Leicester City set for Championship reunion as ex-defender signs three-year contract

Alan Sheehan is set for a reunion with former club Leicester City next season after being confirmed as the new permanent head coach of Swansea City.

In February the 38-year-old was initially handed the job until the end of the season following the departure of Luke Williams.

However, having picked up 23 points from 12 matches and secured the Swans’ top half Championship finish, the ex-defender has signed a three-year deal and with City’s relegation confirmed, will face the Foxes next term.

Sheehan signed for City in 2003, having been spotted playing in Dublin and went on to make 29 appearances for the club before departing for a nomadic career with the likes of Leeds United, Notts County, Bradford City and Luton Town.

His coaching career started as part of Nathan Jones’ backroom team at Kenilworth Road and then Southampton – and he joined Swansea in June 2023. He now has the chance to put his stamp on the club and while his own staff has not been confirmed, another ex-Fox, Richard Stearman, is currently assisting.

“The fans have been excellent to me, and I understand the responsibility and duty of care I now have to the football club, to the fans, the owners, the staff and the players,” Sheehan told the club website.

“I will leave no stone unturned to make the club successful. I have said before, it’s not just about surviving, or being the manager for the sake of it. I would love to bring this football club to a better place.

“We want to be a competitive team, we have to build on what we have and make it better.

“We have been incredibly aggressive without the ball, and with it. We want to control games, but we want to control the game when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball.

“We don’t want a false mindset where you think you are in control just because you have the ball.

“You can have the ball, but the other team can be in control because they are waiting to hurt us when we turn it over.

“So, I think the non-negotiables will be that we are ultra-aggressive, we will want to have those core principles and fundamentals, while recognising we will need to evolve to be a team that can be effective and dominate opponents in and out of possession.”

Swansea director of football, Richard Montague, said: "We've been very impressed with Alan since he's taken over as caretaker head coach for a second time.

"It was important that we carried out a thorough and detailed process for appointing our new head coach. We had to get this decision right, and we are very happy with the work that’s been done and confident that we've picked the best head coach to take our club to the next level."

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