Climbing the Mountain: Bob Bradley at Stabæk

For a lot of us USA fans, thetc beginning of this cycle has been the worst year in US Soccer history since the 1998 World Cup. Not only did we fail on the pitch, but this is the most desolate generation of YA I can ever remember, as well as a surprisingly poor run of talent from our youth teams.

Bradley has been a rare bright spot, and I want to thank @Ringo and @Sevens7ar for letting us lurkers live through themail experience with them. They didn't have to do this for us, and I'll be eternally grateful for it. I also understand their frustration with Coach Bradley. They are fans of the club, I'm a fan of the coach. Those are quite different perspectives, and the dynamics are such that Coach Bradley could have success personally, yet for a diehard might not have done quite as much as they wanted frome him for the club. Afterall, that's the nature of the sport today. Managers are in it to win now at all costs. Supporters want to see club success for the long range. Someetings those goals are in conflict.

Again, thanks @Ringo and @Sevens7ar

Good luck to Stabæk

 

I've found @Ringo to be a gentleman...

But, it's so BigSoccer that the only two Stabaek supporters who weigh-in here don't like Bob...

I get so many tweets sent my way from fans who adore him...one just suggested they build a statue of him outside Nadderud! I explained to Ringo, and he understood...Bob has the American mentality...

He thought he had the team to win the league and the cup this year. He really did.

Maybe not the depth, but the team, to do it...so he went for it. The sale of Dio was a clear sign that the club felt Bob was a bit delusional...maybe fair, maybe not...I just know that Bob tried to instill in his team that they were going for it, 100 percent...the last month of the season has been a struggle...but I will always remember how good the fully-operational Stabaek team looked in 2015...they were a joy to watch.

 

Very interesting to see the coach getting credit for "rebuilding the squad" here... would that not have been the sporting directors responsibility?

 

Yupp, you're right! My bad

 

Not exactly. Inge brought players to Bob's attention. Bob scouted, usually through extensive video review, did background checks on character, etc. and then said "yes or no."

A partnership.

 

Nice article by a poster on this thread:

http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2015/11...acle-leads-stabaek-to-european-qualification/

Reaching the Europa League is an incredible achievement for Bradley and his talented backroom staff — which include Tomasz Kaczmarek and Jan Peder Jalland as coaches and sporting director Andre Inge Olsen — given the limited resources available to him at Stabaek and with his contract up in the next few weeks, it caps off a wonderful two years since he left the Egyptian national team and arrived as the first American coach to ever manage in a top-flight league in Europe.


Bradley, 57, told PST in September that he isn’t sure what the future holds and despite Stabaek holding talks with him about a new deal, it is widely believed the former U.S. national team head coach will now move on to his next challenge. He has been linked with many jobs in Norway, England, Germany and France in recent months, the most intriguing of which seems to be Le Harve in Ligue 2. However things pan out, Bradley has helped the profile of American coaches grow in Europe as his exploits in Norway have not gone unnoticed.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/...dley-reflects-stabaeks-incredible-achievement

"This is great for the club and, in particular, this group of players," declared Bradley. "You think back a couple years when things had sort of bottomed out here. There was a lot of work from so many people in this club. The founding fathers, some of the people who helped this team from the fourth or fifth league, are still involved. Inge Andre Olsen has really taken an initiative. When I made the decision to come here, I felt I was involved with good people.

"Now to be able in two seasons, to not only play good football and be an exciting team, but to do something that can be a sign of better things to come, I couldn't be happier for the club."

 

next title;

The Bradley way: to have, at le Havre, Bob.

 

Manager of the Year:

661516485475631104 is not a valid tweet id

 

Guess they didn't solicit the opinions of true Staabeck fans.

 

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/...dley-reflects-stabaeks-incredible-achievement is titled "American Exports: Bob Bradley reflects on Stabaek's "incredible" third-place achievement in Norway."

 

man, we don't need to be thin-skinned. I'm sure Bob know the gig comes with criticism from lots of sources.

 

What do the fans and critics think of bradleys win? Is it legitimate or just the media bandwagon?

