
    Then auto renews at a fiver a month.
     
    #20 Offcomedun, Oct 8, 2025
    Silverbantam likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 4

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...
    Dismiss Notice