Briatore vs Ecclestone Conflict?...Further Sousa Appointment Reactions

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Western Mail - Paul Abbandonato - Wales Football
Swansea City gamble on Paulo Sousa could pay off
- HAVE Swansea City made yet another left-field, out-of-the-box, totally inspired managerial appointment?
- Eyebrows were raised, remember, when the Swans gave an untried Kenny Jackett the job ... but he made a success of it.
- A couple of years on, Roberto Martinez was leapfrogged ahead of red-hot favourite Dean Saunders and he didn’t do a bad old job, did he?
- This time around, the name of Paulo Sousa was not even as much as whispered as the likes of Gary Speed, Paul Tisdale, Chris Coleman, Ady Bothroyd, Simon Davey and, more recently, Gus Poyet were tipped for the Swans hot seat.
- But the moment the Western Mail yesterday revealed that Sousa was suddenly in the frame, there was a vibe that this was a gamble worth taking.
- The flamboyant Portuguese won’t offer the secure, traditional, good old-fashioned British approach of a Coleman, Bothroyd or Davey.
- But it is the very unpredictability that Sousa brings to the table that should make his appointment exciting for Swans fans.
- He might prove to be an enormous flop. On the other hand, he might just prove to be the nearest thing to Martinez the Swans board of directors could find.
- Fair play to chairman Huw Jenkins (pictured) and the close confidantes of his who made this decision.
- They got it right with Jackett, they got it spot-on with Martinez and they might just have pulled off another blinder with Sousa.
- The challenge for Jenkins and his colleagues was to somehow carry on the Martinez legacy. The alternative, quite frankly, was for them to tread water at best, go back three years at worst.
- Sousa offers them something none of the others would have, in my opinion.
- There is an argument for saying the Swans have moved beyond the Bothroyds and Daveys of this world.
- They had to go foreign again because they need a manager whose continental approach and style of football suits the players Martinez has left behind.
- They had to go foreign because, like Martinez, they need a manager who knows the market abroad and where you can unearth a little gem like Bodde, Rangel or Gomez.
- Sousa may not be a household name to many, but have no doubt of his standing in European football.
- He was a member of the so-called Portuguese golden generation of players, a team-mate of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Paolo Futre.
- He won the Uefa Champions League twice, with Borussia Dortmund and Juventus. Not too many other people in Welsh football can boast that.
- He was Portugal assistant boss to Carlos Queiroz, the former Real Madrid chief and Manchester United No 2.
- He comes highly recommended to Swansea by Jose Mourinho and 2002 Brazilian World Cup winner Luis Felipe Scolari.
- That is some CV and it is one which will have bowled over Jenkins and his board.
- Of course, the Champions League final, Mourinho and Portugal’s Golden Generation are light years away from bread and butter Championship football against the likes of Doncaster, Rovers Peterborough United and Sc***horpe.
- Sousa’s only experience as a manager at that level was when he failed to set the world on fire with Queens Park Rangers last season.
- It would be wholly unfair, however, to judge his managerial credentials on that.
- Sousa was given a mere 26 games in charge and two things sum up his sudden departure best.
- The first is that he was chairman and co-owner Flavio Briatore’s fourth manager in a year-and-a-half... and that’s not including two caretaker bosses.
- The other is Sousa was said to have been sacked because he divulged sensitive information without permission from the club’s hierarchy, namely Dexter Blackstock’s loan move to Nottingham Forest having been agreed without his knowledge.
- In other words, footballing decisions were being made behind his back, some might argue.
- At the Liberty, Sousa will have complete control – just like Martinez – and he will be backed the whole way by Jenkins.
- It’s a gamble, but it’s one which could well be worth taking.
- And if Sousa wants some advice, Mourinho isn’t a bad sounding board, is he? Western Mail


