GREAT START... THEN IT ALL WENT WRONG FOR CARLOS

THE confirmation of Carlos Carvalhal’s parting of the ways brings to an end a whirlwind five-and-a-half month Swansea City tenure and leaves the club looking for a new manager for the fourth time in 20 months.

The 52-year-old at one stage threatened to mirror predecessor Paul Clement’s achievement in pulling off a great escape, but a woeful nine-match winless run proved the final nail on the coffin for Swansea’s first stint as a Premier League club.

Here, we analyse the highs and the lows of Carvalhal’s stint, and the key moments which would see Swansea slide towards their ultimate demotion.

Colourful analogies and a positive attitude

BEFORE we get into Carvalhal’s reign in any depth, it should be said that the blame for relegation cannot solely be blamed on the Portuguese boss.

He took over a side bottom of the table, five points from safety, having struggled against relegation in each of the previous two seasons.

Many issues far pre-existed his arrival.

When he arrived many thought a miracle was required, although the man himself insisted that was not the case.

His positivity – in the wake of the gloom of Clement’s final days – was a refreshing change and he was immediately wheeling out the colourful analogies and wit that characterised the early part of his reign.

The players appreciated a less strict and disciplinarian approach than with Clement.

An immediate impact

IT saw an immediate upturn in results. Swansea won at Watford in Carvalhal’s first game in charge and, despite a defeat to Tottenham, they soon embarked on a 10-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

January ended with wins over Liverpool and Arsenal – the latter arguably the high watermark of Carvalhal’s reign. At full-time against the Gunners, Swansea were out of the bottom three on goal difference.

His 5-3-2 formation allowed a solid base and a means for Swansea to break men forward in support of attacks, it worked perfectly against Arsenal.

A frustrating January

EVEN so, Swansea had clearly needed to strengthen in January and Carvalhal had suggested four to five players were needed to plug the gaps in his squad.

It is believed the ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss had rejected a few deals that were in the pipeline as he did not feel the players set to come in would make a big enough difference to the quality of his squad.

Deals for the likes of Kevin Gameiro, Nicolas Gaitan, Amin Younes and Ryan Fredericks were all pursued, but did not come off as the players did not want to take the risk of joining a side many had considered relegation certainties. In the end, Swansea would make just two additions – Andre Ayew and Andy King – while the likes of Roque Mesa and Jay Fulton were sent out on loan.

Injury woes

JUST days after the window had shut Swansea were dealt a further blow as Leroy Fer and Wilfried Bony suffered season-ending injuries at Leicester. With Leon Britton and Renato Sanches also sidelined, Swansea now found themselves short of midfield options, a position where they had once had eight players on the books. Similarly, allowing Oli McBurnie to go on loan meant Bony’s absence was more keenly felt. Swansea and Carvalhal would only have the Ayew brothers and Tammy Abraham for the rest of the season with no recall option to bring McBurnie back from Barnsley.

Swans keep climbing

DESPITE those setbacks, and a 4-1 defeat at Brighton, Swansea kept moving upward. Home wins against Burnley and West Ham followed and the club reached the FA Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1964.

Victory over West Ham had Swansea up to 13th in the table, three points clear of the drop zone. It was as high as they would be in the standings.

A key red card and the rot sets in

WHEN asked last week to identify the key moment that led to Swansea’s ultimate relegation, Carvalhal chose Jordan Ayew’s red card against Huddersfield.

Swansea bravely played 80 minutes without the Ghanaian and held on for a point against the Terriers.

But Ayew had been Swansea’s only genuine cutting edge in attack. He was sent off on March 10, but would not play again until April 14 as the international break elongated his absence.

Without him, Swansea were comprehensively beaten in the cup by Spurs, paid for a woeful first half at Manchester United and then drew at West Brom.

No surprise but no change, Swansea lose their way

CARVALHAL had been prepared to be positive with his approach, particularly at home where his decision to “throw all the meat on the barbecue” against Burnley was rewarded with a late Ki Sung-yueng winner.

