Sunday 1 January 2017 10:26, UK
Swansea need to appoint a new manager imminently in order to bring in January signings, says caretaker boss Alan Curtis.
Curtis oversaw Swansea's 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on New Year's Eve, which sees the club end 2016 bottom of the Premier League following a four-game losing streak.
Bob Bradley was sacked after the 4-1 loss to West Ham on Boxing Day, and Curtis - who is in his third temporary spell in charge of the club - explained why a quick appointment is vital.
"A new manager would probably lift the place," said Curtis, following the defeat to Bournemouth. "It looks as if it needs a new face, somebody with fresh eyes to look at it. Obviously the window is open tomorrow and I think we need the boost of a few players.
"We've got another big game on Tuesday. We know that we're in a league of probably four or five of us, we have to finish outside the bottom three of that group.
"We're not totally cast adrift but it's obviously going to be very difficult between now and the end of the season."
Asked whether he will be in charge for Swansea's trip to Crystal Palace on Tuesday, Curtis said: "I don't know. We'll train tomorrow on the basis of preparing the team.
"I've not spoken to the chairman in terms of where we are with a new manager coming in. It looks from reports that it could be imminent, but your guess is as good as mine.
"I think we need to sort something out as quickly as we can, I think that was evident today. That's probably not going to change."
Joshua King sealed the victory late on for Eddie Howe's Bournemouth side to send them into the top half of the Premier League.
However, Swansea went behind in just the 25th minute after a mistake from Jordi Amat allowed Benik Afobe to open the scoring and were 2-0 down by half-time following Ryan Fraser's close-range strike.
"I think we lost the game in the first half," Curtis said. "We were better in the second half but only up to a point. We threatened occasionally but we look like a side drained of confidence.
"Bournemouth probably look like a side very similar to what we used to do to teams years ago. They were probably one of the worst teams we could have played today.
"We're bottom of the table for a reason. Part of the reason is results and obviously if you're losing games then confidence tends to drain.
"Certainly that first goal is vitally important for us. If we could trun that round then it might be different. It was a difficult day, a lot of optimism before the game."
