STEPHEN BRADLEY LAUGHED as he said it because even by the unpredictable nature of football, the idea that he could lose his job as Shamrock Rovers manager following the club’s annual general meeting today would be incredible.
Especially now.
Last night the four-in-a-row-chasing champions produced their most impressive win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Bohemians in a Dubin derby.
Their lead at the top of the Premier Division is now seven points with as many games remaining.
Derry City, their nearest challengers, have one fixture in hand against bottom side UCD on Wednesday so that advantage should be cut to four by the time the top two teams meet at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium after the international break on 15 September.
But there is set to be a somewhat contentious air to the club’s AGM today, with debate expected about the existing structures and personnel – not least that of ownership.
Currently, supporters hold 50 per cent with the remaining share split between long-term investor and lifelong fan Ray Wilson, the Dublin-born businessman who is based in Australia, and the billionaire Dermot Desmond has the other 25 per cent.
Bradley has also been linked with the vacant manager’s position at Hibernian, explaining how he has a long-standing relationship with the Scottish club’s director of football, Brian McDermott.
“I know Brian a long time and he knows me. He knows what I do and how I work. No. That’s it. Me and Brian would talk quite often to be fair,” Bradley said,
“Yeah, look, we focused on Bohs and it’s just now about focusing on Derry. Football is so strange. I could be sacked next month, that’s the reality of football. I understand that I’ve been linked to clubs, that’s happened in the past. It’s about staying focused.
“Right now there is nothing that’s happened that would change that right now, at this moment. The AGM is tomorrow, I could be sacked after that. I won’t [be at it]. I haven’t got gum shields or boxing gloves so I’ll stay away from it.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it. I’ve never been to an AGM. I don’t know the agenda for it but it sounds like it’s going to be interesting.”
For Bradley, his focus is on delivering a fourth league crown during his tenure and he has credited the work of a psychologist who has been working with his squad for helping to provide fresh impetus.
“What’s going on in those meetings is top class, what’s coming out in them. I think you can see that in the players, they’re playing with such freedom,” the Hoops boss, who confirmed they hope to have Jack Byrne available by the time of the trip to Derry.
“We’re in a good place. We like that pitch. It’s big. Jack is doing a lot of work running wise so fitness wise he’s there. It’s just about certain movements he makes, certain passes that he makes. We’re just waiting for that to settle. His fitness levels are quite good.
“Everyone outside is talking about pressure, four-in-a-row, the players are just so relaxed and calm and understand that we’ve been here before and we just meet the next challenge head on.
“They played with a freedom [against Bohs], like it was a pre-season game but with the intensity of a Dublin derby.
“If they’re there in their heads with that freedom and that intensity, there’s no-one in the league that touches them.”
