Vital Swansea News

Curtis says what we’re all thinking about Graham Potter and next season

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Swansea City legend Alan Curtis has always been a man to speak from a fan’s perspective and once again he has said what we all feel – that it’s crucial that we keep hold of manager Graham Potter next season.

Whilst it is crucial that we try to keep the main core of our squad together, you have to feel that keeping Graham Potter is even more vital to our progress in the Championship and it looks like Curtis agrees.

You would expect the likes of Leroy Fer, Mike van der Hoorn and Dan James to leave this Summer but I still feel keeping Potter will be bigger and better for us. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out with a new manager and it can set you back but you feel with our current manager, we have a solid base to work from.

He went through it in Sweden, players coming and going but he was still able to achieve continual success and improvement – leading Ostersund to Europa League qualification.

Curtis, who retires from his first-team coaching role at the end of the season, told BBC Sport Wales that the “crucial thing” was keeping Potter:

“The crucial thing at the moment is that we have to keep Graham,”

“He has brought things out of the players and a style that maybe they didn’t think they had.

You can’t blame Curtis or anyone for having doubts about keeping the current squad together. Dan James is being tipped for a move to Bournemouth where he’s likely to get first-team regular football. Mike van der Hoorn is out of contract this Summer and he too will have no lack of offers to consider.

“It would be brilliant if we can keep this squad together. I am not sure whether it’s going to happen, but the club has always lost players going back to Ivor Allchurch, Cliff Jones and Terry Medwin.

“If Graham stays, it’s such a young, exciting team that is only going to get better.

“He has certainly improved them as players. I think he is the big key to what we are going to look at next season.”

‘He loves the club’

Graham Potter’s future has also come into question this season, mainly because of the lack of support and ambition shown by our owners. Many fans have doubted his desire to stay at a club who will most likely look to sell off key players but Curtis suggests otherwise:

“I know he loves the club, he loves the area and he loves the environment he works in, so he has got everything he needs for him to develop,” 

“He is still developing as a manager. I think he feels this is the right place for him. Brendan (Rodgers), Michael (Laudrup) – they fitted (Swansea) hand to a glove – and I think Graham feels the same way.

“I hope he stays and I hope we can develop. It will be brilliant if we can get into the play-offs and go back up this year, but if not I certainly think we can challenge next year if Graham is given the right tools.”

Once again, I think Curtis hits the nail right on the head with these comments.

Like he says, Potter is still learning and gaining experience as a manager and he fits in well here. The passion shown at the end of the recent 4-3 home win against Rotherham United said a lot but there will come a time when Potter might consider his options if our owners continue to show a lack of support and ambition. And of course, he makes another very valid point about being given the “right tools”. Many fans have said during the season what Potter could do if he was given them.

But for the time-being at least, Potter appears to be happy at the Liberty and right now that’s critical for us.

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