O’Leary ready for his new challenge

Kris O’Leary is back at Swansea and will tomorrow face his first challenge as manager of the Under-23’s team when they take on Ipswich.

Working with Anthony Wright, O’Leary will pick up the reigns from Jon Grey who moves back to his old role as head of academy coaching.

O’Leary’s connections with the club goes back more than 25 years and he made over 250 appearances for his home club before working in the coaching staff, most notably under Garry Monk in the Premier League.

There is little doubt to anyone who has ever spoken to Kris just what the Swans mean to him and he cannot wait to get started in his new role as he explained to the official club website “I’ve only been in a couple of days, but I’ll be looking to continue the good work that Jon has done.

“We also want to build on the last two results.

“I don’t need to tell people what Swansea City means to me; it’s where my heart is and I’m delighted to be back.

“It’s as long as I’ve ever been away from Swansea in my working life, so it’s fantastic to be back at the club at a real positive time.

“The average age of the squad is quite low, which is something I believed in during my time previously working in the academy set-up.

“And with the head coach we have, there’s a clear pathway to the first team.”