2 candidates stand above all others

When looking for the right man to replace Simon Grayson, Dean Hoyle could do worse than to look at the the way Swansea have risen from League Two to the Premier League in just seven years. Huw Jenkins became Swans chairman in 2004 and has appointed a string of forward thinking managers such as Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup. In recent years only managers who share Jenkins philosophy of attractive football have been appointed. 

Attractive, possession orientated football. What us Town fans would give to have a manager who shared these ideals. We were promised something similar when Lee Clark was appointed manager in 2008, and things started off well in his first game in charge against Hereford United as we passed the ball out from defence. Town played good football for the next 18 or so months but after the Playoff defeat to Millwall we became much more direct and unattractive, until Clark was eventually dismissed twelve months ago.

It took longer for us to start playing under Simon Grayson, but the most important thing was that he got us promoted to The Championship. Once we arrived in the second tier Grayson seemed to favour an approach which was more pleasant on the eye. Although we went direct when we needed to, Town were playing nice football in particular with Norwood, Clayton and Southern in the middle. As the season went on however Grayson reverted to a much more direct approach that not only led to a 12 game winless run but also some of the worst performances in recent memory.

When looking for our third manager in twelve months Dean Hoyle needs to ensure we bring in somebody who tries to play the right way. First off this will get fans back on side who have been disappointed with the football played in recent months. More importantly, the players we have at the club are suited to playing football on the deck instead of going direct constantly. Good footballers such as Norwood and Clayton, although struggling for form anyway, haven't been helped at all by the style of football we've adopted.

Swansea City have appointed a number of forward-thinking managers in recent years

So who can we turn to in order to ensure we steer clear of relegation but also begin to play a style of football fans can be proud of? I've seen plenty of people saying that we need to appoint a manager with Championship experience but Roberto Martinez had no management experience at all before taking charge of Swansea, and Brendan Rodgers had only a seven month stint at Watford and a further ill-fated seven month spell with Reading before being chosen by Jenkins to take charge at the Swans. Experience for me is therefore unimportant, especially as many of the experienced names available are uninspiring to say the least.

So if experience isn't one of the key things needed from a new manager, what are the things we should be looking for? In my opinion there are three key attributes our new manager will need. They are:

1) The ability to motivate and get the best out of the players at his disposal.
2) Build a team that is solid defensively, as we've been unable to solve our defensive problems in recent years.
3) Play football the right way, and score goals as we've a terrible goalscoring record so far this season.

With those three attributes in mind I did some research into managers who could be available at the current time. After plenty of trawling through managerial records, league tables, fixture lists and anything else the internet has to offer I have come to the conclusion that there are two ideal candidates who could take Huddersfield Town forward from here. Neither are massively experienced, but both have achieved great success in the short time they've been managing in England and are known for the great football their teams play.

The number one candidate for pretty much every Town fan, Nigel Adkins has been out of work since he was inexplicably sacked by Southampton earlier this month. He definitely has the most impressive CV of any potential new manager but the question mark over him is whether we could lure him to Huddersfield. It's rumoured that Dean Hoyle has a good relationship with Adkins, and that he wants to get back into management as soon as possible, but to many he remains a long shot.

It's easy to see though why so many people see Adkins as the right man to turn around our fortunes. He achieved wonders at Scunthorpe, getting a club with average attendances barely over 4,000 and next to no budget promoted to The Championship twice in three seasons (with relegation seperating them). He then worked more wonders at Southampton, taking them from League One to the Premier League in consecutive seasons. If Adkins was to come here we would need to be realistic however, Town don't have the resources Southampton have and it would be a much longer process were we even to dream of top flight football.

Adkins gets the best out of what he has at his disposal, that can't even be debated given his achievements at Scunthorpe and Southampton. He also favours a very attractive style of football, epitomised by his Scunthorpe team scoring the most goals outside the top ten when they were relegated from The Championship. That season they had a defensive record no side would want, but upon becoming Southampton manager Adkins developed a rock solid defence which was the backbone of their success.

The second candidate I feel would be best suited to taking Town forward is a much more controversial individual who would surely split opinion, something he's done throughout his career as a player and manager. Paolo Di Canio has zero experience managing in The Championship but in his short time in charge of Swindon Town he has shown he has what it takes to be a great success as a manager. After winning the League Two title last season Swindon are now competing for their second successive promotion.

His biggest attribute for me is what many see as the reason he shouldn't be appointed. He's a character to say the least, being a self-proclaimed fascista and causing controversy wherever he goes. I won't comment on his fascist tendencies but his controversial nature is no reason for us to not consider him. He is a man who does not suffer ego's and will never accept anything less than 100% from the players who represent his team. People have said he won't get on with Dean Hoyle, but Clark and Grayson were very friendly with our chairman and ended up getting sacked, he's hiring a manager not a new best mate.

Swindons defensive record under Di Canio is ridiculous - they won League Two with the best defence in the league and now sit fourth in League One with the best defence in the league. They also play attractive football and score for fun, as any Town fan who attended our 4-1 FA Cup defeat at The County Ground last season will testify. With Swindon currently in financial uncertainty now could be the perfect time for us to approach Di Canio and let the Italian take the reigns.

There are plenty of candidates other than Adkins and Di Canio

There are obviously more candidates than the two I just mentioned, but after doing plenty of research I don't think any of them come as close to meeting the criteria. Owen Coyle has become one of the favourites for the job with the bookies, while Billy Davies is wanted by many and current caretaker manager Mark Lillis did himself no harm by leading Town to a 1-1 draw against Leicester. I don't think Lillis will be given the job unless he performs miracles in the next few days, but Owen Coyle in particular could be a very real possibility.

Whoever we appoint, Dean Hoyle needs to use Swansea City, and in particular Huw Jenkins, as an example of the way to do things. Town fans want to see attractive football as well as results, and we need to start building a long-term philosophy that will help move the club forward. Play football the right way, build a solid defence, and motivate the players at his disposal to the best of their abilities - I'm not asking for much.