Richard Montague | Alan has proven he is the right man to lead us forward

Director of football Richard Montague believes Alan Sheehan possesses the qualities that can help Swansea City achieve their aims of improving and overperforming, after appointing the Irishman as head coach on a three-year contract.

Sheehan, 38, was named Swans boss last week following an outstanding period in caretaker charge.

He ended the season having taken 24 points from a possible 39, with 17 of those coming from the final eight games with Swansea being among the form sides in the Championship during that period.

He also took 11 points from seven games during a stint as interim boss during the 2023-24 season.

Montague was tasked with leading the thorough search for a new head coach, and he revealed how the strong run of results and performances under Sheehan, and the working relationship the two have been able to build in recent months, were key considerations as the Swans look to make strides in the right direction.

“We are extremely happy with the position we have ended up in, and we are pleased to have been able to conclude the process,” said Montague.

“It has taken a long time, but it needed to take a long time in order for us to make sure we made the best appointment for this club.

“Alan has demonstrated an awful lot of the things we were looking for in a head coach, and he has proven he is the right person to take the club forward.

“We have spoken a lot about our desire to overperform, and Alan has certainly demonstrated that in both spells he had in charge, but particularly in this latter spell. 

“We have seen a lot of evidence that we might be able to kick on and perform very strongly with the right players.

“Those are the key factors, and the fact we have been able to establish a very positive working relationship over these last few months.

“Alan was a candidate in the process all the way through, we tried to ensure we looked in as many places as we could, looked to define some key things we were looking for and tried to assess candidates against those criteria, while all the time knowing Alan was in the role and performing very strongly.

“We were thorough and we are really happy with the outcome we have achieved.”