The one hospital pass to accept as he steps

IT has the feel of a hospital pass or – as Leon Britton would christen it – “a Garry Monk ball”, but the Swansea City stalwart was never going to let his club down when the call came.

It’s a huge responsibility to put on a man just making his first steps in the world of coaching.

Take over as caretaker boss at a club where you are loved and revered in equal measure, but who sit rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and who sacked a third manager in 14 months in midweek.

Your first game is against a relegation rival in Crystal Palace, and is being widely-dubbed as a must-win given Swansea’s perilous position.

If no full-time appointment is made, then a daunting trip to face Liverpool at Anfield awaits on Boxing Day.

Merry Christmas Leon, no pressure eh?

If it feels unfair, it’s because it is. As Alan Curtis and Garry Monk before him know only too well, the caretaker or interim boss is thrust into the central role normally as a result of the errors and problems of others.

Indeed, it was tempting to wonder – as Britton faced the media alone on Thursday – why members of the club hierarchy did not join him given they would have been far better placed to respond to some of the questions regarding how Swansea move forward.

But you get the sense Britton did not waver for one moment when he took the phone call from Huw Jenkins, with his first thought being to ring his mother and father before the news broke rather than tap into any managerial contacts such as Monk, Brendan Rodgers or Roberto Martinez.

His parents are hoping to be at the Liberty on Saturday to watch his unexpected first steps in management.

“To be honest with you I haven’t had a chance (to ring people for advice) because I got the phone call from the chairman not long before the announcement, so it was late,” he said.

“My mum and dad were the first people I spoke to... at the same time, it hadn’t been announced, so I didn’t want to speak to anyone as such to let the cat out of the bag.

“I wanted to speak to my mum and dad and that’s it.

“I’ve then been in from eight o’clock, we’ve been training, I had a bit of Christmas dinner, which was decent, and then I came straight over here to do the press conference, so I haven’t had a chance to speak to anyone, but I still keep in contact with previous managers, like Garry, Brendan and Roberto.

“Like they’ve always said, if you ever need any advice, I can pick up the phone and speak to them.”

And how did mum and dad take the news that their son had taken on the managerial hotseat?

“I just rang them up and said: ‘I’ve got some news.’ My mum said: ‘What’s that?’ I said: ‘I’m going to be the manager on Saturday.’

“My mum said: ‘Let me put it on loud speaker!’ They were then chatting, asking what I had to do and whether I worried and under pressure.

“It was typical mum and dad, checking I was alright with it and saying that it was a big responsibility.

“To be fair, they live in London and they come over now and again, and they did mention that they might make the journey for the weekend.”

Britton will test his wits against Roy Hodgson, a man twice his age and with a managerial career stretching back more than 40 years.

Palace are unbeaten in their last seven games and have climbed out of the bottom three, in which Swansea remain firmly ensconced.

If Swansea are to have any chance of going on a similar run themselves then they are going to need to find a way to improve on a lack of goal threat which has seen them score just 10 goals in 18 games.

Additionally, their management of key passages of play needs to be vastly improved, as was again underlined against Everton on Monday.

And Britton has made clear that the players – who must take their share of the responsibility for Clement’s dismissal – have to shown some character and desire to rectify those issues.

“We do need to be braver and not just in the final third,” he said.

“But, in the final third, the players need to show more bravery and take responsibility. But I think all over the pitch we need to show more leadership and responsibility out there.

“When the going gets tough it’s difficult, of course. I’ve been out in the stadium when the crowd are groaning when we’re not playing so well and it’s hard to get the ball and be brave.

“But this is what you’re paid for. This is your job. This is why you were picked to be at a Premier League team, because you’ve got these qualities and that’s when you need them the most.

“It’s alright when things are going well and everyone’s happy and the crowd are happy and the team are playing well.

“Anyone can play in that situation, but it’s when the chips are down, when things aren’t going well, that’s when you need to take responsibility and put your chest out and be the one that leads the team.

“If you’ve got two or three that do that, the others will follow and that’s important.

“It has to come from within. Whenever you’ve played, you’ve always said, the manager sets you up. You have the training week and everything else. But once you cross onto that pitch, it’s down to us 11 players on there.

“The manager can’t make the tackles, he can’t make the passes, he can’t run as fast as he wants you to.

“It’s down to the players and they have to take responsibility as players that we haven’t been good enough up to this point. “We still have an opportunity with a lot of football left to get ourselves out of this situation, which we did last year.”