Bradford City have parted company with manager Gary Bowyer after less than a year in-charge.
The Bantams currently find themselves in League Two after slumping to relegation from League One last season and were hopeful of an immediate bounce-back with promotion this term.
It hasn’t particularly gone to plan for Bowyer and Bradford this season as their inconsistencies and poor performances have seen them a point outside of the play-off places after a run of seven league games without victory.
Bradford fell to a disappointing 3-0 defeat away to Oldham Athletic at the weekend, with the Latics currently sat in the bottom half, and this has proven to be the final straw for the club as they confirmed that he has parted company with them.
Bowyer joined the West Yorkshire outfit following the resignation of David Hopkin and took over amid their certain demise from League One and could do nothing to halt the poor run and drop into the fourth tier, but has since struggled to create any positive momentum in League Two.
Having issued a club statement on the matter, Bradford’s interim chief executive, Julian Rhodes, had this to say on Bowyer’s dismissal to the club’s official website: "I would like to thank Gary for his efforts over the past year.
"He came to the club at a difficult time and inherited a team heading for relegation, which we were unable to avoid.
"Gary built a squad over the summer that has proven it is capable of competing at the right end of Sky Bet League Two.
"However, over the course of the last few months, results have undoubtedly declined.
"In view of recent events, we felt a change was necessary in order to compete for a play-off place.
"We would like to take this opportunity to wish Gary the very best for the future."
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The verdict
It comes as no shock to see Bowyer dismissed as manager after their recent run of form has seen them slump down to seventh.
Bradford did occupy an automatic promotion spot earlier in the season, but could not hold onto it as their inconsistencies saw them slip away, with League Two top scorer Eoin Doyle finding immense form on a loan move away from Bradford to Swindon Town.
It is now an uphill battle for the Bantams to get back into the promotion picture this season and their performances need to improve quickly.
Bowyer arrived in difficult circumstances, but having had the summer to recruit well, it hasn’t been good enough and the sacking is justified at this stage.