Bob Bradley let go after just 11 matches as Swansea manager
Bob Bradley has been fired as the manager of Swansea City. The club announced that the two sides had parted ways on Tuesday, a day after the Swans fell 4-1 to West Ham and further endangered their hopes of avoiding relegation.
Bradley became the first American to ever manage in the Premier League when he was hired on October 3. The Swans had just fired Francesco Guidolin and were in 17th place, having taken just four points from seven matches to start the season. They were a sieve at the back and looked like a good bet for relegation. Bradley, who had come over from Le Havre in the French second division, was given the chance to turn them around.
Things started pretty well for Bradley, with an encouraging performance in a loss to Arsenal in his first match. That was followed by a draw in his next match, but consecutive losses followed and the heat was on Bradley to turn things around. Three results in their next four matches, including two wins, seemed to turn the tide, but Swansea lost their next two and Bradley was given the sack.
There's no questioning that Bradley's results were better than Guidolin's, but they came at a time when the rest of the Premier League's relegation contenders all improved even more. Also, while there were some positive results, the problematic Swansea defense only got worse under the American. The Swans conceded at least three goals in eight of Bradley's 11 matches in charge.
Whether Bradley was given a fair chance is up for debate. There was undoubtedly bias against him, as evidenced by the anger around his using American phrases, but he also lost seven of 11 matches. He was asked to improve a horribly flawed squad, though, and there's an argument to be made that almost no manager could have turned it into a winning side. Not giving him the January transfer window to change things only makes it seem like he was even more hard done.
Regardless of where one falls on Bradley's time at Swansea, the club have to figure out how to turn things around because right now they're looking at relegation amid a search for a third manager before the new year. It's ugly at the Liberty Stadium.
