Phil Sumbler
Less than 24 hours after the Swans confirmed the departure of Russell Martin to Southampton they will show the white smoke at their Fairwood training ground with Michael Duff and his backroom staff being set to be formally confirmed as the new men in charge today.
The Swans have sealed a much quicker deal for their new man then they managed to let their old man go and Duff will be in charge in time for the players to officially return for pre-season training on Friday.
And he and his background staff will oversee the training camp in Spain which starts on Sunday before returning to SA1 to continue preparations for a new season that is now just over six weeks away from starting.
Duff’s appointment comes after a 12 month spell in Yorkshire where he led the Tykes to the play off final but ultimately not promotion as they were beaten at Wembley by Sheffield Wednesday.
A twenty year playing career saw him play for both Cheltenham and Burnley as well as more than twenty caps for Northern Ireland whilst he led Cheltenham to their best ever league finish as manager before moving to Barnsley next summer.
Duff’s immediate priorities will be looking at some of the Swans players who could be facing summer exits and outlining with Paul Watson his immediate transfer targets as he looks to stamp his own mark on Swansea City.
Welcome to Swansea Michael, we hope your stay will be long and prosperous.
Fingers crossed.Seems like a well- thought out appointment .Not what we are used to from the current board.
Seems like a done deal .Can anything possibly go wrong?
BFC loss Swansea gain your in for a good season
Sorry about that mate, but football can be cruel. Our gain, but if he does well we’ll lose him to a bigger club too.
Is Watson in situ?
No announcement from the Club or Trust on him or Winter, still.
I watched the league 1 final and thought Barnsley were defensively sound, I hope Duff can make Swans the same and cut out the suicidal mistakes at the back.
I also hope that he can convince Grimes Peroe and fulton to stay.