The Luke Williams Q&A: Swansea City man he is 'so impressed with' and revealing Langstaff response

Read every word of what Luke Williams and Andy Coleman had to say at the new manager's unveiling on Friday

Swansea City unveiled new manager Luke Williams on Friday afternoon as a new era starts in SA1. Here is what he said, alongside chairman Andy Coleman.

Luke Williams - manager of Championship Swansea City, how does that sound?

LW: I like it. It sounds very nice. Thank you.

Why Swansea? Why now?

LW: I’ve had experience with this club already and I know how fantastic it is. When the chairman drives to your house and spends three hours in your living room and with passion explains everything he wants to achieve, it’s very, very difficult to turn down.

Talk us through the opportunity and process...

LW: The contact was made initially with my agent. We spoke a couple of times on Zoom. I had a call from my agent to say Andy has just left the Mumbles and was on the way to my house. That was when the hoover came out! We rushed around a little to tidy up. That was the moment I realised things were very serious. It was such an incredible experience and after that I was so excited.

You have history here - was that key? Have you spoken to Russell Martin?

LW: The time I was here, I loved. I just enjoyed the experience so much. I didn’t need to speak to Russell. He’s so busy. I didn’t need to. I already knew everything. The conversations we had with Andy were so powerful. It was very easy for me.

Leaving Notts County?

LW: That’s a different matter. It was agonising. It can only be for this opportunity to leave a wonderful group of players. Staff. Incredible fans. The connection with the fans was incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. Imagine leaving that.

Reflections on time at Notts?

LW: These guys [at Notts] are monsters. They took it by the scruff of the neck. The oldest club in professional football. They finished fifth place in the National League the season before. Then the players just said ‘we’re doing this’ from day one. We’re going to recreate this here. We’re going to recreate the same feeling.

Opportunity to test yourself?

LW: It’s true I've managed in all the different levels. I’ve been assistant at this level. I’m going to tick off the Premier League, hopefully. This is a first for me to be coaching in the Championship. It’s an incredible feeling and I’m looking forward to it..

Happy with your backroom staff?

LW: The guys who have come with me, Ryan and George, are passionate about the jobs they do. First and foremost the thing they share is the work ethic. They’re just relentless in their work and passionate about the jobs they do.

I’m lucky to inherit Alan Sheehan as a staff member. He can do the job on his own. Imagine we have more people trying in the same way. It’s a brilliant opportunity .We have a goalkeeper coach who works with England.It’s pinch-yourself stuff.

I’m so impressed with [Sheehan] and the the job he did. Meeting him, I’m more impressed with him as a man. The commitment he has to the group and the club is really impressive. You talk to him immediately and he’s invested. He knows the players really, really well. He’s desperate to do well. If he was down and flat when I came in I would understand that, but it’s been the opposite. He’s come in straight away. Really enthusiastic, helping and involved in every single thing we’re trying to do already.

Met the players?

LW: I’ve very fond memories of some of the guys here. (Andy) Fisher and (Harry) Darling I worked with at MK Dons. I really enjoy working with those guys. I met a lot of new players today and we had a great time on the training pitch trying to introduce myself to them. Really enjoyed being out there today.

In the dugout?

LW: I’m going to be there straight away. I want to try and connect with the players straight away. I’d like to connect with the fans straight I’ll be in the technical area straight away. Whoever we play we want to get off to a positive start. Morecambe are a team I respect. I recognise a good team when I see a good team, so we’ll have to play well.

Macaulay Langstaff?

LW: Yeah, but please be careful. This is the king of Meadow Lane we’re talking about. I love Macca as a guy. As a football player he’s a goalscoring machine, but I want to make sure he’s there to help them get promoted.

Would you like to work with him again?

LW: That’s a different question!

Budget for Jan?

Andy Coleman: We’re working on planning now. We spent four hours together as a team. We’re hoping to make moves in this window and in the next two.

Does the squad need strengthening?

LW: Listen, if you say that to a team top of the league, they’ll say always. You always want to be stronger from one window to the next.

Style a big talking point - is that a reason to appoint Williams?

AC: I think he suits us perfectly.

LW: I’d like to think so. My teams score a lot of goals and normally play with a lion's share of possession. But one without the other is kind of irrelevant. I try to bring a style to dominate the ball and score goals. When we think about Swansea at their peak that’s what we think about.

Is the Premier League possible with Swansea?

LW: I’ll try.

How much pressure?

AC: There’s always going to be pressure on me as chairman. I take that with great value and respect. My job is to lead this club forward.

Does popularity matter?

AC: Winning matters to me and building respect within the community matters. We need our supporters, our team and chairman all aligned. That’s what I’m working towards.

Why did the manager search drag on?

AC: We wanted to make a really smart and thorough choice. We wanted to make sure we ended up with the perfect and right fit.

Can Premier League days come back?

LW: We need to do our job really well. The players need to do their jobs really well. We need to work hard and everyone’s ready to work hard.

Can you instil a possession-based game straight away?

LW: We’re not hanging about. We’re going to try to get good straight away. If I can make an example. When I arrived at Notts I made it clear this was how we were going to play. We did well. I’m going to have the same mentality here. We’re going to get there. Whether we get there will be about how hard we work.

Target?

LW: Target is to finish as high as we possibly can. We’re not going to put a ceiling on where we can finish. We’re going to push as hard as we can.