Apparently, a report from Martin Rogers of Yahoo! on the possibility of Bob Bradley staying on the job for another four years slipped right by me.
I'm guessing that's because anything short of "Bradley Signs Extension" or "Bradley Let Go" is just so much noise; the lack of any real movement on the issue has numbed me to anything that isn't an actual decision. US Soccer is dragging their feet, Bradley is floating in limbo, and the rest of us sit by and grouse about it taking so long.
Oh, and dispensing our opinions on whether Bradley should stay or go; while a few have made the case for Bob to stay on (MFUSA's Jason Kuenle for example), most of the vocal fan base are ready for a change. That doesn't mean that the program will fall apart should Bradley stay on, quite the contrary; but the mistakes Bradley made in the World Cup appear glaring, and are proportionally more important to most than his confident shepherding of the team through the last cycle.
Noah Davis tried to calm us down with a half-hearted defense of "More Bob" at USA10Kit. I respect Noah, and his opinion carries significant weight; still, even as I generally agree with him, I come away from his post feeling cold and uninspired. More Bradley means more of the same, and while that was good enough at times, it's hard to imagine the status quo will lead to dramatic steps forward.
Because that's what we're all anxious for, right? We know Bradley, we know what he does, who he likes to play, and the style with which he will try to win. We assume the unknown, provided his replacement is capable, will bring something new, different, and presumably better, to the table. We don't know this to be true, but it tempts us nonetheless. 2006 got us so close to the Klinsmann era that some of us are desperate for it finally start.
I'm starting to get the feeling US Soccer doesn't have a viable alternative to Bob; remember, the scales were always tipped in Bradley's direction anyway because he didn't flame out Arena-style. It might take truly magnificent candidate ready to step in to lead Gulati in a different direction. The Fed's only viable foreign candidate with known interest in the job (that would be Klinsmann) probably hasn't changed his demands, and it's doubtful Gulati is ready to concede on them. The fact that nary a word has leaked about other candidates points in the direction of Bradley remaining at least through December and possibly beyond, so when Bob and Sunil sit down this week, or next week, or whenever it finally happens, I don't think they'll be discussing Bradley leaving the job.
Even if Bob gets another four year mandate, it will be okay. Maybe not as okay with a tactically astute replacement at the helm and Ricardo Clark nailed to the bench, but it will definitely be okay. Bob is a good coach. The last four years undoubtedly taught him something, so we can only hope he puts those lessons to practical use.
There was more to this, but the post editor appears to have eaten it. And it's been a really bad day, so apologies if this seems a bit incomplete.
