What next for managerless Swansea City after Graham Potter departure?
- Published
Who will fill the vacant manager's seat at the Liberty Stadium next season?
Graham Potter's influence was such that a year on from Premier League relegation, Swansea City were starting to look forward with confidence again.
But Potter is gone and optimism has been replaced by uncertainty.
A manager who was central to restoring hope at the Liberty Stadium has been lured to the Premier League by Brighton and Hove Albion.
Swansea fans felt they might get back to the top flight themselves with Potter at the helm.
Now they are left wondering what the future holds.
For the first time in 18 years, Huw Jenkins will have no part in the search for a new manager.
The long-time Swansea chairman departed in February and now his last manager has gone too.
Jenkins did not get every decision right, but there were numerous successes among the 13 permanent managers appointed during his tenure.
Now it falls to Trevor Birch - who arrived as Jenkins' successor in April - and Swansea's owners to find someone to pick up the baton dropped by Potter.
He will not be an easy man to replace.
To the outside observer, Swansea's 10th-placed Championship finish in 2018-19 may not look particularly notable given that they were a Premier League club the previous season.
Swansea chairman Trevor Birch must find a manager to continue the rehabilitation begun by Graham Potter
But Potter's achievements in his solitary Swansea campaign were laudable.
An exodus of senior players in the summer of 2018 left him with an imbalanced squad, which was patently lacking in certain departments.
There was little money for Potter to play with - he signed just a handful of players during his two transfer windows at the Liberty - so he was forced to turn to youth.
The results were spectacular, as a band of players with little or no first-team experience established themselves in Potter's progressive Swansea side.
It is for the emergence of youngsters such as Connor Roberts, Joe Rodon, Matt Grimes, Oli McBurnie and Daniel James that Potter's brief Swans reign will be remembered.
His other key contribution was to re-establish the eye-catching possession game, which had been Swansea's trademark until they lost their way in their latter Premier League days.
Cost-cutting and departures
The club must now seek out another manager to continue along that path.
Who will they turn to?
There is not an obvious list of candidates.
The cost-cutting continues at Swansea, with more players departing this summer.
Captain Leroy Fer, Wilfried Bony, Martin Olsson and Luciano Narsingh are definitely leaving, while Wayne Routledge may also have played his last game for the club.
It would be a major shock if James, the most exciting of all the Swans' prospects, is still at the club come August given that his contract has just a year to run.
Manchester United are interested in the 21-year-old and the suggestion is he will end up at Old Trafford.
James may not be the only one who is sold.
McBurnie, scorer of 24 goals last season, could follow Potter to Brighton, while Sheffield United are also thought to be interested.
There are others, like Grimes, who may attract interest having impressed last term.
Swansea's next manager, therefore, is likely to have to cope with the loss of at least some of the players who showed so much promise under Potter.
Fresh faces will surely need to be added to the squad if there are significant departures, but what funds will be available for transfer work is questionable.
So Swansea must find a manager who wants to play possession football but who accepts players will leave and that there may not be much in the kitty to replace them.
Potter ticked those boxes and, to his great credit, produced an exciting team who looked to be going places.
Swansea's Wales winger Daniel James seems set to be sold to a Premier League club this summer
The fact he is now gone says much about the parlous state of Swansea's finances.
It was not a foregone conclusion that Potter would go once Brighton came calling.
He was happy at Swansea and, after such a promising first campaign, felt something could be achieved in 2019-20.
When Brighton's interest became apparent, Potter asked Swansea's hierarchy about what resources would be available this summer.
The answer was enough to convince him he should go, leaving Swansea with a sizeable void to fill.
They have been here before, having lost Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers to clubs higher up the food chain in the last decade.
But this situation is a first for Swansea under Birch and for Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, the club's owners since 2016.
Potter was key to restoring belief at a club left reeling following Premier League relegation.
The choice of who comes next will be critical to that belief being maintained.