Former Oxford United manager Malcolm Shotton was out of a job again last night, almost 12 months to the day after being dismissed from his post at the Manor.

Shotton, the assistant manager at Bradford City, was sacked along with boss Chris Hutchings yesterday after leading the Valley Parade club to just one win in 12 Carling Premiership games this seasom

Caretaker boss Stuart McCall takes over the reins. The former Everton and Rangers midfielder has made it clear to chairman Geoffrey Richmond that he wants the job.

Bradford midfielder Dean Windass, another former Oxford United player, said: I feel sorry for Chris. It's us (the players) that have got the club in this situation, not Chris. He only puts a team out on the field.

But Windass reckons that McCall will have the full backing of the Bradford players as he bids to halt the club's slide.

Richmond added: The board would publicly like to thank Chris for all his efforts and are genuinely sorry that things have not worked out differently.

The board felt that the time for a change had now come to give the future manager as long as possible to change the fortunes on the field. We wish Chris every success in the future.