STUART McCall will be tasked with leading Bradford City back into the Championship after agreeing to return to the Valley Parade hot-seat.

The hugely popular former midfielder, who had two spells at the club as a player, will now return for his second stint as manager.

The 52-year-old is currently abroad on holiday in Tenerife and, while a deal has been agreed in principle, no paperwork has yet been signed and an official announcement on his return is not expected until next week.

City have spoken to a number of candidates about the vacancy before McCall emerged as the first choice of new owners Stefan Rupp and Edin Rahic.

A year on from leaving Rangers, McCall has been keen to get back into a club hot-seat again.

Kenny Black, who served as McCall’s assistant at Motherwell, is likely to join him at Bradford as the club seek to fill the vacancies left by the exit of Phil Parkinson, Steve Parkin, Lee Butler and Nick Allamby.

McCall left City in February 2010 after a 133-game reign admitting he was drained by the job but insists he is a “very different” manager now.

Speaking exclusively to the Telegraph & Argus last week, McCall said: “I always said that Bradford was my club but at the wrong time.

“It’s certainly a different club now and I’m a different manager.

“It was my first job in management and I was obviously naïve. I made mistakes because I was still learning.

“I really thought we could go up in my second season and was really disappointed when we didn’t even make the play-offs.

“But I’m a different person now; much more experienced.

“I’ve worked with Gordon Strachan at Scotland, spent three months with Rangers and had a very successful time with Motherwell taking them to their highest ever finish three times.

“I’ve been involved in internationals, Champions’ League, Europa League, the Scottish Cup final. I’ve done all that since my time at Bradford.”

McCall remains one of Strachan’s assistant coaches with the national team and has just returned from Scotland’s friendlies with Italy and France.

He added: “Being away for 12 days with Scotland and back on the training field reminded me what it’s all about. I’m a coach and a manager and I want to be out there working with the players.”