Bob Bradley has vowed to fight on as Swansea City manager, despite calls for the Yank to walk the plank.
Bradley has insisted he will not resign following his team’s latest calamitous defeat – a 4-1 Boxing Day thrashing at home to West Ham.
For the first time, Swans supporters turned on the American at the Liberty Stadium – as well as the club’s owners and chairman Huw Jenkins – as the mood soured into a mutinous and acrimonious tirade during a one-sided second-half.
Bradley has now lost four out of his last five matches, his team have conceded 19 goals in six games, and they are four points adrift of safety in the Premier League.
But he insisted: “I’d say when I came here, I understood it was a difficult situation, but I continue to be fully committed.
“I believe in my work and the message I give to the players. Having said that, there is no getting away when things go against us and the margins are small, it makes it very difficult.
“I have been in difficult situations before. I will look the players in the eye, and we will continue to fight.
“You need strength. You have roll up your sleeves and still believe.”
Swansea’s American owners, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan, were back in the USA but they did attend last week’s 3-0 defeat at West Brom and held a board meeting on the same day.
They have been reluctant to dump Bradley so far, but he has only picked up eight points in his 11 matches in charge and this was the first time Swans fans have turned on the boss in a home game.
The bald eagle became a sitting duck for fans who chanted: “We want Bradley out” and “You don’t know what you’re doing”.
They also directed their fire at the new owners and the remaining “greedy” directors who sold their shares this summer, including chairman Jenkins.
But Bradley insisted he will battle on and he added: “When you are manager, you control one thing – that’s showing up every day.
“You don’t make excuses. I take responsibility. Today was not good enough, especially on Boxing Day after we had managed two successive home wins.
“There was absolutely a mood in the stadium today. After 18 games we are in a very difficult position. But that leaves 20 games left to win back the supporters.
“It doesn’t feel good. But sometimes in football, you have to fight. There is no magic formula, other than hard work.”
Asked whether he felt the board would retain their faith in him ahead of Saturday’s next game against Bournemouth, Bradley added: “I don’t have regular dealings with the board.
“But as a manger when things go badly you understand there will be discussions. You try to affect things.
“We have put ourselves in such a spot and we need to win back the faith of supporters.”
On this performance – and with just two victories in 11 matches since he replaced Francesco Guidolin – it is difficult to see Bradley being in charge for much longer.
The scoreline suggests an exceptional performance from Slaven Biilic’s side, but the truth is that they will rarely have had to do less to score four times away from home.
By the time Swansea substitute Fernando Llorente had pulled a goal back in the 87th minute, the protests against Bradley and Swansea’s American owners had been long and sustained.
Bradley has said the club intend to be active in the January transfer market, but their weaknesses are widespread and acute.
Once again, their record £15.5m signing Borja was ineffective and was withdrawn at half-time. He has scored one Premier League goal so far this season.
But if the attack is toothless, it is the club’s defensive shortcomings that leave them appearing the most vulnerable team in the Premier League.
Bradley has shuffled the combinations among his four centre-backs, but they all look flakey and devoid of confidence, the same description could be applied to the full-backs, whilst even goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski – so consistent earlier in the season – has started to make regular errors.
Bradley added: “It was a tough afternoon in all ways. At the moment we’re our own worst enemy, putting ourselves in terrible spots. Changing that fortune and getting away from that is hard.”
But at least Bradley has an ally in West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, who argued it was be wrong of Swansea to fire Bradley at this stage of the season.
Bilic said: “He is very calm, I see him on the touchline, even when we were two or three up. That is a sign of big belief in himself and his team.
“They have to listen to him and work hard and I am sure they will be right. He is the right man to do it. It will be crazy for them to change the manager again.”