Swansea captain Ashley Williams may have had to Google him, but his new boss could be the perfect fit for the Welsh side. The 60-year old Italian Francesco Guidolin may just be yet another shrewd appointment by club Chairman Huw Jenkins.
The Welsh outfit have an impressive track record of hiring the ‘right man’ under Jenkins, stretching back to Roberto Martinez through Brendan Rodgers, Michael Laudrup, right up to previous manager Garry Monk.
While many were both surprised and saddened to see a real ‘club man’ like Monk lose his job in early December, a record of just one win in eleven led to the inevitable decision to part ways with the former captain and club legend.
Having led the side to it’s highest Premier League finish, and given his status at the club, it was no doubt a tough decision for Chairman Jenkins but one that had to be made from a footballing and business standpoint.
The general feeling surrounding the appointment of Guidolin was not dissimilar to that of Ashley Williams’, but the track record of the club to make managerial appointment’s consistent with the ‘style’ of the club, both on and off the pitch, suggest that the new Italian boss could be another good fit.
For a man with a managerial career stretching back over 25 years, the name of Francesco Guidolin should arguably be more familiar than it appears to be. Having spent almost the entirety of his time in Italy may go some way to explaining this, but the experienced manager has had some moderate success at clubs not too dissimilar to the side from the Liberty Stadium.
With a good track record at some of the smaller Italian sides like Palermo, Bologna and Parma, Guidolin perhaps enjoyed his most successful time with Udinese, another of the ‘less fashionable’ sides in the Italian top-flight.
He guided them to their highest points total in history – with a side that included Alexis Sanchez – consequently leading them into Europe whilst also continuing their impressive league campaigns over the following few seasons. This built on his former success in both promoting and then stabilising clubs as mid-table sides in Serie A.
Obviously Swansea are already in the top-flight of English football, which saves him some work, but his form in then guiding these sides into respectable league finishes and even Europe in some cases bodes well for the Swans.
They of course have recent history of European competition, Michael Laudrup overseeing their foray into the Europa League following their League Cup triumph in 2013. They showed then that they had a good enough mentality and infrastructure to compete at that level, and far from from disgraced themselves in the Group Stages, finishing second to Valencia before eventually being eliminated by Napoli in the last-32.
Whilst this is clearly out of reach for the Welsh side this season, if they can stay in the Premier League there is no reason why they cant enjoy a successful campaign next time out and beyond. For whatever reason, the club failed to recreate it’s form from last season under Monk, but if Guidolin can restore some of the lost confidence at the Liberty, the talent available to him clearly has the ability to perform way above it’s current league position.
His early results certainly look promising, with wins against Watford and Everton alongside draws with West Brom (so nearly a second away win) and Palace giving him an unbeaten start to his tenure in South Wales. Alongside former caretaker and assistant manager Alan Curtis, he will firstly concentrate on continuing this good form and maintaining their Premier League status before dreaming of loftier league positions or Europe, but it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility should they do so.
With a more than solid track-record of producing good football with so-called ‘smaller sides’, and with experience by the bucket-load, Guidolin may have landed in a perfect spot to build on past success. If they can first avoid relegation, the ‘unknown’ Italian could gel perfectly with a club that has the potential to way out-perform it’s name, much like the man himself.
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