CLEMENT SO PROUD OF SWANS’ STUNNING RECOVERY
Paul Clement declared himself a proud man after Swansea won their fight to stay in the Premier league.
Hull’s 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace saw them join middlesbrough and Sunderland in the Championship next season. Swansea had piled the pressure on Hull by winning 2-0 at Sunderland on Saturday and Clement was delighted Palace ended the final fears of relegation.
‘I am very proud of what we have achieved,’ Clement said. ‘especially when you put into context where we were when I arrived — bottom with just 12 points from 19 games.
‘I thought it would go down to the last game. But credit to the players. they deserve to be where they are — playing in the Premier league.’
Swansea were in turmoil after a torrid first half of the season under Francesco Guidolin, then Bob Bradley. Clement took over a team which had won three league matches when he joined on January 3.
‘Horrible’ is the word captain leon Britton and goalkeeper lukasz Fabianski used to describe their season before his arrival.
after making his name as Carlo ancelotti’s no 2 at Chelsea, Paris Saint- Germain, Real madrid and Bayern munich, it is evidence of Clement’s managerial merits.
‘We had been written off when he arrived,’ said Fabianski. ‘It could have been us in Sunderland’s position. We were not just losing games but losing by three goals. It was horrible home and away. We looked in bad shape. For the manager to do what he has done is impressive.
‘ He gave us confidence and demands hard work. His work ethic is amazing. He deserves all the credit for his brave decisions.’
Britton, 34, was the star man on Saturday, where victory was secured thanks to first-half goals from Fernando llorente and Kyle naughton.
the skipper, who arranged for the squad to cover the cost of 3,000 tickets for their travelling fans, said: ‘It’s been a really difficult year. It’s been so tough. maybe we shouldn’t celebrate because we’ve been fighting relegation, but the pressure is off and we can enjoy it because at times it’s been horrible.’