BfB

Colin Todd has until the summer to watch the Bradford City team that sacked him struggle to maintain a place in League One and then the former Bantams boss has agreed to join Danish club Randers FC as their new manager. Good luck to him.

I doubt that history will record that Colin Todd did a good job at Valley Parade – history is so often formed by ill feeling – indeed he will probably be ranked alongside the likes of Jack Napier and John Docherty as one of the club’s most unpopular ergo worst bosses but as David Wetherall’s struggle to get winning ways back attests to if Todd was the great problem at the club sacking him has been far from the great solution.

Appointed by administrators Todd’s job at Valley Parade was done with one hand tied behind his back but in the interests of not giving whichever players he could afford to bring to Bradford City the kind of negativity complex that so often takes hold at clubs this fact which was never really discussed above a murmur.

Indeed more than once BfB heard suggestions that the club was “sorted”, “fixed”, “ok now” and generally had “put all that financial business behind them”. Having looked at the books I can tell you, dear reader, that this is far from the case.

So Todd manfully brought in players and some worked out well and other did not and he bolstered the team with loan players and some worked out well and some did not and he looked for all the world like a man pushing to keep his head above water in a job he could not do. Without wanting to dismiss David Wetherall’s efforts as gaffer it is increasingly clear that the good job was keeping City bubbling under.

And they said

Another season of mid-table mediocrity under Todd.

If only.

Todd’s failing as a manager at Bradford City was not results – his record is much better than Bryan Robson’s who is rarely reguarded as lowly – but rather public relations. While a genuinely pleasent guy to be in the company of Todd appeared truculent and obtusely defensive when speaking about his team. He famously fell out with The Pulse’s commentators on a weekly basis when questioned about the style of his results. One can only imagine how much he would have wanted to grab the mic from Tim and Sticks and state as clear as a bell These are the best players we can bring in with the pitiful resources the club has. Boo Dean Windass if you want but if you drive him away then you will go down. The other strike against Todd is that – that Bradford City were you and not us for the hired hand.

So management of Bradford City – and in a way of any club – is as much about public relations as it is about results with the good feeling that a popular gaffer can bring begetting improved performances on the field. The club – chairman and all – are pointed in the direction of one man regardless of which league we are in.

Todd will watch that from afar and probably with moderate success and truculence put down to foreignness.