WHEN Jimmy Lowes replaced Francis Cummins as Bulls head coach, the legendary former Bradford hooker appeared to have landed his dream job.

In the end, it descended into a waking nightmare.

Lowes left a very good post as Yorkshire Carnegie head coach to take the reins at Odsal almost two years ago.

He had just guided the rugby union outfit to the Championship play-off semi-finals and had another year on his contract at Headingley.

Having applied for the Bradford job earlier in his career without success, Lowes threw his hat into the ring to succeed Cummins.

How could he not given the success he enjoyed as a key member of the all-conquering Bulls side of yesteryear?

Although a Leeds lad, Lowes saw Bradford very much as his club after what he achieved there as a player.

“Given my history with this club, I just felt it would be wrong not to apply. This is a proud day,” said Lowes after being unveiled on June 24, 2014.

Few can forget Lowes’ talismanic influence as a player, intimidating and inspiring in equal measure.

The ex-Great Britain international was in the Bulls team that won the Super League in 1997 and 2001 and did the double in 2003.

Yet Lowes, Man of Steel in ‘97, was taking over a club that had been severely damaged by a spell in administration earlier that year.

The Bulls’ second administration in 18 months followed a shambolic ownership saga which led to key players departing and the standard six-point penalty from the RFL.

As Cummins would testify, there was no real investment to bolster a desperately thin squad fighting to stay in Super League in a year when the bottom two were relegated ahead of a major restructure.

That 2014 campaign marked a disastrous period in the club’s recent history and its effects continue to be felt.

When Lowes took over, Bradford were nine points from safety with 10 matches remaining.

It would have taken a minor miracle to save the club from relegation.

Lowes lost his first four games in charge, with a defeat at Huddersfield in July 2014 confirming the Bulls’ demise.

“What's happened with the club over the last couple of years has been a disgrace,” said Lowes in typically forthright fashion after the game.

He was not wrong there either.

Relegation meant the shackles were off, though, and Lowes went on to guide the Bulls to a memorable run of three successive wins over Wigan, Leeds and Hull FC.

Those victories were built on a collective spirit and encouraged hopes that Lowes could guide Bradford straight back into Super League at the first attempt in 2015.

In contrast to their dire struggle for numbers in 2014, the Bulls assembled a large squad for their assault on the Championship.

Key men such as Lee Gaskell stayed loyal after relegation but there were plenty of new signings who simply did not cut the mustard.

Lowes barely used some of them and others were sent out on loan.

The appointment of Karl Harrison did not work and the assistant coach left at the end of the season feeling undervalued and underutilised by Lowes.

Throughout the regular season, however, the Bulls had few problems finishing in the top two, albeit six points behind Leigh.

It should also be remembered that Lowes took the club to the Million Pound Game, where they suffered an agonising defeat to Wakefield.

Yet Lowes often showed his frustrations at a number of scratchy performances and he was typically uncompromising in his post-match interviews.

Lowes is rated in the game as a talented coach but he fell down on his communication skills and his image suffered as a result.

He clearly did not enjoy being thrust in front of the ‘Bulls TV’ cameras after games and it showed.

Dissent from supporters grew increasingly audible in recent weeks, with Lowes clashing with a supporter after last month’s draw at Batley.

That followed a previous spat with a fan following a defeat at Halifax last season.

You can take the lad out of Belle Isle but you cannot take the Belle Isle out of the lad.

Crucially, there has always been a nagging suspicion that Lowes wanted a far greater say in the club’s recruitment of players.

There have been some poor decisions on recruitment and on the length of contracts certain players have been given.

Too many have been signed and fallen down the pecking order all too easily, to the point where Lowes was clearly reluctant to use them.

The loss of Jake Mullaney, an attacking full back with pace who scored and created tries, has been keenly felt this season.

Mullaney left because his close pal Harry Siejka went and the Bulls have still not found a replacement scrum half.

Lowes looked to have grown tired of it all in recent weeks and had considered quitting last month before agreeing to stay on.

But recent results – the Bulls had won one in six before beating Dewsbury last time out – and growing dissent from supporters prompted Lowes to finally throw in the towel on Tuesday morning.

He did not even get chance to tell the players.

The news was leaked and Chev Walker sent out a message on WhatsApp to tell the squad their head coach had resigned.

Whatever way you look at it, the fact that Lowes chose to quit the club he gave blood, sweat and tears for is not good.

It is apparent that, for reasons which should become clear in the coming days, Lowes had simply lost faith in what was happening at Bradford.

It remains to be seen what road chairman Marc Green and managing director Steve Ferres go down in terms of appointing his successor.

There is a decent squad of players who, with the right additions, could yet mount a serious challenge for promotion in the middle eights.

But the bulk of the players are out of contract at the end of the season and the squad will certainly look a lot different next year.

Perhaps most crucially of all, can Bradford remain a full-time operation if they fail to go up?

It is a huge call, and will effectively determine what sort of club the Bulls are going forward.

For many supporters who witnessed the glory days of the not-too-distant past, a part-time existence is simply unthinkable.

Yet reality bites and there is no doubt that Green will be considering all options right now.

It is hard to get an audience with the Bulls chairman from a media point of view and there has been no fans forum for quite some time.

Either way, answers to these kind of questions will reveal themselves over the coming weeks and months.

One thing is for certain – Jimmy Lowes will not be around to see it.

Candidates to be the next Bulls head coach:

Glenn Morrison

The Dewsbury coach is under contract until the end of 2017 but made clear his desire to be considered for the vacancy in yesterday’s Telegraph & Argus. The former Bulls back-rower knows Steve Ferres well and is the current favourite for the post.

Scott Naylor

Like Morrison, Naylor was a popular figure at Odsal during his playing days and is also under contract until the end of 2017. He guided Oldham to promotion last season and then steered them to a stunning Challenge Cup win at Hull KR last weekend.

Matt Diskin

The current Bulls assistant boss and Under-19s coach has agreed to join Batley as their head coach in October. But could the departure of Lowes persuade him to stay at Bradford after all? Diskin is currently in interim charge of the Bulls and is not thought to have yet put pen to paper on a deal at Batley.

Richard Marshall

Another young, hungry and ambitious coach, the Halifax boss has presided over three victories against Bradford during the past year. He is currently part-time at The Shay and, with Fax showing no sign of wanting to go full-time, Marshall might be tempted to enter a full-time environment at the Bulls.

Brian Noble

The legendary former Bradford coach always gets linked with a return to his hometown club after guiding the Bulls to five successive Grand Finals, winning three of them. The Bradfordian has agreed to head up the new Canada outfit next season, but could he come on board at Odsal for the rest of this year?