Bradford City are searching for a new manager once again after parting company with Derek Adams on Tuesday morning.

The Scot was headhunted by the Bantams in the summer after he won promotion through the fourth tier play-offs with Morecambe and he was tasked with taking the sleeping giants of League Two into League One.

They were floundering though and with 15 league games to go, the Yorkshire side sat in 11th position and eight points away from the end of season play-offs.

 

 

 

 

A 1-0 home defeat to Exeter City was the final straw for the hierarchy at Valley Parade, with Adams having won only nine matches in 37 games managed in all competitions - but who should take over from him as the new manager? Let's take a look at three potential candidates.

Michael Flynn

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Newport County AFC v Brighton & Hove Albion - Rodney Parade, Newport, Britain - January 10, 2021 Newport County manager Michael Flynn before the match REUTERS/Michael Steele
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Newport County AFC v Brighton & Hove Albion - Rodney Parade, Newport, Britain - January 10, 2021 Newport County manager Michael Flynn before the match REUTERS/Michael Steele

On paper, it looks like Flynn is the obvious candidate for what he did with Newport County and the fact he's an ex-Bradford player.

The 41-year-old Welshman joined the Bantams from nearby Huddersfield Town in 2009 and played 91 times in the league for the club, scoring 10 goals from midfield.

It's his four-and-a-half year stint as Newport manager though that Flynn is most notable for - he had theExiles playing good football, kept them in the EFL in his first couple of months in charge when they were threatened with relegation and also got them to two play-off finals.

Flynn could never quite get the Welsh side into League Two but he's quite clearly a very good coach and Bradford fans would surely welcome him with open arms.

Pete Wild

Soccer Football - League Two - Oldham Athletic v Mansfield Town - Boundary Park, Oldham, Britain - April 22, 2019 Oldham Athletic manager Pete Wild Action Images/Jason Cairnduff EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

If Bradford want to go down the young coach route then they should surely take a look at a man just down the road at Halifax Town in Wild.

Wild first came to people's attentions when caretaker manager of Oldham Athletic, guiding the Latics to a famous FA Cup success against Fulham in 2019 at Craven Cottage.

Just months later though he became the manager of the Shaymen of the National League and guided them to the play-offs in his very first season.

At the time of writing, Wild has Halifax sitting in third position in the National League, just five points away from table-topping Stockport County with a game in hand - he clearly has the managerial acumen to get results and he could be a long-term fix for the Bantams.

Steve Evans

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Gillingham v West Ham United - MEMS Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham, Britain - January 5, 2020  Gillingham manager Steve Evans  Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Gillingham v West Ham United - MEMS Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham, Britain - January 5, 2020 Gillingham manager Steve Evans Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

He's not a widely popular man when it comes to opposition fans, but Evans is definitely a man you want on your side rather than against you.

The 59-year-old Scot is without a club after leaving Gillingham last month, where things went badly wrong this season after back-to-back mid-table finishes in League One.

What Evans does bring though is discipline and a knack of winning promotion - his direct football probably wouldn't be easy on the eye but it might be what is needed right now and with a career win percentage of 41.9, there's worse candidates out there.