Exclusive: Steve Cooper and Sean Dyche named as Swansea City eye Luke Williams replacement | OneFootball

David Prutton spoke exclusively to Football League World about Swansea City's search for a Luke Williams replacement

Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has addressed some of the potential managerial options available to Swansea City, who remain on the hunt for a new permanent head coach following the sacking of Luke Williams last month.

Swansea have endured a high managerial turnover in recent times but few could contest the decision to part ways with Williams, which was taken shortly after a 3-1 defeat to Stoke City in the middle of February consigned them to their eighth defeat from just 10 matches in 2025 at the time.

The Jack Army appear in no real rush to make a new permanent hire just yet, though, with the prospect of relegation to League One highly unlikely. Swansea are very much in a mid-table position and are currently under the stewardship of interim boss Alan Sheehan, who has taken four points from his first two matches against Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End.

Last week, Football League World exclusively revealed that Swansea players want Sheehan to receive the job full-time although a number of other names have been linked to the vacancy.

As per Alan Nixon, Hibernian boss David Gray is a target while Spaniard Javi Pereira and Des Buckingham, who led Oxford United to promotion to the Championship last time out, are also reportedly on the radar.

David Prutton on Swansea City managerial hunt

EFL expert Prutton stopped short of namechecking one particular candidate, instead addressing the wealth of available managers currently out of work. One of those is Steve Cooper, who, of course, guided Swansea to two successive play-off finishes but has a mixed relationship with the Jack Army faithful.

Other names such as former Burnley and Everton boss Sean Dyche are worth a mention, while the prospect of Sheehan - a former teammate of Prutton's at Leeds United - getting the nod on a permanent basis cannot be ruled out either.

"First and foremost, former teammate of mine Alan Sheehan is doing sterling work in steadying the ship, he's been a constant presence there," Prutton explained when speaking exclusively with FLW.

"You get the feeling that he may get a crack of the whip and I'm sure he's expressed an interest.

"Elsewhere, big names do stand out. Obviously there's been chat with David Gray up from Hibs, there's Javi Pereira and Des Buckingham has been mentioned in dispatches.

"Steve Cooper, what price on a romantic return to a side he got into the play-offs. Sean Dyche is also a big name that's knocking around and Ryan Lowe knows his way around the Championship.

"I can't give a number one, I can give several [names]. It just depends on what direction they want to go for a team that is 10 points above the bottom three and in no real danger of getting sucked into that.

"However, of course, ambitions given where they've finished in the last decade or so, if you're a Swans fan you're eyeing up what's going on at the top end of the division and wanting to get involved in that."

Des Buckingham could be a good potential appointment for Swansea City

While there are a number of big, intriguing names to run the rule over, it's important to consider Swansea's very DNA as a club. The Welsh side have a long-standing philosophy of deploying a patient, possession-based brand of football, and those who have dithered from the club's ethos in Cooper and Michael Duff have not been all that popular.

Swansea do need to find balance as the likes of Russell Martin and Williams both frustrated many supporters with the lack of attacking penetration their own possession-heavy sides had, but somebody like Buckingham could fit the bill.

Buckingham favours a similar style of play, though his promotion-winning Oxford side frequently carried the ball upfield with pace and intent and scored plenty of goals while retaining control of matches.

His sacking from Oxford earlier this season was certainly divisive, but should not discount him from another Championship job.

The 40-year-old operated on a tight budget and provided ample opportunity to young, high-potential players at the Kassam Stadium, both of which ought to be key requirements from the Swans hierarchy as they continue to assess who exactly could be in line to succeed Williams.