Climbing the Mountain: Bob Bradley at Stabæk

Discussion in 'Yanks Abroad Academy' started by Lloyd Heilbrunn, Jan 2, 2014.

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  1. Jeff Bradley

    Jeff Bradley Member+

    Jun 3, 1999
    Manasquan, NJ on the beautiful Jersey Shore.
    Club:
    Le Havre AC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    When you talk to me, understand, I watch every game, preseason and in-season...I know what I've witnessed the last two years in terms of growth and development at Stabaek. Again, I've seen what Bob inherited. It wasn't good.

    So, I disagree with much of what you say, from a football perspective.

    Easier to be a coach on a message board than on an actual field. You know that.
     
  2. Jeff Bradley

    Jeff Bradley Member+

    Jun 3, 1999
    Manasquan, NJ on the beautiful Jersey Shore.
    Club:
    Le Havre AC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    One last thing and I'll get the hell off the message boards.

    Go Stabaek. Huge game today. If you'd have said at the beginning of this season, when they were touring Portland, Stabaek would be on 53 points with two games remaining, with a chance to medal, you'd have signed up for that.

    Great effort by the club...Inge and Bob as a PARTNERSHIP...to find players who fit the budget. Great job by the players, who bought in to Bob's philosophy, who have worked their asses off all year...

    Three points today, boys. You can do this.

    Cheers,

    JB
     
  3. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    I would expect no less. :)

    And true, I'm not a trained football coach, so I usally try to discuss topics with people I know that are coaches or have been in the past before making up my mind on footballing issues.

    So I also know what I've witnessed over the last two seasons, and I'm not impressed.

    Football has few definite answers, so we probably have to agree to disagree I guess.
     
  4. Jeff Bradley

    Jeff Bradley Member+

    Jun 3, 1999
    Manasquan, NJ on the beautiful Jersey Shore.
    Club:
    Le Havre AC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Which is why I lean on this quote frequently...

    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt
     
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  5. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    Bradley was considered to manage the Danish NT? That would have been real interesting
     
  6. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    And what would football be like without fans who cares enough to spend time and money on following and discussing the clubs...
     
  7. Jeff Bradley

    Jeff Bradley Member+

    Jun 3, 1999
    Manasquan, NJ on the beautiful Jersey Shore.
    Club:
    Le Havre AC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yup. But important to keep it in perspective.

    I'm a 25-year sportswriter in New York. I know all about being a critic.

    Let's get three points today.
     
  8. Fanatical Monk

    Fanatical Monk Member+

    Jun 14, 2011
    Fantasyland
    Not to pick a fight, but you come off totally delusional a bit to often.
     
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  9. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    Point taken!

    I probably overdo it a bit in an attept to balance the picture:)
     
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  10. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    Victory 3-2 vs IK Start.

    So the worst we can do is a 3. place - Europe here we come :)
     
  11. Dr.Phil

    Dr.Phil Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Congrats
     
  12. kruck

    kruck Member+

    Jan 12, 2008
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    SV Werder Bremen
    Now do you have to rent the big stadium and lose money?
     
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  13. bshredder

    bshredder BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 23, 1999
    Club:
    Millwall FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Great job by Bradley & company
     
  14. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
     
  15. thomas222

    thomas222 Member

    Jun 15, 2010
    And honestly, you do a good job. And your honesty is refreshing.

    Most YA threads follow a similar pattern. Initial bonhomie; some criticism seeps into the local fans' posts; YA posters react poorly to the criticism; local fans react poorly to the reaction to their criticism; YA posters react poorly to the reaction to their reaction (to the criticism); and so on, until the Yank leaves and there's finally room for measured stock-taking.

    Anyone who's spent time debating politics on the Internet is familiar with the reflexivity that creeps into these discussions. Having "lurked" since Day 1, I am sure that virtually every poster on this thread would concede - if it didn't mean surrendering ground in some zero sum struggle over legacy - that they had "overdone" it a bit in an attempt to "balance" the picture. What makes the Bob Bradley thread so unique in the context of YA is that the debate is fundamentally about apportioning credit rather than blame.

    Regardless of where "the truth" lies, congratulations both to the Stabaek fans on a well-deserved return to the pinnacle of Norwegian football and to those YA posters (and kin) who have been cheering on a man who is well on his way to becoming the most accomplished American soccer coach in history.
     
  16. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    Probably...

    I think they have talked about using Forenbu Arena - the indoor stadium that we were kicked out of...
    I hope they find some other venue.

    And that we do not draw some obscure east european team in the qualifiers. They do not draw spectators, and they are usually pretty good.
     
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  17. BostonRed

    BostonRed Member+

    Oct 9, 2011
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  18. @ringo

    @ringo Member

    Jan 6, 2014
    Club:
    Stabaek IF
    I keep forgetting that most followers of this tread is primarly interested in finding out how well Bob is dooing, and probably not so much how some of us not to happy Stabæk supporters rate his does and don'ts.

    And I understand that it seems very strange not to simply praise him based on the results, because in the end that is all that matters. But for me there is a bit more to it, I'm stuck with this club for a long time after Bob has moved on...
     
  19. scottinkc

    scottinkc Member

    Aug 14, 2001
    Kansas City, MO
    And now he moves to France, and the whole thing starts all over again.
     
  20. glennaldo_sf

    glennaldo_sf Member+

    Houston Dynamo, Penang FC, Al Duhail
    United States
    Nov 25, 2004
    Doha, Qatar
    Club:
    FL Fart Vang Hedmark
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You mean you aren't going to come and become a Le Havre supporter like the rest of us? :)
     
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  21. Jeff Bradley

    Jeff Bradley Member+

    Jun 3, 1999
    Manasquan, NJ on the beautiful Jersey Shore.
    Club:
    Le Havre AC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I am a happy, proud little brother tonight. I know the blood, sweat and tears that he and his assistant Jan Peder put into this team for the last two seasons. I'm assuming only Ringo and I saw what this squad looked like when Bob arrived. I watched in horror when they played pre-season games in 2014. They were getting run off the field by second division teams. I was truly worried that Bob had made a huge mistake. Last year was about survival. This year, you could see in Portland that the team's football had improved, but they were missing athleticism. When they added Asante and Diomande and a reclamation project named El-Ghanassy, I was interested to see what would happen. There was a time this season where, in my opinion, Stabaek were the best team in Tippaligaen. They were screwed by the referee not once, not twice, but three times against Rosenborg, costing them a shot at the league and the Cup. When Dio was sold and Keita and Meling were injured, it became really nerve-wracking. You could see the squad was losing confidence. This week, Bob and Jan had a big task, to get the team believing again. What a gratifying result.

    Alltid Uansett.

    Evig Blaa.

    Jeff
     
  22. kruck

    kruck Member+

    Jan 12, 2008
    Houston, TX
    Club:
    SV Werder Bremen
    A lot of us are really really proud of him, I hope he knows that.
     
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  23. LouisianaViking07/09

    Aug 15, 2009
    Its like a new season of American Horror Story
     
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  24. (TxT)

    (TxT) Member+

    Jun 9, 2004
    Tampa, FL
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Let's just hope the Le Havre supporters who find their way to BS are half as good as our friends from Norway have been in this thread.

    I really enjoyed reading your perspectives @@Ringo and @Sevens7ar Thanks!
     
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  25. glennaldo_sf

    glennaldo_sf Member+

    Houston Dynamo, Penang FC, Al Duhail
    United States
    Nov 25, 2004
    Doha, Qatar
    Club:
    FL Fart Vang Hedmark
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    btw, aren't we going to need a new thread title soon?
     

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