Francesco Guidolin’s future at Swansea City looks bleak

The Italian manager has been highly linked with the sack after a pretty miserable start to the 2016/17 Premier League season.

From the outside, it probably appears to be a little bit harsh, sacking the man who guided the Swans out of the relegation zone and into a mid-table finish last campaign, with just six games gone.

However, it’s evident that something isn’t right at the football club. The players have showed a huge lack of motivation, passion and effort during the first handful of games.

Guidolin’s side have picked up just one point from their last five Premier League outings – Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

It seems as if Guidolin has lost the dressing room. He had a public spat with Neil Taylor, when he decided on bringing the left-back off in the first-half of the 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

And then, Taylor was captured by the Sky Sports cameras having a go at the manager. Plus, midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng refused to shake Guidolin’s hand when he was substituted off in the drab 1-0 away defeat to Southampton.

On both occasions, the players were in the wrong and should respect their boss. On the other hand though, where was Guidolin’s authority? As a manager, he needs to be hard and stubborn, but instead he’s there apologising to the players afterwards. It showed weakness.

Early season fixtures against Leicester City, Chelsea, Manchester City and Southampton were always going to be tough, but it’s not really the results that are concerning. It’s solely performance related and the Welsh side find themselves in a mini-crisis.

Showings against Leicester, Hull City and Southampton were on par with the calibre of performances that got Garry Monk sacked last December. To prevent this worrying form from escalating further, it seems as if the board are going to give Guidolin the axe in order to try and find a solution sooner rather than later.

Swansea have got the capabilities to be a comfortable mid-table club. Players like Gylfi Sigurdsson, Borja Baston, Fernando Llorente, Jack Cork and Modou Barrow could play for a top-half club, and there’s a lot of experience in the ranks with Lukasz Fabianski, Federico Fernandez, Leon Britton and Angel Rangel.

A well rounded squad with a good mixture of quality, experience and youth is a good platform for another manager to come in and work with. Maybe a few more additions in the January transfer market wouldn’t go amiss, but overall it’s a decent squad.

The question is, who could come in and take this team forward? I think many people have now made up their mind that it’s not Guidolin.

Manchester United legend, Giggs – Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Ryan Giggs has been linked as the Italian’s successor, along with names such as Gianfranco Zola, Jurgen Klingsmann and Bob Bradley.

You can’t predict who will be able to help the club rise to its potential. Giggs could instantly show that he’s got the knack for managing and use the Swans as a platform for becoming one of the world’s best – or his inexperience could result in a very poor debut managerial position. You just never know.

What I do know though, is that Swansea City need to improve, otherwise all of our hard work of getting from the pit of League Two and all the way up through the Football League and into the Premier League in just eight years will go to waste.

The way in which the club is continually growing on a global scale will just falter, but most importantly, the fans, the Jack Army, won’t get to see their beloved Swansea City in the top-flight for much longer.

If sacking Guidolin is going to prevent all of that, then I’ll support the decision and I’ll support the next manager whoever it may be.