There are currently a number of managerial vacancies in the EFL despite the season only being two-and-a-half months old, and one of those is at Bradford City.
Since their relegation to League Two in 2019, the Bantams have had five different management teams, with Gary Bowyer, Stuart McCall, the duo of Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars, Derek Adams, and subsequently Mark Hughes all seeking to guide them back to English football’s third tier.
In Hughes, the West Yorkshire team possessed a manager with significant Premier League and international experience; nevertheless, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out. Hughes was chosen to succeed Adams in February 2022.
Having lost out in the play-off semi-finals against Carlisle United earlier this year, Hughes had an underwhelming start to the 2023-24 season with Bradford, leaving them in 18th position after a 2-1 defeat against Tranmere Rovers earlier in October.
Since then, experienced midfield player Kevin McDonald has been in caretaker charge of the club, and to his credit he has performed relatively well with two wins and a draw to his league record.
The Bradford hierarchy though are currently assessing their options in regards to their next appointment, and it appears they have had a knock-back from a potential candidate.
Who has turned down the Bradford City managerial vacancy?
According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, Karl Robinson was approached for talks about replacing Hughes in the dugout at Valley Parade.
However, the 43-year-old has opted to turn down the chance to talk to City, who currently sit in 11th position in League Two, meaning that CEO Ryan Sparks will now have to go back to square one or at least take a step back and re-assess the situation.
Robinson has had a pretty successful managerial career since taking over at MK Dons in 2010 in his first job, leading them to promotion to the Championship for the first time in their history in 2015 after having them in or around the play-offs for the previous four seasons.
After a stint with Charlton Athletic, Robinson moved on to Oxford United in 2018, where he again achieved success by reaching two League One play-off campaigns, although the U’s weren’t promoted in either of those seasons.
Robinson hasn’t been in work since being Sam Allardyce’s assistant manager at Leeds United briefly at the end of the 2022-23 season, but it appears that the drop to League Two perhaps does not entice him.
Would Karl Robinson have been a good appointment for Bradford City?
With a plethora of experience at League One level, Robinson going to a club that has aspirations of getting back there would have been very ambitious.
However, it is not to be on this occasion, but he definitely would have been a great appointment if he were keen on the role, which he obviously isn’t.
It should not be hard for Bradford to find the right fit for the job though, considering they are a sleeping giant of League Two with a great fanbase.
There will be other interested parties with similar experience levels to Robinson, but for now McDonald is doing a decent job in the interim so there should be no rush in Sparks and the hierarchy at Valley Parade taking their time to make the right next step.
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