Top Stories

Egypt FA hire Gharib to replace Bradley as National Team head coach

BobBradleyEgypt3 (AP)

By DAN KARELL

Bob Bradley’s time as head coach of the Egyptian national team is officially over.

The Egyptian FA announced on Wednesday that they’ve appointed former national team assistant Shawki Gharib to the head coaching position, ending Bradley’s two-year run. Bradley’s contract was allowed to expire after Egypt failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with a 7-3 aggregate defeat to Ghana in the third round of CAF qualifying.

“Gharib has officially become the new Egypt coach. His contract will run until the end of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers,” Egyptian Football Association (EFA) spokesman Azmy Megahed told Ahram Online.

Gharib owns a strong pedigree as an assistant coach, helping guide the Pharoahs to three successive African Cup of Nations titles. However, as a head coach, he has struggled overall to find success. Outside of a third-place finish with the Egypt Under-20 squad in 2001, Gharib has had unsuccessful spells as Egypt U-23 head coach and manager of domestic club sides Smouha and Ismaily.

——

What do you think of this news? Where do you see Bradley moving next? Do you believe he deserved a new deal with Egypt?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Great post Dennis. You are a man who knows what he is talking about.
    I can tell you this much, if BB had been given the keys to the entire operation like JK there would be a plan in place for player development. RIght now JK has done nothing to fulfill that part of his contract

    Reply
  2. I’m not a Bradley fan. I thought he had taken the US as far as he could and we needed something else to go further. I think this will always be his story…. he will do alright but in the end, its not enough.

    His best bet would be to go somewhere that needs a lot of help but that has raw material to work with. I think the Canada suggestion sounds like a good one to me. They should be better than they are and he could certainly take them higher. A reasonable goal would be to qualify in the next cycle. I think Bob could achieve that though as I said, I don’t think he could go much farther than that. In the end, his stubborn streak and inability to adapt to the players he has will always limit his success

    I will give him this… he spent a few years in a country I wouldnt go anyway near

    Reply
    • I gotta say your post is clueless. Bradley did nothing if not adapt his strategy to the players he had. The USMNT would have looked pretty awful if they had relied upon stringing passes together for minutes like Barcelona (a team he publically said he would like the USMNT to play more like), or if they had depended on the great individual skills of a Barcelona, Spain or Brazil to accomplish that. He took a team comprised of players that could not make it in Serie A, the top level of the Premier League (Fulham is not the top level) or LaLiga and only a single player from among the top teams in the Bundesliga, (save goalkeepers) to the second round of the WC and defeated the number one team in the world the year before that. Explain how that can happen without getting the utmost from the players.

      That toughness you mistake for stubbornness was an essential ingredient in keeping his teams focussed and strong to the end. It is a quality that has not left the players he coached and is something JK has been able to take advantage of.

      Reply
  3. He may have lost in the qualifiers, but he was undone by the political turmoil that insured that a big chunk of his team had nowhere to play soccer for months, and were far from in form.
    Despite that, BB had an amazing run, both as a coach and as an ambassador.

    Reply
  4. What about Bob going to Canada? I can’t think of someone that would help the Canadian FA get their mess in order that would be better than Bob.

    Reply
  5. New Zealand Needs a coach why not have a go at the end of the world i hear they want to jump ship to the AFC actually all of oceana wants to join the AFC. if that happens he is more than capable of getting the kiwis pretty far.

    Reply
  6. my money is on NYCFC…Jersey guy going to NY. An ideal hire for them as he is respected, understands MLS and is a local guy. Wouldn’t be a bad move for him either in my opinion.

    Reply
    • This.

      But he needs a gig in-between. Wasn’t he courted by LigaMX side Santos right before going to Egypt?

      Or, At least one team, usually African, fires its coach like a month before the WC. I hope to see Bob in Brazil.

      Reply
  7. Considering all he went through in Egypt and that he won every single game except one, if there is any justice he will be offered a good job soon.

    Reply
  8. Maybe one day,when he learns how to beat Ghana, he will retain his job as a national team coach. But he will coach again, no one has put a stake through his heart…yet (except Ghana)

    Reply
      • Why would a high profile coach go there?
        Is it the political instability, the meager pay, the thin player pool, or the qualification process with zero room for error?
        Unless a hipster than wants to explore the world and go slumming that just happens to be a high profile coach, I don’t see there being any significant upgrades.

  9. Bradley did an outstanding job with Egypt. Through political and social turmoil and the suspension of Egypt’s domestic league, Bradley was able to hold the team together and go through qualifying undefeated. He was undone by a ridiculous format to qualify Egypt to the WC. Any lesser man would have left Egypt at the first sign of trouble. He gave Egypt a legitimate shot to enter the WC. I don’t know where he will end up, but he deserves a shot in Europe.

    P.S. :I don’t know why, but I keep seeing him as the national team manager of an Eastern European team……maybe Slovakia, Poland, Albania….who knows.

    Reply
  10. In many ways, Egypt was a special job. Bradley handled with dignity, compassion and composure. I wonder if he will chose to make life easier on his family with the comforts of an MLS job, if he will continue to push to achieve success on a bigger stage in international soccer or if he will seek a job in a league ranked higher than MLS. . That internal struggle must be on his mind now.

    Reply
    • Bob’s wife has always seemed as adventurous as Bob, so I can’t imagine that she’s a homesick wife who wants to be back home, Don’t forget, Michael, and their only grandchild live in Europe now…

      Reply
  11. So the question is — take another national team head coaching job somewhere in the world, or come back to an MLS club team head coaching job…

    Reply
      • Bradley marching in the streets with people for whom their government had become the enemy. Nothing more American than demanding what’s right.

      • Fail.

        Yes, Bob Bradley behaving with grace, dignity and his characteristic toughness rates a little higher on the price meter than, for example, needing a snow storm to beat Costa Rica.

    • I totally agree with liberoo. Bradley made me proud.

      First American to ever coach a foreign national team. On top of that, he did it in a country tore apart by civil war and social strife. He was both directly and indirectly affected by it all and held his own with honor, grace and integrity.

      He was a great coach for the US and a great coach for Egypt. Both teams did well under his tenure despite challenges. I am still in shock the Egypt didn’t qualify.

      Honestly, it would be nice to have another American as our coach again, but that’s another story…

      This one is for Coach Bradley!!! GOOD JOB!!! You make us all proud. 🙂

      USA ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Reply
  12. Bradley did well and is a good coach. He just ran into a really tough format where one bad game sinks you.

    It’s really a silly system Africa uses to pick their WC teams.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to RICARDO Cancel reply