6 weirdest managerial moves as Mark Hughes joins Bradford in League Two

Following former Southampton boss Mark Hughes' appointment as Bradford City manager this week, DAILY STAR SPORT looks at six of football's weirdest managerial moves

One of the season's weirdest managerial moves has occurred after Bradford City announced the appointment of Mark Hughes on Thursday morning.

Hughes has signed a deal through to the summer of 2024 with the League Two club to replace former boss Derek Adams, who was sacked earlier this month.

This is the first time Hughes has managed a club outside the Premier League and his first role in management since leaving Southampton in December 2018.

Following the shock appointment of the former Wales striker, here are six more of the weirdest managerial moves ever, including Gary Neville and Tony Adams.

Gary Neville - Valencia

Having worked as a coach with England under Roy Hodgson since 2012, Gary Neville took his first and only steps into management at Valencia in December 2015.

Brother Phil had recently joined the Spanish club as an assistant manager and their Salford City business partner Peter Lim has become owner a year earlier.

Neville won just 10 of his 28 matches at Valencia, with just three of them coming in the league before he was sacked after four months with the club six points above the drop zone.

During his short time in charge, he oversaw exits from both the Champions League and Europa League as well as a 7-0 thrashing against Barcelona in the cup.

What is the weirdest managerial appointment ever? Let us know in the comments section below.

Edgar Davids - Barnet

With Barnet rooted to the bottom of the Football League back in October 2012, the club turned to a local Sunday league side and signed Edgar Davids.

The former Juventus and Ajax midfielder had seemingly retired before arriving at the club as first a player-coach before later becoming player-manager following relegation to non-league.

Davids' bizarre time at The Hive included wearing the number one shirt, as part of plans to start a trend, and getting himself sent off on multiple occasions.

He also refused to attend away games up north, with chairman Tony Kleanthous explaining this with: “The thing is we don’t have a manager. We have a completely Dutch set up. There are three coaches, all Dutch, that are involved in our team.”

Tony Adams - Granada

Prior to arriving in Spain in 2017, Tony Adams had already had one strange managerial role when he rocked up in Azerbaijan at Qabala.

Relegation threatened Granada had first installed the former Arsenal defender as director of football in March, before making him manager a month later.

After five years out of management, Adams was tasked with saving the side from relegation with seven league games of the season remaining.

He went on to collect just one point in charge as Granada dropped out of La Liga, whilst he was called a waiter by Real Madrid's Isco and confused fans with his training ground dancing.

Claude Anelka - Raith Rovers

The brother of Nicolas, Claude Anelka had already created a buzz in 2004 when he offered £200,000 to any club that would hire him as director of football.

Scottish side Raith Rovers took him up on the offer, before manager Antonio Calderon left the club shortly afterwards.

As director of football, Anelka appointed himself as the new manager, promising to make the club a force in Scotland and signed a host of foreign players.

He quit after gaining just a point from 10 matches, whilst Raith were relegated to the third tier in last place at the end of the season.

Dave Hockaday - Leeds United

The tumultuous reign of former Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino saw no fewer than eight managers during his four years at Elland Road.

His first appointment was perhaps his strangest, though, with the practically unknown Dave Hockaday replacing Brian McDermott for the 2013/14 season.

Hockaday's only previous managerial role had been in non-league with Forest Green Rovers, where he had been sacked in October 2013.

His six matches in charge yielded just two wins as he was sacked after 70 days in the job, with his next role being assistant manager at seventh-tier Swindon Supermarine.

Ramon Diaz - Oxford United

Former Argentina international Ramon Diaz had managed River Plater for seven years before he arrived in England.

However, he did not occupy a Premier League dugout, instead taking over as manager of League Two Oxford United in December 2004.

Upon his arrival, he admitted: "I like English football and I wanted to get first-hand experience of it...I'd seen plenty of it on TV."

Despite reportedly working for free and a bright start to his reign, Diaz had departed before the end of the season as Oxford finished in 15th.