Rebuilding Bradford

It doesn't seem that long ago that the likes of Saunders, Beagrie, McCall, Wetherall, and Windass were stepping out infront of a capacity Premier League crowd, sure, it was short-lived, but at one point teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all knelt before Bradford City, begging for mercy.

Nowadays though, Bradford must settle for matches with teams like Fleetwood & Accrington Stanley, not exactly glamourous, and about as tragic a fall from grace as we have seen in English football.

In this career, I will attempt to guide Bradford back to their former glory of turning out with a Premier League badge on their arm. I will aim to keep a very tight grip on the wage budget and try to keep the team in the green whilst they pay off their debts. I will be looking for the very best bargain buys, loan signings and end of season free transfers to help me do this.

This is what I have started with:
Transfer Budget: £20k
Wage Budget: £32.54k per week
Debts: £2m
Media Prediction: 8th
Stadium: 25,000 all-seater (rent: £350k p.a.)
Youth Facilities: Basic
Parent Clubs: None

Baby steps

As I am not exactly familiar with Bradford City in 2012, I have opted to use the vast majority of the players they already have at their disposal, as they were already predicted to finish 8th. My plan is to build on the team come January by selling the deadwood and bringing in a couple of key players to fit the gaps I will have discovered.

I only had one major concern at the start of the season, based on my assistant managers player ratings. I had to bring in a new goalkeeper if I am to achieve any kind of success this season, and I was lucky enough to spot Iain Turner sat as a free transfer. I had to make him my highest paid player but he is now my best player and it has only put me $500 per week over my wage budget, something I will have to deal with until I can get rid of some of the poorer players in the reserves.

I brought in a few loan players to strengthen key areas of the team and to add a little extra depth. So far the best performing loan player has been Matt Derbyshire, who many supporters will recognise as someone who was very highly touted a few years back.

Four games in, 7th place with 2 win and 2 draws. Unbeaten in the league but still lacking the kind of finishing I would like considering the amount of chances we are making.

Farewell Matt Derbyshire

So he started out as my most exciting outfield signing of the season and it ended with a broken leg, thanks to ex-Birmingham player Damien Johnson. Well, at least he was a loan signing and I won't have to pay him to sit at home but will Nakhi Wells be able step into his shoes? We will see. Current position: 4th after 10 games.

So here we are in March 2013 and the smoke is starting to clear on my first season in charge. Automatic promotion is very achievable as we find ourselves in 2nd place after 36 games, so that means 10 left to go and I'm 6 points above the playoff spots. I'm very happy with how things have turned out this season. I haven't yet spent a penny on transfer fees, nor loan wages. I have trimmed the fat and reduced the wage bill quite substantially and we have paid off a nice chunk of our debt. Lets review some of the season's highs and lows so far:

Highs
Signing Iain Turner on free transfer. What a goalie!
Loan signing Nicholas Bignall's goal tally.
35 year old midfielder Gary Jones' superb form.

Lows
Losing twice to Fleetwood.
Crashing out of all three cups in the first stage.
Losing Matt Derbyshire to injury. Broken leg.

Closing in on a dramatic finish to my first season, and things are looking hopeful.

Promotion!

We made it! Despite some seriously poor form towards the end of the season, we scraped third place and won promotion! Nicholas Bignall scored a goal in every two games, combined with some excellent midfield play and a fantastic shot stopper in Iain Turner, I think we deserved to go up. Next season is gonna be a real challenge though, despite working on a shoestring and reducing the clubs outgoings substantially, finances are still very very tight, I only hope I can get some real bargain free transfers and loans for next season. Time to see out the summer and start the preparations!

Ins and Outs

I wanted to keep a couple of the players who I eventually let go, but greed is an unfortunate thing and they were simply asking for too much. In the end I was left with quite a substantial wage budget to play with and set about scanning the free transfer list. I am very happy with the players I have managed to find, and with the addition of a few loanee's and Sam Parkin from St Mirren, I feel confident in being able to cement our spot in League One this season.