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Bob Bradley officially appointed head coach of Le Havre

Bob Bradley 24

For weeks, Bob Bradley has been rumored to be leaving Stabaek and joining Le Havre.

On Tuesday, the French club made it all official.

Ligue 2 side Le Havre has announced that Bradley has signed on as its head coach, effective as of Nov. 11. Bradley, 57, joins Le Havre on a two-year deal after finding success during his two seasons with Stabaek in Norway. He led the club to a third-place finish during the 2015 campaign, winning it a spot in the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League.

Bradley will now be tasked with trying to help Le Havre gain promotion to Ligue 1. The club is currently in fourth place in France’s second division with 23 points, only four points shy of league leaders Metz. The top two finishers in Ligue 2 move up to the top flight.

Pierre Barrieu, the former U.S. Men’s National Team’s fitness coach who served under Bradley, also joins the Le Havre staff.

Bradley, who has also coached the Egyptian national team in recent years, will take charge of his first match vs. Saint-Omer this Saturday in the seventh round of the Coupe de France. He will then set his sights on league play, as Le Havre hosts Brest on Nov. 23.

What do you think of Bradley becoming Le Havre’s head coach? Will he lead the club to a promotion to Ligue 1? What will be his biggest challenge in France? Is this his most difficult task to date?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • What I see in that video is a manager who is much happier managing a club, where he has that day to day interaction with his players and the community.

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  1. Nice! 1st a cup game, then Brest! I here they are well rounded and play a titillating and attractive brand of soccer. I’m sure he will be erect with pride as his meeting with Brest comes into full view in a weeks time.

    Seriously though…

    Wow! Bradley making big moves. Nice to see him making this move.

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    • Yes…because Fulham has shown previous interest in Bradley before ( or are inclined to give it to him this time around). I personally think Le Havre is a great job because they are sitting 4th in Ligue 2 and look to have a very decent chance to gt promoted (top 2 get promoted as of this season). Fulham are a mess and sit in 12th. Promotion would be much more difficult feat for them. Granted, we are only 1/3 through the season.

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  2. I guess we know now that French soccer officials don’t read internet posts. If they had, they would realize that “Bunker Bob” is one of the ten worse coaches ever, incapable of success even in a Sunday beer league, mean to children and small animals, and probably in league with the devil.

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    • No one on here said anything like that at all quit, exaggerating. Saying he had little chance to manage in the Premier League this season, doesn’t mean he can’t manage a beer league. Plus it is a Texas Oilman not French soccer officials, although I don’t know that Volpe makes the day to day soccer decisions.

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    • Truthie’s exaggeration was humorous and on point about much of the tone of comments on SBI Soccer about Coach Bradley when he was fired from the USMNT and replaced by JK. Johnnyrazor take a chill pill and enjoy the sarcasm.

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  3. There is a distinct American connection to HAC. The club, in the last year, was bought by Texas engineer / businessman Vincent Volpe. I believe he had controlling interest in a company that developed and produced equipment for the oil and gas industry.

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  4. Was about to question the only two promotion spots when I found an article saying that just changed that for this season. Terrible system to only relegate two teams, not nearly as bad as Mexico’s relegation, but still terrible.

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  5. Best of luck to Bob. Anyone know why Le Havre fired their coach when they are in pretty good position in Ligue 2? Or did he leave for a bigger club?

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  6. From the Le Havre statement: “As coach of the USA, he participated in the 2010 World Cup, during which the US national team came out first in its qualifying pool ahead of England in particular.”

    We know what’s important to the French.

    Reply

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