CITY need to put a “long-term vision” in place to stop the constant chopping and changing of managers.

That’s the view of Paul Jewell as the Bantams hunt an eighth boss in the last four years.

The man who led the club to a historic promotion to the Premier League in 1999 and then beat the odds to stay up believes that “short-termism” is continuing to hold them back.

Jewell said: “I just feel that since Phil Parkinson left there’s been no long-term vision from the club.

“It’s been a case of, ‘let’s get a manager and we’ll get 15,000-16,000 in and that guarantees promotion.’ Well, it doesn’t.

“The club has got to have a DNA, an identity, that everybody can buy into.

“I look at clubs like Swansea and Brentford who decided from the top, ‘this is how we’re going to play’ and get a manager in who wants to do that.

“It’s no good getting one in who thinks the opposite. It should go right through the club.

“Because Bradford get big crowds and it’s arguably one of the biggest clubs in this division and the one above, sometimes they are trying to sign players just to get out of this league.

“In my view, they don’t seem to go for players who can go on and perform well at the next level.

“If they did get promoted, they’d have to start again. That’s not a slight on the players but I think over the last five or six years, they’ve bought too many who are at the wrong end of their career.

“They can do a job at this level but they are never going to improve.

“The club has had too much short-termism to get out of that league.

“I understand that to a large extent but you’ve got to be stronger than that. Have a long-term plan and stick to it.”

Jewell was director of football at Swindon when they won League Two in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign – only to come straight back down because they did not have a team in place capable of holding their own in the third tier.

“Our best players were all loans,” he said. “So, when we went up we lost five players, one of them was Doyley (Eoin Doyle), and were starting again.

“The rest weren’t quite good enough for League One and we got relegated. You don’t want to be ripping it up and starting again every 12 months.”

Stuart McCall was the last City boss to see an entire season in 2017 when he steered them to the League One play-off final.

Since then, the high turnover has given nobody the time to lay down long-term plans. Derek Adams was given a three-year deal but lasted just eight months.

Jewell reckons there should be a blueprint that can be followed from the very top.

“Right now, if it’s not working for six months, they’re throwing the baby out with the bath water.

“You’ve got to go with a strategy, interview the managers and say this is the way we see it.

“You make sure everyone’s singing from the same hymn sheet and have a plan.

“It might mean a bit of pain at first but you’ve got to be strong.

“Tell the supporters we might have to take a backward step but over the next three or four years we’re looking to get up to the Championship not just get out of League Two.”

Recruitment is another key area for Jewell to tie in with how the club want to progress.

City had a system in place under Lee Turnbull but that was abandoned earlier in the season for Adams to bring in his own men to also cover Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

It is understood they will carry on working for the club until a decision is made about what happens next.

Jewell said: “Decide the manager you want and which style of football you’d like to play, and I know you've got to be flexible.

“Then you’ve got to know what you can afford and how to develop players, which is so important. The scouting system has got to be better, recruitment has got to be better and the manager has to have an input in that.

“Derek brought in his own scouts and the recruitment manager who was there for a while left his job.

“There hasn’t been a vision. It’s always been, ‘let’s get short-term success and take it from there.’

“I understand that but my experience tells you that you need something more.

“I’ve been to a few games and there’s no excitement. Every time I go, there seems to be a different style.

“You want to build a nucleus of a team that, in two years’ time, will be able to compete at the top end of League One.

“It’s not going to work if you’re bringing in 11 or 12 new signings each year.”