**Alan Sheehan Confirmed as Permanent Swansea City Manager: Club Leadership Outlines Ambitious Summer Plans**
Swansea City have officially named Alan Sheehan as their new permanent head coach, following an extended search and a period of impressive results under his interim stewardship. Announced earlier this week, Sheehan’s appointment marks a new chapter for the Welsh club as it looks to capitalise on recent on-field progress and target further improvements in the forthcoming Championship season.
Richard Montague, Swansea’s director of football, addressed the press alongside Sheehan ahead of the team’s final league fixture against Oxford United. Montague emphasised that a comprehensive recruitment strategy had left the club fully confident that Sheehan was the right choice to take the club forward after a fruitful interim spell in charge. Sheehan, who has signed a three-year contract, has been credited with reinvigorating the team and steering them towards a strong top-half finish.
“We’re extremely happy with the position we’ve ended up with,” Montague told reporters. “It’s a relief to have the process finished. It took a long time, but it needed to take a long time. I think Alan has demonstrated an awful lot of things we were looking for in a head coach and has proven he’s the right person to take the club forward.”
Montague highlighted Sheehan’s ability to extract impressive performances from the squad, noting a particularly successful second spell as interim manager. Accumulating 23 points in just 12 games, Sheehan has drawn praise for exceeding expectations and demonstrating qualities the club values highly—such as tactical acumen, leadership, and the ability to build strong working relationships within the club’s structure.
Despite reports linking other candidates, including Swedish manager Kim Hellberg, with the Swansea vacancy, Montague explained that the club conducted a thorough search, considering domestic and international options before confirming Sheehan. “Alan was a candidate all the way through,” he said. “We tried to make sure we looked in as many places as we could and defined some key attributes we wanted. Throughout that process, Alan was performing very well in the role he was already in. We were able to run an exceptionally thorough process, and we’re delighted with the outcome.”
Sheehan himself was clear on the importance of maintaining ‘alignment’ with the club’s executive, suggesting he sought reassurances over the direction of the club before accepting the post full time. “Since Richard’s come in, we’ve had the opportunity to develop a relationship, and it’s really moved on to another level in the last couple of weeks,” Sheehan shared. “We’ve got to the stage where he knows I’ll always give him the truth—he’s described me as brutally honest a few times. We have a clear vision of where we want to go and how we plan to get there.”
Looking ahead, both Sheehan and Montague have stressed the importance of the upcoming transfer window. Preparations are already underway as the club seeks to strengthen its playing squad and lay a platform for further success. “Now we’ve got a big summer window coming up where we have to make it the best possible in order to be successful next season,” Sheehan stated. He emphasised the need to strike the right balance between experience and new signings, whilst retaining key existing players.
The strategic intent is to maintain momentum and build a squad capable of challenging at the top end of the table. “We want to keep certain players who are a really good fit for Swansea, but we understand a lot of teams want good players. We have to be really proactive. We want to make a number of signings, and hopefully you’ll see us acting rather than just talking,” added Sheehan.
Montague was cautious about suggesting any imminent arrivals, stressing that although plenty of groundwork has been done, it is too soon to announce concrete developments. “There’s been a lot of work done. We’re in a good place in terms of preparations for the window, but it’s too early to say whether anything is close to materialising.”
Swansea City will round off their current Championship campaign at the Swansea.com Stadium against Oxford United in front of home supporters on Saturday, kicking off at 12.30pm. As the club’s fans look forward to the summer and next season, optimism is clearly growing under the new leadership team of Alan Sheehan and Richard Montague.