Alan Sheehan has left the building

[Estoban]

Latest news today on Alan Sheehan is that his reign is over, he is a goner.
Such a nice guy but the club is the priority and we were in relegation form with such poor results. Four wins in 15 matches is nowhere near good enough.

Who will replace him? Plenty of names bandied about:
Liam Manning
Kim Hellburg
Brendan Rodgers
Michael Carrick
Gary O’Neil
Steven Gerrard
Tony Mowbray

[Estoban]

It’s official:

https://www.swanseacity.com/news/clu...t-alan-sheehan

[jackaway]

Yes, shame it didn’t work out. He will be well compensated though. It must be the only job that rewards failure, he had a three year contract.
Now the hunt is on for the next manager, someone who can get this squad playing to their potential.

[Iolo]

Well boys, he had to go, he was taking us on a spiral down the table. His tactics and substitutions were puzzling and the O’Dea touchline advice every match never seemed to work, yet O’Dea is still here?
It’s a good time to introduce a new manager, half the squad are away and he would have time to integrate before the next match.
All we can do as fans is sit back and watch it all play out.

[Iolo]

One of the favourites seems to be Kim Hellberg, who has a great record at Hammarby IF.
I think the Swans need to move quickly on this if they want him.
Hammarby will put up a fight to try and stop him leaving, with other clubs also interested.

[jackaway]

Iolo, well they didn’t move quickly enough.
Middlesbrough have gazumped us last minute, offering more money, after Hellburg had agreed terms with us.
No honour in football anymore.
We did all the groundwork, they get the spoils. Unfair but these are the underhand tactics used nowadays by agents and clubs.
We move on and resume our search for the right man to lead us.

[Estoban]

Oh no, Russell Martin being mentioned again, please not him.

The latest favourite is:
Vitor Matos. He is currently in his first role as head-coach of Liga Portugal 2 side Maritimo since July 2025.
His record there, Played 11, Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 3, a win percentage of 54.55%.
He spent five years between 2019-24 as an elite development coach at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.

A big gamble.

[Estoban]

It’s becoming a habit missing out on managers. John Eustace, Chris Davies and now Kim Hellburg.
I don’t see any of the names now being mentioned as stand out candidates.

[jackaway]

Vitor Matos seems to be the choice but it’s dragging on a bit now.
I hope it works out but it’s a big ask and quite a gamble appointing an inexperienced head-coach.

[Estoban]

Well the two week break is over and we are still without a manager.
O’Dea has a chance to enhance his cv tomorrow with a win.
Meanwhile we are chasing an inexperienced replacement for Sheehan in the Portuguese second tier, you couldn’t make it up.