Swansea City caretaker head coach Alan Sheehan has admitted that the board are closer to appointing a new permanent successor for Michael Duff, almost a month after the latter was dismissed.
The Swans kicked off 2024 in style, beating promotion contenders West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at the Swansea.com Stadium on New Year’s Day thanks to a second-half strike from Liam Cullen which sealed all three points for the hosts.
Prior to this home clash, the Welsh outfit had picked up merely one win in their previous five outings in the Championship. Now, Swansea have two wins in four and even managed to climb above Blackburn Rovers in the table.
https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial/status/1741912178486063606
This Thursday marks exactly one month since Duff was relieved of his duties but the hierarchy have still yet to appoint a new head coach to the dugout. Meanwhile, Stoke City and Sunderland both appointed new managers, having sacked their head coaches more recently than Swansea.
Nevertheless, interim boss Sheehan has issued an update on the club’s search for a new manager, revealing that a decision is getting closer while admitting that the situation needs to be resolved by the end of the week.
Speaking after Swansea’s victory against West Brom, the Irishman said [quotes via the Yorkshire Post]:
“I’d say we are closer to a decision on the new manager but at the moment I’m just trying to enjoy this victory.
“I’ve had conversations this week but like I keep saying, there is a process to go through and I understand there’s obviously a lot of people interested in the job. It needs to be concluded this week, I’d say.”
Writer’s View
The board don’t seem to be in a rush to bring a new head coach to the club which could be positive news. Perhaps the higher-ups have resigned themselves to believing that finishing in the playoffs seems incredibly unlikely right now and so they want to get the right man in, even if fan frustrations are growing.
Several candidates have been linked with the job, including Manchester United first-team coach Eric Ramsay as well as Notts County manager Luke Williams, but it will be interesting to see who is handed the reins, possibly over the coming week.
