We had had a good look around the latest betting on the next Swansea City manager. Basically the bookies in this market are generally far off the mark when it comes to Swansea betting. They wheel out a few anomalies like Russell Martin who would never return to the club and prey on fans hope more than sense.

We are not as much commenting on the odds, they change hourly, but the manager himself.

The good and the bad …

Numerous bookmakers are making their suggestions now but we concentrated on TalkSport, we could have chosen many of course, but at this moment in time it’s an exercise to see just how mad some of these suggestions are. And there’s a few. Russell Martin left the Swans in June 2023. The Chairman at the time was Andrew Coleman, he still is. A whole year of litigation followed with numerous allegations made. Russell Martin will not come to Swansea. These are the details that bookies just won’t be aware of, or choose to include Martin as people will bet in hope. It seems inconceivable Martin would return to Swansea with Coleman in charge. In fact we have no clue if it has been reported elsewhere but he won’t be coming.

Looking at the list it isn’t inspiring. Des Buckingham ? (Below) He has had around four months of Championship experience at Oxford United and was sacked with the club in the relegation places. Yes, he brought the club up from League One, but again that’s League One. He won four games in this seasons Championship from seventeen. We are pretty certain he isn’t the man for Swansea City.

Alan Sheehan is in there as an optional extra, now interim manager he doesn’t have the desire for us to be a full time manager. Mind you ten wins on the bang might sway him. But he is just another lazy shot.

You would expect Ryan Lowe to be listed, but as we saw at the start of the season he walked out on Preston when the going got tough. He has made them a mid table Championship side over three years or so, but this option displays of a cheap fix. He would most certainly not be the profile that Swansea are looking for.

Rob Edwards (Below) is a manager worth thinking about but when you do a check on his last two seasons in management at Luton, be that in the Premier League or in the Championship he seems to have lost his way. His win record over that time is bad. Having some link with Wales isn’t a passport to Swansea City. We rule him out, but wouldn’t be surprised if he is more of a favourite than those mentioned already.

No disrespects to Alan Tate, but that’s a huge no, and we hear in any event both he and Steve Cooper have a position lined up. Steven Gerrard, he would think his yearly salary was a month, and he isn’t inspiring, just like Wayne Rooney. The ex Plymouth manager could be offered something at Cambridge we hear. And talking of Cambridge, a huge, massive NO to Garry Monk, jeez he has been a failure since he left Swansea on the back of Michael Laudrup’s team.

For us, Gary O’Neil is the head coach to go for, he had a good win rate in a struggling Wolves side and had so many bad VAR calls and apologies from the PGMOL it was embarrassing. Speaking to an agent we know they believe the least he would take is £750k a year, but with a variety of incentives. Who knows ? His style is reported as, encouraging quick transitions and the use of wide flanks to punish teams on the break and catch them off balance. Defensively, O'Neil prioritises compactness and organisation, ensuring his team remains disciplined without the ball. Sounds like Luke Williams wanted to do without the knowledge to do it. And in a few cases the players. He prefers a 442 but remember he did ‘okay’ at Bournemouth when Premier League status was more important than the team they have become. He should be number one on the Swans list.

Number one priority.

Neil Harris, we all know he would be a huge mistake as he has been in the Championship for a number of years. Finally though a real contender (on paper) is Ryan Mason, when the Swans went with Luke Williams, Ryan’s wage demands were thought be far too high, but as we have seen again getting cheap leads to cheap. His salary is now way above than what he was on in 2023. It’s a shame but the only information we can get is that Ryan Mason and the salary he is on at the moment is way way off what the Swans could pay even if Mason halved it.

That’s our day one reflections on the manager search. Of course based on what others are reporting is the race for the next Swansea head coach. Look below at the other runners, some are really crazy.

Things change as quickly as the wind in these markets, so we hope the context this evening gives you room for thought.

O’Neil tag:reuters.com,2024:newsml_UP1EKCE1A66S3:490933260 : Buckingham MT1IMGOSP0002OJP7U : Mason Action Images