Swansea confirm Curtis as manager until end of the season

Swansea City have confirmed that caretaker manager Alan Curtis will remain in charge of the club until the end of the 2015-16 season.

Curtis has overseen first-team affairs since Garry Monk parted company with the club in December, following a run of one win in 11 Premier League matches.

Fourth-bottom Swansea have taken five points from as many matches under Curtis, with the 1-0 Boxing Day triumph over West Brom their only win to date under the 61-year-old.

Nevertheless, chairman Huw Jenkins and the board of directors have identified “improved performance levels” during this period and decided to extend his tenure.

“Alan Curtis and the current staff set-up will continue until the end of the season,” Jenkins said in a statement on Swansea’s official website. “We firmly believe it is the right decision for Swansea City.

“Alan has been with us through good and bad times and was part of the management team that helped the club secure its Football League status over 12 years ago.

“He is fully aware of the next important job he has ahead of him to dig deep and find the required levels of performance and motivation to secure our Premier League status – our main goal this season.

“We believe there is nobody with more knowledge and experience of the club to do that than Alan Curtis.”

Curtis made more than 400 appearances for Swansea across three separate spells during his playing days and Jenkins believes having a long-standing servant of the club at the helm can help them to stave off the threat of relegation.

“He has served Swansea City so well for more than 40 years and played an integral part in our recent success under the likes of Roberto Martinez, Paulo Sousa, Brendan Rodgers, Michael Laudrup and Garry Monk,” Jenkins said.

“We have a person at the helm who fully represents all Swansea City stands for; has the respect of the players and who will provide the calm reassurance and encouragement of our footballing beliefs. 

“We have all been impressed with the way he has improved performance levels over the last five games. The players have obviously responded to him because we have seen an uplift in performances.” 

Jenkins added: “We all realise how imperative it is to retain our Premier League status because it has enabled us to develop two new training grounds at Landore and Fairwood; progress towards Academy 1 status; improve the Liberty Stadium and put Swansea on the world map.

“We still have plenty of work left to do and being part of the Premier League is vital to that continued development.”