Paul Clement has again insisted he did not fear for his job as Swansea City manager – even though their struggles against West Brom were witnessed by co-owner Jason Levien.
The American made an unscheduled visit to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday where he saw Swansea’s players respond to their manager’s predicament – and their own – by battling to a 1-0 victory.
The result was the team’s first win in eight matches, lifted them back above Crystal Palace at the bottom of the Premier League, and eased much of the pressure on Clement who some suggested was one more defeat from dismissal.
Clement reiterated his stance from earlier in the week and claimed that far from jetting in to administer the last rites, Levien was there as a show of solidarity.
“Jason came over here to support the team and show his backing. I’ll be going off to share a cold beer with him now,” said Clement.
He also never felt the creeping minutes before Wilfried Bony’s 81st minute goal were not a death march on his time in South Wales.
“I don’t think like that. I would have been worried to have come in and seen the other results and us still on nine points with three games to go until half way. That would have been my concern. But not about my position.
“I don’t think it takes pressure off, it’s more about building confidence at a time we really needed. Confidence can come and go, it’s never a set level. It’s been down recently but the players stood up today put a lot of effort in.
“Some of the football was good, some of it not so good, some was really positive, some was apprehensive. In the end the most important thing was to get the positive result.
“Hopefully we can build on it but we’ve said this before – Huddersfield and Bournemouth were both opportunities to build on and we haven’t taken them. Today we grafted for the victory, we got it and now we have to move forward.”
The scale of the victory was reflected in Clement’s joyous touchline celebration, a measure of the scrutiny the Swansea manager has been under.
“The celebration was a mixture of frustrations built up over the recent weeks and the elation of the goal,” Clement said.
“”It was important with West Ham winning that we didn’t get set adrift. We’re right in that pack at the bottom now.
Bony fired into the roof of the net from close range after substitute Tammy Abraham had almost got on the end of Ki Sung-yueng’s 81st-minute corner. It was the Ivory Coast striker’s second goal in as many league games – the first time he has managed to do that since December 2014.
West Brom’s wait for a win goes on, with the Baggies having failed to register a league victory since August 19. Albion have failed to score in Alan Pardew’s first two games in charge and the new Baggies boss admitted he is still searching for the right formula in front of goal.
“I’ve used every offensive player I’ve had pretty much, and I still couldn’t find a moment,” Pardew said after Salomon Rondon had spurned a late chance.
“My teams have always managed to score. Sometimes you could question my defensive record, but my teams have always managed to score goals.”
Swans defender Alfie Mawson underlined Clement’s point that the team – who now face Manchester City at home on Wednesday – has to string some results together.
“We want West Brom to be a turning point,” the central defender said.
“Wednesday will be a tough game, but we have to show the same sort of belief and commitment we showed against West Brom and then we will aim to topple a very strong City side.
“We need to build on the West Brom win and that means doing the basics again.
“Wednesday will be more about concentration, but we are ready to go now off the back of a good performance.”