IT WAS the shortest answer in a half hour of questions from a man rarely reluctant to offer an opinion.

“If no manager is in the building currently, who made the decisions on contracts and releases? Was it the new man behind the scenes?”

“Yes, simple as that.”

The four-word reply from City chief executive Ryan Sparks during the club interview suggested he wanted to get off the topic.

If the anticipated boss is currently in a job elsewhere – and all fingers seem to be pointing towards Derek Adams at Morecambe – that could have raised uncomfortable queries about possible conflicts of interest.

Sparks, maybe, should have chosen his answer more carefully.

But it’s more likely that he meant that decisions were being taken based on what they believed the requirements of the new man will be – rather than directly from the unnamed target himself.

Remember, in the case of Adams, the Scot was interviewed about the Valley Parade vacancy back in December as Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars were making their strong play for a permanent chance.

He was understood to have been Sparks’ preferred choice at that time and part of those talks would surely have focussed on the squad and what changes would be needed if Adams were to come in.

The fact that City were one of the quickest to announce their retain and release list once the League Two season was done suggests those decisions had been in the works for a long time.

Whatever the public pronouncements from the club about minds not being made up, it appears that was not the case.

Maybe Sparks and director of recruitment Lee Turnbull have been working on a blueprint since the turn of the year. January was just stage one of the rebuild being formulated.

Sparks has made it clear that Valley Parade is “no longer the place for players looking for a meal ticket”.

The departure of four of the biggest earners in the nine to be shown the door indicates he is also having his say in football issues. But he might want to glance carefully over his shoulder at a certain previous incumbent.

City have been particularly silent on the manager issue, which backs up the feeling that it is someone whose season remains ongoing – as is the case with Adams after steering Morecambe to only their second play-off visit in club history.

That began well last night with a 2-1 win at Tranmere in their semi-final first leg.

But Sparks is more vocal in his bid to keep Trueman and Sellars at the club when their successor is officially unveiled.

Trueman is considering an offer for a new role, likely to be as part of an expanded backroom set-up, and talks continue with Sellars.

“I’d like to think by the end of this month both will know exactly where they stand,” said Sparks. “The real positive for me is that they both want to stay.

“They’ll both be in and amongst it. The conversations are ongoing but they are positive and I’m not concerned they are going to leave at this stage – we don’t want them to.”

One question from a fan described their appointment to the hot-seat following the hugely-successful spell in interim charge as a “train crash waiting to happen” – a suggestion that Sparks was quick to shoot down.

“Those guys weren’t earning manager salaries when they took the job.

“They put their families through a great deal of torture, I imagine, to help us get out of trouble and we wanted to show them some loyalty from our side, which hasn’t been the case in the past.

“People have come in and been hung out a little bit and let go. It’s a small price to pay, any increase in a contract for what would have cost the club in the National League.

“National League football here would have required seven-figure investment to keep the lights on. It would have been an unmitigated disaster on many levels.

“What it also did, and I was mindful of this so was Mark and Conor, was that should the day come when we take them out the dug-out we have an opportunity to renegotiate that and put them in other roles, which we are doing.

“The risk for the club was not there. I felt – and (owner) Stefan (Rupp) felt strongly – that they deserved some loyalty from us and security for their families. We’ve given them that and I’d do it over again.”

City picked up 46 points from the 30 games under the former academy coaches but only one from the final seven – a slump that forced the club’s hand to act. But Sparks repeated that he had no regrets about giving them an opportunity.

“Hindsight is wonderful,” he added. “I imagine if I’d done a poll back in March, there would have been a lot of people saying we’ve got to give these guys a shot.

“It wasn’t about that. It was a decision we made over a number of weeks and one that I’m very comfortable with.

“I don’t ever think it was a mistake – they did a great job in helping us get out of trouble.”

Meanwhile, from the few morsels that City are prepared to offer, it sounds like a done deal with the next man willing to take up the challenge of reviving the club’s fortunes.

Sparks said: “I can’t say a great deal more but we’re still not looking for any applicants.

“I’m pretty comfortable with the position we’re in, in terms of the new person coming in.

“What hurt this season is that we tripped up 10 metres from the finishing line. It’s difficult to put my finger on why that happened.

“Our aim for next season is to be in a promotion fight. This is Bradford City, we’re not here to take part in League Two – we want to get out of this division.

“Whoever stands in the dug-out will match the culture and level of energy and grit and determination that I believe we need to have in every single member of staff.

“That’s the core trait that we are looking for – (going) beyond the call of duty.”