Swansea to continue manager hunt

Last updated : 10 July 2010 By BBC Sport

Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins admits he will look at other options after being refused permission to speak to Gary Speed over the vacant manager's job.Jenkins did not fully admit defeat for the Sheffield United coach, but he did reject reports linking Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke with the club.

He also says no approach has been made for Wigan assistant boss Graeme Jones.

"We've made a couple of approaches to clubs to try and speak to different people and they refused us," he said.

"As things stand obviously that's their stance for their own reasons.

"Gary was only one of a number of options we were looking to speak to, to see what their thoughts were. We are now looking at other options."

Jenkins admits he is frustrated by the "slow progress" that is being made in the search for Paulo Sousa's replacement following his exit on Sunday for Championship rivals Leicester City.

But Jenkins still believes he will have a new manager in place by Monday.

And he suggested that he could now go for a manager currently in a job with Scunthorpe's Nigel Adkins, Rochdale's Keith Hill, Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, Bristol Rovers boss Paul Trollope and Yeovil's Terry Skiverton all previously named by Jenkins who fit the bill of young, hungry British managers who have succeeded on small budgets that he wants.

"Possibly yes [we will go for one of them]," added Jenkins. "There's a lot of good people working at different clubs.

"We've always gone for young managers and we've got good things out of it over the last few years. I don't see any reason in changing it at the moment.

"We've got to keep all our options open because things don't always work out as planned."

Jenkins did also re-open the door for a third successive foreign manager after initially appearing to focus on British managers saying: "It's finding the right person whether he's British or not."

Jenkins spin to throw you off the scent! He stated that he had heard nothing from Leicester, then the next day he was gone to them!

DragonPhilljack

He revealed that 15 candidates have been spoken to from around 50 applications, but not all of them have been interviewed nor are Zola, Clarke or Jones in the frame.

"I don't know why Zola has come up," he said. "It's never been discussed down here and I've never had a call from someone representing him. Steve Clarke has never been in our thoughts.

"Graeme Jones is working at Wigan and he's assistant manager to Roberto Martinez. I've made no approach to Wigan to speak to him."

Of the possible contenders, Adkins has achieved two promotions at Glanford Park and kept them in the Championship last season, while operating on a budget that was not just the lowest in the division but also thought to be lower than several clubs in League One.

Former Wales midfielder Trollope has helped turn Bristol Rovers' fortunes around, taking them up from League Two via the play-offs in 2006/7, taking them to the FA Cup quarter-finals the following season and making them highly competitive in League One.

Skiverton took over as Yeovil's player-manager in February 2009, rescuing them from the drop that season and as full-time manager guided them to 15th in League One last term.

Last season Hill took Rochdale out of the bottom tier of the Football League for the first time since 1973, gaining automatic promotion having endured play-off heartache the previous two seasons.

While Rochdale finished third in League Two, Hill's achievement was overshadowed by rival Howe - who, having saved Bournemouth from the Football League drop in 2008/9 then got them promoted last season as runners-up.

All this was achieved while the Cherries operated under a transfer embargo for much of the season because of the south coast club's parlous financial situation.

Brighton boss Gus Poyet, former Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate and ex-Celtic boss Tony Mowbray were names previously linked with the Liberty Stadium post but now seem unlikely.

Swansea-born John Hartson is said to be interested in applying for his first managerial job, while seasoned boss Chris Coleman has been touted despite previously stating he could not manage his hometown club.

Pre-season training is being taken by coaches Alan Curtis and Colin Pascoe until Sousa's successor is found.

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport