Carlos Carvalhal has been appointed as the new Swansea City manager. The Portuguese, who left Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent on Christmas Eve, has been given the Swansea job until the end of the season initially and will oversee his first game in charge at Watford on Saturday.
Carvalhal succeeds Paul Clement, who was sacked a little over a fortnight ago, and takes over a team bottom of the Premier League and five points adrift of safety. The 52-year-old has plenty of managerial experience, including spells at Besiktas and Sporting Lisbon, but has never worked in the Premier League before and will be seen as something of a gamble.
He impressed during his first two seasons at Wednesday, taking the club to within 90 minutes of a return to the Premier League, only to lose to Hull City in the play-off final. Wednesday were beaten by Huddersfield Town in the play-off semi-finals a year later. This season, however, Wednesday struggled and Carvalhal departed with the club 15th in the table on the back of a run of seven games without a win.
Huw Jenkins, the Swansea chairman, said: "We are very pleased with the appointment. We felt we needed to get the managerial situation resolved as soon as possible and while the timing is not always perfect, we can look forward to the second half of the campaign with renewed optimism.
“Carlos’ time at Sheffield Wednesday, which included securing two consecutive play-off places, highlighted that he has great character and personality to lead the squad and the football club, which is vital at such a crucial time. He has built up a lot of experience over the years which will ensure the team is structured and organised. He is driven and ambitious and while he has a big challenge ahead of him, I know he will tackle it without fear.”
Guardian services
