Having broken the news yesterday that Andrew Coleman was standing down as Chairman of Swansea City there now seems to be a number of issues yet to be ironed out.

With the official announcement of his leaving made literally four hours after our original report it seems a bit coincidental if nothing else. We have had knowledge of this decision (believe whatever you want as to why Coleman is leaving his position) since Monday but on speaking directly to the club we held out on any announcement until yesterday afternoon. The mainstream media followed a few hours later oddly using the same context as we did in our report. That’s nothing unusual, the good form of journalists complimenting and disclosing the actual source of an original story evidences the lack of standards these days within sports journalism.

Honesty and decorum a thing of the past.

Read our breaking news story from yesterday ⚽️ Coleman drama

Andrew Coleman will be seeing out his time at Swansea as Chairman in what we have been told will be a caretaker role whilst a decision is made on his replacement, be that an external candidate or from within is agreed. None of the board of directors bar Martin Morgan has experience of a role similar to a football club Chairman. And as we have seen over the last eighteen months no matter your business acumen and experience outside of the game, this is a unique and very different challenge. Sadly, as Coleman displayed there is a knowledge gap in how football operates in the UK within the board at this time, and surprisingly Coleman’s right hand man Ken Gude is yet to make comment. Speculation is that he is also on the way out, but nothing official as yet. We can only expect he will be gone at some point in the very near future as his tenure must surely be coming to an end as well. We are not asking the question it’s more than clear his time is up at Swansea City.

The current board have an extensive reach financially, However, as we all know you can have all the money in the world but profit and sustainability will always hold you back. That question will be answered or at least be a bit more clearer once the figures for last year / season are known. Of course to those in privileged positions at the club those numbers are already known. The forty two million pounds or so maximum loss over three years should look slightly better, but there’s no getting away from the fact times are hard.

The club is not making money.

As we have stated those long list of issues are there, especially over the past three months or so and they had to reach a head. If it was the board making the change of Chairman decision or Coleman himself, which seems slightly odd at this time the facts are now out. There will be a new Chairman / CEO appointed before the summer ends. The club couldn’t lurch from one problem to another, especially when people with little football experience have rejected players who could have put the squad in a very strong position. That with so many other reasons, be that transfer windows, internal decision making, missed financial opportunities and so many more we won’t mention here has brought us to today.

A club without a long term Chairman.

Andrew Coleman has never swayed from being involved at every level of the club. We cannot fault his commitment and endeavour, but British football needs qualified experience at the helm. The long delay in sacking Luke Williams whilst Sporting Director, Richard Montague was slowly appointed didn’t help. Luke was ripe for sacking from early January, it didn’t happen and that only occurred with the club staring at League one. That has changed slightly but more on the pitch work needs to be done, and then as we are seeing now a complete rebuild is needed.

Decisions on players leaving is now at the forefront of the minds within the club. Plus we now know another presentation will be given to Harry Darling in a final attempt to get him to sign for the Swans. But really, how can he be happy with so much change going on ? We now know a new deal will be offered to Harry, new numbers and a better looking contract over the next six weeks. It will be a final offer based on the information that Harry’s representatives have given Swansea City. It will be very fair offer and one which as in the circumstance Matt Grimes was in three years ago will make him for life. It’s now down to him.

⚽️ In summary.
Of course with his investments in the majority ownership of Swansea City Coleman will remain on the board. As it stands he will remain an active member within that set up. However, if it’s right that family pressure and similar factors are behind Andrew Coleman’s decision that doesn’t sound like an area he will be able to fulfil if and when he returns to the USA ? I use that example due to his high energy and totally committed approach to his work at Swansea. His whole make up won’t allow it. That’s now a question for the future of course and you can bet your bottom dollar (sic) there will be more changes.

We expect new investment this year, that’s under discussion, we expect more board changes and we most certainly believe that Swansea City will be in a much stronger position players and asset wise at the end of this summer period. That’s what really matters, the Swans haven’t so much lost a Chairman, they’ve actually gained impetus from this latest news. It’s a positive for many reasons away from Andrew Coleman. Nothing has been lost and there’s everything to gain. Plus we have the people around the club now and a financially secure board to make that happen.

Photographs Swansea City AFC & open source