News: Bob Bradley to Aston Villa?

Knowing Bob the way we do... I am pretty certain that if he says he was presented with the job that meant that someone from Fulham contacted him or his agent to gauge his level of interest and what his circumstances were with the US Nats... Bob is not the type of guy to act bigger than he is just for press...

 

Thanks for the link, but that's pretty thin gruel... In contact through an intermediary. Could very well mean that his agent contacted the club to let them know he was interested in the job. Nothing to suggest that the interest was reciprocated. Let me be clear, I'm not a Bradley hater in the SFS mold, just skeptical that Fulham seriously considered him.

 

'presented for the position' what the hell does that mean?

Lerner will contact Sven....and then when Sven- believing Lerner is the typical rich, clueless American that needs him.....when Sven offers, 'yes, I would like to be a candidate if I get a 5 year, $25 million dollar guaranteed contract"....then Bob Bradley will look pretty good in comparison!

And then Lerner will quickly hire some veteran Prem coach w/good reputation who has been on the sidelines, and won't want but $1m a year or less.

 

I would imagine that it means he was presented with the possibility of being the coach. Meaning that Fulham was interested enough to have him as one of their candidates. Nothing more, nothing less.

I really have no idea why people would find reason to argue with that. There are numerous articles mentioning that he was on their radar.

Very odd behavior from a few posters on this one.

 

I think Bradley not being interviewed for the job speaks for itself, with no need for embellishment. There aren't too many jobs in the coaching world that can be had without even one interview.

 

Fulham never even spoke to Sven...two interviews were conducted in the whole process... Martin Jol while Mackintosh was in Amsterdam and Mark Hughs after the Jol deal fell through... we need to quit trying to distance Bob from these jobs... where there is smoke there is often fire... Bob was likely on a list of candidates...that in itself is a big deal...

 

Whoa there! Saying he wasn't interviewed and thus unlikely to actually get the job is a good ways away from saying he wasn't considered. The fact is that no one at Fulham actually gave out a list of candidates, at least publicly. But that certainly doesn't stop the media from speculating, especially when there is some kind of Yank connection. So, whether Bob, through his agent, pursued the Fulham job or that they contacted him first, the fact remains that he was never that high on the list. Then again, maybe Fulham is a club where the job offer is fait accompli because you get brought in for an interview. That's just not how it works in most places.

 

Ahem, speculating much?

 

Excellent piece here (written by an Englishman by the way):
http://www.noshortcorners.com/2010/08/bradley-to-villa-im-not-so-sure.html

 

Actually.... in England it is.... it is not like the NFL where a bunch of people are interviewed.... Jol did not even come to London to interview... he was spoken to over the phone and then they went to him in Amsterdam... Hughes only had 1 interview at Motspur Park and that was the day before he signed...

Bob was on the list and several Fulham sources have said he was... again enough of the Euro snobbery and just accept the fact that Bob will now be considered for likely every English opening from Championship to the Prem until he is hired by one of them or re-signs with US Soccer...

 

I've seen odds on Bradley to Villa at 3/1 and 9/4 as of earlier today, depending which site you read. No matter what, he's the odds-on favorite right now. That, for me, is certainly a lot of smoke.

 

I'm grinning now.

My thoughts:

1. The Friedel/Guzan gameday threads will certainly be busy this year.
2. Say a prayer for the YA mods. Just as they lose their #1 headache, Freddy Adu, they pick up a freakin' brain tumor. Can you imagine the Bradley fans and Bradley haters squaring off every freakin' thread?!?!?!

I'm not a huge Bradley fan, but to the extent I want Villa to do well, I prefer him over SGE and Gareth Southgate. Man, I'm starting to believe this might happen just because the other candidates are so sh!tty.

 

I think it means BB was on their long list, but not their short list. Hodgson leaves, and what's the first step in replacing him?

"Who is available and acceptable?" FFC comes up with a list of, I dunno, 15 names. 20 names. Whatever. Then they make cursory contact with those guys to see who is interested in being considered. Then they tighten the circle amongst the men who reciprocate the interest.

My guess, based on how the story unfolded, is that Bradley was in the circle, but when FFC narrowed their search, Bradley didn't make the cut.

 

because articles on this can be absolute BS. right now, there is a frenzy about Bob to Villa, with very little evidence to support it. The short lists that media draw up are culled from the same names getting bandied about every time there is an opening. These 'news' (haha) organization all parrot each other, and piece fragments of data together to get a quick story up on the web.

This is where the web world just kills us. There is a pressure to put something up that is halfway coherent, without doing the fact checking to go along with it.

Bradley to Villa was a natural, given the owner was American., and Bradley's name was mentioned for Fulham. Martin Jol's name got bandied about...is there any evidence at all that Villa has Jol in the frame? No...its just because Fulham just ended their process, and Jol had been offered the job.

Had this been Birmingham looking for a skipper, Bradley's name would have never come up. Because there is no American owner or strong American connection (like Fulham). There is no decent data to hang a hat on (the normal suppition story).

I'm not saying Bob isn't on a list of 8-10 guys somewhere, but I really find it hard to believe that he is the #1 candidate as Sky and BBC seem to want to piece together. I remain open to being pleasantly wrong and surprised.

 

Here is what you need to know. People in the UK place large sums of money collectively on things like this because sports betting is ingrained in their culture. Do you think that the books would just throw a bunch of random names and numbers out there and risk millions of dollars? It isn't just BBC and Sky who can say whatever they please without financial reprocussions. But William Hill, BWin, and Bet 365 etc. aren't afforded that luxury. There is a science to this believe it or not.

 

To add to this... information clearly does leak that has some value... Jols price went ultra low when the rumors (which proved to be true) came about that he was a about to sign.... same thing happened in the days leading up to the Hughes appointment...

These bookmakers have sources and sources and sources that none of us have... as do some of the journos (though many are very lazy too)... The truth is probably somewhere in the middle...

 

Did Bob have odds for the Fulham position?

What kind of betting house would stay in business if they were this lazy in establishing odds?

 

One with equally stupid enough clients to bet on Bob and Bruce simply because they are "Yanks" *cough* The English *cough*


No but in all seriousness I agree whole-heartedly

 

yes he had fluctuating odds which meant obviously something was there (being that people likely actually laid a punt or two on him)

He was mostly between 7-1 to 15-1... got 2nd or 3rd lowest price during some heavy speculation (perhaps after he was approached) and then it went back up (after he was presumed removed from the final cut down)

 

If I had to guess, it means that whoever ultimately makes the decision on who is hired (I assume this is Mohamed Al-Fayed) tells people at the club to make a preliminary list of coaches they may want to look at. Bradley was probably on this list. There would probably then be some talks with agents to gauge interest, research etc. and the list pared down. Bradley was still probably on this list from what I've read. From there they would then begin to interview or hold talks with the people they really want until they find someone.

I have no idea if this is how it is done, but it seems like the logical way to do things. However it does seem like a lot of English teams simply have a list of every English Prem manager from the last 10 years and simply thrown darts at it. The amount of retread hires is astounding to me. I know it happens in every league but the NFL recently seems to be breaking the mold. Lots of first time coaches and extremely young guys; all coming in and having a lot of success right away.

 

clearly the author is related to Bradley in some way and this is an example of nepotism.

 

Yes, and if I had read further before posting I would have seen that you said exactly what I was alluding to. These people are in the business to make money - it is not in their interest to set odds without serious consideration.

Wait a minute - so he got odds, but the owner isn't American? Must be because there is an American on the team then.

 

Wait a minute - so he got odds, but the owner isn't American? Must be because there is an American on the team then.[/QUOTE]

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