Caretaker manager Alan Sheehan has been rewarded with an extended spell in charge after reviving their season, and now on a run of four straight wins and clean sheets he’s eyeing the job permanently – Phil from JackArmy.net (@swansnews) and Keith from The Swansea Independent (@swansea_indy) take us through it.

How's the season been for Swansea?

Phil: Hugely forgettable. The football for large periods was dreadful but the recent change in management has made it look up. For quite a while it did feel that relegation was a real threat and that needs to be a wakeup call for the club as a whole. We are now as long out of the Premier League as we were in it and it doesn’t feel at times that we are competing in the same division as the sides at the top.

Keith: The Swans are on a very decent running streak. The introduction of an interim manager in Alan Sheehan has turned around the form and trust in the team with no additions since Luke Williams was sacked. It goes to show that months of inability from Williams was just that. Had the Swans acted sooner there could have been a more interesting end to the season. With any concerns of relegation well behind the Swans these last three games really are free hits. It obviously has to come to an end at some point but four wins in the bounce with no goals conceded puts Swansea City in second place in the recent form table over six and eight games.

Swansea in the league so far…
Boro 1-0 Swansea Latte Lath pen 25
Swansea 3-0 Preston Grimes pen 40, Abdulai 61, Vipotnik 83
Swansea 1-1 Cardiff Cullen 10 – Robinson 79
West Brom 1-0 Swansea Molumby 45
Swansea 1-0 Norwich Forson og 4
Coventry 1-2 Swansea Ronald og 34 – Cullen 8, Cooper 32
Swansea 1-1 Bristol City Cabango 15 – Knight 76
Sheff Utd 1-0 Swansea Tymon og 44
Swansea 0-0 Stoke
Blackburn 1-0 Swansea Dolan 13
Sheff Wed 0-0 Swansea
Swansea 0-1 Millwall De Norre 90
Oxford 1-2 Swansea Scarlett 88 – Vipotnik 38, Bianchini 80
Swansea 1-0 Watford Peart-Harris 35
Burnley 1-0 Swansea Rodriguez pen 90
Swansea 3-4 Leeds Darling 8, Cullen 45, Bianchini 90 – Solomon 20, 73, Cabango og 55, Gnonto 90
Derby 1-2 Swansea Mendez-Laing pen 65 – Vipotnik 2, Ronald 14
Swansea 2-2 Pompey Ogilvie og 45, Cullen 53 – Ritchie 25, Murphy 45
Luton 1-1 Swansea Adebayo 17 – Grimes 64
Plymouth 1-2 Swansea Bundu 79 – Fulton 44, Cullen 60
Swansea 2-3 Sunderland Vipotnik 5, Cullen 17 – Ballard 28, Neil 73, Bellingham 75
Hull 2-1 Swansea Pedro 34, Burstow 80 – Darling 42
Swansea 3-0 QPR Cullen 12, 28, Franco 33
Swansea 2-1 Luton Franco 38, Peart-Harris 90 – Morris 5
Portsmouth 4-0 Swansea Murphy 22, Lane 29, Towler 61, Bishop 78
Swansea 1-1 West Brom Allen 90 – Fellows 66
Cardiff 3-0 Swansea Robinson 47, 51, Goutas 67
Swansea 1-2 Sheff Utd Bianchini 7 – Brewster 47, Burrows pen 68
Norwich 5-1 Swansea Sargent 44, 63, Dobbin 76, Crnac 84, Marcondes 86 – Cullen 62
Swansea 0-2 Coventry Simms 17, Thomas-Asante 44
Bristol City 0-1 Swansea Tymon 55
Swansea 0-1 Sheff Wed Smith 66
Stoke 3-1 Swansea Burger 64, Jun-Ho 73, Baker 90
Swansea 3-0 Blackburn Vipotnik 39, Peart-Harris 25, Cullen 62
Preston 0-0 Preston
Preston 1-0 Boro Ji-Sung 26
Watford 1-0 Swansea Sissoko 27
Swansea 0-2 Burnley Brownhill 4, Anthony 22
Leeds 2-2 Swansea Aaronson 1, Gnonto 86 – Darling 64, Vipotnik 90
Swansea 1-0 Derby Ji-Sung 79
Swansea 3-0 Plymouth O’Brien 4, Darling 22, Key 35
Sunderland 0-1 Swansea Cabango 58
Swansea 1-0 Hull Vipotnik pen 51

Why didn't it work out for Luke Williams, that looked a good fit to me initially?

Phil: He had this vision on how the game should be played but unfortunately football fans want to be entertained and he was so far away from producing entertaining football as you can get. In theory he could easily have been a good fit but turned out to just be a League Two manager out of his depth at Championship level.

Caretaker Alan Sheehan has been given an extended swing at it and hired a couple of coaches, what's he changed?

