As Francesco Guidolin, the Swansea City head coach, prepared his bag to return home from hospital in north London, so Alan Curtis was, once again, living up to his legendary status at Swansea City.
Guidolin has missed two games with a chest infection. The Italian was absent when Swansea upset the applecart at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday and was missing on Saturday when they secured back-to-back wins for the second time this season and opened a nine-point gap to the relegation zone.
There were no celebration parties on Saturday, nor will the survival bunting be out when Guidolin arrives back in Wales today. However, Gylfi Sigurdsson’s eighth goal of the season, 15 minutes after half-time, may be the finish that preserves Swansea’s place at the top table of English football.
While Sigurdsson is a fan of Guidolin, the Iceland midfielder lavished praise on the role that Curtis has played since the departure of Garry Monk in December. At first, the man known around the Liberty Stadium as “King Curt” filled in as interim manager. He took a step back when Guidolin arrived in January, but was back in the limelight last week.
Upheaval? Maybe. Unrest? No. As Sigurdsson pointed out, Curtis is held in high esteem by all at Swansea City. The handover was seamless.
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“Alan has done a great job again,” Sigurdsson said. “All the boys call him ‘the legend’ and there is a reason for it. He’s fantastic. He has got a lot of experience, been at the club for so many years and it’s good to have someone who knows the club in and out and knows what it means not just for City but the people who live here.”
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Eight defeats in their past nine games have left Norwich staring at a return to the Championship. Alex Neil, their manager, spared his players from the media, but called on them to start rewarding the fans who have remained loyal through the club’s desperate start to the new year.
“The fans have really stuck with us,” he said. “We have not given them a lot to shout about, but I would like to think they recognise I am doing everything I possibly can to try and keep us in the league.”
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Norwich before Ed Balls became chairman:P21 W6D6L9
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Since Balls became chairman: P12 W2D1L9