I’ve been spending a majority of the last few days trying to figure out what is going on inside the head of Paul Clement. In the past 24 hours the Englishman has signed a two-and-a-half year deal to be the new Swansea manger, and I know I’m not the only one asking, “Why?” He spent part of last season at Derby County, where he spent loads of money on squad-strengthening when he broke the clubs transfer record, not once but twice. Following his failure with The Rams, he was hired by Bayern Munich to be wingman to Carlo Ancelotti once again. Having worked underneath him at Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG it appeared as though Clement was destined for simple career. The pair could win as many domestic and European trophies as they’d like, and everyone would eventually forget about his escapades in the Championship. But apparently being Robin to the Italian’s Batman isn’t good enough, as he obviously thought the reason he didn’t succeed at Derby was because the standard was far too low. Maybe his managerial prowess will be allowed to shine through now he’s set to play against better teams, with an arguably worse squad. If he were a foreign manager I could potentially understand. The story would be reminiscent of when Fernando Torres revealed he accidentally signed for Liverpool, when he really thought he was going to play for Manchester United. But being born and bred in the UK, Clement should know he’s taking over the best team in Wales, not the best team in England. Actually Cardiff City and even Newport County could feel hard done by, when I refer to Swansea as the best team in Wales. I’ve got to question the decision by the Swansea board, but then again, no one believed a man who lost to the Faroe Islands with a strong Greek side, could succeed in the top division. I don’t remember what happened exactly, but I don’t think that bloke did too badly. Finally, I’m going to take a quick poll; Hands up who thinks Clement will last the whole two-and-a-half years…didn’t think so.
