Swansea City know they have to get this managerial appointment right.
The Championship club have slid down the table at an alarming rate in recent weeks, picking up just 10 points from 12 league games ahead of the visit of Derby County on Tuesday night.
Former Liverpool duo tasked with turning Swansea around
There is usually at least one side who gets relegated from the Championship unexpectedly. Luton Town were tipped for an immediate promotion back to the Premier League last season, but ended up exiting the division at the other end. Birmingham City were sixth when they sacked John Eustace and appointed Wayne Rooney in October 2023, but six months later they were also demoted to the third tier.
Swansea will be desperate to avoid becoming that team this season, although Norwich City and Sheffield United are below the South Wales club and also in contention for that unwanted title.
In an attempt to arrest the slide, Swansea have appointed former Liverpool elite development coach Vitor Matos as their new head coach.
The Portuguese, 37, spent five years at Anfield under Jurgen Klopp and helped bridge the gap between the academy and the first team, working with the likes of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah.
Matos left Liverpool in 2024 to join Red Bull Salzburg, before taking his first senior managerial role at Portuguese second tier side Maritimo in June and is still relatively inexperienced as a head coach.
He was in the stands at Ashton Gate on Saturday to watch his new team for the first time and was set to be in the dugout against Derby, and will be assisted by two people who know all about Swansea.
Swans legend Joe Allen, who retired from playing at the end of last season, will join Matos to "assist with the transition", the club say. The former Wales midfielder, 35, also spent time at Anfield, playing for Liverpool between 2012 and 2016.
Also joining the coaching team is Leon Britton, another long-serving Swansea midfielder who helped the club earn promotion to the Premier League in 2011 and establish themselves in the top flight.
Swansea have also said that they are helping Matos to finalise a backroom staff that "provides the support and expertise to give him the best chance of being successful".
But the new manager's first job will be simply to stop the rot and help the club start looking up again, rather than down.
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