MICHAEL Flynn welcomed Stuart McCall’s City return and declared: He’s back home.

The pair will share a touchline for the first time this weekend when the Bantams make the trek to Newport.

For Exiles boss Flynn, it will be a pleasure to pit his wits against a manager he learned so much from during his playing spell at Valley Parade.

“I’ll be honest, I can’t wait,” said Flynn. “He’s somebody I’ve got so much respect for.

“I think the world of him. I spoke to him as soon as he’s got the job – and he’s back home.

“I’m sure he’ll finish off the season as best he can. You know my admiration for Bradford as a football club.

“But I hope they go on a run after we’ve played them! I’m not going to say a draw would be good – I want the three points.

“But it will be good to see the Bradford fans fill the end at Newport and it will be a great moment to see my old gaffer again.”

Flynn and McCall regularly chat but he did not know if his former boss would get the chance of a third spell at the City helm after his controversial exit two years ago.

Flynn added: “I wasn’t sure. We’ve touched base and kept in contact but I don’t want to ask him about personal things that go on.

“He’s quite a private man in that respect, he never slags anybody off or bad-mouths people.

“I wouldn’t want to put him in a position where he felt he’d have to tell me something or lie to me.

“We all know what went on before. Even from the outside, you could see the situation he was under.

“It was the old case of ‘be careful what you wish for’.

“They were in the play-off positions when they got rid of Stuart and look what’s happened since.

“I think Gary Bowyer did a very good job in stabilising the club. Now it’s up to Stuart to kick it on again.

“The fans know that everything he does is going to be in the best interests of the football club.

“If he does well in these 15 months, he’s not going to be one looking to move on. He’s going to want to stay at Bradford for a bit of time now.”

Flynn admits he has tried to model his style of man-management on McCall and the late Justin Edinburgh since being appointed at his hometown club three years ago.

“I’ve got so much time for Stuart and a lot of the traits I’ve got as a manager I learned from him and from Justin (Edinburgh).

“The man-management side is underrated but it’s a massive part of the job. If you don’t handle people right, they’re not going to give you their best, it’s as simple as that.

“You go through good times and bad times together. I’m lucky, I’ve got a fantastic group of players.

“They keep their heads up when the chips are down and work so hard day in, day out.

“When times are good, they are exactly the same. They don’t get carried away or big-headed.”

Newport’s biggest problem has been in front of goal. They have not scored in the last four league games and fired another blank in Wednesday’s penalties loss to Salford in the Leasing.com Trophy semi-finals.

“We’ve got the second lowest scoring in the league and the second best defensive record,” said Flynn. “That tells you where we’re at.

“It’s been the same all season. We haven’t anticipated things, haven’t been on the move thinking that a defender might miss the ball.

“It’s not through a lack of trying. If it was, then I’d be a lot more concerned.

“The pitch is hard to create clear-cut opportunities but you’ve just got to get on with it. “