After failing to land one of their main targets, Swansea City have decided to hand the manager’s job to Alan Curtis for the remainder of the season.
The Swans have been on the lookout for a new boss since reluctantly dismissing Garry Monk on 11 December, after just one win in 11 matches left them 15th in the Premier League table and one point above the relegation zone. Curtis was placed in charge of first team affairs on a caretaker basis, but any improvement has been minimal as they are now two points above the drop zone.
City have collected five points from the five matches since Monk’s departure, yet this sequence of fixtures includes trips to both Manchester City and Manchester United. And it should also be noted that Curtis has overseen three clean sheets during this time, with goalless draws against West Ham United and Crystal Palace and a much-needed 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
Even so, it is no secret that Swansea had other targets in mind when they sacked Monk. Chairman Huw Jenkins visited South America in the hope of luring Marcelo Bielsa last month, all to no avail, whilst Chile boss Jorge Sampaoli and former Chelsea assistant Jose Morais were also in the frame. However, the Liberty Stadium chief is happy to allow Curtis to continue for the remainder of the season.
“We firmly believe this is the right decision for Swansea City,” Jenkins told the official club website. “Alan has been with us through good and bad times and was part of the management team that helped the club secure its Football League status over 12 years ago. He is fully aware of the next important job he has ahead of him to secure our Premier League status – our main goal.
“We have all been impressed with the way he has improved performance levels over the last five games. We’ve spoken to a lot of potential managers. Some didn’t want to leave the clubs they were at this late stage in the season, while others didn’t want to put their reputation on the line by joining a club at the wrong end of the table. In the end, we felt the best decision was to keep things in-house and change as little as we can until taking stock in the summer.”
