Why Swansea City’s Director of Football Move Is the Turning Point the Club Desperately Needs

There’s no point dressing it up: this season has not gone the way the Swansea City ownership would have imagined when they laid out their plans in the summer. The club has spent far too much time glancing nervously over its shoulder at the bottom three. A managerial change before winter, a raft of new signings struggling to make the impact expected of them, and a general sense of drift on and off the pitch were never part of the blueprint. The owners spoke openly about accelerating progress, pushing the club forward at pace, and building something that could grow quickly. Instead, the first half of the campaign has exposed cracks that can’t be ignored.

And when a season unfolds like this, it forces a moment of reflection. It has to. The owners will have looked at the structure of the club and realised that something fundamental isn’t right. The departure of Richard Montague shortly after the summer window closed left a gaping hole in the recruitment department, a hole that has never truly been filled. Whatever the reasons behind his exit, the impact was immediate and obvious. Recruitment is now being led, from a distance, by Adam Worth, an analyst with no background in heading up football operations. That’s not a criticism of Worth as a professional; it’s simply a reality of expertise. Swansea City have been operating without a proper football leader in one of the most important areas of the club.

And that absence has already cost us. The pursuit of Kim Hellberg was the clearest example. Hellberg was, without question, the club’s first choice when Alan Sheehan departed in November. Swansea identified him early, moved quickly, and believed he was the right fit. But in the end, they couldn’t get it over the line. Whether that was down to structure, persuasion, or simply the lack of football authority at the table, it was a blow. Vítor Matos has done an excellent job since arriving, nobody can deny that, but the episode highlighted the same underlying issue: Swansea City are trying to run a modern football operation without enough football people in the building.

Which brings us to Tom Gorringe. Whatever his strengths, and he clearly has some, he is now overseeing a multi‑million‑pound football club while seemingly trying to shoulder far too much of the operational burden himself. Fans are right to question whether he has the experience and credentials to lead both the business and football sides of the club. His recent attempts to engage supporters, including turning up in pubs before matches, will win him some goodwill. But goodwill isn’t what gets transfers right. Goodwill doesn’t build a coherent football identity. Goodwill doesn’t fix structural weaknesses. Fans want decisions made by people who know the game, who understand recruitment cycles, who can spot a player, who can build a squad, who can challenge a head coach constructively. Right now, with Gorringe and Worth effectively running operations on and off the pitch, it doesn’t feel like Swansea are in that place.

That’s why Gorringe’s confirmation at last week’s fans’ forum, that the club is progressing with the appointment of a Director of Football, is not just encouraging. It’s vital. It is the clearest sign yet that the owners recognise the need for expertise, leadership, and football intelligence at the heart of the club’s decision‑making. But the caveat is obvious: it has to be the right person. Not someone cheap. Not someone inexperienced. Not someone who sees Swansea as a stepping stone or a favour. This club is crying out for a figure with real football authority, someone who can build a recruitment department, set a long‑term strategy, and stop the cycle of repeated mistakes that have plagued recent windows.

The only frustration, and it’s a fair one, is that this appointment is coming late. January is already upon us. Plans for the window will have been drawn up weeks ago, and those plans have been shaped by an inexperienced CEO and a data analyst. That’s not ideal. It’s not even close to ideal. The hope now is that the incoming Director of Football has already been consulted informally, or that they will have enough influence, quickly enough, to shape the final decisions. Because Swansea cannot afford another window where the squad is patched together, where short‑term fixes outweigh long‑term planning, or where the club’s identity is left to drift.

But despite the timing, despite the frustrations, despite the questions that still hang over the structure of the club, this move is unquestionably the right one. Swansea City cannot progress at the pace the owners keep talking about without proper football leadership. They cannot build a squad capable of climbing the Championship without someone who understands the market, understands the game, and understands how to build a club from the inside out. They cannot keep repeating the same mistakes and expect different outcomes.

So yes, welcome this. Embrace it. Demand that it’s done properly. Because if Swansea City get this appointment right, it could be the moment the club finally stops firefighting and starts building again. And after the chaos, uncertainty, and missteps of the past few months, that would be a step in exactly the right direction.

This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.