Swansea City to name Paul Clement as their new manager ahead of Crystal Palace game on Tuesday
John Percy Graham Clutton
31 DECEMBER 2016 • 7:20PM
Swansea City will name Paul Clement as their new manager ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League game with Crystal Palace.Clement, who is currently Carlo Ancelotti’s number two at Bayern Munich, is understood to have agreed a contract in principle to take over in south Wales, and will meet the players at their hotel before the game at Palace. He will observe that match from the stands, meaning that his first full game in charge will be the FA Cup third round tie against Hull on Saturday.Gary Rowett, Ryan Giggs and Chris Coleman were also linked with the role that been vacant after the sacking of Bob Bradley last week, but Clement, 44, has beaten them to the post. His task already looks an onerous one: Swansea are rooted to the foot of the Premier League table after they were crushed by Bournemouth at the Liberty Stadium yesterday.
Goals from Benik Afobe, Ryan Fraser and Josh King gifted Eddie Howe’s side a 3-0 victory. Swansea have just 12 points, and are four adrift from safety.
Caretaker manager Alan Curtis, who took charge of the side with first team coach Paul Williams, said “There could be a new manager at the helm [by Tuesday] or if not, we will just prepare for the game. It is day by day at the moment. I have not spoken to the chairman today because we have been preparing for the game.”
The fans gave Curtis’s side plenty of vocal backing until Afobe broke the deadlock in the 25th minute. Thereafter, they called for the head of chairman Huw Jenkins and angled their anger at the American owners too.
Curtis said: “I felt there was a decent atmosphere around the ground at the start of the game. However, once that first goal goes in, the crowd suffers just as we did. They went a little bit quiet after that and they showed their dissatisfaction at the end. But that’s not so much towards the team, but issues off the park, maybe.”
Curtis believes the club has a mountain to climb to avoid relegation, but suggested that the players are good enough to achieve survival. “It is going to be very difficult, but I feel there should be enough there to maybe get better results,” he added. “There are good players out there.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/12/31/swansea-city-name-paul-clement-new-manager-ahead-crystal-palace/
