BRADLEY’S ‘WORK NOT COMPLETE’
ARGUABLY, the key to Stephen Bradley’s staying at Shamrock Rovers and rebuffing Lincoln City’s overtures is the comment in his statement: ‘Our work here is not yet complete.’
How complete can it become? After winning the FAI Cup (2019), and back-to-back SSE Airtricity League titles (2020, 2021), how many more horizons has Bradley to conquer?
The ambitious Dubliner has two stand-out goals, and the club hierarchy are expected to move on a new contract shortly to help him achieve them – his current deal runs out at the end of the year.
The first is to complete a hattrick of Premier Division titles, a feat not achieved by Rovers since the four-in-a-row team of 1984-87, and only once by any club since – Dundalk (2014-16).
And the second is to make a mark in European competition, either in the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.
Under Bradley, Rovers have played 10 European ties, winning just four. They blew a great chance last summer against Flora of Tallinn to extend their adventures into the autumn and that hurt.
Not once under Bradley have the Hoops played three ties in any European campaign.
The Champions League draw is on June 14 and Rovers are seeded to advance from the second qualifying round.
Bradley’s statement said: ‘We have a real opportunity to achieve more success at home and in Europe to match the ambitious targets that we have set ourselves as a club over the next few years.’
The decision by Bradley to remain at the helm will come as a huge relief. To lose him a third of the way through the season would, in all probability, have stymied the prospects of reeling in Derry City, who visit Tallaght next Friday.
Bradley’s passion for his club runs deep and it was something he addressed in his remarks.
‘There has been much speculation about my immediate future as Shamrock Rovers Head Coach. I would like to thank Lincoln City for expressing an interest in speaking to me about their vacant managerial position. But right now, I am very happy to stay and continue my work at Shamrock Rovers. I love this club and I feel that our work here is not yet complete,’ he said.
It’s a measure of Bradley’s standing that Lincoln City, a well-run club in the third tier of English football with average attendances of over 8,750, should seek his services.
The season before last, Lincoln reached the play-offs in League One, and the club has ambitions to return to the Championship for the first time in 60 years.
They had identified Bradley as the manager to give them every chance to get there. Now, they must look elsewhere.
As for Bradley, he returned to unfinished business against Finn Harps last night as he oversees an outstanding body of work at Ireland’s biggest club, to compare to the legendary managers of the past, including Paddy Coad, Liam Tuohy and Jim McLaughlin.