Simon Parker column

Crete is beautiful at this time of year. Who wouldn’t want a few days kicking back on the shore of the Mediterranean?

But one tourist might feel a shade more reluctant this week as he basks in the Greek sunshine.

Peter Jackson is looking forward to his first overseas break in years; but not as much as he is relishing the thought of getting back to his desk at Valley Parade.

He said: “I’ll probably get on holiday and straight away want to come home. It will be good to go away but I know I’m coming back to a really exciting 12 months.

“There’s been a bit of pressure on me in terms of whether I’d be able to go on holiday when I still didn’t know about the job. My future was so uncertain that I didn’t know what I was going to do next week.

“It’s just fantastic that I’ve got this to look forward to now. I can’t emphasise enough how much it means to me to be manager of Bradford City; my home-town club, my dream job.”

Note the absence of a certain epithet beginning with the letter ‘I’. Utter the word ‘interim’ again within Jackson’s earshot at your peril.

He said: “I never want to hear that word again. I still don’t understand what it meant.

“They could have called me caretaker but Mark (Lawn) being Mark made me the interim manager …”

Jackson spits out the word as if it’s poison-coated.

He said: “Not that there was ever a moment when I didn’t think I’d get it. I just knew that once I got here and got into the club, they could see what I was like and my personality.

“I knew that it would be hard to remove me. There were times, like after the Accrington game and Crewe at home, which had done me no favours but I was always thinking that it was mine to lose.”

Jackson’s self-confidence was never more evident than when he saw the news flash up on Sky that Peter Taylor was leaving City and immediately made the call to offer his services.

As Lawn revealed this week, Jackson’s name was not in their thoughts straight away, despite interviewing him for the post ahead of appointing Taylor.

But Jackson had no doubts and stole a march on his competitors by dialling Julian Rhodes while the TV ticker was still carrying the breaking news.

He said: “I did think about going through the press or using an agent (to show I was interested). But I thought it would be quicker just to make that call.

“I knew Mark and Julian and had spoken to them about the job 12 months ago. So I thought ‘what’s stopping me?’ “I said I’d be quite happy to do the football side of things while they go through the applications. And I knew that once I got in there, I could make a difference.”

After 18 months in the wilderness following his sacking at Lincoln, Jackson was back in business. Three months on and he has the hot-seat for keeps – well, for the next year at least.

“If you’d told me this would happen 12 months ago, then I wouldn’t have believed you; not a chance,” he said.

“But I’ve moved on and so has the club. My life has changed once again for the better with the job that I’ve always wanted.”

Wild rumours circulated last weekend that Accrington’s John Coleman was back squarely in the frame after his side’s play-off exit and his odds tumbled with the bookies.

But Jackson had already shaken on a deal once the office block transfer had gone through to secure City’s position at Valley Parade. The new manager was in place, even if it was a few days before the news became public knowledge.

The length of contract does not bother Jackson; nor the fact that he will be earning around a third of his predecessor’s £2,500 a week. Those things can soon change.

He said: “If I’m doing well at Christmas, then I’m in the driving seat. Bradford have given me a chance and an opportunity to move the club forward.

“I’m not daft. I’ve taken the job and I expect to lose it one day, whether that’s in a year, two years, five years, whenever, I don’t know.

“I’m sure there will come a day when I’ll have the conversation with Mark and Julian that it’s not worked out. I realise all that. But hopefully it’s the other way and we’re talking about extending my contract.

“The most important thing is that I get it right on the field. If we win games, everything takes care of itself.”

Winning and entertaining. After a season when a City goal seemed like an oasis in the desert, fans are crying out for some excitement.

Jackson has targeted strikers at the top of his summer wish-list. Unknown Ross Hannah was first in the door but it’s the prospect of League Two’s hottest shot Clayton Donaldson ‘coming home’ that has whetted the public appetite.

Jackson said: “We want to entertain and want the fans to enjoy watching us play. We want to see attractive football but also winning football.

“It’s no good scoring goals if you don’t get the results with it. There’s no point in scoring four and still losing 5-4.

“We need results and we need a promotion campaign. After everything that has gone on, this club need to be up there challenging.

“The fans have been excellent with me. Because of my connections with other clubs, there will always be one or two (against) and I understand that.

“But the majority of them have been magnificent. They know I’m going back to the club I’ve grown up supporting and want to bring success to them because they’ve been starved of it.”

The sun lounger may beckon but the thoughts will inevitably keep drifting to a corner of BD8.