Bob Bradley has revealed he has already spoken to chairman Huw Jenkins about transfer targets at Swansea City.
Bradley – the first American to manage in the Premier League – also insists he can keep the club in the Premier League, but believes new blood will enable him to achieve more than just survival.
With the club sitting just above the relegation zone, the 58-year-old former USA national team boss met the media for the first time on Friday after the American owners decided to get rid of Francesco Guidolin.
Or rather, they didn’t quite get shot of Guidolin as in a bizarre coincidence the Italian was spotted in the same hotel – the Swansea Marriott – where the press conference was being held.
Guidolin was there to meet a friend before packing up the rest of his belongings and heading back to Italy. Reports that he had somehow gatecrashed Bradley’s party were wide of the mark, but it was a suitably strange ending to the handover of power during which events the club hoped to keep private have consistently leaked into the public domain.
Had Guidolin hung around to hear Bradley’s various interviews he would have noted that his successor has negotiated a more active role as manager.
Guidolin’s brief was simply to coach and select a team and he was always clear that recruitment was in the hands of Jenkins.
Bradley has insisted on more influence and said: “I am not someone to sit quietly and let everybody else make decisions”.
With Swansea fourth from bottom with one win in their first seven games, Bradley added: “I’m confident I can keep the team up – but it’s always more than just keeping the team in the Premier League.
“I think the squad is strong enough, but I think there needs to be regular dialogue about how to improve the squad. We’ve had early dialogue with Huw Jenkins and I appreciate his honesty and perspective. I really feel that the two of us will work well together.
“But he also knows I’m going to challenge him. I have ideas. I’m not someone to sit quietly and let everybody else make decisions. I believe in pushing the envelope a little bit and trying to challenge people for where we are, and get better.
“I think we’ll need to look at all possibilities. But I also think there’s talent and we need to restore some confidence and do some little things better.”
Bradley is shrewd enough to know he is going to face intense scrutiny and a good deal of skepticism as the first American to work in the top division.
It is a situation he says he is used to after spells at clubs in Norway and France, as well as in charge of the Egyptian national team.
If a British coach were to be employed in American football’s NFL or basketball’s NBA, he would suffer similar doubts, but Bradley says it will be water off a Yank’s back.
“I do have to expect the same, but it’s not the first time in my career that I’ve had to face skeptics. It’s part of the deal. In any field there’s a CV, what you’ve done in the past. Sometimes that helps you get the foot in the door.
“But then you have to earn respect. You’ve got to go in every day and engage players, man-to-man, look them in the eye, challenge guys to get better. That part of the job doesn’t change. I’ve worked with all kinds of players – some big players – from different kinds of backgrounds and different countries.
“What does change is that, when you play in the top league in the world, you get punished faster, and small mistakes turn into big problems. I get all of that.”
Guidolin lost his job after a 2-1 defeat at home to Liverpool last Saturday – their third successive loss.
Bradley believes small changes will make a big difference.
“I think it was a tough run of fixtures and a little bit of bad luck, and when things start to go against you, you lose confidence,” he said. “Then you lose aggressiveness and commitment a little bit.
“One thing I’ve said to the players already is that, yes, we want to be a passing team, but when we lose the ball we need to be more difficult to play against. We need to close down a little harder, and work together to make sure the other team can’t just do whatever it wants.
“Those are the things that top teams do well.”
