Paul Clement insists he does not fear the sack should Swansea City fail to turn the corner against West Brom on Saturday.
The Swans boss has revealed he spoke with co-owner Steve Kaplan for 90 minutes on Wednesday night – a telephone conversation he says he found reassuring, rather than left him feeling he was one defeat away from dismissal.
After last weekend’s defeat at Stoke – which sent Swansea to the bottom of the Premier League – Clement cut a despondent figure with his tone and body language suggesting he was running out of faith.
But he believes he is still the man to lead the team out of the relegation zone and that the club’s American owners are of the same mind.
“Internally everyone is working in the same direction,” Clement said.
“Any pressure and talk that I’m not going to be here is from external sources. It’s not from within.
“I had a positive conversation with Steve on the phone when we were talking about past games, future games and the (transfer) window.
“I meet with the chairman (Huw Jenkins) every day and the communication lines are open.
“I don’t fear it (consequences of losing to West Brom), not as my position as head coach.
“But at the same time I look at our points tally in the League, we’re on nine at the moment, we’re four games away from the halfway point and at the halfway point last season the club had 12 points. But we know if we get to that, we can still go on and do it.
“It was a big effort last season but we managed to do it. We really need to be getting to a minimum of 12 at halfway. If it’s any lower than that, it’s going to be tough.
“People know what I’m capable of doing. When you’ve showed in your past you’ve got that experience to be able to get out of a difficult situation, maybe people have got more belief in you than they would otherwise.”
Clement has admitted he was downcast after last week’s defeat – the club’s sixth in their last seven Premier League matches – but insists the fight has not been extinguished.
“I was disappointed at the end of the Stoke game and that is the reason I looked so frustrated,” Clement said.
“I am not at the end of my tether, I still feel very much this team can get out of the situation it is in.
“I have no doubt I am the man to turn it around and that the players are behind me.
“I have enough experience to know when the dressing room is behind me and when it’s not.
“I’ve experienced dressing rooms that have grown apart from their manager and sometimes that’s difficult to get back.
“But I do not have that feeling at all. It is a positive dressing room with a good group of players, and we’ve just got to find that little ingredient now to get us a win.”
Swansea have won only two of their 15 Premier League games, with their last victory coming against Huddersfield in mid-October.
Defender Martin Olsson revealed heated words were exchanged in the Swansea dressing room following the defeat to Stoke.
But Clement insisted it was a united camp, saying: “In my view, there are no divisions.
“It is a cohesive dressing room, one which is fighting and showing their passion for the club.
“What was said was no big deal, it was nothing abnormal.
“I was glad it happened and I had been waiting for it. It was healthy discussion and one that needed to happen.”
