New Swansea City boss Michael Duff has promised ‘evolution, not revolution’ as he bids to strengthen his side with pace, power and physicality.
As speculation continues over the future of top goal scorer Joel Piroe, skipper Matt Grimes and centre back pairing Nathan Wood and Ben Cabango, former Northern Ireland international Duff is ready for any scenario as he prepares for a step up into the Championship.
“Martyn Margetson is due in as goalkeeping coach on Monday and [Hearts striker] Josh Ginnelly will be in the building having a medical as well,” revealed Duff.
“I knew Josh when he was a youngster at Burnley and all being well he will be good value and offer us something different. He likes to get in behind defences and he’s got real fire.
“It’s not rocket science to say that what the team needs is a bit more pace and I’d like the team to be a bit more aggressive in the press. I want the side to be playing winning football as well as good football.”
Whether or not that will be with Dutch striker Piroe, the scorer of 20 goals in each of the past two seasons, is up for debate. While there have been no offers to date for his services, Championships rivals Leicester City and Southampton are known to be interested.
With just a year left on his contract, new Swansea chairman Andy Coleman will know it is now or never for him in the transfer market. The expectation is that “normal football business” is likely to see him leave the club this summer and leave a huge gap to fill up front.
“I had some good conversations with Joel at our training camp in Spain last week and he was asking about detail in what I want from him,” added Duff.
“Until anything changes we will keep on having those conversations. If he goes, he goes, and if he doesn’t he stays – it is not personal, it’s football.
“I understand he’s the big name at the club and only has a year left on his contract. There will be plans in place in terms of the way we play if he stays, and plans for if he goes.”
Duff and his new coaching team spent five days with the squad in La Finca, near Alicante, last week working on fitness and will get his first home session on Monday. Only a month ago he was managing Barnsley in the League 1 Play-Off final at Wembley, but now he has six weeks to prepare for his Championship bow as a manager against Birmingham City on August 5.
“The week was great for me because it gave me the chance to put names to faces. I knew a lot of the players, but there were a lot of younger ones with us who were new to me,” said Duff.
“I was able to get an idea of the way they play and their personalities, so it has been a really beneficial first week. It was a big operation with the number of staff we had, but it allowed me to get a real feel for the club.
“I was able to get my hands dirty with a bit of coaching and get a few droplets of information over, although nothing too detailed at this stage.
“I feel as though I’ve got a pretty good idea of what we’ve got and what we don’t have from a footballing point of view. The attitude of the players has been great.
“They had double sessions every day and gym in the afternoon, and their application was first class. Some of the running was hard but that’s what pre-season is all about.”
The trip also allowed Duff to introduce his two new assistants, Martin Paterson and Alan Sheehan, to the 25-strong group of players who went to Spain.
“Alan and Martin are two good people who have been on completely different coaching journeys. They will add detail to the coaching,” added Duff.
“They didn’t know each other before we went to Spain, so it was good they got to spend a lot of time together during the week. We were able to thrash out different systems, different ways of playing, and plan coaching sessions.
“I worked with ‘Pato’ last year, so I know his personality. Alan is very much of the same ilk and we’ll work together as a group, along with Kris O’Leary.”
