Swansea City head to Hillborough on Saturday for an FA Cup tie that will have special significance for manager Carlos Carvalhal. Graham Thomas hears the Swans boss drop the fishing metaphors and settle for another about moving house.
Carlos Carvalhal has admitted it be an emotional return when he goes back to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday – but he will not repeat the mistake he made in Turkey.
The Swansea City manager takes his new club to his old one for an FA Cup fifth round tie against the Championship side he left on Christmas Eve.
Carvalhal could become the first Swansea boss to reach the quarter-finals of the competition since Trevor Morris in 1964, but insists he will not wander onto the wrong dug-out or into the wrong changing room.
“I remember when I left Besiktas, I was in Basaksehir – the first game was against Besiktas – and I made a mistake with the wrong bench,” says Carvalhal.
“I don’t think I will do that this time. I know my old house very well and believe I will go to the left.”
Carvalhal loves a football analogy, almost as much as he enjoys taking points off bigger clubs such as Liverpool and Arsenal, who have both been despatched in the current nine-match unbeaten run.
Those 11 games have included four Cup ties as it required replays to see off both Wolves and Notts County. It may be that Carvalhal needs another long way around to reach the last eight, but whatever the outcome he will enjoy a curious glance at what is happening at the club he left only eight weeks ago.
“It is like you have your house, you move, after two months you go back and it’s not your house anymore but you still feel part of your house. I will feel like that because it is only a short time.
“With some fantastic achievements there, it is something very strong. I feel very proud of what we did there and I believe one day when I go back, I will be proud what we did in Sheffield Wednesday and people will remember us because we did something very good.”
Carvalhal guided Wednesday to the play-offs in the two full seasons he was at Hillsborough, but raised expectations led to dissatisfaction with the Owls in the first half of this current campaign.
With the club back in 15th place in the Championship, he was dismissed but then re-surfaced at the Liberty Stadium just four days later.
But the Portuguese manager insists he will carry no bitterness on his return.
“No, it is life, it is part of the life. I know exactly why we finalised things there, I talked to the chairman and we agreed it was that best thing that we finished in that moment.
“But what we did was something you cannot forget or hide, I was the first foreign coach at the club. It is one thing to go back to Hillsborough after eight weeks, it’s another thing to go back after five or 10 years. I believe when I go back there then I will remember it emotionally in a different way with the fans. But I am very proud of what we did there.
“I expect a normal and good reception, but I do not care too much about the situation, I care more about the game and try to do our things. It is important, but is not the main thing.
“I have said I am an Owl and I will be an Owl forever. We were there two years-and-a-half and in the second season, when we got to the play-offs, in 150 years of history of the club it was the third best points total and in 50 years the best rating.
“We had one play-off final, one semi-final, and they were unbelievable, very strong emotional moments that makes me think I belong and will be part of the club forever.
“But it is the same as I am forever a part of Besiktas. Now, I’m working very hard to be a Jack forever and my plan is that when I leave the club people will remember me for a long time.
“I am sure I will be a Jack because we are starting things and we have a connection with players, staff, chairman and the fans.”
