Chris Davies: Tottenham Hotspur reject Swansea City approach for assistant coach
- Published
Chris Davies spent more than four years working alongside Brendan Rodgers at Leicester having been on his staff at Celtic, Liverpool and Swansea
Tottenham Hotspur have rejected an approach from Swansea City for their senior assistant coach Chris Davies.
Davies is a leading candidate to succeed Michael Duff at the Championship club.
He joined Spurs in the summer as Ange Postecoglou's number two, having spent much of his career working alongside Brendan Rodgers.
Davies, 38, had been close to taking over at Swansea before Duff was appointed head coach in June.
Swansea chairman Andy Coleman is to begin meeting potential bosses this week having drawn up a shortlist of targets.
The Welsh club will require permission from Tottenham to speak to Davies, and they would need to pay compensation to the Premier League club should they decide to appoint the former Wales Under-19 player.
Davies, whose playing career was cut short by injury, was an analyst under Rodgers when his Swansea side won promotion to the top flight in 2011, before following the Northern Irishman to Liverpool a year later.
He also worked with Rodgers - his old youth boss at Reading - at Celtic and Leicester City, as well as having a spell as the Royals' first-team coach under Brian McDermott in 2016.
Crucially, Davies is committed to playing possession football, which is key for Swansea as they look to move on following Duff's difficult spell in charge.
Coleman, who became Swansea chairman last May, said after Duff was sacked on Monday that his "appreciation for how critical the Swansea identity is to this club has grown" since the summer.
Swansea have established a reputation as a possession-based team since Roberto Martinez was named manager in 2007, with their style of play under Duff criticised by fans.
Chris Davies (left) joins the celebrations on the Wembley pitch after Swansea City beat Reading in the 2011 Championship play-off final
BBC Sport Wales understands the desire to play a more attractive brand of football will be central to the thinking of Coleman and sporting director Paul Watson as they assess managerial options.
Manchester United coach Eric Ramsay is another who has been mentioned, though a lack of experience may count against him, while Swansea are also known to be looking at managers working overseas.
Notts County boss Luke Williams has also been touted as a possible option having previously worked at Swansea under Russell Martin.
Former Birmingham City manager John Eustace has been linked with the vacancy having come close to taking over at Swansea in 2021, but he is not under consideration this time around.
Ex-Luton Town boss Nathan Jones is another available manager who can be ruled out despite his links with Watson, who worked for the Hatters until joining Swansea last summer.
Former Luton player Alan Sheehan, who worked under Jones at Kenilworth Road and Southampton, is serving as Swansea's caretaker boss.
He is expected to be at the helm for Saturday's league game at Rotherham United alongside coach Kristian O'Leary and goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson.
Sheehan joined Swansea in the summer after Russell Martin and his backroom staff departed for Southampton.
Swansea are 18th in the Championship, with 21 points from 19 games, and have won only one of their last eight matches.
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