Don’t waste your money klaxon. Alert! Alert! Tony Pulis is not about to replace Paul Clement as manager of Swansea City. This despite all the planets seemingly being in line for the former West Bromwich Albion coach to take the hot seat.
Pulis is Welsh – this shouldn’t actually count for much, but then the recent honcho of the Welsh FA reminded us that parochialism is alive and well in the Valleys – and an expert in keeping teams in the top flight. The latter is precisely what Swansea need.
Pulis is the second favourite for the position, but they are understood to be looking elsewhere. That means the +600 offered on BMR’s green-listed bookmakers is not for us. He’s even shorter at some other sites, as skinny as +450 with William Hill and Ladbrokes.
Be it far from us to tell the Swansea board what to do, but it is crazy they have ruled put Pulis, who would guarantee them a decent shot at survival. And it’s all they can possibly hope for considering Clement left them bottom of the pile, four points and a five-goal swing from safety.
The club’s US owners are not making many friends in the city and their reign so far has been described as shambolic. They have, however, got one thing right. Ryan Giggs is another who has been dismissed as a candidate. Don’t be fooled by the gulf between Ladbrokes’ +500 and Paddy Power’s +2200, the latter have it spot on.
Instead the word is that they are looking at a manager who has top-flight experience. This means Frank de Boer, Ronald Koeman and Louis Van Gaal are big fancies. They are +200 (Ladbrokes, William Hill), +600 (Paddy Power, BetVictor) and +1200 (William Hill, Power), respectively.
Of those three we think de Boer has his nose in front, probably because Koeman is reported not to fancy it and Swansea is surely far too small time for Van Gaal. De Boer would be exactly the sort of appointment you would expect from the Swansea crew, being wowed by his Dutch mastery. And, to be fair, he wasn’t really given a fair crack of the whip at Crystal Palace.
Of course, his tactically fluid style is the last thing Swansea need, but we’re betting him to get the job, not keep it or even keep up Swansea. And we know for sure that de Boer has been approached by Swansea, as the local newspaper reported. Does that mean it’s a done deal?
Possibly. Swansea spoke to potential candidates before relieving Clement of his duties. Now, would they really have sacked the Englishman if they were not 99 per cent sure that they had the new man lined up? It would be a very dumb move otherwise.
There’s also the belief in south Wales that an appointment could be made before the weekend, which means that De Boer’s price may not last long at all. So it could be fastest fingers first.
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