HIS first decision as City’s newest head coach was a wise one.

No sooner had the announcement been made to reveal Michael Collins, his personal Twitter account was deactivated.

The future under such an unproven leader may not represent a major gamble in Edin Rahic’s eyes but the public reaction begged to differ.

Social media is not always the shrewdest gauge of fan opinion but nobody at Valley Parade was naïve enough to imagine the sudden promotion of the club’s under-18 coach would pass unscathed.

Sure enough, the 8am bombshell that City’s new-look coaching team would be spearheaded by the youngest boss in the country provoked predictable shockwaves.

It was nothing Collins didn’t expect – or seemed too flustered about when quizzed at his first press conference a few hours later.

The 32-year-old cut a confident figure when presented to the smattering of media on a sofa set-up in the 1911 Suite that looked more suited to the This Morning studio.

None of the formality of the Simon Grayson unveiling four months ago – this was a far more relaxed affair with Rahic happy to join the three-man team he sees as the closest fit to the policy he has envisaged since arriving with Stefan Rupp in 2016.

The slings and arrows on Twitter and Facebook flew about them over how it took six weeks for City’s top brass to reach the conclusion that the best candidate for the job was already in the building.

But Rahic had always insisted that he would take his time with the third appointment of the German tenure.

Most revealingly, he mentioned that Collins only became a serious contender for the job at the weekend – and had not even thrown his name into the hat.

But the chairman’s relationship with Collins and Martin Drury has become a strong one since they joined the club a year ago.

Rahic, a regular at youth team games, had been impressed with the style of football on display; something also picked up by a top Premier League club’s scout when they shared a touchline conversation one Saturday morning.

As the search intensified for Grayson’s successor, Rahic was in regular contact with the pair of them – and what started off as an inkling at the back of his mind continued to grow.

While other candidates were spoken of and interviews carried out, that thought process developed that he already had a pair of highly-thought of coaches on the same wavelength.

The likes of Robbie Stockdale, David Hopkin and former West Brom assistant Ben Garner were in the mix but the bookmaker odds resembled a leg of blind-folded darts.

Seemingly red-hot favourites came and went almost by the day as Rahic kept his counsel. Ultimately his left-field decision will have shocked many – but he has no doubts.

“They are thinking outside the box,” he said. “You have to be brave in League One to play a different style.

“Everyone will find something to moan about. But we as a club and German owners are supporting two top talented coaches – English coaches.

“People should be saying ‘wow’. Everyone moans about English coaches not getting a chance but we are giving them one.

“Be positive in the beginning. If it’s terrible then moan but give them a chance.They are good, really good.”

The presence of Greg Abbott adds the senior coaching experience the others currently lack. He will also maintain a strong Bradford City link in the week that James Mason’s departure has been announced.

“The important thing was for Stefan and me to have the right feeling,” said Rahic. “It takes a little bit of time and we had a lot of interviews.

“I also spoke with a lot of chairmen and owners because they have more experience. But it became more clear, that if you want to play a certain way you need the right person.

“Then be brave enough to do it – and we were convinced about Michael, Martin and Greg as a team.

“Six weeks ago, Greg was not very well and it was really tough. I was on my own.

“From the beginning, Michael and Martin helped me out with the recruitment and we started to build a closer relationship.

“We agreed more and more on the style and players. With Greg getting better, one thing happened after another and after so many interviews we saw the best team was in-house.”