 

Bob seems to be the ultimate professional, a gentleman and student of the game. He is a great example of how to be a professional club manager. He's not flashy, he's not going to create headlines with his behavior or statements, but he is going to get the club to succeed on the field. Le Havre is an interesting pick for him, given the other reported options, but knowing the language must have been part of the decision. Dutch is not a language I would have wanted to master.

 

1. There are only a few insiders who really know what the deal is, everyone else has no idea.

2. Everyone knows that this stuff was going to happen, even if Mr. Magoo was the coach.

3. He played the wrong players and wasted resources.

4. Sporting director, Andre Inge Olsen, is the real hero, here.

5. Words like "miracle" and "meteoric" are entirely inappropriate with regards to this situation.

6. The relegation three years ago, was actually Bob's fault, more will be revealed a couple of years from now, by folks in the know.

7. Limited resources, BAH, everyone knows Bob broke the bank to make this happen. It will be years before Stabaek recovers.

8. Without Bob, Stabaek will win the Euros next year, wait and see. The insiders have the true information.

9. A better coach who will play the proper players is on the way. Results are not always that important.

10. There are those on this thread who lack a bit of humor. Other people's motives become their target. The truth will butt hurt this particular crowd. Sarcasm, will be missing . . .

11. Stabaek FC won this, Bradley was undeserving. American coaches winning honors, lol, Fvck the police . . .

12. I am not anonymous, I have other internet aliases. I am known to all in the underground world of Orcs.

13, The folks in Europe know what happened with Egypt.

14, After about 20 of these posts, things might begin to balance out.

15. Remember this one thing, only the Stabaek insiders have the true truth. Everyone else needs to understand this stuff.

16. Don't come back here to any Stabaek site if things improve at Havre. We are very happy that Bob is headed out the door. We are in the know, see . . .

 

It is interesting that he would turn down a midtable Dutch club. The promise of Ligue 1 cant be all that much better than Holland IMO

 

As an American born in Somerville New Jersey, but who learned to love soccer while studying in Norway I can tell you that @Ringo is an anomaly on Stabæks norwegian message boards. He is often criticized for being overly negative towards Bob. Most are wishing Bob well, others are suggesting hall of fame, some are saying he belongs to a bigger club

It is stereotypically norwegian to chastise exuberant praise for someone. . Our norwegian friends have followed this script quite well. If I have time I will translate some praise from Other Stabæk fans less critical of Bob

 

I guess it is fair, the first XI they put together was as good as any in the league, and given the budget that is a good acomplishment. Perhaps an extra thank you to the medical team keeping the squad fit throughout

But this is only one newspaper - the big one I guess is the one from the coaches assosiation. Beeing rated by your peers is usually held in high regards by the coaches themselves. He might win that also without it raising to many eyebrows. At least outside Trøndelag .

He has generated good results this season and deserves praise for that.

 

"Great Minds' Havre Purposes, Others' Havre Wishes" -- not Washington Irving.

 

Perceptiveness, reasonability, giving credit where it's duedue, balanced perspecitve . . . What on earth are you doing on BigSoccer??? Shouldn't the mods be doing something about this?

 

"I know nothing" (sargent Schulz) but that hasn't prevented me from enjoying this thread. I am a huge fan of Bradley but I appreciate @Ringo and Sevens7ar for their contributions and opinions. Some of the commentary goes against what I feel about Bradley (based upon his time in MLS, with the USMNT and reports from Egypt etc) but I have bitten my tongue because I am not there.

Bottom line is that variance in opinion is healthy and I really appreciate comments of those close to the team and the coach (this also means you Jeff Bradley).

I am happy for Stabaek and wish them luck in their future and am looking forward to Bob Bradley's next adventure in France and hope his combination of character, preparedness, determination, thoroughness, etc leads Havre to great places as well.

 

Euro fans unimpressed with American soccer guy. I thank this thread for bringing me this enlightening perspective that I have never come across before.

 

You ought to have seen the Sunderland threads how thrilled they were when they thought they were about to get Bob to replace Dick Advocaat.... oh how disappointed they must have been to get Big Sam instead...

 

That debate whether Stabæk is pronounced just like Staubach was such a good use of time. I'm looking forward to the dispute over whether Havre is pronounced like Favre.