While no one in the world — not even the man himself — knows exactly what’s next for Bob Bradley, Norwegian newspaper VG reported on Monday that the former U.S. national team head coach and current Stabaek (Norway) manager has been approached by Norwegian giant Molde regarding the defending Tippeligaen champions’ vacant managerial job.
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Bradley, who’s been at Stabaek, a relatively tiny Norwegian club, for almost two full seasons now, has won respect and plaudits across Norway’s top division since the day he stepped foot in Scandinavia. In Bradley’s first season, De blaa (the Blue Ones) finished 9th in their first season back in Norway’s top division. This season, Bradley has the miniscule-budgeted Baerum (near Oslo) club second with five games to go. If the season were to end today, Stabaek would qualify for next year’s UEFA Europa League.
With his contract expiring at the end of the 2015 season, Bradley is rightly a hot commodity in Norway — there’s the new Molde rumor to go along with Stabaek’s desire to re-sign the 57-year-old American — though higher acclaim still seems fitting.
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While the clubs from the likes of England, Germany and Italy haven’t yet come calling for his services, perhaps moving to and having even greater success at Molde is what finally puts Bradley on the map for first-division jobs in the aforementioned countries. Succeeding at a club with higher expectations and a much larger budget is a task Bradley is likely to face anywhere within the “big time” of European football.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spent four years in charge of Molde before getting the call from Premier League side Cardiff City in January 2014.