If even true that report would betray a bias, IMO. But what would you do if you were trying to survive until the transfer window, with defensemen who consistently couldn't execute solid contact with a ball dropping around the six?
Back to Stabaek? .@Stabaek has 11 games to go to avoid relegation and Bob Bradley will be named manager tomorrow. 65yr old man who loves coaching and has an affinity for the club….go get em Bob!!!!! https://t.co/mA1Lq58ZIx— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) September 9, 2023
No interest in the Championship or 2 Bundesliga? Gotta figured he'd have had some options unless he's just nostalgic for a return to Norway.
He flopped so badly at Swansea, so he has no options in the Championship, now or until well after hell freezes over. That failure will have cost him so dearly at BL2 or equivalent level that his only route to those kinds of offers was to become the winningest coach in MLS history. He didn't. * Did very well in LA (Supporters Shield), but didn't seal the deal (MLS Cup). * Did poorly in Toronto (Canadian Championship), didn't seal anything and got canned. I'd say he has no attractive options except for maybe a 2-3 year grind rebuilding some under-performing MLS side that's itching to sack its incumbent - which is another way of saying he has no attractive options. OTOH Staebeck has two attractions. The first is that they're only 2 points from safety, with a game in hand and 11 games left in the regular season, about half of which are relegation 6-pointers, 3 of them in the final 3 games of the season. On paper, it's a very achievable goal. The second is that the Norwegian and MLS seasons are aligned. If he keeps them up, he's a hero with a successful rescue mission - in Europe, no less!!! - on his CV, which will burnish his credentials when the MLS coaching merry-go-round starts up in December. If he fails, it's "well, he was up against it from the start" and he's no (or not much) worse off than he is now. It's an attractive option.
Since taking over, Stabaek have P 7 W2 D1 L4, giving them 7 points. It took the previous coach 12 games to get the last 7 points. They're now in the playoff place, just one point off safety. Most encouragingly, they're getting results from the 6-pointers and the defence has tightened: they've conceded 8 goals in those 7 games, versus 12 in the previous 7 games. With 6 games to go, the next 2 are against mid-table sides with nothing to play for, followed by title-chasing Bodo-Glimt, followed by a run of 3 games against sides that are just 1 point above them or 2 points below them. Squeaky bum time, definitely, but I think they'll make it
THey got a draw this weekend which, combined with other relegation strugglers getting bad results, was enough to lift them out of the relegation/playoff zone. They're now in a group of 3 teams in 12-15th with just 5 points between them (the bottom side are cut adrift) and just 2 points behind 12th place HamKam, with a vastly superior GD. Next up are uncrowned champions Bodo/Glimt at home. A result in that one and they'll make it.
They played the champions-elect Bodo/Glimt at the weekend, and got hammered 4-0 at home. It hasn't affected the table at all however, as the teams below them didn't take advantage: playoff-placed Valerenga lost as well and are still 1 point behind them, while relegation-placed Sandeford could only draw and are 3 points back. Stabaek play those two next - in that order - before a final-day game at a team that will surely be safe by them. One win from those three games, especially against Valerenga, will almost guarantee a playoff spot. A win and a draw and the other teams' chances of avoiding the drop are purely mathematical.
Down to the wire: AMAZING SCENES IN NORWAY as Bob Bradley, Michael Bradley & @Stabaek celebrate stoppage-time winner against Sandefjord to leapfrog them in table and move out of relegation zone. A win in final match next week guarantees safety. Have a night, Bradleys! 🇺🇸🇳🇴pic.twitter.com/ZuF5uW5xKV— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) November 26, 2023
Bad news, I'm afraid. Stabaek are losing 2-0 deep into the second half. As things stand in the other relegation battles, it looks as if they'll drop into the second automatic relegation slot.
It's official: Fotball er brutalt. Ingen ting går vår vei, og det ender med at vi må ta den tunge turen ned igjen.Tusen takk for enorm støtte gjennom hele sesongen, @StabaekSupport 💙 Vi kommer tilbake. pic.twitter.com/HJb7q4b7IG— Stabæk Fotball (@Stabaek) December 3, 2023 Translates as Football is brutal. Nothing went our way [today], and we end up having to make the difficult trip back down. Thank you so much for the tremendous support throughout the season. We will be back.
Staying with the club in the 2nd tier: https://prosoccerwire.usatoday.com/2023/12/19/bob-michael-bradley-staying-stabaek-norway/
He was only there for about a third of the season, their form did improve in that time, and they would have comfortably avoided the drop with his PPG record extrapolated over a full season. Not saying those are definitely reasons to keep him, but it's not a clearly stupid decision either in my mind.
The Norwegian season has 30 games. Bradley was in the dugout for the last 11 of those. With the transfer window already closed, Stabaek earned 13 of the 29 points that they accumulated over the entire season on Bradley's watch and they weren't relegated - on goal difference - until the final day of the season. Like @KALM pointed out, extrapolating his PPG score over the season would have seen them finish well clear of the drop: 11th out of 16 teams in fact. Maybe it's not a good idea to ask him back, but there's no way you can say it's stupid