Bob Bradley May Bet On Move To Molde

Bob Bradley has proven himself to be an effective coach, leading Stabaek successfully for a couple of seasons now, but he’s yet to have had opportunity to demonstrate his skills on a wider, European stage, something that a move to Molde could provide for him making way for interesting opportunities in his future, but Stabaek won’t be happy to see the American go.

Bob Bradley For Molde?

• Norwegian giant expresses interest
• Stabaek would prefer he went overseas
• Man himself waiting to see

Norwegian football has its moments as those that like to bet on sports in Norway will be only too happy to inform you. Certainly they’ll doubtless think they don’t happen often enough and that there will need to be more investment at the grassroots level, but this week they’re probably still smiling at the goal scored by Hakon Opdal in the game between his team Start and Valerenga. To judge by his celebration afterward you might almost think he did it on purpose, but of course he didn’t.

The free-kick is inside his own half, and the plan was quite obviously to float it in over the box where pouncing strikers could just nudge it by the Valergenda keeper, however as the ball rose away from his foot Hakon Opdal probably already knew it was not going to get down again in time, just a bit too much oomph behind it. It sailed over the heads of both teams who could do little more than watch it, finally losing just enough altitude to slip between the keeper’s head and the cross bar.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Tp9sndK29aE

Despite being a bit Owen Hargreaves-esque the celebration from Hakon Opdal didn’t, I should hasten to point out, involve rushing over to the stands and having a drink with fans like Nicki Bille Nielsen after his penalty equalizer in injury time, but the goalie did seem remarkably happy with this turn of events, his wide-eyed surprise turning into a pair of raised arms and a bit of a run around as teammates flocked to congratulate him. It was lucky, it was a fluke, and it grabbed the equalizer Start needed to get the draw.

Molde Need More Than Luck, But Do They Need Bob Bradley?

Calls it soccer, but he’s actually pretty good at it

Perhaps this then is why Molde haven’t gone too far in efforts to recruit a manager and have merely made an approach to the coach of fellow Norwegian side Stabaek, a man by the name of Bob Bradley. Bob Bradley is not, as his name all but announces, himself Norwegian but American, and there will be a fair few football fans who will be gambling news of his being hired is just rumor, because as a rule American’s are terrible at football.

This can be evidenced by the fact the nation of 320 million has to bring in foreign assistance. The American national side is coached by a German, features a lot of Germans, and behaves like a German team (cohesive defense, interesting wing-center breaks, etc.) albeit it one from the lower divisions, and so from the get go Bob Bradley seems a bit of an odd choice, until you examine his record and prior connections to Norway.

Bob Bradley Doesn’t Know But Can We Guess?

Bob Bradley been at Stabaek for a couple of seasons now and, as some in the press have gleefully pointed out, if the season ended today the relatively minor Norwegian team would qualify for the UEFA Cup, an achievement that is hard to ignore. More saliently however Stabaek grabbed a 1-0 victory over Molde just recently which may well have sparked the interest. The degree to which that interest and the rumors that have followed it will evolve into a real offer is debatable.

“We’ll see.” Said Bob Bradley, the man himself, “You do not know what will happen, because this is football.” A statement that is perhaps a little overly fatalistic for someone up for a high-pressure job, and when asked if he thought Molde would make him a concrete offer his response was typical of football as a commercial entity as he replied “I do not know. My focus now is what’s going on here [at Stabaek].” Which is precisely what everyone, including the journalist that asked, expected him to say.

Stabaek will be genuinely displeased to lose him should he go, and there’s almost certainly some behind the scenes wrangling now to get him to stay. Their technical director Inge Andre Olsen is quoted as saying “If he should go I hope he gets something that is overseas.” Adding; “It would be a bit unkind to face him in the Tippeligaen next year.” Which is praise enough. Bob Bradley’s future might now be up for grabs but those that take advantage of Norwegian gambling laws to back Molde at ComeOn! Sportsbook will be hoping it’ll be their favourite team on which he finally settles.