GRAHAM Westley is not one of your more conventional managers.

Clarke Carlisle tells a tale in his autobiography from Westley's short-lived reign at Preston when the new manager first introduced himself to the players.

"My kids don't call me Dad," he told them. "They call me medal winner."

The comment went down like a lead balloon in the dressing room and the team's form soon did something similar. Westley and Preston were not together for long.

Synonymous with Stevenage, a club he managed three times and took to back-to-back promotions, Westley will begin his latest managerial chapter against City this afternoon.

The new Peterborough boss was at Valley Parade last Sunday, scribbling notes on his first opponents as they waged derby battle with Sheffield United.

He also won his last competitive visit to BD8 18 months ago as Stevenage, heading for the drop back to the bottom division, triumphed 3-2. Even Francois Zoko scored that day.

City will need to be on their guard against being swept up by Peterborough's newest broom.

Beware the new manager syndrome; that traditional bump in fortunes when even the most out-of-form team can suddenly conjure up a positive start for the new incumbent.

It was only seven months ago that the Bantams found themselves the first-game fall guys against Westley's predecessor Dave Robertson in a forgettable afternoon at London Road.

Peterborough come into this latest game on the back of two positive results under Grant McCann's caretaker charge, including a 5-1 romp at Oldham on their last trip.

And that's before the spike you so often see when a manager first takes command.

I was going to say "always see" at that point. But then I remembered City's record in those circumstances.

While it may be a honeymoon period for the majority, too often the Bantams have been struck down by a headache on their first date.

Flick back the last few decades and the debut record of Valley Parade managers is mediocre in the extreme.

Phil Parkinson began his lengthy tenure with a draw against Morecambe, substitute Ross Hannah securing the equaliser deep into stoppage time.

And that was one of the better first-day efforts from those new to the hot-seat.

Of the last 20 City managers, dating back as far as George Mulhall in 1978, just five of them have won first time out.

Parkinson is among seven who took a point but generally it's been a tale of "well, it's surely going to get better than that...".

Peter Jackson, his predecessor, kicked off with a toothless 2-0 defeat at Gillingham; Peter Taylor lost by the same margin at Accrington, a performance so bad he admitted afterwards that he wanted to set the SatNav straight back to his Essex home.

Stuart McCall's much-heralded opening day summed up City's first-game nerves.

It was all set up for the new beginning; McCall back at the club that he adores in front of an expectant crowd riding the excitement from the launch of the cut-price season-ticket revolution.

But Valley Parade visitors Macclesfield refused to follow the script and scored within ten minutes of kick-off. City eventually scrambled an equaliser from the rebound after a late penalty was saved.

David Wetherall's unsuccessful attempt to stave off relegation began with a home setback to Crewe; Colin Todd, post the second administration, went down to a late goalkeeping blunder against Hartlepool.

You have to go back to November 2003 for the last winning start from a Bantams boss. Bryan Robson arrived in a blaze of glory as City fought back from two down to stun Millwall in front of live TV.

But even that dramatic victory turned out to be the most false of dawns. Michael Branch's late winner was the last goal the Bantams faithful celebrated for another month.

City lost their next five games without scoring as financial chaos and relegation quickly followed.

At least Robson can claim one over the last ten City bosses with that three-point beginning – the only winning start since Paul Jewell opened his audition for the job with a 2-1 triumph at Stockport in January 1998.

The other first-day wonders of City's modern era? Chris Kamara, who beat Preston 2-1 in the FA Cup, Lennie Lawrence with a 4-1 win at Chester and the unpopular John Docherty, whose difficult stay at least began the right way against Newcastle.

Parkinson talked yesterday about making sure that any new manager statistic is "irrelevant" for Peterborough this afternoon. But that has long been the case for City.