Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
One of Millwall’s reported candidates for the managerial vacancy has been discussing his links to the role.
Shamrock Rovers manager and ex-Arsenal reserves captain Stephen Bradley says Millwall’s interest in him is “flattering” but his focus currently lies with his son Josh, who is recovering from leukaemia.
Bradley went into management at the age of 31 as he was appointed at Shamrock Rovers in November 2016. He led the club to four-straight League of Ireland titles between 2020 and 2023 and won the FAI Cup in 2019. Addressing the links to Millwall, Bradley revealed he had been approached by a number of clubs over the last 18 months but that his number one priority was to be with his son.
"I've made no secret that I want to challenge myself at the highest level. I've never shied away from that," Bradley told reporters. "I've had a number of approaches in the last 18 months from clubs. But I've also made it very clear that my son has been battling cancer and that's been my number one priority. Thankfully, and hopefully, we're nearly finished that. It's really flattering to have that interest and clubs wanting to speak to you. But my son, my family and his illness comes before everything and nothing will ever change that. Do I want better myself and be the best manager I can be and challenge myself? Of course I do, 100 percent I do. But for that to happen, everything has to be right. I’ve said I’m 40, I’m not 60 thinking it has to happen tomorrow, I’m still developing, still learning, let’s see what the future holds for me."
The now 40-year-old previously admitted he had lost the drive to succeed that had first earned him a contract at Arsenal. He told Off the Ball: "We go away and you're in a system with lads from all parts of the world and 99 per cent of the time they've come from a professional background and we're coming from training two nights a week. Straight away we're at a disadvantage.”
Prior to joining Arsenal, Bradley trained with Chelsea at the age of 10 but left because of a lack of Irish players in the youth set-up at Cobham. The Rovers boss grew up supporting Chelsea and said: “Nice memories. Chelsea was a club I was at from the age of 10. I trained here with some of their legends – (Roberto) Di Matteo, John Terry, Gianfranco Zola, that era. I remember them quite fondly. Brilliant times. At the time at Chelsea, there was no real culture of young Irish players there, and I didn't want to be the first one in a long time to do that so Chelsea were brilliant to me.
"I travelled to many tournaments, played with them a lot, yeah a lot of happy memories and it was a tough one at the time to turn them down. But Liam Brady at Arsenal was special at his job at that point in time, academy director. When you walk in and walk back up the steps, it all comes flooding back to you. Happy thoughts. It's a club I’ve supported since I was a boy so it’s a special night for all of us.
"We have played against some big teams and big individuals in the past. It’s not our first time and it won’t be our last. You’ve got to set up as a team, but you’ve also got to give certain individuals special attention because they’re special players. What we do know is that any XI they put out is going to be a really tough XI. You want to challenge yourself against the best and right now these are up there with the best around. The manager (Maresca) has come in and very quickly they have a clear identity how they want to play. It’s very clear they have a real culture now, which is very difficult to achieve."
Continue Reading