City's 3-0 defeat at Ipswich Town has focused a lot of attention on manager Paul Jewell.

It was a disappointing display from the Bantams as they failed to match the pace and power of George Burley's impressive side.

The City boss was clearly seething at the post match press conference at Portman Road and accused his side of being outfought - a cardinal sin of any football team.

And although the league season is just six games old, the rumblings of discontent among City fans can already be heard.

If I had a pound for every time I have been asked 'When is McCall taking over as manager then?', I would be a very rich man.

However, this assertion is an insult to both Jewell and his captain.

Anyone who knows either man will recognise that they are both working towards one common goal - success for Bradford City.

Time and managing a football club do not appear to go hand in hand in the 1990s - Newcastle United and Tottenham have taught us that already this season. However, a glance at the top of the First Division shows just what a period of stability can do for a club.

Peter Reid has been in charge of Sunderland since March 1995 and was at the helm when Sunderland were relegated from the Premiership.

Admittedly Reid was afforded a standing ovation by the Wearside fans just a few days after relegation but, as the documentary Premier Passions showed last year, there was discontent among a sizeable section of the Sunderland support.

Trevor Francis and Mark McGhee at Birmingham and Wolves respectively have also come through difficult periods when the fans were calling for their heads. And now with these experiences firmly behind them all three clubs are currently riding high in the top four of the First Division.

There are still 40 league games remaining and what City need is a period of stability.

And that is why I believe there should be no knee-jerk reactions to the side's admittedly disappointing start.

There were very few plusses to come out of Tuesday's drubbing at Ipswich, but the performance of McCall was a welcome boost.

The City skipper was the one true shining light in an otherwise bleak evening in Suffolk with his all action display and never-say-die spirit well to the fore.

Even in the closing stages with City three goals behind, the flame-haired midfielder was chasing all over the pitch.

McCall's return was the highlight of an exciting summer for all Bantams fans as their dreams of seeing him in a claret and amber shirt again were finally realised.

It was ten years since McCall had been the inspiration behind City's rise up the Football League in the mid 1980s.

However, if the Ipswich defeat proves anything, it is that one man does not make a team.

McCall was at his tenacious best but it was clear that the rest of the City side must follow his example if results are to improve.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.