Graham Alexander has said that upcoming demonstrations by Bradford City fans will not distract him from his job ahead of their match against Tranmere Rovers.
Groups of Bantams supporters are protesting ahead of the game against the Birkenhead side on Good Friday due to their anger with the current leadership structure at the club.
Owner Stefan Rupp bought the club in 2016 with ambition for a place in the Championship but now is controlling a team in 17th place in their fifth season in League Two.
His spell owning the West Yorkshire club has seen ten different managers come and go from Valley Parade. The longest-serving manager under his reign, Stuart McCall, lasted just shy of two years before being sacked in February 2018.
Speaking ahead of their match against Rovers, City boss Graham Alexander addressed the discontent within the fanbase. He said [Quotes via Telegraph and Argus]: “I wasn’t aware of it until Monday. I’m quite lucky that I’m not on social media, I try to focus on things closer to me that I can handle or influence.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been involved when something like that has come along. There has been talk of it happening previously.
“It doesn’t change my job or my messaging to the players and the motivation to play well.”
Rupp was pictured in Bradford as his club were roundly beaten 5-1 by current fourth-tier leaders Mansfield Town, where he met Alexander for the first time since appointing him.
The Scottish boss took over from Mark Hughes following his sacking earlier in the season and has won 12, drawn six and lost eight of his matches at the helm.
The 52-year-old was sympathetic toward the fans’ frustrations, adding: “People have a much longer history with Bradford City than I do. They have different emotions and more knowledge of what makes them feel as they do.
“I’ve got a job to do and I really need to concentrate on that rather than get veered off that course.
“I can understand why people are upset. It’s football, it’s part of life and I get it. I don’t know how much, apart from creating a winning team, I can do to help that.
“I’ll try to create a winning team to do my bit to help people feel better and hopefully that will be enough.”
City head into their match against Tranmere on the back of four straight losses, where they have conceded 11 goals and scored just one.
They lost 3-0 at home to Notts County and were heavily beaten by Harrogate Town in a Yorkshire derby by the same scoreline.
Nigel Adkins’ team travel across the Pennines in a fairly rich spell of form, beating both Wrexham and Mansfield before losing 3-1 to Crawley Town in their previous match.
Writer’s View
Graham Alexander is caught in the crossfire of a very unfortunate situation between the club and the fans. City supporters have seemingly had enough of Stefan Rupp and CEO Ryan Sparks, and are now taking more serious action towards them. Alexander is doing the best thing and staying focused on what he can control, aiming to get Bradford out of their slump with a result against a similarly-placed Tranmere.
The Bantams are almost certainly stuck in League Two for the sixth season in a row and are continuing to fall further and further behind the top teams in the division. Graham Alexander should be looking toward summer and seeing where he can improve and slim down the squad to give his side a better chance going into the 2024/25 season.
Football journalist with The Real EFL since 2023. A 2024 Multimedia Journalism graduate from the University of Salford, Lewis specialises in Salford City FC and EFL coverage.
