At a more quieter time, well, at least until tomorrow or Tuesday when John Eustace will be announced as the new Swansea City manager with three others, albeit coming in over time with him ( that’s four for the mathematicians ) We look back to an article by Keith Haynes the day after the play off final, the first reported issue that Cooper was having with Julian Winter. Tomorrow we will feature the first article on this website that stated Cooper was to do his job or leave, literally a few days later. Stay with us and support all Swansea City websites, please remember this is an article from seven weeks ago, so the information is current to then, not now. Thanks, David Cornish.

The season is over, it’s hard to believe isn’t it ? With so much football every week, and so much to talk about we find ourselves this morning actually in a state of limbo. What we do know is that on Wednesday Steve Cooper and Julian Winter will meet and there are several discussions to take place between the manager and certain players before this.

In the interim Cooper will speak with his senior professionals, players like Andre Ayew who is out of contract tomorrow and a free agent. There is little for Swansea to offer Andre now other than a handshake and their best wishes. The swans won’t be paying him anywhere near what he is on currently which is over 320k a month. Seriously, that’s unsustainable.

Freddie Woodman, rated by Newcastle United at eight million will not return to the swans next season, he has earned many plaudits over his two seasons at the club, the fee for him is well out of Swansea City’s reach. Marc Guehi is the success story of the season, albeit he took some real hammerings from certain supporters when he first came to the swans. His two seasons have been one of the reasons why the club have been so successful since he came to the club. Conor Hourihane just didn’t work for the swans, he just didn’t fit in, his start in the first five games was incredible, then he slowly disappeared as the season got tough and leaders were needed. He will return to Aston Villa and end his relationship with Swansea too.

Steve Cooper, once he has discussed the futures of his clubs players and settled matters with them will meet with Winter this week and discussions will take place regards his immediate future. There are premier league clubs waiting in the wings with a degree of interest in Cooper. Crystal Palace most certainly. Other positions internationally are available too, however even though Cooper’s stock is high there will be doubters within those clubs after yesterday’s performance at Wembley. It’s our belief that this week Steve Cooper will be allowed to talk to any suitors, if they do reappear, and to that end if any of those positions become available to him then a compensation fee will be required. It’s pretty much down to Steve Cooper. A nice position to be in.

He has a contract so the only way he can be relieved of his position is by terminating that agreement. Swansea City won’t do that, they stand to lose a few million pounds. Recent reports of up to five million are quite wide of the mark. However, Mike Marsh has an agreement clause with compensation too. But five million is absolute nonsense. So Cooper holds the cards, and professionally we know he won’t mess the club around. If he chooses to stay and give it another go he will require more financial assurances from the club. It’s certain any answer will be a cagey one. Cooper has only been a manager for two seasons, he comes with limitations, but any prospective new role will definitely interest him. That means a step up for sure, and those positions won’t be as tolerant as the swans have been with football style and entertainment.

Cooper will know this, it’s a harsh world with huge rewards and little time to gather them.

Thomas Frank too would have found himself in the same position had Brentford not been promoted this season. It’s fine margins, very fine margins.

It’s all about to happen this week, it won’t be a case of let’s sort it out when we’ve all had a holiday. There are new contracts to be offered, loanee’s to shake hands with and goodbyes to a few players as well. New targets are on the horizon, players who have been selected to fit into the clubs footballing ethos, these will need chasing quickly. As we know many clubs wait for Swansea to select their targets then make a swoop themselves. Cardiff City are one, Sheffield United another. Both unsuccessful clubs at their level.

It’s the end of the season but it’s the busiest time of the year, it’s all about to get started. We will keep you up to date of course on Swansea Independent.

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