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Ramsey Report: Bob Bradley To Fulham?
The USA boss is being linked with Clint Dempsey’s club.
Jul 5, 2010 11:37:00 AM
By Allen Ramsey
Could Bob Bradley really be heading to Craven Cottage?
If reports out of England are to be believed the USA boss is being considered as a candidate to take over the position Roy Hodgson vacated to take the Liverpool job. The same reports suggest that part of Bradley’s strategy would be to bring in several American players to team up with Clint Dempsey at Craven Cottage.
On the surface it sounds slightly ludicrous. After all, the last time Fulham did something similar it didn’t work out too well.
After a successful stint with Northern Ireland Lawrie Sanchez was handed the Fulham job in April of 2007, brought in several players from the Northern Ireland squad, and managed to run Fulham to the brink of relegation before being relieved of his duties less than a year later. It took Roy Hodgson little time to sell off the players Sanchez brought in, at least most of them, and to put the Cottagers back on the right track.
One thing that bodes well for Bradley, should he be offered the job, is that his style of play meshes well with the style Hodgson brought to the London club. It’s not as fluid, but like Hodgson, Bradley believes in playing an organized counterattacking style. Add to that the fact that Bradley’s son Michael, one of the American players strongly linked with a move to Fulham, is a ready-made replacement for the aging Danny Murphy in the middle of the park.
What does not bode well are the rumors that Clint Dempsey could be on his way out of Fulham. The midfielder's agent says he's drawing interest from bigger clubs, and Dempsey might not be around to help the manager's transition. And the thought that Landon Donovan will either stick around Major League Soccer or take a transfer to a club with more prestige than Fulham means that Bradley would probably be without the top two American players.
The obvious counter to that is the thinking that Dempsey would stick around with Bradley in charge, but Bradley or no Bradley, if the midfielder gets a shot at Champions League football he'll take it.
There is also a thought that Hodgson will make a push for Fulham defensive stalwart Brede Hangeland to join him at Liverpool, leaving a massive gap in the center of the Cottagers' defense that Philippe Senderos is really not well equipped to fill.
Still, it’s an interesting thought.
The Cottagers could use an extra striker. Jozy Altidore could probably be had on the cheap (especially when compared to the price Fulham paid for Andy Johnson) and might be a decent partner for Bobby Zamora and if Charlie Davies is healthy and not too mad at Bob for the whole being left off the World Cup squad thing, he could make waves in the EPL.
Jay DeMerit is searching for a new home and would be a solid option in the middle of the Fulham defense and if Mark Schwarzer leaves, as has been reported, Bradley could always try and bring in Brad Guzan for a year or two.
Better yet, Bradley could give chances to guys like Robbie Findley and Omar Gonzalez who he has first-hand knowledge of or bring in the likes of Jermaine Jones who he has yet to actually work with or Benny Feilhaber who has some experience in England already.
It’s doubtful that he’d ever be able to lead Fulham back to Europa League glory, and if Bradley really did try to recreate FulhAmerica they’d probably be back fighting for their Premier League lives. But at least fans across the USA would again have a team to watch that was stacked with American players.
Honestly, I don’t feel like Bradley is really in the running for the job. The other names linked to Fulham – Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes, Glen Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Alan Curbishley – all have more experience dealing with the stresses of a European post and proven track records. Coming off of the most successful two year stretch in the club’s history it’s unlikely that Fulham will want to take the chance of regressing under a manager with limited experience on the club level.
But it would certainly be fun to see what Bradley could do and if he would indeed try to bring in the top American players to fill out his roster.
Whether it would help in the development of USA players, or stunt their growth, is a matter for another day.
Allen Ramsey is an associate editor for Goal.com USA.
For more on Americans abroad, visit Goal.com's dedicated page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
If reports out of England are to be believed the USA boss is being considered as a candidate to take over the position Roy Hodgson vacated to take the Liverpool job. The same reports suggest that part of Bradley’s strategy would be to bring in several American players to team up with Clint Dempsey at Craven Cottage.
On the surface it sounds slightly ludicrous. After all, the last time Fulham did something similar it didn’t work out too well.
After a successful stint with Northern Ireland Lawrie Sanchez was handed the Fulham job in April of 2007, brought in several players from the Northern Ireland squad, and managed to run Fulham to the brink of relegation before being relieved of his duties less than a year later. It took Roy Hodgson little time to sell off the players Sanchez brought in, at least most of them, and to put the Cottagers back on the right track.
One thing that bodes well for Bradley, should he be offered the job, is that his style of play meshes well with the style Hodgson brought to the London club. It’s not as fluid, but like Hodgson, Bradley believes in playing an organized counterattacking style. Add to that the fact that Bradley’s son Michael, one of the American players strongly linked with a move to Fulham, is a ready-made replacement for the aging Danny Murphy in the middle of the park.
What does not bode well are the rumors that Clint Dempsey could be on his way out of Fulham. The midfielder's agent says he's drawing interest from bigger clubs, and Dempsey might not be around to help the manager's transition. And the thought that Landon Donovan will either stick around Major League Soccer or take a transfer to a club with more prestige than Fulham means that Bradley would probably be without the top two American players.
The obvious counter to that is the thinking that Dempsey would stick around with Bradley in charge, but Bradley or no Bradley, if the midfielder gets a shot at Champions League football he'll take it.
There is also a thought that Hodgson will make a push for Fulham defensive stalwart Brede Hangeland to join him at Liverpool, leaving a massive gap in the center of the Cottagers' defense that Philippe Senderos is really not well equipped to fill.
Still, it’s an interesting thought.
The Cottagers could use an extra striker. Jozy Altidore could probably be had on the cheap (especially when compared to the price Fulham paid for Andy Johnson) and might be a decent partner for Bobby Zamora and if Charlie Davies is healthy and not too mad at Bob for the whole being left off the World Cup squad thing, he could make waves in the EPL.
Jay DeMerit is searching for a new home and would be a solid option in the middle of the Fulham defense and if Mark Schwarzer leaves, as has been reported, Bradley could always try and bring in Brad Guzan for a year or two.
Better yet, Bradley could give chances to guys like Robbie Findley and Omar Gonzalez who he has first-hand knowledge of or bring in the likes of Jermaine Jones who he has yet to actually work with or Benny Feilhaber who has some experience in England already.
It’s doubtful that he’d ever be able to lead Fulham back to Europa League glory, and if Bradley really did try to recreate FulhAmerica they’d probably be back fighting for their Premier League lives. But at least fans across the USA would again have a team to watch that was stacked with American players.
Honestly, I don’t feel like Bradley is really in the running for the job. The other names linked to Fulham – Tony Mowbray, Mark Hughes, Glen Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Alan Curbishley – all have more experience dealing with the stresses of a European post and proven track records. Coming off of the most successful two year stretch in the club’s history it’s unlikely that Fulham will want to take the chance of regressing under a manager with limited experience on the club level.
But it would certainly be fun to see what Bradley could do and if he would indeed try to bring in the top American players to fill out his roster.
Whether it would help in the development of USA players, or stunt their growth, is a matter for another day.
Allen Ramsey is an associate editor for Goal.com USA.
For more on Americans abroad, visit Goal.com's dedicated page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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