Bradford City‘s hunt for a new manager may be down to just two candidates after it was revealed that Paul Heckingbottom has withdrawn from the running.
The Bantams are on the hunt for a replacement to the outgoing Graham Alexander, who was appointed by former club Preston North End, in turn replacing Heckingbottom who was sacked by the Deepdale side.
Heckingbottom Out Of Chase
Names have been floated as potential options to come to Valley Parade, with the former Sheffield United boss a leading candidate, given his and his assistant Stuart McCall’s past affiliations with Bradford.
However, according to Jamie Raynor of BBC Radio Leeds, the 49-year-old has opted to pull out of the running, leaving just two names left on a shortlist drawn up by the club, as previously reported by Alan Nixon on his Patreon page.
One of those have already had their identity revealed in the form of Michael Duff, who was the first man to be given the sack in the EFL this season after a winless start to this season, which continued on from the previous campaign.
Raynor has also reported that there are other names being ‘monitored’ by the hierarchy at West Yorkshire; however, they are yet to be unmasked, and any appointment is unlikely to come until after their next game against Reading.
Should Former Luton Town Man Be Considered?
With Paul Heckingbottom out of the running to succeed Graham Alexander at Bradford City, it has narrowed the chase down to just one known suitor in Michael Duff, which may not be the most thrilling appointment.
While he is a former teammate of the now-former Bantams boss, the former Huddersfield Town man has faced some struggles in recent seasons, and after a poor showing to kick off this campaign at Wycombe, has already been handed his marching orders by the club.
However, there are still some names which could prove to be more enticing for City to go for, including Dave Challinor; however, one, perhaps more ambitious candidate to try and get could be Rob Edwards
Having suffered from a damaged reputation from his unceremonious ousting at Wolves, which followed on from his decision to walk away from Middlesbrough, Edwards is yet to secure a new role in this formative stage of the season.
It may prove to be a big reach if City were able to convince him to even consider taking up the post, but given his previous success, most notably with Luton Town and their Premier League promotion, there cannot be many better candidates on the board.
Ultimately, it seems that being rushed into a decision is not something that Bradford wants to do in their aim to replace Graham Alexander, meaning that this is a saga which may drag on before someone is appointed.
