MICHAEL Duff has stressed he is not a Graham Alexander clone as he steps into his big shoes at City.
The Bantams have been keen to maintain managerial continuity with the appointment of Duff to replace his good pal.
Duff intends to carry on the good work of Alexander - known in football as "Grezza" - as he takes over a side riding high in League One again. But he has also made it clear that he is not an identikit boss.
“I'm not Grezza,” said Duff. “We've got similar traits, but our personality, the way we see games is going to be different.
“It's harnessing that in terms of not changing too much without trying to be a copycat. That is part of the challenge.
“I'm good friends with Graham. So I've had long conversations with him quite a few times. Because of the friendship, you see the pictures of when they get promoted a couple of years ago.
“It's not a League Two promotion - I had a promotion from League Two and it didn't look anything like that! It’s special that you’ve got that opportunity to try and still ride that momentum.”
Duff sounded out Alexander about the City role – and the feedback from the new Preston manager was all positive.
Speaking at his Mbanq Valley Parade unveiling, Duff added: “He didn't get involved in whether I should take the job or not, but all he talked about was his experiences of the football club and the fantastic people.
“They’ll give you everything, which from my point of view is what you want and what you need.
“It was two conversations, one was a couple of hours, and a final text. Everything was positive.
“I'd like to think I'm not getting the job because I'm Grezza's mate.
“I don't think that would last long and the supporters won't buy that either, no matter how much they love Grezza.
“It's a bit weird because normally you don't talk about the ex-manager, but there's no getting away from the fact that he's had success, which is why he's moved on.
“It’s probably only that football club that’s got him out because of the relationship that he's got with it.
“But in terms of this football club, he said you can't ask for more than what they give you in terms of the support, the alignment and the help.”
CEO Ryan Sparks has also been in contact with Alexander since his exit last week – and knows that City’s former boss will continue to keep close tabs on their progress under Duff.
“I think he's a friend, no doubt about that. It was a very special period for us.
“Graham came into a tough position. We needed change and needed to find our identity and he provided us that.
Graham Alexander had only positive things to say to Michael Duff (Image: Tom Pearson)
“He’s a very honest guy and deserves all the success in the world. I'm very pleased personally that he's had that success here.
“To see a manager leave through the front door is unique in the game - and it's incredibly unique for Bradford City.
“He's still very, very interested in the football club, as you can imagine. I'm sure this weekend will be very strange for him in some respects, as well as exciting.
“He spoke very well of Michael and highly of him. What was interesting was he was very understanding and supportive of that movement from us in terms of appointing Michael.
“He could see where we were going with it and our attraction and vice versa, Michael's attraction to us and what we can offer Michael.
“There are some similarities between them and there are some coincidences. But we've got to move forward as well.
“This is Bradford City at the end of the day. Our priority is to protect the football club at all costs and move it forward every single day and we believe Michael's going to play a big part in that.”
City do not want to move away from the style of football that has produced such a consistent upward curve under Alexander. Duff ticked the analytical boxes far more than any other candidate to carry that on.
The 48-year-old said: “Part of the challenge is not changing everything and ripping it up and starting again.
“If we play on Saturday and we're 4-2-3-1, rolling it round the back and passing it backwards at every opportunity, I think the two guys either side of me (Sparks and David Sharpe) will question that.
“I think the 20,000 people that are sitting in the stands will probably say similar sorts of things.
“They are conversations that we've had, and that's part of the attraction of the job.
“When you go into a football club, a lot of what you need time for, and managers always talk about time, is an opportunity to build something. The thing with football is you don't get that opportunity.
“A lot of the building blocks and the methodology, the non-negotiables, the cultures, a lot of that's already been set by someone that I know personally.
“Again, part of the challenge is putting my own stamp on it, because I'm not Graham.
“I'll say things that aren't the same, but a lot of what he sees in our values and our careers are very similar in terms of our playing career.
“Work ethic, a bit of humility, enthusiasm, those core values that I have are very similar to Graham as well.”