Sunday, April 2, wasn’t a good day to be a former Swansea City manager. Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter were sacked by Leicester City and Chelsea respectively after poor runs of form.
Rodgers’ four-year spell as Foxes boss came to an end after a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace which saw them drop to 19th in the Premier League table, leaving them in real danger of dropping out of the top flight.
In west London, meanwhile, Potter was given his marching orders by the Blues after less than seven months in charge. A 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa signalled the end of his tenure with the club languishing in 11th place in the Premier League - with a cool £600million being spent already this term.
Things have come to a head for Rodgers and Potter but Swansea have a record of producing fine managerial talent, especially over the last decade or so.
Here we take a look at what happened to Swansea’s managers during the rise to the Premier League and the subsequent Championship era that followed, pertinentally starting with Rodgers.
Brendan Rodgers (2010-2012)
The Northern Irishman led the Swans to the Premier League at the first attempt before finishing 11th in the top flight the following year.
Following a successful yet brief spell in SA1, Rodgers joined Liverpool in the summer of 2012 spending three and a half years on Merseyside, getting them within touching distance of the title.
Rodgers then headed north to join Celtic in 2016, helping the club to win seven successive domestic trophies before leaving for Leicester in February 2019.
Rodgers enjoyed a successful spell as Foxes’ boss winning an FA Cup and finishing fifth in the Premier League in consecutive seasons. However, things haven’t gone to plan this season and Rodgers was sacked by the club yesterday.
Michael Laudrup (2012-2014)
Considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, Laudrup led Swansea to a League Cup trophy and a ninth-place finish in the Premier League during his first season at the club.
However, the Dane was shown the door in February 2014 after a poor run of form pushed Swansea into a relegation battle. He subsequently joined Qatari club Lekhwiya in the summer of 2014, winning a league and cup double.
In October 2016, he joined fellow Qatari club Al-Rayyan where he remained as manager until the summer of 2018. That was Laudrup’s most recent foray into management with the former Barcelona man now pursuing opportunities away from football, mainly in the media.
Garry Monk (2014-2015)
Swans legend Monk took charge of the club initially on an interim basis in 2014, steering the club away from relegation before finishing eighth the following year in his only full season as Swans boss.
Monk was sacked by the Swans in December 2015 and he became Leeds United manager in the summer of 2016.
Spells at Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday followed but Monk has been out of management since being sacked by the Owls in November 2020.
Occasionally pops up on Sky Sports as a pundit and is currently working with Soccer Profile to help the next generation of talent.
Alan Curtis (interim, 2015-2016)
A man who needs no introduction. Swans legend Curtis took over as interim boss following Monk’s sacking in December 2015. Curtis took charge of the Swans for a month before Francesco Guidolin was brought in as manager and Curtis returned to his coaching role.
He became Swansea’s player loan manager in 2017 before retiring from coaching at the end of the 2018/19 season. He was subsequently named as honorary club president following his retirement and awarded a MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours list for services to Welsh football.
He also knows where the kettle is.
Francesco Guidolin (2016)
The Italian took over at Swansea in January 2016 initially on a short-term deal until the end of the season with a remit to keep the club in the Premier League. He did so comfortably and was given a new two-year deal with the club, ending all notions of Rodgers making a stunning return to south Wales.
However, the veteran was sacked in October 2016 on his 61st birthday just three months into his two-year deal following a poor start to the season.
That was Guidolin’s last management role and has since worked for broadcasters DAZN as a pundit.
Bob Bradley (2016)
American Bob Bradley spent just 85 days as Swansea manager, one of the shortest reigns in Premier League history. He won just two games as Swans boss and conceded 29 goals in just 11 matches.
Following his sacking by Swansea, Bradley went back to his native country taking charge of LAFC in MLS. Bradley spent four years as LAFC boss winning the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2019 before leaving in November 2021.
Later that month, Bradley took charge of Toronto FC and that’s where he remains to this day.
Paul Clement (2017)
Englishman Clement took charge of Swansea in January 2017, helping to keep the club up that season. The 2017/18 campaign didn’t go as planned however and Clement was shown the door in December 2017 with the club four points adrift of safety.
Clement joined Championship side Reading in March 2018 but was sacked just nine months later after a poor run of form.
He then tried his luck on the continent with Cercle Brugge taking charge of the Belgian side in July 2020 but he was sacked by the club in February 2021.
More recently, Clement was Frank Lampard’s assistant at Everton but has been out of a job since Lampard’s dismissal earlier this year.
Leon Britton (interim, 2017)
Another man who needs no introduction to the Swansea faithful, Britton, who was still a Swansea player at the time, took charge of the club for two games following Clement’s departure.
The legend guided Swansea to a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace before seeing his side lose 5-0 away to Liverpool. He retired from professional football at the end of the season before being appointed as an advisor to the Swansea board.
He was appointed as the club’s sporting director for a period between 2019 and 2020 before making a return to the field with spells with Welsh league teams Llanelli and Ammanford.
Britton re-joined the club in October 2021 as a player-mentor for the under-23s but stepped down in June 2022 citing family reasons.
Carlos Carvalhal (2017-2018)
Despite leaving Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in December 2017, Swansea, who were a Premier League club at the time, decided to take a punt on Portuguese manager Carlos Carvalhal.
The initial signs looked promising as wins over Watford, Liverpool, Arsenal and West Ham helped Swansea to pull away from the relegation zone. However, a dreadful final two months of the season meant Swansea were relegated to the Championship in May 2018.
Carvalhal subsequently left and returned to Portugal where he took charge of Rio Ave. Carvalhal joined Braga in 2020 where he remained until May 2022 before leaving for UAE Pro League side, Al Wahda.
He was sacked in October 2022, and now finds himself in La Liga with Spanish side Celta Vigo.
Graham Potter (2018-2019)
Potter joined Swansea from Swedish side Ostersund following relegation from the Premier League in 2018. Swansea finished 10th in Potter’s season in charge, winning plaudits for the style of football played with a young squad.
Premier League Brighton subsequently came calling and Potter spent three years on the south coast with the Seagulls before joining Chelsea in September 2022.
Potter’s time at Chelsea didn’t go as planned and he was sacked yesterday with the club in 11th place in the Premier League.
Steve Cooper (2019-2021)
Welshman Cooper was relatively unheard of when he took over in the summer of 2019 but the former England Under-17 manager took Swansea to the brink of Premier League promotion on two separate occasions.
Swansea reached the play-off semi-finals in Cooper’s first season, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Brentford, before going one better the following year in reaching the final.
The play-off final proved to be Cooper’s last game in charge of the club as the Swans lost 2-0 to the Bees once again and Cooper left the club by mutual consent in the summer of 2021.
Cooper subsequently joined Nottingham Forest, taking the club from the bottom of the Championship to the Premier League via the play-offs. Cooper’s Forest side currently find themselves 15th in the Premier League.
Russell Martin (2021-)
Ex-Scotland international Russell Martin joined Swansea from MK Dons in August 2021. In his first season in charge Martin led Swansea to a 15th-placed finish in the Championship and his side currently find themselves in 15th yet again this time around.
Martin signed a three-year deal with the Swans meaning he is out of contract at the end of next season.
READ MORE:
