Bradford City v Morecambe: Graham Alexander's steadying hand vital with Bantams on a high

Fortunately in Graham Alexander they have a manager well equipped for what he calls an especially "emotional" football club.

Life at Valley Parade tends to go in peaks and troughs, and Saturday's win over Walsall was definitely the former. Twelve points clear at the top of the table, unbeaten in 16 having won the last nine of them, the Saddlers were swept away 3-0.

The win took Bradford into the play-off places for the first time in three months.

They may have lost their talismanic striker, Andy Cook – who had scored half their league goals at that point – to a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury on New Year's Day but the return of midfielders Antoni Sarcevic and Alex Pattison, the goalscorers on Saturday, has more than compensated.

Now Bradford are unbeaten in seven, winning six.

The terraces were packed on Saturday, the excitement palpable. With a following as big as the Bantams, that can snowball them to better things but, equally, giddiness can take eyes off the ball.

Carlisle United's win at Fleetwood Town put Morecambe bottom of the 92 but they have the ‘ex’-factor. Derek Adams has won two and drawn one of his three matches against the Bantams since being sacked as their manager in February 2022. To lose on Tuesday would be very Bradford City.

Alexander is tuned into that. "Our biggest game of the season is Tuesday," he asserted before he had even made it home from Saturday's. "But if I know anything about the players, they'll be ready."

At a roller-coaster club, a steadying hand is always welcome, and Alexander is certainly that.

As a right-back or defensive midfielder, his consistency saw him make more English league appearances than anyone bar Peter Shilton or Tony Ford in a career of over 1,000 appearances. He rarely changed clubs and his cool head was entrusted with 83 penalties, converting 77.

"I was probably the world's worst when I started playing, a very emotional player, in bother all the time," he says.

"It never led anywhere good.

"As I got older and understood I had to control that it helped me. Now as a manager I have to help others control their emotions.

"I was still up and down as a younger manager. But don't worry, I still have my moments, I'm just more controlled.

"Consistency is important because you're not talking about one-off games, you're talking about 46 or 50 games."

In 15 months as manager Alexander has come to understand what Bradford City is and what it needs.

"Football is emotion-driven anyway," he says. "It's not bespoke to Bradford City, every club is emotional. You talk about childhoods and affiliations with clubs.

"It's the biggest sport in the world for a reason. It takes you from pillar to post in emotional scales.

"But there is an added emotion around Bradford City, that's something I had to understand – tap into and embrace."

The 53-year-old, who previously managed Fleetwood, Scunthorpe United, Salford City, Motherwell and Milton Keynes Dons, has made an effort to learn about the Bantams.

"I I tried to do it as a player," he says. "I only played for four clubs.

"As a manager, I think because of the role you have a long-reaching influence so I think it's important to understand the area and the recent history and even the long-term history of the football club," he says.

"But it's the people you've got to understand, what they want and how they react, and just trying to manoeuvre your way through it to get everyone on board.

"There wasn't a lightbulb moment, it was just over time and having ears, really, listening and trying to connect.

"It's a balance and I don't always get it right. I just try to be honest.

"There's loads of good people at this club that are similar-minded to the supporters, so many people really in the fabric of Bradford City that I have direct communication with.

"I know how they feel about the team, the past, what this club wants to achieve in the future and you've just got to try and play your part in that. It's learning about where you live and how to survive in it and be successful. I think I've always been reasonably good at that, playing different positions, anything to be on that pitch.

"I always took on tactical information, that's why I played a lot of games, I think – every manager knew I could take on information and use it and I've just taken that into my (managerial) career.

"I just listen to everybody who's got Bradford City's best intentions at heart. The people who want to bring us down, I completely ignore. The people that want this club to be successful, of course I'm going to listen."