Bob Bradley Won’t Be the Coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps, but Who Will?

Vancouver Whitecaps forward Kekuta Manneh (23) brings the ball up with defender Young-Pyo Lee (12) in the second half against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids won 3-2. (Isaiah J. Downing, USA TODAY Sports)

A few weeks ago, reports swirled that good ol’ Bob Bradley would bring his talents to Southwest Canada. Wednesday evening showed that Bradley had pulled out of the deal with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Marc Weber of The Province, a Vancouver-based newspaper, reported that Bradley decided to not coach the Whitecaps, but instead take a job at the Norwegian Premier League Club Stabaek.

The original deal was supposed to be large enough to make Bradley consider the Canadian team, but Bradley himself has mentioned this desire to test himself in the European leagues. It would have been his fourth managerial position in the MLS; he has previous roles with the Chicago Fire, New York/New Jersey MetroStars, and Chivas USA.

So what do the Vancouver Whitecaps do now? According to other reports, one of Vancouver’s other coaching prospects was former San Jose Earthquakes manager Frank Yallop. All the waiting time has potentially hurt the Whitecaps though — Yallop accepted the role as the coach of the Chicago Fire.

The person now believed to have the best chance at the Vancouver vacancy is the Whitecaps’ 37-year-old assistant coach Carl Robinson. He is part of a list of three other candidates: previous Montreal Impact coach Jesse March, former Toronto FC coach Preki, and Richie Williams, the current U.S. U-17 coach.

Whitecaps’ president Bob Lenarduzzi previously mentioned that MLS experience is an important fact in their job search. Robinson has not been a head coach in the MLS, but has been watching in the assistant role for the past couple of seasons.

In other Whitecaps news, the team has traded goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who had eleven games in net for Vancouver in 2013…

Knighton spent his first three years as a player in New England, where he only played in six games during 2009, allowing 14 goals.