Jackson still desperate to get City job despite scare stories

ON paper, managing Bradford City hardly seems the most enticing of jobs.

The Yorkshire club is undeniably at a low ebb, with tomorrow’s final game of the season at home to Crewe Alexandra set to decide if the 2010-11 campaign has been the worst in terms of league position for 32 years or 45.

In terms of the task facing whoever takes charge, however, this desperate under-achievement on the pitch is only the start of the potential pitfalls to the job with City’s finances also being in a perilous state and the club not knowing if they will be calling Valley Parade ‘home’ come August or Odsal.

And as if those unwanted headaches were not enough, there is also the very real possibility that next season could kick off with the club propping up the entire Football League on minus 10 points.

No wonder, therefore, that the managerial vacancy at City is seen by even the club’s supporters as something of a poisoned chalice with whoever gets the nod likely to be on a hiding to nothing. Not that any of this has put off interim manager Peter Jackson.

“I want the job,” said the 50-year-old when talking to the Yorkshire Post yesterday. “I am under no illusions about just how hard a job this is going to be.

“Depending on what happens this summer, it could be one of the hardest in football. But I feel up to the challenge and believe I am the right man to push this club forwards. I have been in difficult positions before and turned it round.

“At Huddersfield Town, when I went back as manager (in 2003) they were in administration and only seven or eight players were there on the first day of pre-season. But, nine months later, the club was celebrating promotion. It shows what can be done with plenty of hard work.”

Jackson’s appointment by City in late February meant a return to the game after an 18-month absence. His last job had been at Lincoln City, where after initially inspiring a revival that saw the Imps soar from the bottom of the League to mid-table safety he was forced to take a break when diagnosed with throat cancer.

Once recovered, he then returned to Sincil Bank only to be sacked after a disappointing run of results. Coming so soon after his gruelling, and thankfully successful, fight against cancer, Jackson was philosophical about being out of football.

Now, however, after two months in charge of Bradford, he desperately wants to remain involved.

“I actually did well in my first season at Lincoln,” he recalls. “But then I had the problems with my throat and I lost it a little bit.

“I didn’t do what I should have done, in that I went back (to Lincoln) too early. After having gone through such a traumatic time, I just wanted to get home at the end of every day.

“As a result, maybe I didn’t do myself justice or do justice to the people at Lincoln, who were brilliant to me. After leaving, I did think that might be it for me in football but then the chance came along at Bradford a couple of months ago and I am determined to take it.

“The job has been hectic, stressful and, if I am honest, turning things round has been harder than I thought it would be. But I have still loved every minute and that is why I will be devastated if it all ends after two months. This is where my (playing) career began and I want to bring success back here.”

For City, success has, of course, been conspicuous only by its absence over a decade that has seen the club slip from the Premier League to scrapping for Football League survival – a slide that has been difficult for supporters to stomach.

What happens this summer could, however, prove even more unpalatable to the Bantams faithful with there being a very real chance that the club could move across the city to Odsal due to the annual overheads at Valley Parade of £1.25m being, according to joint-chairman Mark Lawn, pictured inset, “unsustainable”.

And as if the prospect of leaving the club’s home of more than a century was not bad enough, experts claim the only way to ensure such a move would be for City to enter into administration – and incur the 10-point penalty that goes with it for next season.

With the financial picture also looking bleak, as underlined last week when some of the squad were paid late, it is perhaps inevitable that the question of who succeeds Peter Taylor on a permanent basis has been put on the back-burner in recent weeks.

Jackson, who has been in temporary charge for 13 games after initially being brought in for just two, said: “Things are still up in the air and there has been no word from above.

“To be fair, it is not just the manager’s position where there is uncertainty but also where we will play and whether we will have ten points taken off. There are a lot of ifs, maybes and possibles. The quicker we can sort those out, the better for Bradford City Football Club.”

On the future of his hometown club, Jackson, who has vowed to give youth a chance if in charge next season, added: “Personally, I think the club has lost its identity in the community over the past few years.

“If I got the job, I would make sure the players knew their responsibilities to the community. I would also love to see a Young Bantams junior club established. When my kids were younger, they were in the Young Terriers and they loved it.

“On the pitch, we also have to do better. The table does not lie in May, you are where you deserve to be. Some clubs in this division would be happy with finishing 16th or wherever, but not Bradford City.

“Things have to change and I have been planning ahead for next season. Pre-season is more or less sorted out, while I have drawn up a retained list. I have also got a few players in mind to bring in.

“At this stage, I don’t know if I will be here after the Crewe game and also don’t know what the budget will be, other than that things will be tight. But I have had chats with one or two of them already and said we are interested. The board are aware of that and are happy with the situation. These lads would be exciting additions. I just hope I get the chance to bring them in.”