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Bob Bradley becomes first American to manager a Premier League club

By John Harbeck

CARSON, CA - JANUARY 22: Bob Bradley coach of the United States follows the game from the bench against Chile during the friendly soccer match at The Home Depot Center on January 22, 2011 in Carson, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA - JANUARY 22: Bob Bradley coach of the United States follows the game from the bench against Chile during the friendly soccer match at The Home Depot Center on January 22, 2011 in Carson, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Bob Bradley has officially become the first American to be appointed manager of a Premier League club and his new post is Welsh club Swansea City.

The road was long and winding for new Swansea City manager Bob Bradley.  After experiencing near immediate success in MLS to begin his professional coaching career, he was overlooked in the top European leagues after his spell with the USMNT.

This didn’t deter Bradley as he set out on an international soccer journey.  First, it was the Egypt national team during an especially difficult time in the country’s history.  Civil unrest was a major theme and Bradley was praised for the positive influence that he was able to bring to the national team.

Despite failing to qualify for the World Cup, Bradley’s time in Egypt was largely considered a success, considering the circumstances and many felt it was time for a job in one of the big four European leagues.

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This, of course, was not to be the case as every big club eschewed signing the American.  Bradley wouldn’t stay unemployed long as he decided to head to Europe to prove himself in the lower tiered leagues.  Stabaek a Norwegian club was the site of his next underdog story.  Bradley was able to guide a cash-strapped Stabaek to European competition and further bolster his reputation.

The notoriety garnered from this experience saw Bradley get his next job as the head man at French Ligue 2 side Le Havre.  Many hoped that Le Havre, under Bradley’s supervision, could qualify for promotion and that feat was nearly accomplished.  Le Havre by the narrowest of margins missed out on promotion, but the climb up the table was a statement of intent by Bradley, he was ready.

All that was needed was an opportunity and Swansea City provided that opportunity today.  It needs to be said at this point that Swansea City was recently bought by American owners, so the question can still be asked if their nationality influenced the hiring at all.

A single look at the table paints a bleak picture for Bradley at his new digs.  Swansea City is a club struggling for form at the moment, having only collected four points from the first seven matches.  They also sold, this summer, captain Ashley Williams to Everton and talented attacker Andre Ayew to West Ham.

With that said, the cupboard is not completely barren for a manager who has a proven ability to succeed under difficult circumstances.  Gylfi Sigurðsson is fresh off leading Iceland in the European Championship, Leroy Fer has already notched four goals in this young season and there is an interesting mix of experienced players to experiment with.

Many are calling for Swansea City to be relegated with or without Bradley and he certainly is up against it in this young Premier League season.  One this is certain, however, Americans will now take a very keen interest in the happenings in south Wales.

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