Otto Pfister Offered US Job?

[SoftTackle]

According to this Kicker article in German that appears to be the case - also offered the South Korean job. Kicker is a reliable source for German soccer and there is even a direct quote. Is Bradley still an interim manager?

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/intligen/startseite/artikel/374967/

[giffenbone]

Pfister? I barely know her...

[DaPrince84]

Gertjan Verbeek is free this summer...

[FakeFlopper]

I don't know, Bradley's not doing bad enough to get kicked off. If we look like crap and erk by opponents during qualifying then maybe. I hope Sunil has a good replacement in the wings waiting if Bob pulls a McClaren.

[Kevin8833]

I don't know, Bradley's not doing bad enough to get kicked off. If we look like crap and erk by opponents during qualifying then maybe. I hope Sunil has a good replacement in the wings waiting if Bob pulls a McClaren.
I think Bradley has done a decent job, but nothing great, although we have gotten results we haven't really looked all that impressive and like someone else said he seems afraid to try different things, the only thing he switched was Donovan out right and Dempsey closer to goal, and he is dead stuck on the empty bucket 4-4-2, he isn't awful but if we can improve on him that would be better, one thing he does do is he knows the american game and players well so maybe they are thinking Bradley could be technical director possibly, and maybe this Pfister guy would take over as head coach, how good is Pfister as a coach anyways, is he really that much of an improvement over Bradley?

[tbgh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Pfister

Apparently a lot of success at the club level. He also won the U17 world cup in 1991 with Ghana. A lot more international experience than Bradley, but all in Africa. Definitely not a sure thing. Not bad either though.

[appoo]

this is pretty shady of the USSF....

Reminds me of Auburn offering Bobby Petrino a contract when Tubberville was still coaching...

[Ghost]

Is Bradley still an interim manager?
]

Not necessarily. He could just be a candidate for promotiion within the organization.

[sidefootsitter]

Otto's kind of nuts.

Famous for his temper.

There should be younger coaches available.

But Otto is cheap.

[shinzui]

Maybe Bradley has been offered a job in Europe that the press hasn't heard about yet. Although it sounds far fetched.

[FirstStar]

Up and out for Bradley. It's pretty clear that he will never take the USA to another level. Not sure we can blame him too much, as he doesn't have star material to work with. Still, he's blooded a young generation and it would be a good time to hire someone who knows what to do with them (besides defend with 6 at all times).

[izha]

Maybe Bradley has been offered a job in Europe that the press hasn't heard about yet. Although it sounds far fetched.
As a ball boy.

[sidefootsitter]

To his own son.

[argaen]

Does anyone think Bob would have taken Cameroon to the African cup final? I certainly don't. I hope there is some truth to this, just because Bradley is the same status quo we have been running for the past decade. Lets do something different.

[Ghost]

I'm not going to make too much of this right now, but it's an interesting report. It will be interesting tomorrow, when everyone is back to the office, if Sunil or Soccer House shoots this rumor down to Goff or someone else. Are they going to come out with a firm denial? And what does it mean if they don't? And what does it mean if they do?

[DaPrince84]

Does anyone think Bob would have taken Cameroon to the African cup final? I certainly don't. I hope there is some truth to this, just because Bradley is the same status quo we have been running for the past decade. Lets do something different.
well no... and Cameroon were a pretty bad team this year also... but that's unfair of Bob because Otto has coached in Africa for nearly 2 decades...

Gertjan Verbeek is available

[saabrian]

Perhaps the folks at Soccer House think that since the last six years has brought 3 continental championships and a World Cup quarterfinal, then maybe the status quo isn't so horrible.

Personally, I would've preferred something different myself. Our national team program is essentially designed to beat Mexico, which isn't as much of an accomplishment as the past since we seem to be in their heads. I think now that we're the best team in our confederation, it's time to set the bar a little higher. Like sending an A team to Copa America.

But something different would've required the federation to have it's sh** together and actually have a plan B in case negotiations with Klinsman didn't work out.

[Untroubled by Reason]

But something different would've required the federation to have it's sh** together and actually have a plan B in case negotiations with Klinsman didn't work out.I understand the sentiment, but realistically, what coach (outside of an American) is going you want to hear, "You're our Plan B: would you like the job?" Remember Guus Hiddink telling the English FA to pish off after they botched the approach to Felipao Scolari? At least the USSF hired Bradley - they ended up with McLaren!

The point is, no quality coach is going to enjoy being second choice.

[miked9]

Pfister? I barely know her...

as they say on another board I post on...

world class first-response posting

[graywolfe81]

I don't know, Bradley's not doing bad enough to get kicked off. If we look like crap and erk by opponents during qualifying then maybe. I hope Sunil has a good replacement in the wings waiting if Bob pulls a McClaren.

I expect Sunil to grin and bear it no matter how bad things get. But really, so far, the only things to recommend Bradley have been his inclusionary policies in looking at any and all options rather than sticking completely to a set collection of options (something Arena did as he became conservative in his second go round as coach), and in getting us a much, much more inspiring schedule in term of friendlies and tournaments. One could also add the miracle come back in the Gold Cup Final which showed a fighting instinct that was distinctly missing when the refs hosed us against Ghana, and after McBrides Post Header, the team completely quit.

Beyond that, not much. The bogus record that helped get him the job, beating up on some poor c siders is now long gone, after seeing his c-siders/youth team get rolled in Copa, and friendlies against A squad teams of repute resulted in defeats against Sweden and Brazil. The empty buckett/dedication to dual destroyer midfield has seen our performances dim rather than bloom in year two.

Suffice it to say, the reasons for his interim tag being removed are mostly gone, as are the early quality performances against mostly bunk teams. I don't think he's a horrible coach, I just think he'll be a disastrous mistake in '09 or at the latest in '10 when it matters most. As a stop gap he was fine, but I remain convinced that my '06 take was sound. That we had no business hiring a guy that was mediocre in our own domestic league when eight years earlier, a coach 10x as effective, and with 10x the resume in Arena, wasn't even wanted and won the job at the last minute. If Arena could barely get enough love to squeak by, how Bradley managed to hurdle into the gig after the strides made since '98 is beyond comprehension and remains so. In friendlies, and mostly bunk tournaments, I can stomach him as a mostly stop gap, particularly since he's helped us land us some nice friendlies, and he's been willing to look under every rock imaginable for new talent and not afraid to blood anyone. That's a plus, but in terms of in game coaching and crunch time, I look at him a lot like I look at England's disastrous and equally arrogant decision to promote from within with McClaren. Both England and the US screwed the pooch in landing coaching with genuine plaudits to their name, and settled for second raters, England's already circled the drain and gone into the toilet (and at least with them, there is more condemnation as its far more easy for England to pull elite coaching talent, then it is for the US), and I can't help but sense that our settling for Bradley is much of the same cloth. They're not the same coach, or even guys with at all similar flaws, but the "settling" and "second rate" gloss holds up in my view, and I can't shake the sense that Bradley's mediocre record will be more than telling in the World Cup, and possibly even in qualifying.

Considering I haven't really gone cranky about the hiring in about 14 months, I'll try to shut up again now about it. Nothing can be done to change things, and I don't really by the Otto talk either.