Valley roar can lift Bantams to promotion dream under Taylor

Not, it has to be said, as Bradford City manager but instead as the man piloting another Yorkshire club's bid for success.

April 10, 2005, was the date and Hull City were the visitors to Bradford for a game that would go a long way towards deciding if the Tigers were to seal a second promotion in as many years.

With the Bantams having little to play for, two sides of Valley Parade had been handed over to the visiting supporters and Taylor admits the atmosphere that day is something he is desperate to help recreate in the coming season.

"Valley Parade has the potential to be a very special place when a team is going well," says the Bradford manager when speaking to the Yorkshire Post in Essex towards the end of last week's pre-season tour in the county.

"I know that from when I was manager of Hull and we came here towards the end of the 2004-05 season.

"It was moved to the Sunday and Dean Windass was really flying at the time for Bradford so we went into the game knowing we had to keep him quiet.

"We had about 6,000 fans here and filled two sides of the ground. It really helped the players, who produced an exceptional performance.

"Stuart Elliott scored and then Nick Barmby got the second late on. I knew then that we were going up. I never usually say things like this to the players but in the dressing room afterwards I told them 'we will go up now, lads'.

"I see what happened that day as an indication as to what Valley Parade can be like if we are in the promotion race. It is one of the reasons I wanted to come to Bradford City.

"I don't want to be at a club where you get 2,000 fans in and every one of them is a reasonable gent. I want passion and I think Bradford fans can create that passion in a wonderful venue like Valley Parade.

"As a player, you want to play in the special atmospheres and big crowds. That is what is on offer here – if the players do their bit."

Taylor took charge of Bradford in February, a CV including five previous promotions meaning he pipped the likes of Steve Cotterill and Martin Allen to become Stuart McCall's successor.

The 57-year-old's bow in the Bantams dugout was an inauspicious affair, his new team being soundly beaten by Accrington Stanley courtesy of a performance that he now diplomatically describes as "not the best".

What was clear to Taylor on the drive back to his Essex home was that changes were needed if his stint as Bradford manager was going to be extended beyond the end of the season.

Casting his mind back to that miserable afternoon in East Lancashire, he said: "I had worked with the players for three days that week and thought they showed a good attitude.

"But it soon became clear their confidence was low due to not having had the season they had been expecting.

"At Accrington, we missed a chance and then conceded. After that, we put in a very poor performance and I could see there were problems.

"The first game had concerned me so, on the drive home, I rang Julian (Rhodes, joint-chairman) and Mark (Lawn) and said we needed to freshen things up.

"I have never been someone to come into a place and change things for the sake of it. I give people a chance. But I realised things needed freshening up and was fortunate enough to bring in Robbie Threlfall (from Liverpool) straight away.

"I also made a point on my first day at the club of sitting the players down and explaining the reality of the situation.

"Namely, how in July the released list would be going out and they should make sure they were not on it because it gets longer every year.

"The financial problems football has at the moment mean it is not always easy to find a new club. And having a lower mid-table finish in League Two on the CV was not going to help much.

"I think what I said hit home, especially as the players could see I was in a similar position because my contract was initially only until the end of the season.

"I had never accepted a job for three months before but finances mean that is how the game has gone.

"Even now, I am only on a one-year contract. It is just how things are, clubs like Bradford are simply not going to be offering three-year deals any more."

Threlfall's debut came at Rochdale five days later in a 3-1 victory over the then-League Two leaders and the Taylor reign was up and running.

Further changes were made and the improvement was such that come the end of the season a sense of optimism had returned to Valley Parade.

An unbeaten six-game run to end the campaign together with Taylor having made several signings during the summer means Bradford fans are eagerly looking forward to the new campaign getting underway.

He said: "The good thing from our point of view is that we finished last season well so everyone was looking forward to the new season from the moment the players came back into training.

"Bringing a few new faces in has also helped and I feel genuinely excited about the challenge of winning promotion this season.

"Bradford reminds me very much of Hull when I took over (in 2002). Like Hull were then, Bradford should be a lot higher in the league.

"The reality is we are in League Two and, just as with Hull, it is up to me, my staff and the players to do something about it."

League Two has been warned.

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