Bob Bradley says Swansea owners panicked in firing him

LONDON – Former U.S. coach Bob Bradley says Swansea’s owners “lost their nerve” and “didn’t have the strength” to stick with him.

Bradley was fired after 11 matches in charge of the English Premier League team that is near the bottom of the standings and threatened with relegation. His team lost seven times and allowed 29 goals.

Speaking to ESPN FC, the 58-year-old Bradley said Swansea co-owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, both Americans, “reacted to the fans and didn’t have the strength to see it through. That part I’m not happy about.”

Bradley, the U.S. coach from 2006-11, reaching the second round of the 2010 World Cup, added that both team owners used the word “unfair.”

“But you always tell your players that the game will challenge you in all sorts of ways. The game can be cruel. In order to have any chance, you have to be strong. You have to believe in your work, you have to believe in how you do things as a group. It can’t be thrown off track every time something goes against you.”