Western Mail/Blair Wood
Paulo Sousa could be something special at Swansea City
- SWANSEA CITY are set to reap huge rewards from the Jose Mourinho factor with incoming manager Paulo Sousa revealing he takes plenty of advice from the ‘Special One.’
- Sousa, who has verbally agreed a three-year deal to take over the Liberty Stadium hot seat, cites Mourinho as one of the biggest influences on his fledgling managerial career.
- And, with Swansea hoping to officially unveil him as Roberto Martinez’s replacement early next week, it’s his fellow Portuguese’s success with Chelsea that inspires the 38-year-old to test himself on these shores.
- The link with Mourinho will undoubtedly be a huge boost for Swans fans as they look to bounce back from the devastation of Martinez’s departure to Wigan.
- If modern football is about contacts, it seems Sousa has the very best you could ask for.
- “Jose helped me and I speak with him often as he has more experience than me,” says Sousa.
- “But I am going my way and I know what I can do, which is a great job.
- “I am proud because a Portuguese coach has been a winner over here. I want to be one too.”
- Mourinho is not the only big name that Sousa can call upon for help. In fact, when he first moved into management with Queens Park Rangers last season, it was former Brazil, Portugal and Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari that recommended him for the job.
- The charismatic Brazilian worked with Sousa during his time in charge of Portugal. And, when asked by QPR supremo Flavio Briatore, he had no hesitation in backing him as the perfect man for the job.
- With such a high profile and successful brains trust helping him, it’s no wonder Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins views Sousa, a two-times Champions League winner during his glittering playing career, as the ideal replacement for Martinez. And it’s no surprise that, following a hugely impressive interview on Wednesday, the club moved quickly to secure the Portuguese legend’s services.
- Sousa completed talks with the Swans yesterday before returning home to Portugal to discuss the move with his family. And, after two weeks of despair, all involved with the club will be hoping to avoid any stumbling blocks in completing the formalities.
- Jenkins certainly feels he has found the right man. And, while the likes of former Chelsea star Gus Poyet and Wales legend Gary Speed were in the running, he claimed Sousa is best placed to continue the unique culture Martinez cultivated at Swansea over the past two years.
- “As a club we feel strongly that we have created something completely different in the British game,” he explained. “We have become renowned as a quality football team with supporters who really appreciate the way we try and play the game.
- “We are committed to keeping this theme moving forward under the leadership and guidance of Paulo Sousa, who, I’m pleased to say, has verbally accepted the job.
- “Taking into account the development of the football club over the last two and a half years and the image we have portrayed as a footballing side, myself and the board of directors felt it was vital to continue along the same lines. It was felt that Paulo is the right man to do this.
- “He is young, bright, enthusiastic and a visionary with extensive knowledge and contacts, not only throughout Europe, but world football. He will provide Swansea City with a fantastic chance to continue developing and growing over the next few years.”
- After the success yielded by Martinez’s Spanish revolution, it’s little wonder the Swans board find themselves going down a similar route again. As far as Jenkins and his fellow bigwigs are concerned, a foreign policy remains the best one when looking for new managers.
- Like his predecessor, one of the key attributes Sousa brings is a fantastic knowledge of the European market. While Martinez may have found the likes of Ferrie Bodde, Angel Rangel and Jason Scotland, the Portuguese will have his own hidden gems to bring to the Liberty.
- And then there’s the influence he could have on the players already a the club. With Martinez regularly cited as the reason players either joined or stayed with Swansea, it was vital they replaced him with someone that could captivate the dressing room, enthuse the players and convince them their footballing dreams can be realised with the Swans.
- Along with his penchant for stylish football, a must for a large portion of the club’s fans, Sousa ticks those boxes. After all he achieved as a player, his name commands respect and the players are already excited about the prospect of working with him.
- While the same could be said about the likes of Poyet and Speed, both of whom are household names in British football, Sousa is at a different level. For both club and country the former midfielder was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation.
- As well as winning back-to-back Champions League titles with first Juventus and then Borussia Dortmund, he also represented the likes of Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon and Parma. And, along with the likes of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and Jorge Costa, he formed part of Portugal’s “Golden Generation” in the 1990s.
- When injury forced him to retire prematurely, it wasn’t long before he was offered a coaching role in the national set-up. He made his bow taking charge of the under-15s before being promoted to assistant head coach when Carlos Queiroz took charge of Portugal in 2008.
- It wasn’t long before QPR came calling. And Sousa was soon being tipped as the new Mourinho.
- It turned out to be a disastrous move though, with Briatore sacking him after just 26 games. In what is currently the only blot on his footballing CV, he was dismissed for “divulging sensitive information without permission from the club’s hierarchy.”
- Sousa’s crime was telling the media that striker Dexter Blackstock had been loaned to Nottingham Forest without his knowledge. Far from being a black mark against his name, it shows the sort of issues he was forced to deal with during his time at Loftus Road.
- Tellingly the club’s fans offer a glowing reference for the style of football he tried to introduce. And, with the board support he will undoubtedly get at Swansea, there’s is little suggestion history will repeat itself at the Liberty. " Western Mail


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