Bob Bradley: Swansea boss' appointment 'bad decision' by board, says Andy Legg
- Published
Saturday's 5-0 defeat by Tottenham was Bob Bradley's seventh Premier League match in charge of Swansea
Swansea City manager Bob Bradley was the wrong appointment, according to former player Andy Legg.
The Swans are bottom of the Premier League after their 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur and have won only once under the American.
Legg believes the club should have appointed a manager with Premier League experience when Bradley took over from Francesco Guidolin in October.
"Personally I thought it was a bad decision by the board," said Legg.
"I thought they needed someone who knew the Premier League, knew what sort of players to bring in and Bob didn't.
"That's not his fault - he was given the job and any manager in the world would take a Premier League job.
"So I feel sorry for Bob, but I think it was the wrong decision.
Tottenham 5-0 Swansea: Bob Bradley says penalty decision 'changed the game'
"There's two ways they can go. They either stick with the manager and accept they've got a lot of work to do or they make the change because otherwise I can only see one way for Swansea."
Bradley is the first Premier League manager from the United States, and took over from Guidolin on 3 October.
The former United States national team manager was in charge at French second division club Le Havre before accepting the job at Liberty Stadium.
Bradley was the first manager appointed following the take over of the club by an American consortium headed by Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan.
Swansea's 5-4 home win against Crystal Palace on 26 November was only their second in the Premier League this season and they face Sunderland - who are two points ahead of them - at home on 10 December.
Swansea have not replaced Wilfried Bony (left) and Ashley Williams with players of similar quality, claims Andy Legg
Former Wales international Legg believes Swansea are "too easy" to beat and pinpoints the sale of Ivory Coast international striker Wilfried Bony to Manchester City in January 2015 as the point when Swansea's troubles began.
"I've seen it coming from probably when they sold Bony," he said.
"They never replaced him and obviously [Wales captain] Ashley Williams has gone now they haven't replaced him either.
"It's okay selling your good players, but you've got to replace them and you've got to replace them with quality.
"Even if the 11 players on the pitch look organised and in formation it can be difficult to beat. But they are not difficult to beat, they're quite easy to beat."
Swansea won the opening game of the season, but did not win again until they beat Crystal Palace and Legg believes even that victory carried a warning.
"The Palace game, everyone got carried away. They won three points, but they conceded four goals at home and if they don't bridge those gaps in the defence they are going to concede every week," he added.
"And that means they've got to score three, four, five to win and that's not going to happen so it's concerning."
- Published5 December 2016
- Published3 December 2016
- Published3 December 2016
