Luke Williams: New Swansea City boss warns players of 'uncomfortable' changes
- Published
Luke Williams' Notts County scored a record 117 goals in 46 games as they won promotion from the National League last season
New Swansea City head coach Luke Williams has warned his players may feel "uncomfortable" as he aims to change to the team's style.
The Championship side appointed the former Notts County boss on Friday.
Williams started with a 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Morecambe on Saturday and hopes to further instil his ideals before next weekend's Championship trip to Birmingham City.
"It [this week] looks like a lot of hard work," Williams said.
"People will probably feel a bit uncomfortable with certain things because they'll have to get used to something new.
"I'm sure me and the staff will feel uncomfortable as well because we'll need to convince the players.
"I think there were some positive things that I saw from the short amount of time I've had to work with the players.
"Then there's some things I can see they're struggling to implement, the things I was asking for. Not because anyone's not good enough, just because when you're changing a position, which might sound like a small thing, or slightly changing the idea of where you attack or how you defend.
"There's a lot of things. A lot of small things that take time. But just briefly looking at the statistics of the game, it looked like a team that I like to see."
A significant factor in Swansea's decision to appoint Williams was his style of play at Notts County in the National League and League Two, the kind of free-flowing and possession-based approach which has become synonymous with the Swans in recent years.
That ethos had disappeared under Michael Duff - whose short and unsuccessful reign was ended last month - but Williams is eager to re-establish it.
The Swans enjoyed as much as 80% possession against League Two Morecambe and, although they struggled to create chances at times, there were some promising signs from a team showing 11 changes from the New Year's Day win over West Bromwich Albion in the Championship.
Because Williams had only had one training session with his new squad on Friday morning, it was left to Alan Sheehan - Swansea's interim manager for seven games after Duff was sacked - to select the line-up to face Morecambe.
"Credit goes to Alan Sheehan, who knows the group and where they are in terms of minutes, what they need," added Williams.
"He selected the team for me and I trust him completely. He's been incredible and really put the group in a great place.
"That must be incredibly difficult when you lose a manager and you're having to pick everyone up. He's given me a great chance to work with a group of players who are in a decent place."