5 managers Bradford City must eye ASAP as Graham Alexander prepares to leave for Preston | OneFootball

Preston have made an approach to bring Graham Alexander to the club, which would leave Bradford in need of a new manager

The Lilywhites have made an official approach to Bradford for permission to hold talks with Bantams boss Graham Alexander over the vacant dugout role, per John Percy.

Alexander is well-regarded as one of the best coaches currently in the lower two tiers of the EFL, bringing Bradford back to League One, overseeing a fourth-placed finish in their first season back last year and then leading them to the top of the division after seven games this term.

The 54-year-old is overseeing a massively exciting project at Valley Parade, and in any other scenario, you'd expect him to turn interest down, given Bradford may well be a Championship club next season, anyway.

However, Alexander has a rich history with Preston as a player. He sits in the top 10 of their all-time appearance ranks, making 421 bows over a couple of spells and retired at Deepdale, too.

Now, the formal approach doesn't mean Alexander will leave Bradford, but given his past with the Lancashire side, the League One side may well see themselves needing a new head coach over the international break, having since "reluctantly" accepted an offer for Alexander to speak with his old side.

It does look as though he's on his way out and, with that in mind, here are five options they could consider.

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Arguably the most obvious choice, and the route many Bradford fans are hoping their side will go down if they need to replace Alexander in the coming weeks, is Dave Challinor, who has been out of work ever since losing the League One play-off final with Stockport County in May.

The 50-year-old was largely credited with the meteoric rise of Stockport from the National League to the brink of the Championship in the four-and-a-half years he was in the dugout at Edgeley Park.

His success in the third tier with the Hatters saw him be quite flexible with his playstyle, but he did deploy a back-three in the main, so he is arguably the closest on the list tactics-wise to Alexander, and his record of getting sides into the play-offs as a manager is unmatched.

Indeed, in all 15 of his full seasons as a manager, he's never finished outside the play-offs. For a Bradford side who'd be looking to have a quick transition and maintain title-winning form, his effective nature and ability to adapt would be much needed at Valley Parade.

Matt Bloomfield

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Dave Challinor left Stockport in the summer to rest and reset. He may not feel the time is right to return to the dugout currently, but one man who will be champing at the bit to get back into work is Matt Bloomfield.

Ever since Bloomfield left Wycombe Wanderers midway through the 2024/25 campaign to try and keep Luton Town afloat in the Championship, his managerial career has been quite unlucky.

First, he had Luton in lower mid-table form in the second tier, but a poor start under Rob Edwards meant they still got relegated. Then, he was the victim of heavy expectations back in League One at a club that was undergoing a lot of change following consecutive drops.

Then, at Oxford United, Bloomfield had them in lower mid-table form in the second tier, but a poor start under Gary Rowett meant they still got relegated. Unlike at Luton, though, the Yellows opted not to go into the third tier with him, sacking him in favour of Aaron Ramsey.

His time at Wycombe showed that he can be a very good third-tier manager if the environment is right, and Bradford seems to have one of the best environments going in League One currently.

Paul Heckingbottom

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If Graham Alexander makes the switch to Preston, perhaps Bradford would be wise to look at the man who he's replacing to come in and succeed their boss.

There's no denying that the Lilywhites needed a fresh start after Heckingbottom's reign became quite stale. But that shouldn't detract from who is, ultimately, quite a good Championship-level manager.

After all, this time last year, he had Preston in the play-off conversation in the second tier and kept them there until the new year.

Heckingbottom hasn't managed in League One since his first job with Barnsley, where he led them to a Wembley double in both the EFL Trophy and the play-off final. Since then, he's helped Sheffield United achieve promotion to the Premier League.

Right now, though, his stock is very low. A Championship side likely won't go for him, but a top-end League One side, and another Yorkshire-based side, could.

Alan Sheehan

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Like Heckingbottom, former Swansea City boss Alan Sheehan has connections with Bradford from his playing days, albeit relatively short-lived in the 2010s. The 40-year-old has been out of work since leaving South Wales last November.

At Swansea, Sheehan was a massive success as interim boss, with an onus on good defensive work, something which Bradford have prided themselves on under Alexander, especially in the infancy of this season.

It didn't work out for him at all at the start of the season, though, unfortunately, and his tenure is worsened by the fact that Swansea are currently flying under Vitor Matos, but that shouldn't effectively mean he should never work again.

Sheehan could likely have been a little in over his head at Championship level, like a few first-time managers were last season, and a drop-down to League One could be beneficial to him. At Bradford, he'd have a good chance to test himself again in the second tier soon, you'd imagine.

Gary Rowett

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And finally, Gary Rowett may be regarded as a firefighter-type manager at Championship level, and has done great work raising the levels of squads who may not have as much quality as others — as seen at the likes of Millwall and Oxford.

In League One, it's unknown how that style would translate. He actually hasn't managed at this level, with him making the jump from the fourth tier straight to the Championship after impressing at Burton Albion in his first job.

What can be said is that, so far this season, Bradford have played almost like a side with their backs to the wall — happy to play out of possession, not creating lots of big chances but taking them when they come.

Perhaps, from that point, Rowett may not be the worst choice, and may not need to come in with wholesale adjustments to a side who already excel in what they do.

He is fifth on the list for a reason, but perhaps not someone the Bantams should immediately rule out, if they're looking for a new head coach shortly.