THE DERBY between Bradford City and Barnsley on Saturday will be a clash of two of John Hendrie’s favourite former clubs while he hopes Conor Hourihane is given more patience than he was when transitioning from legendary player to his first managerial role.

The Scotsman – who made his name at Bradford in the 1980s then helped the Reds to the top flight in 1996 – still follows both of their fortunes.

Hendrie told the Chronicle: “I had special times at both clubs at different ends of my career. I am very fond of them both.

“Valley Parade will be rocking on Saturday and the atmosphere will be electric. There are so many Yorkshire derbies in the league this season and it’s a good league. There will be a lot of good games and this should be one of them.”

Hendrie was one of Barnsley’s key players in their promotion to the Premiership, beating Bradford in the decisive match. After they came back down and Danny Wilson moved to Sheffield Wednesday in 1998, Hendrie took over as player/manager but then focused purely on coaching and was sacked the following April.

Current Reds head coach Hourihane is also a popular former player, having captained them to promotion, then returned last season briefly as player/coach before taking over from Darrell Clarke.

Hendrie said: “It’s tough.

“The way Conor has done it is easier because he’s been away then he came back as player/coach.

“I went straight from the dressing room into the manager’s room and it’s the hardest thing to do because suddenly you are their boss.

“I was managing in the second tier and we’d just come out of the Premier League so the expectation was very high.

“To this day, I believe the expectation level is unrealistic and you look at the amount of managers they have had ever since.

“It would be great for Barnsley to have a manager in for a few years which hasn’t happened for a long, long time. It’s too easy to sack the manager for any club.

“You want a young manager to get a decent opportunity and have faith and trust in them.

“You would like to think Conor would get patience because of his connection with the club. They have someone who really wants to be there and really wants the club to do well.”

On Barnsley’s start to the season, Hendrie said: “They had a great August but it’s since the Reading game that they’ve had a bit of a wobble.

“But that will be the story over the course of the season and the thing is not to panic.

“They have had a good few years in League One and they can beat anyone on their day.

“Bradford have come back from 2-0 down last time out at Rotherham and Barnsley went the other way at Wycombe and to concede two goals in the last few minutes is a sickener going into the international break. They have to stew on the disappointment and I am sure Conor will have been annoyed.”

Hendrie – who is now fully retired aged 61 – has fond memories of his time in the top flight with the Reds.

“It was the twilight of my career and I was 33 when I went there. When I first went in, people might have thought I was there for a payday at my age but, when you do well for Barnsley, you are always one of their’s which means so much to me and all of that team.”

At the other end of his career, Hendrie joined Bradford in 1984 after a spell at Coventry City.

He would help them to one promotion and just miss out on a second before moving to Newcastle in 1988.

Hendrie said: “I had been kicked onto the scrap heap by Bobby Gould at top flight Coventry then dropped down two flights to Bradford.

“We won the title in the first season then the last game was the Bradford fire which was the worst day of my life.

“I still find that hard to talk about.

“Then for the next 18 months we played at Elland Road, Huddersfield’s Leeds Road and Odsal Stadium (rugby league club Bradford Bulls’ ground).

“We were nomads which was difficult.

“I played 173 games in a row until I got sent off at Man City and missed the last game of my last season when we missed out on getting to the top flight.”

The Bantams gained promotion last season due to a last-minute goal and are now second.

Hendrie said: “I was at the game when they got promoted and it was bananas. The way they have started this season has been brilliant, especially at home but even on their travels they have surprised teams like Cardiff.”