How Swansea City's impressive new management structure now looks and how it will work

Much has changed behind the scenes at Swansea City in recent months.

Wholesale changes were made to the backroom team following the exit of Graham Potter and his staff in May.

Even prior to the manager's switch to Brighton, there had been significant movement in the corridors of power at SA1, with chairman Trevor Birch arriving to replace Huw Jenkins who left the club in February.

And it's safe to say the new chairman has played a key role in piecing together what is now an impressive-looking management structure at the club.

After assessing a significant number of candidates, Birch opted to appoint Steve Cooper - the man who guided England's Under-17s to World Cup glory two years ago - as head coach of the club.

Cooper's reputation as a coach and his ability to work with young players were key factors in the club's decision to give him the role, as Birch revealed earlier this summer.

The chairman didn't decide alone though.

Speaking to WalesOnline and other members of the local media at the Liberty Stadium in May, Birch revealed club legends Leon Britton and Alan Curtis had be given prominent roles.

Britton now holds the title of football advisor to the board and has been working in tandem with Curtis in assisting Birch with the key decisions at the club in recent months.

Upon his arrival at SA1, Cooper made it clear he was eager to add to the work done at the club on the pitch last season while making his own tweaks to proceedings.

And off the field, he's played a significant part in putting together a behind-the-scenes team other Championship sides will be envious of.

The first major coup saw Cooper bring in former Liverpool man Mike Marsh as his assistant, the man he worked with during his time as a youth coach with the Reds and at England.

Andy Scott - the man who received plenty of praise for his work with the likes of Brentford and Watford - came in late on in the summer window as the new head of recruitment.

And little by little, the backroom jigsaw was pieced together, with Martyn Margetson, Steve Rands and David Tivey among those to link up with Cooper.

Barnsley, Scunthorpe, Derby and even Man City are some of the clubs that feature on head of performance analysis Rands' impressive CV while new first-team fitness coach Tivey has learned his trade with the likes of Everton and more recently the English FA.

As for Margetson, he's well known in these parts having worked for both Cardiff City at the FAW in addition to the English FA.

"With Marshy, we've worked together for a long time at Liverpool and England and now here at Swansea," said Cooper.

"We have a really good working relationship where we can challenge and support each other every day. It's built on trust.

"Marg joining us, I'm really confident in doing this job but I know it's my first job in senior management, although I'm very much taking it head on, I knew it would be wise to have some first team experience either side of me with Marg and Marshy.

"But it's about the way you work. We believe in the same way of coaching and the type of players we want to work with.

"You mention Andy Scott as well who I think is a great addition. But I said on day one to all of the staff, we're joining the football club, they're not joining us and there's already some excellent work going on here."

With five of Swansea's six summer signings being aged 24 or under, it's evident that Cooper is hoping to build on the methods implemented by Potter last term.

It was also telling that Birch made it clear the club's new boss - even before he was appointed - would have the final say on transfers.

"A manager will ultimately have that responsibility," he said when it comes to who will decide on which players to sign.

"You always have an updated list of five players you are tracking in each position.

"You would say to the manager, you want a left-back or centre-forward. We have done all this scouting, now you go and have the final say."

That can be seen when you look at the men Swansea recruited in the summer.

Freddie Woodman won the Golden Glove award as England won the Under-17s World Cup under Cooper in 2017 while Kristoffer Peterson is someone the head coach knows well from his time as a youth coach at Liverpool.

There was a serious emphasis on profiling the characters of the summer additions as well as doing due diligence on their abilities as players.

But as was the case with the previous regime, there's also a clear pathway from the under-23 set-up to the first team, something Cooper wanted to continue.

Potter used no fewer than nine players from the academy last term while the likes of Ben Cabango, Jordon Garrick and Kees de Boer all made their senior debuts in the Carabao Cup win over Northampton on Tuesday night which is further testament to the remarkable work done by Cameron Toshack, Gary Richards and everyone else in the youth system.

Given the club's financial situation, there have inevitably been player sales, with the departures of Oli McBurnie and Daniel James to Sheffield United and Manchester United respectively being the biggest losses as far as the Swansea faithful are concerned.

The fees recouped for the pair were vital from a financial standpoint though, with Swansea earning around £33m, a sum that could rise to around £38m when add-ons are included, with Birch taking charge of transfer negotiations during the close season.

But coming back to the men brought in by Cooper, it's clear the 39-year-old has done his all to get a team together with similar values and work ethics to his own in a bid to ensure everyone connected with the club aims for the same goals.

He's trusted in people he knows well. And the Jack Army could be in for a very enjoyable season under their new head coach as a result of the tireless work done behind the scenes in recent months.