Whoops! LA’s ABC affiliate accidentally names Bradley manager of Chelsea instead of Swansea
You’ll have to excuse us. Well, you’ll have at least excuse the ABC television affiliate in Los Angeles when they erroneously reported that Bob Bradley, today hired by Swansea City of the Premier League was, in fact, hired as the manager of Chelsea.
Bob Bradley appointed Swansea City manager today
It’s quite a different location, both physically and in the standings, with the Welsh club Swansea sitting in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone — and Chelsea getting back to form somewhat and currently in 7th, five points off the top of the table. 47-year-old Italian Antonio Conte leads the southwest London mega-club as manager.
WOW!! @ABC7 in LA keeps reporting Bob Bradley as the new head coach of Chelsea #USMNT #Bradley #Swans lol pic.twitter.com/TWezMl7DGa
— Champagne Soccer (@SoccerChampagne) October 3, 2016
Bradley is the first American to lead a top-tier club in the UK and sources say that he beat out Welshman, and Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs and Marcelino, the former Villarreal manager. He is contracted as manager through the end of the 2018-2019 season.
The Swans are owned by American co-owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien. Swansea chairman, Huw Jenkins said of Bradley’s appointment in the Guardian, “We are delighted Bob has agreed to join us. He is highly regarded as a coach and has a wealth of experience on the international and domestic front. He is well aware of the club’s footballing philosophy and will provide us with strong leadership qualities and a renewed belief to compete at this level. It is never easy changing managers, but we are looking at a long-term appointment and we are confident Bob can settle us down and stabilise matters on and off the pitch.”
For his part, and for those who have watched him over the years (your’s truly included), this appointment is far from a surprise. Bradley, father of (sometimes frustrating) US captain Michael Bradley, has an impressive resume despite the uncommon path to Swansea. He arrives from Le Havre in France’s second division (just missing promotion to Ligue 1 last season) and also had Europe tenure at Stabaek in Norway, taking them to the Europa League despite myriad financial problems.
Bradley’s national team resume, most recently, included a stop in Egypt from 2011 to 2013. Incredibly, despite massive unrest in the country, he came within a game of taking the team to the 2014 World Cup. His most impressive national team tenure was with the United States from 2006 to 2011. In the 2010 World Cup, the US won its group (ahead of England) and went toe-to-toe with an “in-top-form” Spain, beating them before eventually losing the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup to Brazil 3-2.
In Major League Soccer (MLS), his 1998 Chicago Fire team won the MLS and US Open Cups double and the US Open Cup in 2000.