Swansea need a long-term boss, says caretaker manager Alan Curtis

Swansea City caretaker manager Alan Curtis has urged the club to appoint a long-term boss "sooner rather than later".

Curtis took charge of the Swans following the sacking of Garry Monk and watched his side slip to a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Swansea have now lost five of their last six games and Curtis is keen to see a replacement put in place at the Liberty Stadium as soon as possible.  

Former Argentina and Chile coach Marcelo Bielsa is the bookies' favourite to take over from Monk and has held talks with the club chairman, Huw Jenkins.

Bielsa's intensive coaching methods have allegedly inspired both Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino. However, Curtis admits he knows little about the 60-year-old Argentine.

"Obviously I know his reputation," said Curtis. "But I don't know a great deal about him, so I have been Googling him.

"When a new manager comes in, you're never quite sure how he's going to react or how he deals with players, training and the staff.

"But Bielsa's reputation as a coach is fantastic, and if Pep Guardiola rates him as the best coach ever then he's obviously somebody you're bound to learn from.

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"As I said last week, the important thing is that we get the right man in. If that takes a little bit longer then so be it because we are prepared to carry on for as long as possible.

"But it's probably best for everybody that the new man is appointed sooner rather than later."

Swansea have failed to win a match since October and could slip into the Premier League's relegation places on Saturday if Norwich pick up a point against Manchester United. The Welsh club face West Ham at home the following day.

And although Curtis was keen to stress the importance of appointing a permanent manager, he insisted that the club should look to make a long-term appointment, rather than a short fix. 

"We need the right person to deal with the current situation because we find ourselves at the wrong end of the table," he said.

"That has to be addressed, but there also has to be a medium to long-term aspect to the club. It's an important decision but the chairman has got these decisions right in the past.

"We've got to trust in Huw and the board members that the decision is going to be the right one again."