A rerun of our feature on Eric Ramsey from three weeks ago. It’s only bookies talk and the odd newspaper picking up on Ramsey, but we felt it is good timing for those who missed it to catch up. This report was written well before the knock backs and Chris Davies refusal. And of course before we became aware of the cheaper options the club would go for.

The first focus this morning has to be on our readers, you are increasing our daily views by the thousands, it’s quite humbling. We genuinely believe this is overall a ringing endorsement of what we are trying to achieve at the Indy. Yes there’s a few agitators out there, there always will be.

We have left our contact details at the bottom of this report for information.

The topic this morning has to be Eric Ramsay (below) he is currently employed as a coach at Manchester United but there does seem to be a little more to him than the other ‘candidates’ mentioned to date. He left Wales as a coach working with Rob Page in April, purely down to the pressures of working at Manchester United and Wales as quoted. "This has been an extremely difficult decision to make," said Ramsay. "But it is the right one for myself and my family after the recent birth of our second child and taking into consideration the intensity of my role at Manchester United. "Having discussed everything with my family, Rob ( Page ) and the Football Association of Wales, we came to the conclusion that it was best to depart my role before the upcoming internationals so that the group can fully concentrate on the fixtures. "I'm extremely thankful to everyone at FA Wales; the experiences throughout the last six months have been amongst the proudest moments of my career to date. "It was a real pleasure to work with this group of players and I wish everyone nothing but success going forward.

Is there a connection there to Eric leaving and the national sides loss of form ?

Eric is young, ( 31) he has a UEFA Pro Licence and for such a young coach that’s excellent, plus he has numerous qualifications such as a degree in sports science and a PhD in elite youth development in sport from Loughborough University. He has proven his worth educationally and has slowly worked his way through the coaching ranks which actually started at league / age grade level with Swansea City U18. It’s unlikely that will go in his favour IF he is one of the candidates that Chairman, Andrew Coleman is reported to be leading on Friday. Seems quick, but then you would expect a form of planning and continuity with the staff Coleman has employed this summer.

Eric is as we have stated young, but he seems to have a lot of respect amongst his peers. In fact he would become one of the youngest to have taken the Swans role, but the club have always gone left field in these matters. That’s potentially where the issue is, if the Swans resort to type and appoint someone who has no ‘head coach’ experience it becomes a gamble. And do we need another gamble ? ( <~~ that’s a question mark ) We must also not forget that Eric Ramsay is in a very favourable position at Manchester United. Would he move on so soon ? Especially now is seemingly a big influence at Old Trafford.

We will consider the experience gained over a very short term as Caretaker Manager at Shrewsbury Town of course. But that’s not the same as Championship level and hardly comparable. Sports Mail were quick to report on Eric Ramsay though.

Chris Cushion, who mentored Eric at Loughborough referenced him and Swansea earlier on this year. “I would say in terms of tactical analysis, then putting that into training sessions is something he was very good at. I can remember when Eric was at Swansea, telling us their first-team didn’t do as much tactical work as Loughborough. ‘We were very possession-based, we played out from the back and played through the thirds, not necessarily a high press, but looking for pressing triggers. We’d look for things that would trigger a press ‘ Cushion ended with this assessment of Eric,
“ So I would suggest he’s a possession-based, ball-playing type of coach”

Casemiro : “Eric Ramsay works hard on dead-ball situations, and he’s at the club for this very reason. He deserves credit for the work he’s done, indicating to us where we can hurt them the most. I think that the coaching staff have played a big role in this regard”

One Football : Initially focusing on the defensive side of set pieces, Ramsay was pivotal in turning around United from being the second worse defenders of set pieces in the Premier League in the 20/21 season to the fourth best in the 21/22 season. As a result, Ramsay has taken on a “pivotal role” where he works alongside assistant manager Mitchell van der Gaag in taking the majority of training sessions and in charge of echoing Ten Hag’s messages.

What we can say without redress is that Eric knows his own mind, especially when considering his family and their future, and don’t think he hasn’t been talked out of a manager role before, especially by Ten Hag. In January Eric Ramsay turned down Blackpool. At that time, and as history tells us, that was a good bullet to dodge. A club looking at relegation - wanting his services.

Similar to the Swans ?

This is where Andrew Coleman will be tested. Will his acute business acumen be enough for him to manage the interview conversations appropriately ? In our view he will, That isn’t going to be a problem, however he will have his dissenters, people who are successful generally get criticism. We’ve done the same, but this is about Coleman’s future. You would imagine, and it’s hardly speculation to say that Paul Watson will also be involved in these interviews for the new head coach. He is after all the Sporting Director. Experience wise, especially within wider football matters he is a must to bring some clarity to the process. And regardless of anyone’s thoughts on Paul Watson, he is about all Coleman has got.

More names will come, and even though some hefty well known coaches were contacted in the summer it’s hard to believe the likes of Graham Potter will take on the challenge. That would cost a fair few million pounds. However that’s the measure, go for it big or have the same dilemma in the summer.

Sky Bet : Latest Swans manager odds AM : 30/12/2023.

Photographs licensed from Reuters ©️

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