Potter's first press conference: The best bits

Graham Potter held his first press conference as the new Swansea City manager at Fairwood on Monday morning.

Fielding questions on a variety of subjects - from transfers to the task at hand - here are the best bits from Potter’s first meeting with the media…

TRANSFERS

“There will be a restructure, but it has to be done in the right way. We will make good decisions and try and build a team the supporters can be proud of and connect with. I am excited about that.

“We have to make balanced decisions. The process has started already, but we want players that are proud to represent Swansea.

“There will be some money to spend. There are no details today but we do need to add to the group, and there will be some we move out to create space. We want people to help us play how we want to and have a stable group.”

WHAT DOES A POTTER TEAM LOOK LIKE?

“A team that plays attacking football that tries to win the game in a sensible intelligent way. 

“It has to be organised defensively. You cannot get a result in Galatasaray without seeing the game in its entirety. But possession-based attacking football is what we wanted to implement, but you go to every game with the attitude that you can win.”

SWANSEA CONNECTIONS

“My good friend Graeme Jones was the assistant here and I followed him. We had similar career paths and we kept in touch.

“He was at Swansea when I was at the University of Hull when they were creating the Swansea City way. I watched training and games from League One to the Championship, and I have followed the club.

“We sold Modou Barrow to Swansea City and there have been little things as we’ve gone along that meant we have kept an eye on them.”

UNCONVENTIONAL METHODS

"It was part of conversation about opportunity and challenges at Ostersund. We wanted people to improve as people, not just footballers. 

"It was the Chairman’s idea to run a culture academy as part of a training method to put people in situations they were not comfortable with. It was about being exposed to that area of life, trying to build up the individual and as a team dealing with uncomfortable situations. 

"It was part of our identity as a club and it brought the team together. It takes away the usual hierarchy because we were all doing it. We were all the same, and you get to know people on a deeper level. It helps develop self-awareness and makes you more empathetic.

You have to respect the environment but that might happen in some fashion here. I have to do a song for initiation. I’ll be a little bit out of my comfort zone. But it won’t be in Welsh.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP

“We need to stop comparing ourselves to others and go back to being us. We need an idea of what we want to do, what we want to achieve.

What is clear is it is not easy to be promoted, it is a tough league with big clubs, good managers and finances. We need an idea of what we want to do, what we want to achieve.

“I am not going to sit here and say I have a magic wand like my namesake! We want to understand what a Swansea team is, but then it's just about winning the next game."

THE SWANSEA WAY

"I was there witnessing it from the outset - how it was built under Roberto and Graeme - so I had an understanding. But that was then, today’s solutions will be different.

"We want those principles but we want a positivity of going into any game thinking we can win and having a clear idea of how everything ties together. We want the supporters to feel something with the team. We had that at my previous club and going forward that will be really important.”