SWANSEA v MIDDLESBROUGH GRIM REALITY
Clement swaps Spanish Woody helps stir hot Stew
PAUL CLEMENT may have given up p the fantasy football of Real Madrid – but he still believes his Champions League know-how can keep Swansea in the Premier League.
The Swans boss is not the type to bang on about medals in the locker, but revealed he e did crack once when he was trolled on Twitter.ter.
Clement – who hosts Middlesbrough todayay in a relegation clash – lost his cool during his brief spell in charge of Derby County two years ago.
“I had posted I felt we could go on and do very well that season in the Championship as we were doing well at the time,” said Clement. “Someone then made the comment, ‘You? Win the Championship? You’ll be saying you can win the Champions League next!’
“So, I posted a picture of my Champions League medal. It was a bit petty, maybe. And soon afterwards I took it down.
“But it is tempting to respond at times. A lot of the comments are said without any thought or intelligence and
maybe with 15 beers inside them. “It’s different these days as everyone now has a platform from which to give their opinion.
“But you’ve got to cope with the criticism as well as the praise if you’re going to do it.”
Clement’s Champions League triumph was alongside Carlo Ancelotti in 2014 at a club so dominant the pair could afford to look at the fixture list and predict the outcome of future matches.
Now in charge of a Swansea side who have suffered back-to-back defeats to Hull and Bournemouth, the certainties have been stripped away.
“In the past, with Carlo, we’ve STEWART DOWNING is no longer down in the dumps – and brother-in-law Jonathan Woodgate’s return to Middlesbrough has helped to lift his mood.
Caretaker manager Steve Agnew has revealed the transformation in playmaker Downing, who was left out of the firstteam squad by former boss Aitor Karanka.
That triggered a furious training ground fall-out and spelled the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho’s one-time assistant at Real Madrid on Teesside.
Agnew, Karanka’s No.2, restored Downing to Boro’s starting line-up in his first had our fixtures out and we would say, ‘We’re going to get three there, three there, a point there, there’s three’. But even there, afterwards, it didn’t look anything like we had predicted.
“I don’t do that here. It never works out anything like that in reality. It’s fantasy football, so I don’t do it. It’s a waste of time.”
Clement performed a minor miracle in taking four wins from his first six matches in charge of game in charge – the 3-1 home defeat by Mourinho’s Manchester United – after the Spaniard’s exit.
And Agnew insists Downing, 32, will be “vital’’ in today’s relegation battle with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, where former Boro centre-back Woodgate will be in the dug-out as first-team coach.
Agnew said: “Stewart’s left foot, with his movement and ability to go past the Swans, as they leaped from bottom spot to clear of the relegation zone.
But they are back in the mire against rivals whose sacking of Aitor Karanka, amid rumours of player power, left Clement unimpressed.
“When you hear of players getting into the ears of owners, that is very dangerous ground,” he said.
“If the route goes around the manager, that is when you eventually get player power.” people, is something that everybody has seen for years. This week in training he’s been excellent.
“He’s a player the rest of the group look up to as well. He can be vital for a top performance at Swansea. He feels confident – and a confident Stewart Downing is a quality player.
“He just felt his performances might not have been as consistent as he wanted. But I see Stewart performing well every day on the training ground, enjoying his football and looking forward to this game.’’
Agnew hailed the immediate impact of Woodgate, 37, and tipped him as a future manager.
He said: “Woody coming back helps, not just Stewart, but all the players Woody knows.
“He’s a well-respected footballer and now he’s become, very quickly, a very well-respected coach.
“Jonathan will grow as a coach. Eventually, I’m sure, he’ll go on to have a long and successful coaching career and go into management.”