Francesco Guidolon has been sacked as manager of Swansea City on his 61st birthday and replaced by former USA manager Bob Bradley has been appointed in his place.
Bradley had previously been in charge of French Ligue 2 club Le Havre and will take charge following Le Havre's game with Sochaux on Monday.
Bob Bradley was handed the task of reviving a sinking team and reuniting a fractured club after Swansea City made the ruthless call to sack Francesco Guidolin on his birthday.
For Guidolin it was confirmation of what he privately expected when he boarded a plane for a holiday in Italy on Saturday evening, following a defeat against Liverpool that left the Welsh club one spot above the bottom three.
The Italian, who turned 61 on Monday, became the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season. Bradley is the first American to fill such a post — having been released from his contract at La Havre to sign a two-and-a-half-year deal.Â
Sources at the Welsh club claimed the appointment was based on the 58-year-old's 'obvious leadership qualities' and self-assurance, the latter of which was demonstrated in a recent US radio interview where he placed himself 'in and around that level' with Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino.
It is a bold claim for a manager who has been plucked from the French second division, but is understood to be precisely the kind of confidence that Swansea's US-led hierarchy wanted, given the urgency of Swansea's situation.
They had lost five of seven league games under Guidolin this season.
In two meetings in the past week, first with chairman Huw Jenkins at Bristol Airport and then with the American owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, Bradley has convinced the club's decision-makers he was a better choice than Bayern Munich assistant Paul Clement, who interviewed well, and Ryan Giggs, who left less of an impression. Daily Mail Â
Â