Swansea City are, unofficially at this point, on the search for a new manager.
Russell Martin to Southampton is in the stages of crossing the t's and dotting the i's.
He leaves after two years’ service in SA1, recording a 15th and 10th-place finish during his stay in south Wales.
It was, as ever with Swansea, a period full of ups and downs with some periods of scintillating football perpetuated by poor runs and ever poorer transfer windows.
READ MORE: Russell Martin to Southampton - live updates
But as the saying goes, the king is dead, long live the king, and the club will now be looking forward towards a new era under a new manager.
It’s still extremely early days in the process, but a few names have been thrown into the mix which may or may not make it to a shortlist.
Plymouth Argyle’s Steven Schumacher was the early candidate and the one who still heads the bookies’ favourites, which should be used as a guide rather than a definitive list of potential appointments at this stage.
Former Swansea coach Chris Davies emerged yesterday evening, having worked under Brendan Rodgers during his SA1 tenure and at Celtic and Leicester City.
Then, on Thursday morning, we had Oscar Garcia Junyent floated by international transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
The 50-year-old coach played more than 60 times for Barcelona during the mid-90s, while also representing Valencia and Espanyol later in his career. Although capped at age-grade level, he didn't win senior honours for Spain.
In terms of his managerial credentials, he began coaching in the age ranks at the Camp Nou, having learned from legend Johan Cruyff during their time together with the Catalonia national team first.
Then, after a season where he found trophy success with Maccabi Tel Aviv, he joined Brighton who were then Championship contenders. However, his stay at the Amex was short-lived, failing to get the Seagulls through the play-offs, falling to Derby County in the semi-finals.
He later had a four-week stint with Watford, but stood down due to health reasons in 2014.
He next won the championship with Red Bull Salzburg during his two years in Austria before moving to St Etienne for an ill-fated six-month stay in Ligue 1 which resulted in him leaving by mutual consent.
Equally brief appointments at Olympiacos, Celta and Reims followed, with the job in France being the last position he held.
What would be bring?
Well, having been brought up in a Barcelona team which included Pep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup and Ronald Koeman, all under the tutelage of Cruyff, his experience and background should speak for itself. Having those four individuals as team-mates or mentors would be, in theory, fantastic for any budding manager in the making.
It's clear who - and where - he gets his coaching inspiration from.
He told the Guardian last year while he was coaching Reims: “I grew up playing for Barcelona. I was there from the age of nine to 27, so have a clear philosophy of how Barcelona want to play and do things.
“But I also wanted to go abroad, experience other cultures and become a better coach. I thought, if I want to be the best coach I can be, I need to go abroad and learn about other philosophies, mentalities and styles of play. I like the Barcelona philosophy and try to implement it wherever I am, but with some different details. This is something I learned from Johan Cruyff.
“He told me, you can change a lot of things but you can’t change the philosophy. Your players should see you with a clear idea – don’t change so one day you seem to think one thing and the next day you think another. Also don’t treat everyone the same way – if you shout at one player, maybe he won’t react in the right way to help him improve. But if you say the same thing to another player, their reaction will be different. So the first thing you should do is to meet the players to find out about their personalities and the best way to help them to understand the game and what you want from them. That was one of the best pieces of advice he gave me.”
While at Reims there was a heavy emphasis on the club’s youth system and academy, something which would no doubt appeal to Swansea’s decision makers working on a budget.
He added: “The philosophy of the club (Reims) is clear and they explained that to me before I signed. It was one of the main reasons to say yes, because my philosophy is the same.
"I like to develop young players but, not only that, I want to be really competitive. You can develop players but maybe you’re not always so competitive. Here we’re trying to do both things at the same time. Sometimes it’s not easy but, last season, for example, we had the case of Hugo Ekitike – the most expensive sale in the history of the club. That makes us proud because we helped him reach another level.”
Any downsides?
Well, the fact he has had so many managerial appointments across a relatively short period of time rings alarm bells. He doesn't seem to hang around too long, which won't exactly appeal.
Each job seems to have come to an abrupt end although he does have experience of the British game with his spells with Brighton and Watford, albeit a very brief tenure at Vicarage Road.
He had success and longevity in Austria but his win ratios at Reims and Celta - his last two positions - aren't much to write home about.
A non-starter? Only time will tell, especially with it being so early in Swansea's appointment process.
READ MORE:
