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'People said I was crazy to take the job, but I was ready to prove myself.'

The comment comes around half way of an hour-long conversation with Bob Bradley, the American cutting no corners. Though the lengthy discussion of his career and life to this point is eating away into the early evening, he remains engaging and is not sparing any details.

The quote references his time as manager of Egypt, arriving in Cairo a little more than six months after the revolution of the Arab Spring where safety couldn’t be guaranteed, yet he refused to move.

And yet it’s hard not to imagine that there were plenty saying similar things about the 58-year-old’s sanity for accepting his latest challenge.

In his homeland he’s been called a pioneer, and yet in his new surroundings there are those calling him a pawn, an American given the job by Americans. More than 30 years in the coaching game have not stopped the accusations of inexperience and he arrived at the Liberty with emotion running high over the perceived treatment of his predecessor , not to mention the direction the club is heading in under new overseas owners.

All that and he begins life in a major league – Major League Soccer not included – with Swansea near the foot of the table and facing a trip to Arsenal when a win is badly needed. In other words, up against it before he’s even begun. Perhaps people would think he was crazy to take the job.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

It’s all put to Bradley, the suspicions over his name appearing on the shortlist, the lack of honeymoon period he might get, the issues of an American proving himself in a football environment that still looks down its nose at those involved in ‘soccer’ the other side of the Atlantic.

“No problem. I agree, I might have to face all that and I will have to prove myself. But who doesn’t? Who doesn’t have to win games to prove themselves?” he asks.

“Look at everything Jose Mourinho has done in his career and now he is at Manchester United, he still has to win.

“You start at different levels. I don’t start at the top, but you don’t get free passes in the Premier League wherever you are. You have to earn it, with work, with strength, and by knowing that you have to look people in the eye and answer for yourself.”

As he continued to hold court, that’s exactly what Bradley does, answering question after question. The length of time it takes may be an indication of an eagerness to speak of his journey to this point, but that’s no bad thing.

If lack of Premier League experience may be a fair criticism, lack of experiences in getting there is not. It is why he turned down the chance to return to well-paid jobs in MLS after his successful stint with the US, taking in the job with Egypt in difficult and demanding circumstances that make dealing with vocal concerns of his credibility at Swansea seem trivial.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

“I wanted to prove myself, I wanted to show people,” he said, taking in a recurring theme. “In order to get better, in order to prove myself, I have taken jobs no one else would take. No big managers would have gone to Egypt when I went there.

“After that my name was mentioned a few times over Premier League jobs and most of the time I never got on the shortlist. That was because there are a lot of great managers to choose from and in those situations the decision-makers may not know who I am and may not have looked very hard.

“It would come out I was frustrated with lack of opportunity. That was wrong. I felt I had to earn it. I was determined to put my foot into the door of a club in Europe.”

It came via Staeback in Norway and Le Havre in France, clubs he took to broaden his horizon, but it appears Bradley had been doing that for years.

He admitted that starting out as a part-time University coach in an era of no professional football in the States didn’t satisfy him, travelling Europe to take in other clubs’ training and other manager’s methods. When the World Cup was on in 1994, he watched Italy go through their paces every day as he studied the work of Arrigo Saachi and assistant Carlo Ancelotti.

He continued: “When I was with Chicago we had Hristo Stoichkov and at the end of the season we went to Barcelona. We had the chance to discuss football with the guys he played with and he helped set up a lunch with Johan Cruyff and we talked football.

“Meeting these type of guys and working with people like Hristo help test your ideas on football and help you challenge yourself, which is what I wanted because I wanted to better myself. Look, I understand there will be sceptics but, honestly, I don’t care.

"I love football, I love hard work and I believe in my ability. If someone wants to write that I’m an American and I don’t know s*** I’m not afraid of it because I believe in who I am and the experiences I’ve had. You’re getting a real guy and I’ll come here and step on the field with the same energy and commitment I’ve always have and whatever happens, happens – and then people can write what the flip they want.”

It was said with less than aggression that it appears, though the unshakable self-belief was obvious, as much as there is a steeled side to Bradley that won’t go unnoticed on the training ground.

But that’s not to say there’s not a humility that he does indeed have to show something to those that doubt him, and an awareness that his actions and impact will be the things that are judged more than words ever are. All in all, it is immediately easy to see why he would have impressed in an interview.

He detailed some of his critique of the recent Liverpool game , some of the key questions he wanted to learn from players about elements of the game to see what he needed to put right. And he didn’t slip up on a key question.

“Sure, I know what the Swansea Way is,” he said, carefully running off the list of managers since Roberto Martinez’s time and before describing Swansea’s style of play over the years.

Perhaps crucially, he stressed the importance of the importance of the side winning the ball back as much as keeping it before analysing the evolution of Barcelona’s own game and if pressing and tactical awareness was good enough for Neymar, it was good enough to show to players he was working with.

“But you don’t solve things by coming in with a powerpoint presentation,” he added.

“It’s about work, attention to small details, asking what was emphasised before. Maybe the guys that come in with a 50-page dossier are smarter than me because I don’t have one of those – I have ideas, standards, a sense of how to speak to players and run sessions. I have a sense of how to lead."

"I always tell them, I don’t come with all the answers because I need to get to know players, but I have definite ideas on what good football is and what respect is.”

All of which is more important than worrying about the impression of an American abroad.

“Look, I know the value of a draw and I don't call it soccer – even if it was the English who came up with the word (Association Soccer) so it’s your fault,” he smiled.

“I may slip up and say field instead of pitch. There may be snobbery and sceptics but I won’t carry it around with me. My daughter tells me the haters will always be there.

"What I try to do is show how I work. I am confident who I am, how I work and my ideas on football.

“What I try to do is to make sure every time I have a chance to speak to you, every time you see our team play, if you see me work, it’s real, it’s the way I am and you can decide if it’s good or no good.”

Something that doesn’t seem so crazy.