Curtis staying in charge of Swansea for rest of season

LONDON (Reuters) – Caretaker manager Alan Curtis will remain in charge of Swansea City for the rest of the Premier League season, the club said on Thursday.

The former Wales and Swansea forward assumed control when Garry Monk was sacked last month.

“Curtis took over the managerial duties on December 11 and has picked up five points from his five games in charge to keep the club out of the relegation zone after a difficult start to the campaign,” the club said on their website (www.swanseacity.com).

“But it was the improved performance levels over those five games that have prompted chairman Huw Jenkins and the board of directors to extend Curtis’ spell in charge until the end of the club’s fifth season in the Premier League.”

The website describes Curtis, who won 35 caps for his country and also had playing spells at Leeds United, Southampton and Cardiff City, as ‘The Legend’.

Jenkins said he had been impressive in his short time in charge of Swansea who are fourth from bottom in the table, two points clear of the relegation zone.

“We believe there is nobody with more knowledge and experience of the club than Alan,” added Jenkins.

“He has served Swansea 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.

“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,” said Jenkins.

Swansea travel to fourth tier Oxford United in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

(Writing by Tony Jimenez; Editing by Justin Palmer)