All very interesting, I'm sure, but all of which has precisely nothing to do with the American owners' actions at Swansea this season.
Here is a summarized example of one of the articles from post 991: DID ANTI-AMERICAN PREJUDICE END BOB BRADLEY’S PREMIER LEAGUE DREAM? http://europe.newsweek.com/end-bob-bradley-swansea-city-premier-league-dream-538863?rm=eu 1. Bradley replaced a coach who had won once in his previous 12 games and scored less than 1 goal a match. The team was low on morale. 2. The club had been sold over the summer without consulting all of the shareholders. “The fans felt the local businessmen had sold them out. Because of that, there was a bit of an anti-American feeling." This was because it was Americans who had bought the club. 3. Fans in England believe that foreign owners diminish the connection they have with the team, or potentially might sell off assets, such as the Glazer family did with Manchester United. The only way to appease these fans is for the team to be successful and immediately. 4. “I think it was inevitable that when Bob Bradley was appointed there was more pressure on him because of the feeling out there among the fans,” says McDonald. “There had never been an American manager before. He wasn’t someone with huge experience of the Premier League—not even top class football. So there was the suspicion, the feeling that he was appointed purely because he was an American.” 5. “We all understood from the first meetings that this was a difficult situation,” Bradley says 13 days after being fired. “We also agreed that getting this team turned around was going to take hard work, including a January [transfer] window, and I’m disappointed that all that has now been thrown away.” 6. Bradley was ridiculed in public media for using American terminology in an interview following the Middlesbrough loss. 7. Britain's Sky Sports created a foul mouthed American character who couldn't get his player's names right and called him "Brad Bobley", two weeks following his hiring. 8. One attributed the criticism of Bradley to snobbery. “You have a very passionate supporter base that has been trained in recent years to have very, very little patience. And then you have a media that is pretty rabid in its approach to the analysis of a team’s shortcomings,” he says. 9. Bob's own frankness, a characteristic considered American, Bradley has admitted, may have harmed him in Wales. “Maybe I would not have been quite as open,” he told Sports Illustrated, when asked whether he would have done anything differently. 10. There was discussion that some of the player's status(es) may have been damaged by the coach. There is more, but this is a summation of the key points in this particular article. And if someone doesn't suspect this behavior and attitude about football expressed in this article, doesn't run a bit deeper than Bob Bradley goes to Swansea, they might be a bit of an ostrich in denial. It's a cultural issue that runs deep. And many go so far as to suggest the English media and the culture surrounding it, are the major concern with English football. And certainly Bradley has moved on. We'll see what happens next.
Bradley was sacked because of results, end of, this continuous 'anti American' nonsense is getting tiresome, answer me this if Bradley had won more games than he lost would he have been sacked? No of course not, Swansea fans (like all British football fans) couldn't give a toss where their manager, star striker or tea lady comes from as long as the team is winning football matches. If you think that Bradley was ridiculed you should see how Graham Taylor or Steve McLaren suffered when things weren't going well!
I was pretty much just quoting the article. If you're saying results on a football field occur in a vacuum, it's probably best that we just agree to disagree.
The persistent argument that Bob unfairly did not get a shot at the transfer window continues to ring hollow for me. All he had to do was show well enough to get the backing to stick around long enough. The fact that he failed to do that is on him, not these mysterious outside forces. Which brings us to the biggest mysterious outside force of all, anti American bias. If it was a major factor, it was because of the fans. That however cuts both ways because the anti American sentiment was created by and initially aimed at the owners. If anyone is really willing to take a look at how wonderful the Swans fans and their relationship with the club was as they marched up to the premier league and as they stuck there with beautiful football and real identity, then you need to acknowledge that they have every right to lament what transpired with the US ownership and the last 18 months or so. Then the straw that broke their back, was not consulting the supporters reps on the sacking of Guidolin and hiring of Bob. So it is totally fair to say that Bob had a real mess on his hands to deal with and to that extent, an unfair cross to bear. On the flip side, he most definitley got a shot at the big time, that if not undeserved, was at least improbable, primarily because of those same American owners. So in the end, Bob got his shot and he shanked it.
If only Bob won more road games. Poor Swans. On the bright side, though, they're level with the champs!
M isn't pro-Swansea. He's anti US. If you want to annoy him, just go, oooOOOooooo, I am the ghost of Joe Gaetjans! Or mention Rober Green.
So, to summarize your summary: American owner made English fans angry. In came an American coach. English media ridiculed him. Fans angry at American speaking American. American coach fired. Did I miss anything?
Sacked because of results? Yeah, sure. Guidolin had awful results, and he was working with his chosen team. Yet within a few hours of Bradley being appointed the Swansea faithful were full of suddenly discovered love for Guidolin and a newfound outrage that a Yank had been brought in without the good gentleman being given his chance to redefine his team at the transfer window. As for the "future", some key players, stabilizing the midfield, have now been brought in. And a handful of other EPL sides have graciously decided to embrace embarrassing football. So with so many fine candidates for relegation the Swans have a chance of not being one of them. In short, they are exactly in the same situation as they were under Guidolin and Bradley. Funny that only one of the 3 managers this year has seen has deserved the magnificent contempt of all Good British Men. Funny that the guy was the one Yank. Life is Funny that way
Talking of Robert Green, he's actually playing pretty well for Leeds right now, a team that could replace Swansea in the Premier League next season.
