Carlos Carvalhal insists Swansea can avoid Premier League relegation following his surprise appointment as Paul Clement’s successor.
Carvalhal’s two-and-a-half-year stint at Sheffield Wednesday only came to an end on Christmas Eve, with the Owls 15th in the Sky Bet Championship and struggling to reach the play-offs for the third successive season.
But the Portuguese was back in football within four days of his Hillsborough departure, leaving his Sheffield home at 4.30am on Thursday to take first-team training at Swansea.
New Swansea boss Carlos Carvalhal seemed in buoyant mood when he addressed the media
Carvalhal, wearing a black suit and waistcoat, spoke to press at The Fairwood Training Ground
‘I was available in this moment, but in a very short time I received a lot of offers from different parts of world,’ he said.
‘I spoke to the chairman (Huw Jenkins) and a difficult challenge is something I appreciate.
‘Everybody understands Swansea is in a very difficult situation and a lot of people would say we need a miracle to stay in the Premier League.
‘But I don’t agree because miracles is not something from our world – our job is to win.
‘This job is a very good challenge and we will fight to put the team in a better position.’
Carvalhal inherits a side who are five points from safety having won just one of their last 12 league games.
Carvalhal gave his first press conference to media on the day his appointment was confirmed
Swansea appointed Carvalhal as their new permanent manager on Thursday morning
Bottom-placed Swansea are the league’s lowest scorers with 11 goals and, under caretaker coach Leon Britton, were dismantled 5-0 at Liverpool on Boxing Day – a game the new boss watched from the stands.
Carvalhal has a contract until the end of the season with an option to extend, but insisted he was not bothered by the short-term nature of the arrangement.
‘I had three seasons at Wednesday and every contract was one year,’ said the 52-year-old, who will name his coaching staff and decide upon Britton’s future role at the club in the coming days.
‘The paper is not important, you have to prove your abilities and hope people like and enjoy what you are doing.
‘It is not the paper that decides that, if we do things correctly we will be here a long time, if we don’t we won’t be here a long time.’
He has been given the Swans job until the end of the season with the option of an extension
Carvalhal was sacked by Sheffield Wednesday on Christmas Eve but has now joined Swansea
Carvalhal says he has yet to discuss Swansea’s January transfer plans with Jenkins, although he did stress that the current squad will get the chance to impress him.
Clement, who was sacked on December 20 after 11-and-a-half months in charge, had previously said Swansea had drawn up a list of targets and would act as soon as the transfer window opened at the start of January.
‘I did not talk money with the chairman, it is my romantic side talking,’ Carvahal said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Watford.
‘I deal with footballers, if we need separate players I will try and choose them. But the money is not what I want to talk about, I am allergic to money.
The Portuguese boss succeeds Paul Clement, who was sacked following a poor run of form
‘First we have to check the players we have and give them the opportunity to show another face of the team because we need it.
‘I will give them all an opportunity to show they are better than what they show so far.’
And with speculation rife that West Ham are poised to make a £20million-plus offer for Swansea’s England Under-21 defender Alfie Mawson, Carvalhal insisted no player would be leaving the Liberty Stadium in January.
‘I think in this moment, if we don’t feel the team is so strong we cannot make the team more weak,’ Carvalhal said.
‘All the players will be here at the end of the season.’