Patience required at Bantams while Millers aim higher

Defender Wayne Jacobs has played for both of Yorkshire’s League Two clubs, but, as he tells Ian Appleyard, believes it is the ambitious Millers who stand a better chance of promotion.

However, Jacobs is tipping Rotherham United – another of his former clubs – to make a real impact in the League Two promotion race.

Neither club enjoyed success last season with Bradford finishing in their lowest league position for 45 years and the Millers missing out on the play-offs. The summer months have witnessed major changes in personnel at both clubs fuelling a renewed sense of optimism.

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Peter Jackson was confirmed as Bradford manager after working on a week-to-week contract during the final three months of last season.

Rotherham manager Andy Scott, meanwhile, was appointed with five games to go and used that period to assess where his squad needed strengthening.

Jacobs played for the Millers in Division Two in the mid-Nineties and the Bantams during their rise and fall out of the Premier League.

These days, the Bantams are under greater strain financially than the Millers which plays a major part in shaping a team’s prospects.

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“This will be a bit of a transitional season for Bradford,” said Jacobs. “The fans will want to reach the play-offs, and rightly so, but realistically, they should be pleased with a top-half finish.

“On the pitch, there may have to be a little patience this season. A lot of Bradford’s new players are unknown quantities and much rests on how the new players handle it.

“Bradford can be a club in a higher division, everyone says that,” he added. “But you have to earn that right, there are no gimmies. The two chairman will want the manager to help steady the financial side of the club.”

Originally from Sheffield, Jacobs still has family ties in South Yorkshire and keeps his eye on the Millers’ progress.

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With a new manager, an ambitious chairman, and a new stadium due to open next summer, Jacobs says there is plenty of reason for optimism.

“The club has a bit of momentum now and I think they are a good shout for the play-offs,” he said. “They have a manager in Andy Scott who has achieved success at this level in the past and, after what happened at Brentford (Scott was sacked last season), he will be looking to prove himself.

“You look at the players he is bringing in and they are not untried or untested. He will be pleased with his budget although every manager likes a bit more.”

The likely departure of star striker Adam Le Fondre, who has entered the final year of his contract after rejecting a new deal, still casts an element of uncertainty over the Millers’ pre-season preparations.

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But Scott, pictured, has moved to bring in new strikers, including Gareth Evans who was released by Bradford this summer.

Evans, aged 23, scored 13 goals in 56 appearances for Bradford but Jacobs says he is capable of a greater goalscoring return.

“Gareth needs to improve his goal per game ratio, he knows that,” says Jacobs. “He wasn’t prolific with us at Bradford but that was probably down to the fact that he had to play up-front on his own or out wide. It will be interesting to see where they play him this season but he is a fit boy and good to have around.”

Jacobs thinks the Millers will miss midfielder Nicky Law who rejected a new deal and opted to join former Bantams manager Stuart McCall at Scottish club Motherwell.

He has tipped newly-promoted Crawley Town to set the pace in the division but also fancies Shrewsbury Town, under Graham Turner, to challenge again.