Swansea travel to Birmingham in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday night, live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm.
Friday 17 August 2018 18:50, UK
Graham Potter has won his first two games as Swansea manager and can take the team to the top of the Sky Bet Championship with victory on Friday at Birmingham. There are tensions behind the scenes but he has the nous to navigate the club through it, writes Adam Bate.
Two wins from two games might constitute a dream start to life in the Championship for new Swansea boss Graham Potter but the backdrop has been anything but. During the 1-0 home win over Preston at the weekend, there were chants of "where's the money gone?" and "we want Jenkins out" aimed at the club's chairman Huw Jenkins.
Supporter anger is understandable. The sales of Lukasz Fabianski and Alfie Mawson were expected but last week saw four players leave on the same day, including last season's top scorer Jordan Ayew and stalwart centre-back Federico Fernandez. Sam Clucas, a £15m buy just last summer, departed for a fraction of that fee to Championship rivals Stoke City.
Unfortunately, investment has not been so forthcoming. Ryan Woods from Brentford, a diminutive playmaker in the Leon Britton mould, would have been an ideal signing but Swansea could not get the deal done. They are short of numbers in the heart of defence and have only one fit target man. The club will surely need to strengthen before the month is out.
The good news for Swansea is that Potter did not get this opportunity because of a flashy contacts book or an insatiable appetite to burn his way through the club's parachute payments. Their fellow relegated clubs, Stoke and West Brom, may be able to field the more recognisable names, but the Swansea boss is well used to finding alternative solutions.
"This time last year there were two loan signings, big loan fees, big transfer fees," Potter said himself. "Everyone's excited, but they don't turn out as everyone would like. It's about the right people." He added: "Money in itself doesn't necessarily solve the problem. We have to solve it in a good way, in a sensible way. In a way with an idea."
Money in itself doesn't necessarily solve the problem. We have to solve it in a good way, in a sensible way. In a way with an idea.
Potter is big on ideas. He has a degree in leadership and emotional intelligence. The extraordinary success he enjoyed in Ostersund owed much to the support of owner Daniel Kindberg but at his heart it was a triumph of the imagination. Three promotions, one cup and an amazing run in Europe because two men were prepared to do things differently.
It is a story that is well told and, in particular, the decision to get the players to perform Swan Lake makes for easy headlines. But at its core are key principles of leadership that, in theory at least, can resonate anywhere. If people are allowed to be themselves and work towards a common goal then there is no limit to what they can achieve.
"He is one of the best that I have ever worked with," Ghana international David Accam told Sky Sports. "He just encourages the players to express themselves and it brings the best out in people because they are so comfortable. He brings in people from different cultures and they just come together to make something special. Everyone gels. They are all united."
It is early days at Swansea but there are already positive signs in that regard. Potter has begun the process of rebuilding trust and restoring Swansea's identity. Alan Curtis, the club's long-serving coach, had been marginalised in a newly-created role, looking after the players who were away on loan, but Potter moved quickly to get him back on the grass.
Among the players, he has focused his energy on those who want to be a part of it. Oli McBurnie, the 22-year-old striker who scored his side's first goal of the season on the opening weekend, has spoken of how Potter has been able to "quickly build the team spirit" despite the huge turnaround in players over the summer. Others are buying into it too.
There is Yan Dhanda, the teenager signed on a free transfer from Liverpool, who scored the winner at Sheffield United just seconds after coming on for his professional debut. There's academy graduate Joe Rodon who played his part in the clean sheet against Preston. Declan John, signed from Rangers, is grateful to be back in Wales. Jay Fulton has a point to prove.
Bersant Celina is a real talent but one who did not always get the chance to express himself under Mick McCarthy at Ipswich. Potter's outlook appeals to him more. Connor Roberts says the club is already getting back the Swansea style he grew up with. Leroy Fer and Mike van der Hoorn have been won over by being entrusted with captaincy responsibilities.
Positive relationships are the key to getting the best from people and Potter seems to be building them. "He has been unbelievable with me," McBurnie said recently. "I cannot speak highly enough of him. He has given me the chance and freedom to go out and play my game. That is what I have needed from a manager. It was the perfect appointment for us."
The perfect appointment but clearly not the perfect situation. Potter can engender that feeling of togetherness. He can try to unite the club, reconnect with the community, and provide opportunities for the academy youngsters again. But it is likely to still be, in his own words, "a bit huff and puff at times" if he and his players do not get a bit more support.
There are those fans who feel the club's owners do not deserve it to work if that support is not forthcoming. But they do deserve credit for making an imaginative appointment. Win at Birmingham on Friday and Swansea will go two points clear at the top of the Championship. Ostersund was a miracle. But Graham Potter's next trick might be just as remarkable.
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