Clement reflects on Derby County time upon return to management with Swansea City

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Paul Clement has returned to management for the first time since his experience at Derby County that he 'thoroughly enjoyed'.

The ex-Rams boss sat down for his first press conference as the new Swansea City head coach and reflected on his time at Derby.

He said: “I had experience last season at Derby with my first role as a head coach and it lasted for eight months, premature the ending.

“It was actually a role that I thoroughly enjoyed.”

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He then explained that it was the managerial role was what he wanted to pursue in his career, however offers given to him after his reign at Derby County did not interest him enough.

Clement has also brought in ex-Derby County head of physical performance Karl Halabi as an assistant at Swansea City.

Clement managed Derby County from June 1, 2015 to February 8, 2016. He lasted 33 games at the Rams, achieving 14 wins, 12 draws and seven losses.

After being sacked by the Midlands-based side, Clement moved to Bayern Munich and took the role of assistant manager under Carlo Ancelotti. Clement left that position for Swansea on January 3, 2017.

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Clement reflected on his recent past in his first interview with Swansea City: “I had a brief spell as head coach not too long ago at Derby. It was a role I enjoyed thoroughly before I went to Bayern Munich as assistant manager.

“But my real desire and ambition was to become a head coach again as quickly as possible, so I am absolutely delighted to be here at Swansea and a Premier League manager.”

Swansea City recently sacked their American manager Bob Bradley after many poor results, meaning Clement enters the Premier League near the foot of the table.

Clement attended Swansea’s midweek victory against Crystal Palace, where he had a seat in the stands. However, he found himself in the technical area and dugout for most of the match.

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Swansea City’s caretaker manager Alan Curtis believed Clement would be surprised after the match claiming: “I think Paul would probably have been surprised himself at how well we played.”

It was later revealed after the match that the ex-Derby manager had a say in the substitutions that helped Swansea to the late, emphatic victory.

The link up play between Leroy Fer and Angel Rangel, who both came off the bench, got Swansea that important winner to the delight of Clement, Curtis and the travelling fans.

Clement’s first official game in charge will be on Saturday, January 7 away at Hull in the FA Cup. After, his first Premier League will be at home to Arsenal.

Clement has 18 games to turn Swansea’s season around, Derby fans will be sure to keep an eye on him to see if he’s improved after his spell at Bayern Munich.

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