Phil: Sheehan has a Plan A, B and C when he needs it. He is not wedded to the way he wants to play and will change his strategy and his line up to play against the opposition. It sounds simple but we have had a few managers who couldn’t see it.

Keith: The midfield is now operating at a far higher level, the arrival on loan of Lewis O’Brien and a more functional look to that most important area of the pitch this has been where games have been won. Gonçalo Franco has added real steel, a consistent performer who at times will leave a foot in. Joe Allen has seen a complete resurgence of form under Sheehan and his experience has been another reason there has been an upturn in form.

Easter Bank Holiday Monday for us is the most exciting day of the year, and many Jacks will be looking towards the bottom of the table and hope it all goes wrong for new caretaker, Aaron Ramsay. It’s been a superb past two and a half months for the Swans and one when you look at Sheehan’s two stints as an interim boss displays a man who is in promotion form pro rata.

Is he going to get it permanently? Should he?

Phil: He could, he’s genuinely good. He has put together some good results in his short tenure but this is a time of the season where results can be a bit odd. Our next managerial appointment for me is a real key one but if it is Sheehan I can’t say I would be hugely disappointed. Let’s see.

Keith: He will have no shortage of job offers if the Swans don’t do the right thing. We also have Harry Darling who is out of contract this season. He is still to accept several contract offers by the Swans. Alongside him is captain, Ben Cabango a proper warrior at the back and never has there been more commitment shown from a Cardiff boy. He started his Swansea journey in the academy going back to the under ten group.

What was done in the January transfer window? What was left undone?

Phil: The less said about our recent transfer windows the better. Despite all the promises of doing business early we left it to the last minute. We did OK based on this, but it should have been so much better.

Summer Ins >>> Florian Bianchini, 23, RW, Bastia, £2m >>> Goncalo Franco, 23, CM, Moreirense, £2m >>> Ji-sung Eom, 22, LW, Gwangju FC, £1m >>> Zan Viptonik, 22, CF, Bordeaux, Free >>> Lawrence Vigouroux, 30, GK, Burnley, Undisclosed >>> Jon McLaughlin, 36, GK, Rangers, Free >>> Myles Peart-Harris, 21, LW, Brentford, Loan >>> Nelson Abbey, 20, CB, Olympiacos, Loan >>> Cyrus Christie, 32, RB, Unattached, Free

Winter Outs >>> Matt Grimes, 29, DM, Coventry, Undisclosed >>> Azeem Abdulai, 22, LM, Orient, Undisclosed >>> Melker Widell, 22, CM, Aalborg, Loan >>> Andy Fisher, 26, GK, St Johnstone, Loan >>> Josh Thomas, 22, CF, Drogheda, Loan >>> Nathan Broome, 23, GK, Port Vale, Loan

Weak links in the team?

Phil: We are still lightweight up front and could do with some strengthening there but I won’t single out players here as I feel that they are being judged on the management of Luke Williams.

Keith: The Swans still lack a real threat up front, Liam Cullen and Zăn Vipotnik are inconsistent and can go missing in games.

Where is the team strong?

Phil: Lawrence Vigoroux in goal is an obvious one and I would also single out Cabango and Darling at the back. Others have played well but these three have largely delivered all season.

Keith: Eom on the left and Ronald on the right will threaten QPR with their skill and pace and Josh Tymon is another player who loves getting forwards. He has supplied the most chances in the Championship of any player this season. This certainly backs up the lack of striker power.

Ownership situation, recruitment, how the club is being run has seemed less than ideal for a while - what needs doing here?

Phil: We had an ownership change just before Christmas and it will be interesting to see how that pans out as the talking seems positive. This week of course we have seen the revelation that Luka Modric is now an investor and part owner, will be interesting to see how that pans out over the next few years.

Keith: There are still things to get sorted out at the club, Alan Sheehan becoming permanent is one area. There seems to be a split of some sorts in the boardroom still. We do expect him to remain favourite and get the job though. He has had coaching offers from two sides, one in the Premier League top six and one in La Liga.

We see this as the hardest fixture for some time, an away trip to Loftus Road in front of a packed house will give you an edge. However, 1,600 Jacks will be there having sold out their allocation. The Swans would take a draw now, the goal is to get over the sixty point mark as the season ends.

How does next season get better?

Phil: Win more games, lose less games. That’s what it is all about isn’t it?

Links >>> Official Website >>> Planet Swans — Blog and Forum >>> Swansea Independent - Forum >>> Wales Online — Local Paper >>> The Jack Army — Forum >>> SOS - Fanzine

Pictures - Reuters Connect

TacticalR added 14:40 - Apr 21 Thanks to Phil and Keith. An indifferent season from the sound of it. Sheehan has done well winning the last four games, but three of those games have been against sides at the bottom of the table.
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