Yet, he tended to be more cautious away from home and the manner in which he set his side up at West Brom caused real consternation for supporters.

Against a side who had lost their last eight and had a fourth manager of the season in the dug-out, Swansea sat off instead of looking to get at opponents bereft of confidence.

Had it not been for Abraham’s second-half header they would have been beaten that day.

The point was welcome, but it raised doubts about Carvalhal’s approach which would only grow as time went on.

Swansea responded with a vastlyimproved performance against Everton, deserving better than the point they picked up as Jordan Ayew equalised after a Kyle Naughton own goal. Swansea were positive, even switching to four at the back with Luciano Narsingh pushed on to get at the Everton defence, but could not make their chances count.

But there was a nagging sense at the back of minds that trouble lay ahead, it was an opportunity missed.

A hammering hits the wrong tone

NEXT up were newly-crowned champions Manchester City, a daunting task at the best of times against a side who had summarily seen off all and sundry over the course of the season.

Better sides than Swansea had been hammered at the Etihad, but the lack of application was sad and shocking to see.

The visitors simply rolled over, allowing the respect of their prematch guard of honour to run over into the serious action.

It was a 5-0 thrashing – Manchester City setting Premier League records for passes attempted and percentage of possession – to equal Swansea’s worst defeat since promotion in 2011.

When Swansea had lost by a similar scoreline at Anfield in December, caretaker boss Leon Britton had been visibly shattered by the experience. Carvalhal, by contrast, simply dismissed the defeat, saying it would have “zero impact” on the relegation battle, this despite it ensuring Swansea’s goal difference was now inferior to Southampton.

There was no criticism of his players, or self-critical analysis of how Swansea had set up.

It hit completely the wrong tone imagine being a supporter having paid hard-earned money to see such a display only to hear the manager effectively say it did not matter.

Chelsea at home was next, Carvalhal again refusing to switch from five at the back as he fielded Kyle Naughton as a third centre-half with Federico Fernandez and Kyle Bartley injured. Swansea rarely threatened after conceding an early goal. It was another defeat, and Southampton’s win over Bournemouth moved them within a point of the Swans.

The wheels completely come off

IT left a nail-biting final eight days of the season to come, but the wheels had now almost completely come off.

Carvalhal launched an impassioned defence of his record and his approach ahead of the Bournemouth game, but his selection on the south-coast was bizarre. He rested Andy King and Sam Clucas – even though any sort of result for Southampton in the evening kick-off against Everton would see Swansea drop into the bottom three with defeat – and fielded what turned into a 5-2-3 set-up.

It was supposed to be a 3-4-3, but the wing-backs could not press on enough and Ki and Tom Carroll were helplessly overrun in the middle of the field.

The sad denouement

SWANSEA would still be safe if they could beat Southampton and Stoke, but Carvalhal again fielded five at the back against Southampton for a game both sides needed to win.

It was scrappy, nervy, tense and woefully low on quality, but it was the visitors who had the chances as Charlie Austin waged a personal battle against Lukasz Fabianski.

The Pole kept Swansea level, but when Mark Hughes made the decisive move of sending on Shane Long and Marco Gabbiadini. Carvalhal had introduced Abraham, but his next change would only arrive after Gabbiadini had put the visitors ahead.

It was a killer blow and seemed to sum up Carvalhal’s caution.

Overall

CARVALHAL did a fine job getting Swansea into a situation to get out of trouble, no doubt. They were goners before he showed up.

But he seemed to freeze once people began to identify them as likely to stay up, taking fewer and fewer risks and steadfastly refusing to change systems even though he subsequently admitted that other sides had figured Swansea out after their initial rise.

The manner in which he attended his final press conferences brandishing sheets of paper with the facts and figures of his time in charge suggested a man who knew the end was nigh and wanted to get his version of events out there before the axe fell.

That he did, and he was within his rights to point out the situation when he came in and the issues of a difficult January.

As mentioned earlier, there are many others who need to take responsibility for relegation before him. But he knew what he was getting himself into and, having put himself on the brink of an astonishing achievement, he lost his way and Swansea lost their Premier League status.