Bob Bradley's nickname became one of the secrets to escape Swansea following his recent dismissal, as it emerged among the fall-out that the players and staff at Swansea nicknamed Bradley as "Ronald Reagan", given his old-style methods at the Liberty Stadium.
Speaking to Oliver Kay of the London Times, Bradley has stressed that this isn't true, that none of his players had nicknamed Ronald Reagan. His reasoning behind that was great:
Trust me on this, not one of those players knows who Ronald Reagan is.
Bradley was given just eleven games in charge of Swansea, and in that time he took just eight points. His successor, Paul Clement, has got off to a much better start: winning his first game in charge against Crystal Palace last night.
Bradley has done quite a bit of media since his dismissal, taking a call from TalkSPORT the day after he was sacked, and was quite magnanimous when speaking to Jim White:
In the whole time that I’ve been here I have never made excuses, I’ve never thrown a player under the bus - I’ve taken responsibility because I believe that’s how you lead.
He was slightly less so with Kay in the Times, as he explained that the Swansea squad did not have enough "fighters" to escape relegation:
There is a real trust issue between the supporters and the people involved in the change of ownership. That has to improve. The other aspect is the team. When you take over a team and you’re in that part of the table – just like when I took over from Francesco– it’s for a reason. The reason is that the team needs to be improved.
Part of what I said [to the board] was that we needed more winners, more fighters, more guys that come in every day desperate to improve. I think in the last 18 months or so, as different players have left, the club hasn’t been able to replace some players with others at the same level.
When a team goes through a tough period, you need people you can count on, people who are strong, people who will stand up for the team. It takes that kind of strength to get back on track. I was very direct in those conversations and at some level I think that came back to hurt me.
He makes a fair point, with Swansea's backline particularly hapless in his time in charge: no side conceded more goals during Bradley's Premier League stint that the Swans.
In this aspect, perhaps he wishes he could be compared to Ronald Reagan, who spent around $456 billion on defence. Bradley might have clung onto his job for considerably less.