Yeh, you missed that the writer of that article is clueless. For example, he appears to have taken this at face value when it's an obvious (British) piss take: " One Twitter user wrote: “Bob Bradley really just called a penalty a ‘PK’ in his post-match interview. He should be sacked with immediate effect for that alone.”
The results under Bradley were bloody awful, end of story, like I said before his sacking is everything to do with results and nothing to do with his nationality, just answer me one question, if Bradley had the team scoring 3 goals a game instead of letting in 3 goals a game, if he won more games than he lost would he have been sacked - yes or no?
A few things changed recently. The coach and the players. Players before the winter transfer window (Starting at the Arsenal loss, 14th of Jan and before) 4 games before the window: 1W, 3L, GD of -9 (only 1 of these losses was coached by Bradley) Fabianski; Rangel, Fernandez, Mawson, Naughton; Fer, Cork, Britton; Sigurdsson, Routledge, Llorente Subs and other starters: Mcbernie, Borja, Dyer, van der Hoorn, Rangel, Montero Players after the winter transfer window (Including the Liverpool win, 21rst of Jan until now) Last 4 games: 3W, 1L, GD of +3 Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson; Carroll, Cork, Fer; Sigurdsson, Routledge, Llorente Subs: Ayew, Narsingh, Dyer, Borja, Ki, Rangel, Fulton Bradley did not do well, but I think some of the new players have added to these recent results.
Bradley got more points per match than Guidolin, against opponents of similar strength. And it's definitely worth noting that Swansea's top performers lately have been midseason signings.
All true, but doesn't do much for Bob Bradley. I wish him good fortune in his next endeavor, and hope that there is in fact a worthy next endeavor. Ending up sitting beside Stevie Nicol on ESPN FC, taking easy potshots at Big Grin Marcotte, would offer slight warmth in this cold winter.
Guidolin got 1.48 PPM in the 2015-2016 season. In any case, what got Bob fired was taking zero points with a 2-10 goals difference vs. three mediocre clubs, with all the indications that the situation was getting worse, not better. After Clement's hire, Jürgen Klopp said that Swansea was the most improved team he saw (Google it) and BBC Matchday Three crew (Keown and Gullit) also thought that the improvement has been tremendous. And the BS posts begin to resemble the extenuating circumstance pleas of a defense attorney trying to spare his client a death sentence.
I like Bob but yeah, in the end he was out of his depth. Which is a shame, he was ranked quite highly by the Euro media after the 2010 WC. I remember the IFFHS placed him above Klinsmann at the time.
The national teams, aside of close rivalries like US vs. Mexico vs. CR or any of the CONMEBOL rivalries are a different dog because they have a play-off feel between teams that had never faced one another. Then, add the squad rotation and your players dispersal across the globe and almost every national match is a one-off contest. The leagues, all leagues, are scouted to the last detail and there's scarcely a surprise after a dozen matches. Bob's pressing and preference for speed actually caught Wenger by surprise and impressed the heck out of Mazzarri. Hughes already had it figured out and it went downhill from there, regardless home wins against two awful bottom-of-the-table clubs. PS. I actually saw a portion of the 3:0 win over Sunderland. It was played in a horrendous rain and the Moyes' Boyes had trouble connecting a simple lateral pass. In that case, pressing was very helpful. But other managers found the weak spots in Swansea's defense, Bob never adjusted and it began raining goals. The fans rebelled and the owners quickly backtracked after realizing that they screwed up royally. US loyalty or not but those $160M/Y in TV revenues are not to be trifled with. That's what happens in a rich pro-rel league. Bob was over his head. High press works in lower, less technical leagues. In top ten, you have to know when to hold it and when to fold it. Bob never caught onto that.
http://www.skysports.com/football/n...s-up-on-coaching-approach-and-swansea-sacking I failed. Failed to put my stamp on the team at Swansea. To give it a real identity. A real personality. I never managed to find the right balance between attack and defence. I couldn't find the answers for this group to play with the commitment and passion that so many of my other teams possessed. We never found consistency or confidence. Paul Clement followed me as manager and has done an excellent job. Team shape has improved and the confidence has returned. Yes, Paul benefited from the transfer window that I never had. But that's football. It can be a tough business and it's important to respect good work. Full credit to Paul. Paul Clement replaced Bradley as Swansea manager One last word for the supporters. I loved my time at your club. I was committed to making it work. I'm sorry I couldn't be your manager longer. For 85 days I put my heart and soul into Swansea City. I listened and observed. I watched games over and over. I constantly engaged the players and staff to figure out how we could become a good team. I pushed training and challenged the players to believe. To get better. To understand me and my ideas. I drew on all my experiences, and was never afraid to be myself or to take responsibility. With the players. With the staff. With the media. And with all the people I met in Swansea. It's the only way I know. To get anywhere in life you must experience failure. I remain proud and strong. I am ready for the next challenge. And yes, I am an American coach.