Former Bantams target Danny Cowley faces them at Colchester
DANNY Cowley could have been in the away dug-out at Colchester tomorrow.
Instead, he will be facing the Bantams for his first home game in charge of the U’s.
Cowley had agreed terms to take over the Valley Parade vacancy after Mark Hughes was sacked.
But he had a change of heart because of family reasons – with a suggestion that he did not want to uproot so far from their base near the south coast.
So instead, his year-long managerial exile ended back in his native Essex with Cowley and his brother Nicky given the task of steering Colchester away from
City will be wary of the “new manager bounce” after Cowley’s hot-seat debut saw his new side recover from two goals down to snatch a stoppage-time point at Swindon.
Cowley wants to bring “more personality” to Colchester’s play and the Bantams can expect to face a high press – a trait of his former clubs.
The ex-Huddersfield, Lincoln and Portsmouth boss believes last week’s comeback can provide a platform going into the City clash.
“Lesser teams would have gone under but we kept fighting,” he told Colchester’s club website. “You can never beat the man who never gives up.
“I’m not jumping through hoops. I want my team to be winners, my life’s better when we’re winning and I expect us to win.
“This was never going to be an easy challenge. But Nicky and I have always run towards a challenge – that’s the way we’ve run our lives.
“We’ll get better from here, that’s for sure.”
Colchester want to see a sea of scarves greeting Cowley when he walks out for his first action at the JobServe Community Stadium.
“It’s a great game to have as our first home game,” he added. “Bradford are a huge club and really well supported. We need everybody associated with Colchester to come out and get behind the players.”
But Colchester have lost top scorer Joe Taylor, who was recalled by Luton this week after scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances and sent back out on loan to Lincoln in League One
