As we head into another International break it is the perfect opportunity for any sides who are struggling to change their manager and start again once the break is over. In the last few days alone in the Championship the Norwich City and Middlesborough jobs have both become available and now there is also a vacancy at Swansea City.
It’s been a somewhat underwhelming season so far, with the Welsh outfit currently sat 18th in the table. Despite their league position, they are seven points clear of the relegation zone, so they aren’t in a relegation battle as such.
However, they are eight points off of the playoffs so it looks like it could be another season simply treading water for the Swans. So now that Alan Sheehan has been dismissed, who will come in to replace him?
Kim Hellberg
At the time of writing, the favourite to land the Swansea job is Kim Hellberg. Hellberg is currently the manager of Swedish side Hammarby and has been since Marti Cifuentes left for QPR at the end of the 2023 season. The 2025 Allsvenskan season began on the 29th of March and concluded last weekend, with Hammarby finishing 2nd in the competition, thirteen points behind title winners Mjallby and ten points ahead of 3rd place GAIS.
They also finished 2nd during the 2024 season, their highest finish since 2003 and an improvement on the 7th place finish they achieved during Cifuentes’s final season. Given Cifuentes’s strong showing at QPR, Swansea fans may be intrigued by the idea of Hellberg.
But for all the times we’ve seen a Championship club take a punt on an unknown manager and succeed, we’ve seen many unknown managers fail miserably. Watford’s appointment of Paulo Pezzolano earlier this season is a prime example of this.
Hellberg’s name is certainly a breath of fresh air when you see the other names being linked to the job.
Russell Martin
I think it would be difficult to think of a manger that has had a more difficult last two years than Russell Martin. After winning the Championship playoff final with Southampton three seasons ago, the Saints would go on to accumulate the second lowest points total in Premier League history (12).
Martin would be appointed by Rangers at the start of this campaign. You’d think that this would be a good opportunity for him.
A manager with Championship pedigree, joining a big club in a small pond. What could possibly go wrong?
As it would turn out, absolutely everything. Martin would be sacked after only seventeen games, winning one of his seven league games.
If I was an owner, I wouldn’t be going anywhere near Russell Martin at the moment, despite his previous success at Championship level. However, he has performed well at Swansea in the past, so the links are understandable.
His name is also being floated around the vacant Southampton and Norwich jobs so the 39-year-old may well find himself a new home before too long.
Gary O’Neil
Another name being floated around a number of jobs at the moment is Gary O’Neil who in my opinion doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Keeping Bournemouth up during the 2022/23 season was in my eyes a tremendous achievement when you consider how much newly promoted sides have struggled before and since then, as well as the fact that it was O’Neil’s first job in management.
Replacing him at the end of that season with Andoni Iraola was a huge risk. One that obviously has paid off, which is perhaps why O’Neil doesn’t get enough credit for the part he played in their success.
Furthermore, he joined Wolves just four days before the next season started following Julen Lopetegui’s departure and went on to finish 14th. The following season, when he was sacked, I think that it is hard to deny that the club weren’t good enough.
But I think that the Wolves job is becoming impossible with the club selling their best players season after season and not replacing them. Is O’Neil the answer at the Liberty Stadium?
I think that he could be but considering the fact that he has never managed in the Championship before, he might not be the first choice for many fans.
Brendan Rodgers
In his first two seasons back at Celtic Park, Brendan Rodgers won the league title. In his third season he resigned in October, leaving the club eight points behind Hearts.
What went wrong there is a discussion for another time, but Rodgers could be making his way back to Swansea. For me, similarly to Martin, Rodgers comes with some baggage.
Dermot Desmond, a major shareholder in Celtic, said Rodger’s words and actions “have been divisive, misleading and self-serving” as well as contributing to “a toxic atmosphere around the club.” We of course don’t know if this is true or not but until we know more, I think it would be wise for Swansea to steer clear of Rodgers, especially given Celtic’s underperformance so far this season.
Michael Carrick
I think that Michael Carrick is an interesting one. When he was appointed by Middlesborough, they were in the relegation zone.
By the end of the season, they were in 4th place and a playoff semi-final. In his two seasons after that Carrick couldn’t quite get Boro over the line and he was ultimately sacked.
Could he do a similar thing and resurrect Swansea? The danger for the Swans at the moment is that they aren’t the most attractive Championship job going right now.
Whilst Carrick won’t be returning to Middlesborough, the Norwich and Southampton jobs seem far more appealing, given the quality of their squads and the finances that Carrick would have to work with. If Swansea want Carrick, they are going to have to fight to get him.
Names such as Liam Manning and Will Still are in the frame as well, but I don’t see why Swansea would bring in a manager who failed in the Championship so recently.
