WHO WILL BE THE NEW MANAGER?

Let's hope that Francesco will GUIDEolin us to safety......

 

All of the sound bites I've read make me feel more positive that this is the correct appointment. Can't wait for the Everton game

 

Its a tough opening game but I hope we will see a more solid defensive approach. Ayew to score on a counter 1-1

 

Francesco Guidolin: I did not expect Swansea players to know who I am

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Francesco Guidolin says his move to the Premier League with Swansea is a dream for him.
New Swansea City manager Francesco Guidolin says Ashley Williams did the right thing by searching his name on Google as he admits it is a "dream come true" to work in the Premier League.

Williams admitted that he had needed to perform an Internet search to find out who his club had just appointed as their new manager, with few aware of who the former Palermo and Udinese coach is.

Guidolin guided Udinese to their best ever Serie A finish and almost into the Champions League group stage twice, although his reputation had not reached England before he was named Swansea's new coach.

But Guidolin is not concerned, saying: "I'm definitely not the most famous manager around, but I wanted to realise this dream that I had; I wanted this opportunity.

"I had thought about it and hoped it would happen, but it was never going to be easy -- it's the best league in the world and there are only 20 clubs, so 20 benches to sit on, and now it has arrived and here I am.

"I never want to have regrets in the future, when I'm no longer coaching, and I hope that when that time comes, I will be able to say that I did a good job even here.

"[Williams] was just being honest and I like it when people are sincere. But this is what I expected. I am sure that when all of the team heard that a certain Francesco Guidolin was coming from Italy, they all said 'who?', but that's normal."

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Guidolin said that plenty of clubs had approached him since he stepped down as Udinese coach in 2014 and took on a role as technical supervisor of the Italian club and the other two clubs owned by the Pozzo family -- Granada and Watford.

Contrary to reports, AC Milan "were not one of them," according to Guidolin, who was waiting for the right offer to come along, and that came from Swansea.

 

Alan Curtis compares Swansea boss Francesco Guidolin to Michael Laudrup
Swansea City look to continue their winning ways as they face a tough Everton side at Goodison Park.
Alan Curtis has been impressed by new head coach Francesco Guidolin's early impact at Swansea and compared the Italian to former Swans boss Michael Laudrup.

Guidolin will take charge of the Premier League strugglers for the first time on Sunday when they travel to Everton.

Curtis, who had been interim manager since Garry Monk's departure last month and will work alongside Guidolin, said the 60-year-old, who left his last managerial post with Udinese in May 2014, was up for the challenge of keeping Swansea in the top flight.

"Francesco addressed the players on Wednesday I think and spoke really warmly and passionately about what he expects from the players and what he will give to them," Curtis said at the pre-match press conference.

"He was really impressive considering he's got a limited amount of English. I thought he spoke really well.

"He seems really confident. I think he's very thoughtful, probably shades of Michael Laudrup in many ways and I think that he's quite reserved.

"He's very measured in how he speaks, but you feel there's a little bit of a fiery temper there as well. He's been impressive so far. I'm sure he realises the job he's coming into and feels very confident he can cope with it."

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Francesco Guidolin will take charge of his first Premier League game on Sunday.
Laudrup won the League Cup with Swansea in 2013 during his two-year spell in south Wales.

Guidolin will be assisted by former Chelsea midfielder Gabriele Ambrosetti, with Curtis describing his role as "an ally" to the new boss "in terms of the knowledge of the players and the league itself".

Swansea make the trip to Goodison Park on the back of morale-boosting win over Watford on Monday night, which lifted them one point clear of the bottom three.

The club, however, are the second lowest scorers in the division, with 20 goals from their 22 matches, and Curtis admitted they "certainly need" to sign a striker in the transfer window.

He said Sunderland's Fabio Borini was "one of a number of players" they club were looking at, but stressed Andre Ayew would not be going the other way in any possible deal.

Curtis also confirmed a loan deal for Liverpool's Joe Allen was being considered, but said he was not aware of any interest in Blackburn's Jordan Rhodes.

Swansea have a fully fit squad to choose from for the Everton clash, with the Toffees without a league win since Boxing Day following a run of a loss and three draws.

"We will look to exploit their weaknesses and hopefully we can take advantage of a lapse in concentration at the back," Curtis added.

 

Is that Dai Twp's "good friend" Alan Curtis....you know the one who picked the team and coached the style for Laudrup, the one who was really responsible for our Cup victory, the one who was apparently all for sacking Laudrup. That one.....speaking favourably about Michael Laudrup, again!

 

I said after the first time Curtis spoke well of Laudrup after being made manager till summer , Jenkins was probably already looking for a new manager ....a bit of tat when it happened.The 2nd time Curtis talked well of Laudrup , after he was replaced , well that was the tit

 

I know nothing of him and we will all have to wait and see if we have pulled another rabbit out of the hat or shot ourselves in the foot as Fulham did with Felix Magath. My only worry is Italian managers do tend to be boring and just grind out some results, but maybe that is what we need, but we are already pretty sound defensively, just need to add a few goals. Sorry to be a little negative in that my other worry is he goes back and brings in some Italian also-rans.

 

Yes but even 'Italian also-rans' have to be a 100% on Go-miss...........

 

I've been encouraged from learning that he used to show his players videos of how we used to play so hopefully we will get back to that.
We'll find out tomorrow how attacking we will be as we have nothing to lose v Everton as we are expected to lose.
I'd like to see us set up to play on the counterattack with Ayew up top with Barrow and Montero on the flanks.

