Carvalhal heads for exit as Stoke ensure Swans go down
This was the Premier League’s wooden-spoon race and it ended with Swansea’s relegation confirmed, one manager set to depart with the other’s future in doubt and protests against an absent chairman.
Carlos Carvalhal is heading for the exit after failing in his Swansea survival mission, with Peter Crouch securing Paul Lambert an ultimately futile victory on a bizarre afternoon.
Huw Jenkins, the Swansea chairman, did not attend, but there were fierce chants against his regime from the home fans as the club’s seven-year existence in the topflight was finally brought to an end.
Swansea required a miracle to stand any chance of a great escape, in the unlikely form of a 10-goal swing, but their season has been plagued by poor recruitment, a lack of goals and strange team selection.
Carvalhal will pay the price after a dismal finish to the campaign, as the club pursue a young head coach to lead them out of the Championship.
The Portuguese, appointed in December, is set to become the fourth manager to leave Swansea in 19 months, but he insisted after the game he could still stay on.
“I will speak with the owners soon,” he said. “They have asked me if I’m available to stay. It’s a fantastic club and it must come back as quickly as possible, whether it’s with me or not.”
Stoke’s own relegation was confirmed last weekend but they will face Swansea in the Championship next season, with their former manager Mark Hughes having led Southampton to safety.
Lambert secured only his second win since taking charge in January, yet his own future remains uncertain. He is set to meet his players today to discuss plans for next season and he is also expected to hold discussions with the Stoke board over his own position.
“I love the club. What happens this week, I don’t know. Football is a great game, for one day you’re there and the next you’re away,” he said. “I couldn’t have done any more, I gave it everything and the supporters are right behind us.
“The chairman said a couple of weeks ago that I was staying. Whether that remains [to be the case], we’ll wait and see.”
Lambert also launched a stinging attack on the mutinous players he has clashed with since replacing Hughes. He faced a number of offfield issues involving ill discipline, excluding the likes of Saido Berahino, Kevin Wimmer and Jese Rodriguez from his first-team squad.
“There have been things gone on, if I let that away my standards would drop. I was never going to have it, I’m too professional,” he said. “What was going on was massively unacceptable.”
Stoke were given a standing ovation at the end, which did not seem out of place amid such a weird atmosphere.
A miraculous result never looked likely for Swansea, who had failed to score in four previous matches, but they were ahead in the 14th minute with a simple goal. Andre Ayew’s flick presented Andy King with an easy chance and the midfielder slid the ball past Jack Butland. Stoke had been dreadful, but they equalised through Badou Ndiaye and took the lead when Crouch headed in a free kick from teenage debutant Lasse Sorensen.
The game should have been out of reach nine minutes into the second half after Martin Olsson handled in the area, but Xherdan Shaqiri’s weak penalty was pushed away by Lukasz Fabianski.
What happens next with both clubs is impossible to predict.