Swans warn off Sousa approach

Clarets told to look elsewhere for new boss

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 6th January 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Swans warn off Sousa approach

Sousa: Promising young coach

Related links

Teams

Also see

Swansea have informed Burnley that they would be wasting their time trying to lure Paulo Sousa to Turf Moor.

The Portuguese coach has been mentioned as a possible candidate to take charge at the Clarets once Owen Coyle completes his expected move to Bolton.

Sousa has only been in the Liberty Stadium hot-seat since last summer, filling the void created by Roberto Martinez's exit to Wigan, but has done a sterling job during his short time at the helm.

He has the Swans well-placed to launch a New Year promotion push in the Championship and the Welsh outfit are understandably reluctant to see their highly-rated coach tread a similar path as his predecessor and defect to the Premier League.

"If a manager is relatively successful with a club in the Championship, he is always going to be mentioned when a vacancy comes up in the Premier League," Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins told the South Wales Evening Post.

"But I would say two things.

"One, I don't think Burnley will be getting in touch with me. And two, even if they do, I think you can state that I won't be letting any club talk to our manager."

Talent

While keen to fend off the reported interest in Sousa's services, Jenkins believes speculation regarding their manager should be regarded as a compliment.

"I think the biggest thing this shows is that we have a steady, stable football club which is well run," he added.

"We give every manager an opportunity to succeed if they have talent, and Paulo has shown he has talent.

"He had a difficult task following Roberto and we all know about the injury problems he had to cope with at the start of the season, but we have come through that as a club now.

"Swansea City give any manager a good platform to work from these days, that's why Paulo wanted the job, and I think most people within the game now recognise that."