Bradford City

Last Season at a glance

21st in League One

It was a second half of the season slump which paid to Bradford's existence in League One last season. Early one, they even had Play Off hopes of their own, but they won just three games after Christmas, and they didn't stick a chance after then.

They were relegated on the penultimate Saturday of the season when Chesterfield thumped them 3-0. But the writing was already on the wall long before then. It doesn't really help when you loan your top scorer to a local rival back in January - coincidentally around the same sort of time when their slump really kicked in. Funny that.

Ah McCall, that wonderful Leeds born, Yorkshire speaking "Scotsman".

I'm expecting big things for Stuart McCall as a manager, especially at this level. He's new to being a manager, but he's got three years experience of being assistant to Neil Warnock at Sheffield United, and you tend to get the feeling that he's seen it all there.

Certainly in terms of different footballing experiences, he seen both promotion and relegation with the Blades in his three years, and with a career carved out of a strong work ethic, I'd expect him to transfer this to his managerial career with relative ease.

Have to say, was very surprised that Sheffield United overlooked him as a replacement for Neil Warnock. Especially when they went and gave the job to Bryan Robson. Even Chris Casper looks down on Bryan Robson as a manager.

There's a fair bit of optimism around at what is now called the Corel Windows Stadium. Over 12,000 season tickets have been sold on the back of a cut price season ticket offer, and this has in one clean sweep got rid of the losing mentality which began on the day they stepped foot in the Premiership.

McCall has brought in a number of players over the Summer, and to be fair he needed to. They weren't very good last season, and if he'd have stuck with what he'd have been left, he'd have been facing a second relegation battle on the trot.

Heckingbottom should be a cracking signing for them this season. In his previous spell with the Bantams, he was named as player of the season. And age wise, he's at the peak of his career.

Don't panic, don't panic. It's a proper Dad's Army job at Valley Parade or whatever this season's sponsorship is seeing it called. They could quite reasonably call it the "Saga Parlour" due to the age of some of their players.

Thorne comes in at 35, whilst David Weatherall is so old he gets his age spelt out in words in brackets afterwards like they did on Grandstand when a team scores more than six goals. Fair play to Weatherall as he managed to be an ever present last year, but he can't be more than a passenger these days.

And the other signings all seem to be a bit average really. Barry Conlon is not a man to spearhead a promotion challenge. He's not crap but that's the nicest thing you could probably say about him. He's a man who has spent his entire career in mid table. He's not suddenly going to turn into a 20 goal a season man at 28.

And let's not discount their inexperience. League Two is a step into the unknown for them. If they do the usual thing of teams coming down thinking that they'll bounce back at the first opportunity, then they'll be sat there in October wondering why they're languishing near the bottom getting beaten by the likes of Accrington and Bury.

McCall seems to have pinned his hopes on former Stoke striker Peter Thorne for the forthcoming season. There's no doubting that Thorne was a very good player a few years back, at a much higher level than this. But he has to be seen as being a bit of a gamble.

He's 34 now, and only managed fifteen League games last season, albeit at Championship level. But more worryingly for fans of the Bantams, he hasn't scored a goal at League level since January 2006.

He's picked up an injury in pre-season ruling him out of the opening game, and I'd have a worry that that could be the story of his season.

As I said, its a gamble, which if it pays off, well see Bradford reap the rewards. Aging strikers dropping down the League often find this a much harder division than what they were expecting.

There's ever reason for us to do a hatchet job on Bradford City. They're coming to this division with no knowledge of what is required, their manager is completely untested, and their new signings don't look to have added a great deal to an already thin squad.

But whilst he may have been untested in being a number one, McCall comes to Bradford with bags and bags of experience from his days at Sheffield United, and he's certainly served his trade as assistant Neil Warnock. You wouldn't wish that on anyone.

And you have to pay a great deal of admiration to the Bradford board for their season tickets initiative this Summer. Yes, they might be ripping away supporters off left, right and centre, but for a side in this division to have sold over 12,000 season tickets is nothing short of phenomenal and something which should have massive long term benefits for the club.

Not to mention the difference they'll have in their home games. Can be a bit of an advantage playing in a large stadium full of empty spaces, as Darlington have often found. But when its packed full of little Bratfuds screaming their heads off, probably because there's been a falling out between one of the Sugdens and the Dingles in that farm show of their's.

That momentum will ensure, coupled with McCall's enthusiasm, that Bradford will be up there for most of the season, and whilst we think they're a long way short of automatic, I wouldn't want to be the team to play them in the Play Offs.