Have Bradford finally got a promotion challenge Taylor-made?

Bradford have spent their first three years back in the fourth tier trying unsuccessfully to avoid finish in midtable mediocrity every year, but towards the end of last season they made an excellent managerial appointment and that could be the thing that pushes Bradford into promotion contenders.

Bradford are one of these sides who were consistently tipped for promotion in recent years by so-called-experts who believed that number of fans was one of the singular most important things at this level. With average crowds of well over 10,000 you couldn't argue that Bradford had the numbers, and they did realistically have a squad that was good enough, on paper, for promotion, they just didn't have the manager.

Stuart McCall was simply not good enough to mount a promotion challenge for the Bantams. In 133 games in charge of Bradford, he managed 46 wins but that was compared to 52 defeats and 35 draws, nothing more than midtable quality. However, he did have an overwhelming belief in his own abilities when he said he would leave Bradford if they didn't get into the Playoffs in the 2008/9 season.....he subsequently showed no integrity and stayed when Bradford failed to climb out of midtable.

Under McCall Bradford struggled for at the beginning of last season, failing to score in their first four games before an amazing 5-4 win at Cheltenham Town. Bradford went on a mini unbeaten run that saw them climb to 9th in the table after 11 games and just three poins off of a top seven space.

Bradford couldn't maintain this form and they only won just four league games in between September 29th and February 20th. It was little surprise that McCall eventually left the club but his replacement was something very few expected, Peter Taylor. Taylor had gained promotion several times in various divisions. He turned Hull City from a midtable side into a side who won two promotions whilst he was there.

Infact in terms of success with various clubs, no manager in the Football League has had as much success as Taylor. He has won promotion into various divisions with Gillingham, Brighton, Hull and Wycombe Wanderers, as well as only just missing out on a Playoff place whilst at Stevenage Borough.

I'll be honest, there are very few managers who I respect more than Peter Taylor. The fact he can produce promotion winning sides at so many different clubs is a tribute to his ability, he's certainly better than McCall ever was or ever will be.

Results under Taylor changed almost immediately and although they weren't winning a lot of games at first, they weren't losing many and ended the season with a six game unbeaten run, winning four of those. The side did also show signs of promise under Taylor as they beat Rochdale, Morecambe and Northampton, all of whom chased promotion, as well as getting creditable draws against the eventually promoted Notts County and Dagenham. Very few sides in any division ended their season that well.

It has been a strange off-season for Bradford, with two of their players ending up in serious trouble with the law. New signing Jake Speight was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail for assaulting his then girlfriend, something he neglected to mention to Taylor when he was signed from Mansfield. Speight was quickly released from prison though.

Then we get onto Gavin Grant. Despite being cleared of the 2005 murder of a London man in 2007, Grant was however later found guilty of murder and will spend the next 25 years of his life, at a minimum, in prison. It was hardly the ideal preparation for the Bantams and even for a man with the experience of Taylor must have seen this as a first.

Strangely for them, Bradford were actually relatively quiet in terms of transfers in and out. Other than paying £25,000 for Speight, the rest of the incoming players joined on free transfers, with Shane Duff, Luke Oliver, Lloyd Saxton and Robbie Threlfall all joining, whereas Tom Adeyemi has been loaned from Norwich. Matt Clarke, Jon Bateson, Matt Glennon and Steven O'Leary.

However, the most important outgoing transfer for Bradford occured last season when Michael Boulding left the club. I have no-love-lost for Bradford but even I was amazed at an outburst by Michael Boulding during the summer. He claimed he was never given a fair chance to impress at Bradford, that despite that more than 2/3 of his appearances for Bradford were starts. The thing about Boulding is that if he didn't insist on clubs signing his useless brother as well as him, he wouldn't have had to agree to play for free next season at Barnsley.

Anyway, Bradford's main source of goals is likely to be James Hanson (left). Most of the division seemed to be unaware of Hanson, and I myself was surprised when I found out that Gareth Evans wasn't the leading goalscorer for Bradford last season. The 22 year old scored 13 goals last season for the Bantams, 12 of those were scored in the League and gained the Bantams a total of 10 points. It may have been modest, but five of the twelve came under Taylor, showing that the youngster could play well under Taylor.

Partnering Hanson is likely to be Gareth Evans. Evans got 11 goals from his 43 League games last season, not a fantastic amount but still reasonably respectable considering that he was in his first year of football at Bradford. His 11 games actually returned 14 points for Bradford, more than his strike partner.

Evans has gradually been improving as a footballer over the last few years and it does make you wonder how the Imps would have done last season had Evans opted for Sincil Bank over Valley Parade.

Evans is also relatively young at the age of 23. Between them they have a lot of promise and their best footballing years are ahead of them, and where better to learn than at a Bradford team managed by Peter Taylor, a manager who has a fine record with younger players.

Bradford are finally capable of challenging for promotion and I think that they will make the Playoffs. I can see them finishing 7th, but whether they win the Playoffs is another matter. Despite all of his promotions during his career, Taylor has rarely had an interactions with the Playoffs, then again he did get promoted through them with Gillingham, it all depends on how Taylor would approach them.