Andrew Coleman is playing his cards close to his chest regards his appointment of a new head coach at Swansea City. The main front runner seems to be a long shot when a sensible moment of clarity is taken. The name is Chris Davies but he is assistant to Postecoglou at Spurs and is a part of an ever increasing and exciting project there. He turned the Swans down in the summer.
⚽️ Odds check : Chris Davies is the 6/4 favourite to replace Michael Duff at Swansea on BetVictor (implied 40% chance). The 38-year-old who worked with Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool for more than three years, including the Reds' 2013/14 title tussle with Manchester City. He has held multiple positions under Rodgers, firstly with Swansea before following his time at Liverpool with a spell as assistant at Celtic and Leicester. He was appointed senior assistant coach to Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham in June of this year.
Mere mention of the name Nathan Jones is getting the children on Twitter X in to a spin. The usual contenders as well. The fact is that Jones is in the running, but only with the bookies. Remember they chuck in a few obvious names, you get hooked and you bet on it. That’s why they make money. Surely Coleman won’t go anywhere near him ? The facts are that Duff was on a hiding to nothing after such a poor run - which basically was relegation form. You have to admire Coleman’s reaction to that, he is no fool and has more than enough business acumen to apply to this latest roller coaster. However, him and Ken Gude have no experience in this part of running the club. It’s a dangerous game, and we are hoping there is some steady influence from Paul Watson. On that he is extremely friendly with Nathan Jones, he recently turned down the Rotherham United job, so with these two factors in play you have to pay it some attention.
However, his experiences at Southampton led him to being the quickest sacking in the clubs history.
⚽️ Latest contenders :
If this is correct it’s pretty disappointing, however the Swans rarely if at all go with the bookies. An astute but expensive outside option is Graham Potter. Since leaving the Swans he had a meteoric rise to the top of the Premier League. First installing Brighton as a quality Premier League club and then a pretty bad time at Chelsea. If the Swans are serious about this crucial appointment then Potter would be very well received. However, it is a money talks situation.
Kevin Muscat would also be very well received, he is currently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan. He won the J1 League with Yokohama in 2022, and has a 57% win rate over two years. His Japan Super Cup win this year merely enforced his credentials. There has to be some caution as well, he managed Sint-Truidense in Belgium and had an appalling win rate (13%) and was sacked after six months. Frank Lampard would be a risk, but he is out of work, we are really not sure about him. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wouldn’t be a welcome choice for obvious reasons.
For us if you want to be serious about your next coach, and you want a true expert in the field then Hansi Flick is your man. Yes, it’s a very expensive choice but messing around at Steve Cotterill level is a non starter. It will end in another sacking and a pointless waste of time. Ex Cheltenham managers are to be avoided ! Be bold and be brave, spend the cash, and get in the right man for the job who has excelled at the top. Yes Flick is just a chat over a pint for those sensible enough to understand adult chat. But that’s the level any club needs to reach if it is serious about their future.
But have the Swans got over cheap appointments and gambles ? That’s the real question.