Swansea look to the future with Sheehan at the helm
New permanent Swansea boss Alan Sheehan is looking upwards as he plans for his first final season in charge next term.
Sheehan was handed a three-year deal to manage the Swans this week, having lead the side into a top half finish during his interim spell in charge.
Ahead of his first match as permanent manager, the 38-year-old Irishman has maintained that the only way is up for the club. Despite a 1-0 defeat at Millwall last weekend, Swansea had won their six league matches before then, with Sheehan leading the club out of any relegation trouble.
When asked whether he could ultimately lead Swansea back to the top flight, Sheehan said: “Can I? I don’t think it’s a yes or no answer.
“I think we all dream of working in the Premier League. We would love to do that at Swansea.
“But in order to do so we need to get a lot of decisions right and we need to be consistent on that. Talking about it is one thing, actually doing it is better.”
Following those seven seasons in the top flight between 2011 and 2018, Swansea have come close to returning on two separate occasions.
After a season of consolidation under Graham Potter following relegation, the Swans were close to Premier League promotion in 2020 and 2021 under Steve Cooper.
Since those back-to-back Brentford play-off heartbreaks, Swansea’s best Championship finish has been 10th, with the club often stuck in midtable come May. A final day victory over Oxford United would potentially equal that best finish, marking a clear positive impact that Sheehan has had on the club since taking over in late February.
“I think in the Championship, if you are not talking about the Premier League, I don’t know why we’re here really,” he added.
“It’s not something that’s shouted out, it’s understood that we all want to get there.
“You have got to make a whole lot of right decisions, then you have to have positive energy throughout, you have to win games, you have to build confidence, you have to have the fans onside, you have to have the board onside and the players onside.”
Sheehan added that summer recruitment work will be key to Swansea’s hopes of further progress next season.
“You need to have the right blend of assets and experience in the building,” he said.
“We want to keep certain players we believe are really good fits for the club, but we understand that a lot of teams want good players.
“We want to make a number of signings, we can all agree on that.”
Read more:
Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.
If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.
Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.
You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.
