Football League World
·25 février 2025
Swansea City cannot repeat Cardiff City, Omer Riza mistake
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Football League World
·25 février 2025
Cardiff City's Omer Riza indecisiveness is a situation Swansea City need to avoid with Alan Sheehan
If you asked Swansea City and Cardiff City supporters at the beginning of the 2024/25 season who they expected their managers to be come the end of February, it's unlikely many would have said Alan Sheehan and Omer Riza.
Whilst of course, Sheehan is only Swansea's interim boss at the moment, Riza is the Bluebirds' full-time boss, until the end of the season at least, and it's a situation not too many supporters would have seen coming, with Luke Williams and Erol Bulut expected to build on relatively promising 2023/24 campaigns.
However, football moves quickly, and while it remains to be seen just how long Sheehan will be Swansea's interim boss for, with a 3-0 win over Blackburn doing his chances of remaining in the post longer no harm, but the hierarchy in SA1 should look up the road at their bitter rivals Cardiff as an example of how not to handle an interim manager situation.
When Bulut was sacked in September, Riza was appointed the Bluebirds' interim boss, a position he held until December before being appointed on a permanent basis, but those two-and-half months of uncertainty didn't do anyone any favours at the club.
Swansea can't afford to be in a position when Sheehan is weeks into his reign as interim boss and still unsure of his future, and the hierarchy at the Swansea.com Stadium need to give him clarity over what his future holds.
Sheehan is a highly-rated young coach who did a good job as interim boss last season and on Saturday's showing it looks as if he could get the best out of Swansea's players, so he could well be a contender to take permanent charge.
However, Swansea can't leave him in limbo, like Cardiff did with Riza, and it was clear that the indecisiveness was affecting the Bluebirds' performances prior to his permanent appointment.
Riza's spell as interim boss started well, and the time to appoint him as permanent boss was then, but Cardiff waited too long and by the time they appointed him that new manager bounce had well and truly worn off.
The ex-Arsenal striker was interim boss longer than some clubs have had permanent managers and Swansea must avoid a similar situation with Sheehan at all costs.
Given the fact we're at the end of February and Swansea's ten-point gap to the relegation zone means they're not in immediate danger of being relegated, there must be a temptation for the club to appoint Sheehan until the end of the season so they can reassess their options in the summer.
While that makes sense, they have to be decisive and announce it soon to avoid a repeat of Riza's situation at Cardiff where players, coaches and supporters were all kept in the dark, leading to a negative impact on performances.
Sheehan is a divisive figure amongst some Swansea City supporters thanks to his links with controversial former Sporting Director Paul Watson and previously working with Nathan Jones, a pantomime villain to Swansea fans thanks to Jones' Cardiff City links.
However, Sheehan is a highly-rated young coach, to the extent he was reportedly on Coventry City's radar after Mark Robins' sacking earlier this season, and he's shown he can get a tune out of Swansea's players.
Swansea comfortably dispatched a play-off chasing Blackburn on Saturday, and despite having less possession than the visitors, a rare statistic, Sheehan's side played some nice stuff and were easy on the high.
The Swans passed with intent, moved the ball quickly and looked to attack rather than having possession for possession's sake, and if Sheehan can continue to get the best out of Swansea, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be considered.
Appointing the interim boss never seems to end well, as Cardiff have found out with Mark Hudson and Riza, but if Sheehan is popular with the players and can get a tune out of them, he may well force his way into contention.
The former Luton Town defender may not be a glamorous name from abroad that some Swansea supporters crave, but if his side can replicate Saturday's Blackburn showing in coming games, then it would be silly not to consider him.
One way or another, Swansea need to make a decision on Sheehan in the near future, and they can't end up in the situation that Cardiff did with Riza where uncertainty seeped through and had a negative impact on the team.