The Swans Trust is pleased to confirm that we were fully consulted by other shareholders in the appointment of Paul Clement as the man to replace Bob Bradley as Swans boss.

Following the departure of Bradley last week, the club yesterday confirmed the appointment of Clement – who has worked at some of the leading clubs in Europe – to replace him.

Paul Clement

As an organisation, we laid out to our fellow shareholders some blueprints that we believed were important in the new appointment, and discussed at length with them not just the merits of Paul but also the other candidates that were considered.

Whilst we do not feel it appropriate to name all those candidates, we do believe that following these discussions we have appointed the best person for the job, particularly given some of the various aspects that we looked at which included someone to give us a strong chance of staying in this division but also, should we fail to achieve that goal, someone who would be well positioned to mount a serious challenge next season to get us back to the Premier League.

It has also been key for us to work with someone who wants to return us to the football philosophies that we were so praised for in recent times, and give us back an identity that has been so sadly lacking on the pitch for the past couple of years.

The consultative approach to reaching this decision is one that we welcome, and we have been fully active in the discussions over the past few days through key personnel within the Trust and also the Club.

All shareholders are of the same mind, that it is key for us to give Paul Clement the opportunity to work with the players and maximise the time that he has available in the transfer window to strengthen the squad in the key areas that it needs.

We hope that the fanbase can now unite behind Paul and the team, as they work to start closing the gap that exists between us and the current safety mark in the Premier League. Last night’s performance and result at Selhurst Park was a great start and will hopefully be a springboard for better things to come in 2017.

As per our last statement, discussions continue to take place with the majority shareholders on a regular basis to reach agreement on our full involvement in the club going forward, and we will shortly be announcing details of our next forum, at which we will have representation of all key shareholders.