Steve Cooper is to become Swansea’s manager in a bold move by the Championship club. Cooper, who has never been in charge at first-team level and is the England Under-17 coach, impressed the board during a lengthy interview process and is set to be confirmed as Graham Potter’s replacement within 24 hours.
The 39-year-old will be a surprise choice to many, especially given his lack of experience with senior players, but he has a clear playing philosophy that is in tune with “the Swansea way” that Potter reintroduced last season and was so important to the club when they started the process of identifying a new manager.
Cooper has also been coaching for the best part of 20 years – he passed his pro-licence course at the age of 26 – and led England Under-17s to World Cup success in 2017.
Michael Appleton, the former Oxford, Blackburn and Portsmouth manager, and John Eustace, who is the Queens Park Rangers No 2, were the two other candidates on a shortlist that was whittled down to three at the end of last week.
Trevor Birch, the Swansea chairman, Leon Britton, who was recently appointed as the football adviser to the board of directors, and Alan Curtis, the club president, were involved in an interview process that culminated with a conference call to Swansea’s American owners.
Cooper emerged as the best candidate, so much so that comparisons were made with Brendan Rodgers, who won promotion to the Premier League with Swansea before joining Liverpool. It is understood Cooper gave an extremely detailed presentation, covering all areas of the job he is about to walk into, and his playing style was a significant factor too.
That he has worked extensively as a coach, developing and improving talented young professionals – he was Liverpool’s academy manager before taking up a post with the Football Association – was also seen as vital, mindful of the fact that Swansea have a callow squad. “One key criteria in identifying the new manager will be that he can work with these young players and help them to improve. That is crucial,” Birch said last month.
Swansea also hope Cooper, who is expected to bring in Mike Marsh, a former Liverpool player and coach, as his assistant, will be able to tap into the contacts he has established while working at international level to utilise the loan market.