Mark Hughes leaves Bradford City - with the League Two club looking for their tenth managerial appointment in five-and-a-half years

Play-off semi-finalists, the Bantams have started this season slowly in League Two and some fans sang 'You're getting sacked in the morning' following Tuesday night's 2-1 reverse at lowly Tranmere Rovers.

Similar chants followed Saturday's 3-1 home reverse to Walsall.

Hughes’s assistant Glyn Hodges has also left the club.

Bradford CEO Ryan Sparks Said: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark and Glyn for their efforts and services to our football club over the past 19 months.

“They made a great impact when they arrived at the club, both on and off the field, and last season came close to delivering on our aims.

“Unfortunately, since our defeat at Carlisle in the play-off semi-final, results have been disappointing, and after 11 league games we find ourselves a long way away from where we expect to be.

“As a result, the decision has been taken to move in a different direction in an effort to get our season on track.

“On a personal level, I have very much enjoyed working alongside Mark and Glyn, and we go our separate ways on good terms.

“I would ask supporters to join me in wishing both them and their families the very best for the future, while reflecting on some of the memorable moments they brought us.”

Kevin McDonald will now take charge of the men’s first team in a caretaker player-manager role, and will be assisted by Mark Trueman, commencing with this weekend’s visit of Swindon Town.

City, ranked among the promotion favourites before the start of the campaign, find themselves in 18th place, with just four wins from their 11 matches thus far.

Defiant Hughes, who took over from Derek Adams in February 2022, had called for calm and perspective after his side's reverse on the Wirral - while admitting that the Bantams' slow start to the campaign is 'creating too much noise' among increasingly agitated supporters.

He said: “People have got to keep their nerve and understand you are going to get periods like this in the season.

“If it's at the beginning, people believe it's going to be the tone right through the season. It's not.

“You have these moments in the middle and the end of the season and as a consequence of the timing at the moment, there's a little bit of focus on us.

“But we have just got to calm down, relax. It's a long season and we still have a lot of games to go and we just need to turn this little period around.

“It's creating too much noise at the moment and we just need to quell that and we only do that by winning games.”