Swansea hires Paul Clement as third manager of the season

SWANSEA, Wales (AP) - Swansea hired Paul Clement as its third manager of the season on Tuesday as the club tries to stay in the Premier League.

The 44-year-old Clement follows Francesco Guidolin and Bob Bradley in the Swansea dugout after leaving his role as assistant coach at Bayern Munich.

Swansea said in a statement that Clement has signed a contract until the end of the 2018-19 season.

Swansea is in danger of being relegated after six seasons in the Premier League, with the team bottom of the standings.

Clement has less than one season’s experience as a head coach, leaving second-tier English club Derby in February 2016 after eight months.

But the Englishman has worked alongside Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and, this season, Bayern.

“Paul has not only worked with some of Europe’s biggest football clubs, but also the very best players in the world,” Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said. “Swansea City’s strength over many years had been the quality of the football coached on the training field. That has always been at the forefront of our success.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Paul can not only help us regain that footballing belief, but also restore some much needed pride back into the football club.”

Clement is familiar with overcoming obstacles and proving his worth.

Unlike his late father Dave, who played for Queens Park Rangers and England, and brother Neil, Paul Clement did not play football professionally.

Clement’s playing endeavors were restricted to non-league level and he worked his way up in coaching from the bottom.

He combined working as a gym teacher at a school near London with a part-time role at Chelsea before going to work at the Fulham academy.

He returned to Chelsea in 2007, initially working with the under-16s team before rising through the ranks and joining Guus Hiddink’s first-team coaching staff in 2009.

His relationship with Ancelotti defined the next chapter of Clement’s career. He became Ancelotti’s assistant during the Italian’s two seasons in charge of Chelsea, and the pair oversaw the club’s first domestic league and cup double in 2010.

He then followed Ancelotti to the continent. They won the French title together at PSG, and the Copa del Rey and the Champions League in Madrid.

The challenge for Clement now is to turn an undeniable coaching pedigree into positive results as the successor to Bradley, who lasted less than three months at Swansea.