One Game is Not a Season: Why Patience is the Only Answer for Alan Sheehan and Swansea City

The collective sigh of disappointment that followed Saturday’s opening day defeat was palpable, and rightly so. A new season, new hope, and a fresh start under a new, permanent manager, Alan Sheehan, was met with a frustrating 1-0 loss. While it’s understandable for supporters to be upset, what is less understandable, and indeed, what borders on the absurd, is the immediate knee-jerk reaction from a very small, but vocal, minority calling for the manager’s head. To suggest that a manager should be judged, let alone dismissed, after just one competitive game is not only illogical but also demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the task at hand. The problems at Swansea City run far deeper than one match, and the solution will take not one or two, but many transfer windows to rectify.

For at least five years, the club has suffered from a succession of poor transfer windows, a period of sustained incompetence that has left the squad in a state of disarray. The issues are not new, nor are they a secret. The churn of managers and the constant shift in footballing philosophy have created a chaotic environment where long-term planning has been replaced by a series of short-term fixes. Each new manager has inherited a squad that is a patchwork of different styles and players, many of whom were not signed to fit into a cohesive system. This has resulted in a lack of squad depth that has been exposed time and time again.

The defeat on Saturday, while disappointing, simply served to underline this very point. The starting XI might have been competitive, but the lack of quality options on the bench was glaringly obvious. When changes were needed, the manager was left with a limited pool of players, a consequence of years of poor recruitment. It is a problem that cannot be fixed overnight, and to expect Sheehan to wave a magic wand and transform the squad in a single summer is a fallacy.

However, it would be wrong to say that nothing good has come from the recent transfer activity. The club has made some promising signings, with new faces arriving to bolster the ranks.¹ The addition of players like Melker Widell, Cameron Burgess, Ricardo Santos, Bobby Wales, Zeidane Inoussa, and Ethan Galbraith shows a clear intent to address some of the long-standing deficiencies.² Melker Widell, in particular, looks like a player with the potential to fill a key midfield role.³ Zeidane Inoussa, a forward signed from a Swedish club for a reported £5 million, is an exciting prospect who can add much-needed firepower.⁴ The acquisition of Cameron Burgess and Ricardo Santos on free transfers is also smart business, adding depth and experience to the defense.⁵ These are good signings, but they are just the first steps.

The process of rebuilding a football club is a marathon, not a sprint. The old adage of “it takes time” has never been more relevant than it is at Swansea City right now. Sheehan has inherited a difficult situation, and his appointment as permanent head coach, following a successful interim spell where he earned 23 points from 12 games, suggests he has the trust of the board and the players.⁶ He has shown he can get results, but he needs the tools to do the job properly. The summer transfer window is still open, and there is an acknowledgement that further players will be added to the squad before the deadline. These additions will be crucial in strengthening the team and providing Sheehan with the depth he so desperately needs.

The true measure of Alan Sheehan as a manager will be seen in the future, not in the immediate aftermath of one or even a handful of results. Judging a manager after one game, two games, or even the first ten competitive games is premature. It is a process that needs to be allowed to unfold over a significant period. Whether Sheehan is the long-term solution remains to be seen, but what is certain is that he deserves the time and patience to prove his worth. The fans, the board, and the players must all buy into the project and understand that this is a long and arduous journey, and there will be bumps in the road.

The club has been in a cycle of short-termism for too long. It’s time to break that cycle. The foundation is being laid, but a strong foundation takes time to build. It will take a number of transfer windows, a consistent vision, and a lot of hard work to undo the years of missteps. The disappointment of a single defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, but it must not be allowed to derail a project that is still in its infancy. For Alan Sheehan, for the players, and for the club, patience is not just a virtue; it is an absolute necessity.