Bradford City boss Graham Alexander on appointment of David Sharpe as Bantams hierarchy sit down to discuss future of out-of-contract players

Former Wigan Athletic chairman and Mansfield Town chief executive Sharpe, 32, will work in a newly-created role at the League Two club.

He will be working alongside Alexander, head of recruitment Stephen Gent and head of academy Mark Litherland.

Richie Smallwood, Jamie Walker, Matty Platt, Brad Halliday, Harry Chapman and Liam Ridehalgh are among the senior players who are out of contract in June.

Alexander, whose side welcome Gillingham on Saturday, said: “We’ve got a meeting to talk through the squad and what we hope it will look like for next season.

"We want to finish this season as strong as possible but we have to start having these discussions in house and put our opinions and ideas across.

"It’s early stages because we were concentrating hard on the games and still chasing.”

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On the appointment of Sharpe, Alexander added: “I think it’s a positive appointment.

"I spoke to Ryan (Sparks - CEO) after the Harrogate game about how we could make Bradford City a better football club.

"Obviously Ryan went to see (owner) Stefan (Rupp) as well and then we had a further conversation about what we feel we can do. Ryan spoke about David potentially joining us and how the role would look to support everything we do here.

"I spoke to David on Tuesday for an hour or so on the phone … we’ll meet up to formally sit down and have a chat about what we think going forward.

"It’s very early stages, but as we go over the next month or so towards the end of the season, we’ll get to know each other much better and define the relationship how it works between myself, David, Stephen Gent and Ryan.

"He (Sharpe) has made it clear he’s here to support me and the rest of the staff in helping Bradford improve as a football club.

"It’s like when you come in as a manager. You look at everything and get your ideas, it takes a little while before you get your bearings and understand how things work.

"All clubs have different ideas, philosophies and different structures.

"David will first of all be understanding how this club works. That’s the most important thing and then obviously how he can support me and others in their roles.

"I think he brings a wealth of experience from his time at Wigan and Mansfield. Hopefully he can bring similar success to us.”