Michael Duff’s latest press interview displayed a far more genial and comfortable man in the Swansea City hot seat going in to this weekend’s game at Millwall. His personality is now beginning to shine through and a happy manager most certainly calms the supporters nerves as we have seen recently.
With the last two results showing a favourable return for the hard work being put in Duff is also beginning to realise the enormity of the job in hand, and he seems to be enjoying it immensely. We say enormity because (we all know this) this is a whole country watching very few teams at a high level. Despite the mutterings of the madding crowd further east Duff is in charge of the most successful Welsh club football side this century. One win doesn’t make a summer, although if the recent derby result is anything to go by it can make you Barcelona overnight.
And history tells us very clearly how that pans out.
Speaking on his responsibilities Duff knows his hard work is crucial to any success he gets, and it’s not easy. "I’ve said it before, the responsibility that we all have wearing that badge (calmly points to the Swan motif on his jersey) because it means so much to the area. The local people, there’s lots of supporters in the club, I’m walking the dog on the beach on a Saturday morning before the game - I’m not trying to duck away from people, they want to see the team do well. I genuinely don’t think I’ve seen another shirt here, not seen a Man United shirt, not seen a Chelsea, Liverpool shirt, I’ve not seen any. When you go to Burnley it’s a much smaller hot spot, because it’s a really small town, but here you’ve got a big city, and you’ve got the surrounding areas as well”
On his time to date and now living for most of his time in Swansea (marina) Duff levelled his thoughts on the city and its slow burning effect on him. "The people are really good people, you know it’s almost a part of the problem, it’s such a nice club, it’s a nice environment, and it’s having the responsibility to look after the club and leave it in a better place. It’s a constant reminder of why you are here and the responsibility. I don’t think you ever get too comfortable, you want to throw yourself into it. I don’t want to be ‘fly by night’ I don’t want to be, the first twenty seven years of my career I had two football clubs. Barnsley fans might argue with that, but I’ve always tried to improve as a player, get the best out of myself and others around me, and that’s no different to what we are doing here. To try, there’s everything here, if you can get it going it’s a brilliant football club. You have to be all in, you can’t fly by night it, I live in the area, my children don’t because they are both doing GCSE’s - so I’m not prepared to move my children at such a vital stage of their education.”
That final statement is possibly proof if it is needed of his knowledge of the simmering discontent of a few weeks ago when supporters felt he wasn’t ‘all in’ at Swansea City. His family remain in Prestbury, Gloucestershire but Duff is adapting in to his role by introducing them to what Swansea and west Wales has to offer.
It’s clear Duff is enjoying his west Wales experience, and having spent time with his family in the Swansea area he acknowledges he was somewhat blind to the lifestyle and choices on offer. Maybe as well seeing the real positives of being Swansea manager that he wouldn’t have known before he came to the club. That’s obvious to an extent but all the Swans head coach had seen in the past was the passing landscape from a coach when he played at the Vetch Field and the ‘new’ Swans stadium. "I think it’s a beautiful part of the world, been to surf school ( his children) boat trips with the dolphins, things I never thought you could do here. All those things make you want to achieve success even more when you start seeing what it means to people”
This is a side of the Swans head coach we haven’t seen before, a less intense and more open Michael Duff who as he learns his craft is able to articulate his own experiences at the Swans. He is possibly now beginning to realise exactly what it’s like to be in the position he is in, and after a few decent performances it is showing. What we have seen this week is what all supporters of any club want to see, an honest but likeable man at the helm of the football side of the club.
If it rubs off, and if the players can follow the example it could well be the corner is ready to be turned. Not immediately possibly, but there surely now will be signs of a more accomplished Swansea City on the pitch, and a less uptight performance from here on in.
Time will always tell, but for the moment it’s all feeling that much better.