RORY McArdle spent the first few weeks of his summer break laid up with little to do.

His arm in a protective sling after the operation to strengthen his left shoulder, doctor’s orders were to rest up and take it easy.

But there was too much going on around him for the defender to get bored during his spell of inaction.

Baby son Alexander was one obvious distraction from the monotony – and then there were the goings-on at Valley Parade.

German duo Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp were confirmed as City’s new owners just before McArdle went under the surgeon’s knife.

Then as he began his recuperation, there was the bombshell that Phil Parkinson had decided to swap the Bantams for Bolton.

“You could say it was a pretty eventful summer,” admitted McArdle. “The ownership pretty much went through straight after we went out of the play-offs and then obviously the gaffer decided to change clubs.

“That came totally out of the blue. Somebody told me the story was on Sky Sports News and sent me the link – I certainly didn’t see that coming.

“I was surprised but it did happen, for whatever reason.

“I know the gaffer came out and said he wanted a clean break and maybe the new owners wanted to get their own man in.

“At the minute it’s worked out fine. The gaffer moved on, the new one has come in and put his own stamp on it here. He’s recruited a lot of good players and strong characters as well. So everyone has settled in and the results have gone well.”

In four days, old will meet new as the Bantams put their unbeaten start on the line at the Macron Stadium against Parkinson and Co.

It will be a hotly-anticipated occasion for the 4,300 travelling fans – and also an odd one for those who were such a pivotal part of Parkinson’s success in West Yorkshire.

McArdle was the first signing in the 2012 summer rebuild which paved the way for that unforgettable double Wembley campaign.

The likes of Stephen Darby, Gary Jones, James Meredith and Garry Thompson soon followed to form a side that would make history by reaching the Capital One Cup final from League Two and then return to the national stadium three months later to clinch promotion.

McArdle, who made 199 City appearances for Parkinson, said: “It will be a bit strange to see the old manager in the opposite dugout on Saturday and probably shouting the wrong things at us.

“I think he will generally get a good reception if you look at what he did for the club.

“But I also know what football fans are like and some might still think him going left a sour taste in their mouth.

“You have to look at where we are now. The majority of fans might give him a bit of a boo at first but he’ll also get a good clap.

“It doesn’t really surprise me about the amount of tickets that we’ve sold.Since I’ve been at the club the away support has been absolutely brilliant.

“You appreciate the fans coming out in force at home but when we’ve travelled to places like Crawley and Plymouth on a Tuesday and see them still there in numbers, then it really helps.

“They’ll get behind us and hopefully come the 90 minutes they’ll have the bragging rights coming back over the M62.”

Extending Stuart McCall’s second reign to a ninth league game without defeat would further confirm that City have emerged through the recent upheaval in a solid place.

McArdle certainly thinks they have landed on their feet.

He said: “You can see it quite a lot nowadays where clubs have a change of ownership and people are wary about what’s going to happen next. You see that it doesn’t always work out.

“On the flipside, you see a lot of clubs who have gone on and progressed and we’re heading in the right direction at the moment.

“We’ve had a great start, lads are coming back fit now and the competition’s getting stronger for places.

“There is a good group. If lads aren’t playing, hopefully it’s for the right reasons and the team are doing well.

“It’s a long old season and ultimately everyone is going to be called upon at some point and can make a contribution.

“It’s been very good so far and hopefully we can keep pushing to ultimately get into that top two.”