Tim Howard: Bob Bradley Would Have Respect in England

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- U.S. national team coach Bob Bradley has emerged as the bookmakers' favorite to take over at English Premier League club Aston Villa, and U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who stars at rival Everton, said Bradley would have the respect of his players if given the job.

"With his style, I think he'd be accepted by all the players. It's hard to say how he'd do, because the way things happen now with managers in Europe, and certainly England, is pretty damn crazy. But overall I think he'd be accepted. And that's the biggest thing, is player acceptance," Howard said ahead of the national team's friendly against Brazil.

American players are not such a novelty in European leagues anymore, and all but the most myopic of coaches, journalists and fans would have to admit that the U.S. has produced some talent. But respecting the American soccer mind is a whole different matter. U.S. coaches have found scant opportunities overseas, but Bradley appears to have broken the mold. The national team's victory over Spain last summer, followed by its first-place finish in group play at the World Cup, seem to have convinced at least some overseas that this particular American can coach.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is one.

"I think he would do well," he said last month in Philadelphia. "I like Bob. I like his approach. I think he has a steely determination about him and he goes into a lot of detail in his coaching. I think he'd do a fantastic job (in Europe)."

Bradley told FanHouse here that there was contact with Fulham last month regarding the London club's vacancy, and now he's come up as a possibility at Villa. Martin O'Neill submitted a surprising resignation on Monday, and Bradley, perhaps because of the link with Fulham, perhaps because of Villa's American owner Randy Lerner, surfaced almost immediately as a candidate.

On Tuesday, famed British bookmaker Ladbrokes listed Bradley as the 9/4 favorite to get the job. Former Middlesbrough coach Gareth Southgate is second at 5/1 and serial failure Sven Göran Eriksson is third at 6/1. It could be that Ladbrokes is just trying to stimulate some interest from American bettors, but the fact that Bradley is listed at all, not to mention that high, is a sign that he may be the man to break the glass ceiling for American coaches.

Eriksson already has revealed his interest in the job, having guided Ivory Coast to a first-round elimination at the World Cup.

"We'll see, we'll see," Howard told FanHouse when asked whether the English fans and press would offer the same respect to Bradley as the players. "It's interesting, you know, we (Everton) were in Wolfsburg this weekend and Steve McClaren is the coach of Wolfsburg. For an English guy to be a head coach in Germany, that's a pretty big challenge as well. So, I think those things can happen. I think good coaches can coach anywhere. (Bradley's) name's been thrown about. It's not just one job or two jobs. It's interesting ... Players are starting to get accepted more, but it's a lot different when it comes to coaching. That's huge."

Bradley's future is up in the air, and he said Monday that he'll have substantive discussions with U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati following Tuesday's game. Immediately following the World Cup and then again here in New Jersey, Bradley said he'd enjoy either the challenge of coaching abroad or in attempting to guide the U.S. through another four-year cycle. "Certainly coaching in Europe at some point is something that I would love to do," he said.

Either way, Howard said the players weren't approaching the Brazil game as a farewell to Bradley.

"There's been so much stuff being thrown around about the coaches, and that happens every cycle," he said. "You don't know what to believe and you don't know what to expect. I don't think we're looking at it as being a final, as being the last of anything. That decision's not in our hands. It's not something we can even contemplate."