LONDON • Bob Bradley has been appointed the new Swansea City manager after Francesco Guidolin was sacked yesterday.

The Welsh football club's American owners finally ran out of patience with Guidolin - who became the first Premier League manager to get the boot this season - following Saturday's 2-1 Premier League defeat by Liverpool.

Bradley met chairman Huw Jenkins last week and also held talks with Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, the club's owners.

The former United States national team coach, who has been in charge at Le Havre in the French second division, came across impressively during the interview process, with his strength of character, experience and leadership qualities seen as key attributes.

It is understood that Jenkins was hugely impressed with Bradley and strongly in favour of giving the job to the 58-year-old, who becomes the first American manager in the English Premier League.

Former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs was also interviewed for the post but his lack of experience was among the factors that counted against him.

"We are obviously disappointed to part company with Francesco," said Jenkins. "We felt he deserved his opportunity after the work he did last season.

"Unfortunately we have not been able to carry performances over from last season and we felt we needed to change things as soon as possible in order to move forward in a positive way.

"We are delighted Bob has agreed to join us. He is highly regarded as a coach and has a wealth of experience on the international and domestic front."

Bradley, Swansea's fourth manager in less than a year. will inherit a side who sit 17th in the table, outside the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Although they played well in the first half against Liverpool, they still slumped to a fifth defeat in six league games. They have picked up one point since winning at Burnley on the opening day of the season.

It came as a surprise to many when Guidolin was given the job on a permanent basis in May.

He had initially taken over in January until the end of the season, with the aim of keeping Swansea up, and although the 61-year-old achieved that objective, there were doubts inside the club as to whether he was the right man.

Bradley's first game in charge will be against Arsenal on Oct 15.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN