Jefferies puts star trio up for sale

Bradford boss Jim Jefferies has put Benito Carbone, Dan Petrescu and Stan Collymore up for sale believing the club has a better chance of survival without such star names.

Jefferies said trio "were luxuries the club cannot afford" and had no place in a side which found itself involved in another battle for its Premiership life.

The Scot even conceded there was no way he would have bought a player like Carbone if he had been in charge of the Bantams at the start of the season.

But in stepping into the City hot-seat vacated by the sacked Chris Hutchings seven weeks ago, Jefferies has had to play with the hand he has been dealt.

With keeper Matt Clarke already on the transfer list having burnt his bridges at Valley Parade, Jefferies is looking "for as much money as possible" for the other three players.

Carbone is likely to be valued around £3m, which would represent a sizeable profit on a player who has already picked up £880,000 in wages for 22 weeks work, not forgetting a signing on bonus. Petrescu would command the £1m Bradford paid Chelsea in the summer, while Collymore is already valued at £500,000 - the fee City had agreed with VfB Stuttgart at the weekend prior to the deal collapsing over the 29-year-old's personal terms.

There is no doubt, though, the signing of such players was a massive gamble which has backfired on chairman Geoffrey Richmond and could ultimately cost the club more than the £1.5m in salaries which have been paid to the trio to date.

But, following the 1-0 FA Cup third round defeat at home to Middlesbrough, Jefferies said: "You can't blame the club for taking the steps they did.

"They tried to improve the quality of the squad, but it's not worked out, and so I've told the players it's best if we look to move them on.

"Beni agrees the situation we're in is not suited to his type of football. We need to play a certain way, one that will give us a chance of staying up.

"If we were in the top half of the league and it favoured Beni then we could play off the cuff, but we can't afford to do that.

"We need spirit, determination and solidity, characteristics which managed to get Bradford up and then kept them up.

"I'm only being honest with the players. I feel this is the way to go to give us a chance. There are no guarantees, but that is why I'm in the job - to make the tough decisions.

"It is not being disrespect to their talent. They can be good players in the right situation, but not for the one we are in at the moment."

Collymore has already been told he won't play again for the club this season, which means he will pick up £325,000 until his contract expires at the end of June for doing nothing.

As for Carbone and Petrescu, they will have to get used to bench life - as against Boro - with Jefferies employing them when he feels they can add "a bit of sparkle" at the end of a game.

Striker Carbone has already been linked with a return to Italy, although Jefferies added: "We will welcome any offers from anybody.

"If Beni wants to go back to Italy then we won't stand in his way providing we receive an offer acceptable to everybody.

"At least he understands the situation. If I'd been in charge at the start of the season I would not have bought somebody like Beni. I was honest enough to tell him that and he agreed.

"I said maybe if I was a manager of a top-six or -eight side then I would be interested because I think such a club is more suited to his style of football."

Carbone came on for the final 13 minutes at a time when City were chasing the game having fallen behind to Hamilton Ricard's stunning 66th-minute strike which ended his personal 18-match goal drought.

Petrescu played most of the second half, having replaced the injured Billy McKinlay in a game which Bradford should have won but were twice denied by the woodwork in the first 15 minutes.