The Swansea City coaching mystery took another weird step yesterday when we received some information on Tozé Mendes, the new assistant manager to Vitor Matos. Well, in certain quarters he is Vitor’s assistant.

We now know Tozé Mendes did resign from his assistant manager position at CS Maritimo. And that happened as we reported last Monday. We know that as Maritimo have a new manager in Miguel Moita (replacing Vitor) and a new assistant, Marco Leiten replacing Tozé Mendes on the very same day is a clue. Moita won his first game in charge yesterday at Portimonense SAD 2-0 taking Maritimo to the top of League 2 in Portugal. An attendance of around 640 saw the game. That should tell you salaries are not the biggest in that league. I’ve had a look at those league two salaries and can’t see any coach for any side on more than £1,000 a week. And on that I doubt if many are on more than that. I’ve made a good contact in Portugal when we reported on Ronald and Franco, you can search in our news section at that time.

Managers maybe can reach £50k a year possibly slightly higher in Portugal. We mention this as we have dug down into Vitor’s salary in Portugal. We have been advised he won’t be on more than £250,000 (basic) a year at Swansea. The usual bonuses we won’t go in to because we haven’t got that information but there will be many for both head coach and coaches. That’s a huge increase for Vitor. The Swans reward success.

Where are we going with this ? Maritimo appointed four staff to coaching positions when Vitor left. One to replace Vitor and one to replace Mendes and two others. That’s because Diogo Medeiros another coach rumoured to be coming to Swansea and Gonçalo Villas-Boas Ricca, yes he is the nephew of the ex Chelsea manager also resigned last Monday. The obvious link being our news story of them coming to Swansea which by last Monday afternoon was picked up on by the BBC and other outlets. We were not the original source. That honour falls upon Gregg Evans of the Athletic. People who do their research with an open mind putting aside all bias can easily source this. That’s how we found a suggested appointment of Ricca as an analyst at Swansea City. The odd thing is Diogo Medeiros can also be sourced as Swansea City assistant manager.

As we said on Twitter yesterday, it’s a bit weird.

⚽️ Our original report is here —> Vitor joins the Swans plus others

You will find our report on Vitor in need of support at the Swans below. That’s from yesterday. We see it as our obligation to you to keep abreast of the ever changing parameters since Alan Sheehan left on November 11th. We think ! No more free radical as folk remember …

⚽️. —> Who is supporting Vitor ?

In fact as of Sunday (it could be before that, you can’t see something until you actually see it) open source reviews are very clear in their suggested content on these three coaches. They are at Swansea. If that changes as it seems to do daily then Vitor won’t be gaining touchline support as quickly as he would like. The work permit situation is most certainly going to take time. Why ? First of all the club will use a special service to get through the work permit issue if there isn’t a qualified person within Swansea City. Players are different to coaches, the matter is a bit easier. However, since Brexit there is no immediate freedom of movement which means paperwork, endorsements and a satisfactory track record. Antonio Conte as an example would have no issues at all gaining a UK work permit. League 2 in Portugal isn’t listed as a recognised league to recruit from for immediate endorsement, but there will be other ways to gain a permit for these three staff in limbo. They also have to be endorsed by the Football League, via a Governing Body Endorsement, that can be tricky, and a Pro Licence (A ) UEFA holder is a must have. Or an equivalent. All three coaches are qualified.

That helps.

If there has been a hold up this past week then it will be because these permits haven't been issued and the Swans are going for a special exemption appeal. Hence the delay. Interestingly the Swans already have a match day analyst in Kristian O’Leary and that could well cause another appointment of an analyst (Ricca) an issue. Vitor got his permit, he has worked in the UK for a number of years both pre and post Brexit. The criteria was met as well as he is employed in a vacant position. No coach can be employed unless it’s a new or open position.

A head coach is a single position, you can’t have two when recruiting from what is now very much abroad. Yes, there have been two person positions but they have to be either passed with credit or ‘The Exceptions Panel (as above) shall only recommend to The FA that a GBE be granted if it is satisfied that the coach is of the highest calibre and is able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in England’ (FA ruling)

Darren O’Dea and Richard Stearman are gone, so that’s two vacant positions. The question will also be raised if a fit and proper coach can be recruited from within the UK. You would hope the Swans are backfilling that already if this all comes to nothing.

Employing less qualified coaches comes with huge hurdles to jump. That has been an issue. There is no database on failed applications but they are up over recent years by around seven percent. (Failures) There has been a salary issue we are told but that when you review the money on offer at Maritimo it really shouldn’t be a massive block. We are sticking to the work permit problem. We haven’t even skimmed the surface but to report any more unless we get it from a good source isn’t for this feature.

It may well be by this afternoon though !

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Artwork by Swansea Independent : Photographs Open Source & Swansea City AFC

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