Claridge is a pundit for The Football League Show and Football Focus

Bradford City have appointed Peter Taylor as their new manager, replacing Stuart McCall, who resigned after failing to mount a promotion challenge in League Two.

I examine Taylor's prospects, and those of the Bantams - who are one of my former clubs, and one I would love to manage one day.

I also look at the battle for survival at the bottom of League Two, examine Swansea's promotion credentials at the top of the Championship, and assess why Charlton's recent form in League One has been so poor.

If you have a question for me, you can submit it through Twitter at http://twitter.com/AskClaridge or use the form on the top right of the page.

Stuart McCall quit as manager of Bradford City last week. You know the club, is this vacant managerial position one with great appeal or a 'poisoned chalice' as the expectations seem so high? What realistically do you think the Bantams can achieve and who should the club turn to in order to turn their fortunes around?(maybe yourself?)
Jon, UK

Since Jon sent in this question, Bradford have appointed Peter Taylor as manager. He's a decent bloke and proven at that level, having taken Wycombe and Hull up out of League Two

It's a great opportunity for him, too, and certainly not any sort of poisoned chalice. Bradford have got hardcore of around 12,000 fans, who will back them come hell or high water. If things were a bit different for me - I've got two children aged under 18 months and I live at the other end of the country - then it would have been a job I'd have been interested in.

Finances at Bradford are still reasonably tight, so they are not going to throw money around and bash straight through the divisions, but they should certainly be very competitive. They should eventually get back into the Championship at some stage, which is probably their level in terms of the structure and size of the club.

As for Stuart McCall, I do feel for him because he is a nice bloke. A very principled and honourable man, he probably made the decision to leave Bradford in order to help the club. He's also someone you don't want to lose to football. A great servant to the game, you want the game to give a bit back to him now. He might not be a manager, but let's hope he gets another number two job soon.

Will Cheltenham Town go down to the Blue Square Premier?
James, England

What is your take on the situation at Torquay United. Our manager Paul Buckle has dismantled a winning team that was winning and scoring freely during November and December and has brought in players that don't seem to know where the net is and are in the habit of leaking goals in the last 10 minutes of games. It's all very well bringing what he feels are good players but if they don't play as a team the club will end up back in the Blue Square Premier - at the moment they play as though they have never set eyes on one another (so I'm told) or am I, as an arm chair supporter (no choice being in Spain), being too critical? I'd appreciate your view.
Bert Johannson, Spain

Are Grimsby Town destined for the drop? Or can they turn their 20-game winless run around and save themselves?
Matt, UK

I'll answer these three questions together because they are all about the relegation battle at the bottom of League Two. That is something I have never really been involved in, but I don't think there is a worse one. You are playing for your Football League status and it is not easy to get it back once you lose it because the Blue Square Premier is horrifically hard.

If you're a player or a fan and think some of the grounds you go to in League Two aren't very good then, boy, you're in for a rude awakening because some of the stadiums in non-league football are very, very poor.

I don't think you can write any team off yet, though, as far as relegation goes. Darlington are bottom and got well beaten by Morecambe on Saturday. Earlier this month, they picked up four points from two matches, but, after 27 games, they still only have 15 points and remain 12 adrift of safety.

Morecambe 2-0 Darlington

The difficult thing for them is going to be winning their games in hand. They are unlikely to win two or three games in a row. But some of the teams above them are in freefall so Darlington still have hope. The only real difference is the other teams have the points on the board. Still, it is going to be a real scrap.

As far as Torquay are concerned, this is their first season back in the Football League. When you get promoted, you give the people who got you up an opportunity and then move on. I spoke to Paul Buckle the other day and he is trying to freshen things up now and bring young players to the club. It's definitely a period of transition.

I think the difference between Paul and Mark Yates at Cheltenham or Neil Woods at Grimsby is that Paul has showed he can do the job. He got Torquay up, after all. The other two aren't really proven yet.

Cheltenham have had problems all season. Before he left, Martin Allen didn't have the greatest of times as their manager. They got relegated and then, unfortunately from his perspective, struggled again in the division below when they should have done better. Mark did well at Kidderminster, but he has come to a club that is on its way down, and sometimes it is difficult to arrest that slide.

Grimsby haven't won for 20 games but they are still in touch and within six points of safety. The funny thing with them is that, in the last 14 games, they have conceded the same amount of goals as top-of-the-table Rochdale - 12. But Dale have scored 32 goals and Grimsby have scored six - there lies their problem.

Grimsby are not getting beaten all over the shop. In fact, they are very close to winning games, but something has got to change soon because if that gap gets much bigger then, psychologically, their players might start to wonder whether they can get out of it.

I have bitten my lip over this for several weeks but when exactly are Swansea City going to get the coverage and recognition they deserve? OK, we are not the hottest ticket in town in terms of goals but surely Paulo Sousa deserves more credit for the job he has done in following Roberto Martinez as manager than he has been given up until now?
Andrew Harper, Wales

I watched Swansea give Newcastle a right going over on Saturday. It was only a goal right at the end that got the Magpies a draw. They weren't really in the game apart from that.

I've said before that I am surprised at the job Paulo Sousa has done because of his record at QPR - and he keeps surprising me. He has built from a really solid foundation and Swansea are such a difficult side to play against.

Swansea 1-1 Newcastle

Can you imagine if Swansea still had Jason Scotland and Jordi Gomez, who followed Roberto Martinez to Wigan? They would have had a chance of automatic promotion and maybe the title. As it is, they have done well without them and coped without two more of their best players from last season, too, in Ferrie Bodde and Darren Pratley, who have been out for long spells because of injury.

If they do go up, I will hold my hand up and say I never expected them to do it. I thought they would struggle. They are by far the biggest shock for me in terms of the teams up at the top of the Championship, and no-one is going to like going down there if they get in the play-offs. I'm pleased to be proved wrong.

What do you think is the problem at Charlton? At the start of the season we had a midfield who passed round teams for fun and, although we've not had one man scoring loads of goals, we've had plenty of players chipping in with them. But, just like two seasons ago when we were flying near the top of the Championship, we seem to have just stopped playing.
Gary, England

I've seen Charlton three times this season and they've been really really poor each time. They're obviously a lot better than that, but they haven't won in five games now.

Why have they started to struggle? Well, when you're chasing promotion and your results start to tail off, the crowd gets a bit restless because their expectations have been high.

All of a sudden, the players lose a bit of confidence, especially on the ball, and stop doing the things that made the team successful in the first place. I've seen it happen at other clubs and it becomes a bit of a vicious circle.

Bristol Rovers 2-1 Charlton

To snap out of it, you need to be strong and take a bit of criticism but stick to your values and be prepared to get the ball down and pass it.

It helps them that Leeds have been struggling, too, but Charlton have had the chance to close the gap on the front two in the last six weeks and haven't taken it. It is almost as if they don't believe they are going to get in the top two.

Maybe manager Phil Parkinson should try to freshen things up because a top-two placing is still within reach. In all honesty, they probably won't make it, but they will have a lot of time to get used to the fact that they will be in the play-offs.

Steve Claridge is a BBC Football League pundit who played more than 800 matches for 15 clubs over the course of a 24-year playing career. He was talking to Chris Bevan.

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