 

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...francesco-guidolin-stay-swansea-city-10779597

 

Oh yes the Swans are on the up!.Frankie Goes To Hollywood.............

 

Interesting views on the way he likes to play.
Italian Journalist Gives Interesting Insight Into Guidolin

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Italian journalist Emanuele Giulianelli, who works for La Gazzetta dello Sport gave an interesting and detailed insight into Swansea City`s new head coach Francesco Guidolin, who enjoyed a win - the club`s first at Everton no less - in his first match in charge.

Guidolin`s appointment, just a couple of weeks or so after Alan Curtis was named as interim manager until the end of the season, came as a shock to us all, and like captain Ashley Williams said - we all had to google his name to understand more about the experienced 60 year-old Italian.

But it didn`t take long to gain some positive vibes about a manager who has had 16 different spells in Italy and Monaco, and has led some lower League Italian sides like Vicenza and Udinese to huge success in Serie A.

A google search, a read up on Wikipedia and a few other detailed articles only provides a limited insight to Swansea`s new manager, but Giulianelli provided a detailed assessment of the man who guided the Swans to their first ever League win against Everton in his first game in charge.

It`s been an excellent first week for the Italian, he watched on from the stands last Monday night as Curtis saw the team beat Watford 1-0 thanks to Ashley Williams` header, and 6 days later they held on at Everton, showing hard work and defensive organisation to maintain their 2-1 half time lead.

Describing him as a person, Giulianelli said Guidolin is "very polite, hard-working" and his personality allows him to build a good relationship with his players - even saying he can be like a father figure to them.

"I think that you are just starting to get to know a man that is very particular - Francesco Guidolin is a very particular man. I know that in England they have already given him the nickname "the modest one" because he`s very polite, and very hard-working."

"In his experience he has made up a very good relationship with his team - with the dressing room and he knows football very well and how to treat footballers."

"He can get the best from every player. I know you don`t know him very well, to me that is very funny to know that a lot of players had to Google his name to know something about him."

"We know him very well in Italy because he`s one of the few [managers] that has been able to win some cups with not a top team like Inter Milan or Juventus. But he won the Coppa Italia with Vicenza."

"The way in which he managed to do this was very particular because he took this team in the third division in Italy and with almost the same group [of players] from the third division to Serie A - he was able to with the Copa Italia and even to be first in Serie A for some matches. He is like a father for his players. At Swansea he will be very happy [with his job]."

Talking more about his style of play and typical tactics he has used in his 30-year-plus managerial experience, he added that he likes to use both 3-defender and 4-defender based systems, and he believes he will look to play a 3-defender based formation at Swansea.

According to Giulianelli, Guidolin likes to base his attacking play from the wingers - who are required to do a lot of different jobs - both defensively and offensively - with one being more defensive than the other. He also uses only one out and out striker, with the other playing just behind - in between the lines and in wide positions.

"He wants to have a midfield full of players that are able to press the ball and the opponent. He likes to go and attack but always being careful. A lot of times it starts from the wingers. The wingers are [required] to do a lot of jobs and one of the two wingers is often more defensive and the other one is sometimes a striker that is put very wide - especially on the left."

"For example, at Vicenza, he had only one centre forward, and on the left there was Marcelo Otero who was really a striker but was used as a left midfielder because he was able to get in between the lines and to serve the centre forward or to score himself."

"So he knows very much about tactics. He has done the four line defence but he knows very well the three line defence. In fact, I think that he will try in the next period to do the three line in Swansea if it will be possible because in these last experiences he has always tried this [three at the back]. He is a man able to do a lot of tactics."

Talking of tactics, you can also read our detailed analysis of some of the formations Guidolin has used in Serie A here

What are your thoughts on Guidolin`s appointment? Was it worth the wait or is Guidolin a risk despite the win at Everton? Share your thoughts via the comments below.

 

I'm liking the sound of that - very much!

 

Im really glad our new manager is here as we need to try something but im not going to sing his praises yet after one game as both laudcrap and monk won their first game and they rightly or wrongly were sacked. So lets see how it goes and what he can bring to the club. One thing is he should be given a chance and not slagged off the minute we lose a game as every manager loses games. I'm Chuffed he is here and im sure he has enough experience at 60 years of age to have turned clubs around before.....In Guidolin we trust PS We have to find i shorter nick name for him...

 

Confirmed as assistant.

http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/swansea-city-announce-diego-bortoluzzi-as-coach-2925575.aspx

Seems like we are trying every nation in the EU, Tried, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Denmark and with players a touch of French its about time we tried Italian.

 

With this influx of Italian staff reminds me of earlier days at the Vetch. For years there were about eight or more Italians who were regular fans at our matches.
They stood in front of us boys on the North Bank just under the tv gantry and really enjoyed themselves ,shouting as Italians do .They were Jacks through and through.
Well one match at half time the PA announced the latest scores and give the news that Cardiff were losing. As you can imagine there was a roar from the crowd and this one Italian turned around and asked what we were cheering for to which I replied ' the pasties have just arrived'

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-new-boss-chases-Premier-League-survival.html

 

Good read Taff, and having had my first conversation with Franco yesterday, we are going to be fine.............

 

With Everton having a new "serious" investor, wonder if Martinez' position is secure?

If he is removed, would you want him back in the Summer?