Swansea

O’Leary has seen hundreds of players come and go, whether as team-mates or members of squads he has coached.

There has always been a desire, he says, to ensure those who have arrived understand what the place is about.

“Even as a player, I hated it if someone who came in had something negative to say about the club, the city, the people, anything,” O’Leary explains.

“I take it really personally. So I do all I can to make sure people who come here have the best possible experience at Swansea City, like I’ve had, and that they see it how I see it.”

O’Leary first watched Swansea play against Manchester United in 1986, a friendly game which was played to raise money for the cash-strapped Welsh side.

It was his first experience – but certainly not the last – of a crisis at the club.

By his early teens O’Leary was involved in the Swans’ youth set-up, and by 1995-96 he was knocking on the door of the first team.

That was a season in which Swansea had no fewer than four managers – including the unknown Kevin Cullis, who lasted a week – and suffered relegation to what is now League Two.

Jan Molby was in charge for the back-end of the campaign, and it was the former Liverpool star who gave O’Leary his debut, in a 5-1 defeat at Bradford City in March 1996.

While all Swansea’s senior pros were in tracksuits, O’Leary and another youth prospect, Damien Lacey, travelled to the game in “trousers and a polo shirt” because in those days, there was no kit dished out to youngsters.

This time last year, Swansea had built significant momentum under former boss Alan Sheehan, who had inspired an upturn in form to ward off relegation concerns after the Luke Williams era ended on the back of a worrying slump.

In the previous campaign, Williams was the man who masterminded the turnaround in fortunes after Michael Duff’s forgettable stint in charge.

Matos’ challenge is to change the record at Swansea, who will begin 2026-27 with an eye on the play-offs, as was the case at the start of the season which ended with Saturday’s win over Charlton Athletic.

There is likely to be a little more expectation next time around given that the teams finishing seventh and eighth will secure play-off places in a year’s time.

Yet it is worth remembering that aside from their two play-off campaigns under Steve Cooper – when parachute payments still offered a helping hand – the best finish Swansea have managed since dropping out of the top flight is 10th, first Graham Potter in 2019 and then Russell Martin three years ago.

Matos’ team finished 11th, just as Sheehan’s side did last year, although Swansea had three more points this time around.

Ultimately, they were nine points short of Hull City, who claimed the last of this season’s play-off places, and five adrift of Derby County, who ended in eighth.