In an interview with the official site, Swansea City legend Leon Britton explained the process involved in replacing manager Graham Potter who left last month to join Brighton and why Steve Cooper was their first choice to take the job.
The former Swans midfielder was involved in the recruitment process “from the start”, along with chairman Trevor Birch and fellow legend and former player Alan Curtis; they narrowed down the list of applicants down to a shortlist which was thought to also include the likes of former Oxford United midfielder Michael Appleton and QPR caretaker boss John Eustace while under-23s coach Cameron Toshack was also a strong contender.
Cooper’s appointment was officially confirmed by the club on Thursday 13th June but there was strong speculation the Thursday before that Cooper was set to get the job ahead of Michael Appleton.
With speculation growing of his expected arrival, we looked more in-depth into the 39-year-old Welshman who guided England under-17s to a World Cup win in 2017. You can read that article below:
Explaining what impressed him about Cooper, Leon said that the “way he wants to play is key” and there was “clarity in how he would go about it”:
“I was involved in the process from the start, and it was a thorough process. We spoke to a lot of people, and cut it down from there.
“But once we spoke to Steve it became clear he was the stand-out candidate to take the club forward, and that was clear in my mind, Trevor’s mind and Curt’s mind too.
“The way he wants to play was key. A lot of people can talk about the way they want to play, but with Steve there was that clarity in how he would go about it.
“It’s easy to say you want to play attractive, passing football, but Steve knew and understood the process by which he could get a team to play that way.
“He spoke about how he would structure the sessions, and we are talking about a coach of an excellent calibre and reputation following his excellent work with Liverpool and England.
“He was the perfect fit.”
It’s a very valid point that Leon makes here. Any coach can speak well in an interview and have a great vision and a desire to play attractive football but it’s being able to provide evidence of implementing it and having done it already that’s the crucial part.
After a short and semi-professional playing career in the Welsh Premier League, Cooper was able to start his coaching work from an early age and despite being just 39 years of age, he says he’s been coaching now for 22 years – offering him plenty of time to practise his trade.
To understand what he is like as a person and as a coach, Swansea City fan Daniel John spoke with the Times’ chief football writer – Henry Winter for some further insight into our new manager.
You can read his tweets below but the key points he made were:
- Confident Cooper will do well at Swansea
- Huge on possession and ‘pass, pass, pass’
- doesn’t know what the American’s ‘end game’ is after speaking to Levien
- Chairman Trevor Birch ‘really cares’ about the club and has been the same in every job
- Cooper is his own man – very disciplined
- Clubs ‘will want to loan players to Swansea’ because they’ll play under a coach they can trust
- Preparation and analysis is ‘unbelievable’ – similar to Brendan Rodgers
https://twitter.com/Daniel_John08/status/1139618311619190785
https://twitter.com/Daniel_John08/status/1139625591471255552
https://twitter.com/Daniel_John08/status/1139629413782474752
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