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BBC News
27-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Stability needed or Swansea face 'trouble'
Leon Britton reckons stability is required at Swansea City to ensure the club do not end up dropping out of the is confident Swansea, who are six points clear of the drop zone with eight games remaining, will have enough quality to stay in the second tier this the club legend is concerned that off-field upheaval will eventually cost Swansea on the the last six weeks, Richard Montague has begun work as Swansea's director of football, while chairman Andy Coleman has handed over responsibility for the day-to-day running of the club to new chief executive Tom uncertainty over Swansea's long-term managerial situation continues after caretaker head coach Alan Sheehan agreed to remain in place until the end of the a former Swansea midfielder, caretaker boss and sporting director, says off-field disruption does not help players deliver results."We need some stability for a period of time now. Hopefully the new chief executive and sporting director will be in their roles for quite a while and we can have a bit of smooth sailing," he told Radio Wales Breakfast."It has been a bit of a bumpy road in the last couple of years. On the pitch we have been looking over our shoulder and we need to settle things down."I think if the turnover in managers and executive positions carries on, eventually we are going to find ourselves in trouble and really having a battle on our hands to stay in the league." Sheehan has been at the helm since the departure of Luke Williams in Irishman had indicated he wanted to sign a long-term deal during the current international break, but has instead agreed to stay in place for the last five weeks of this have allowed Sheehan to bring in two new staff members, Richard Stearman and Mark Fotheringham, as the club look to end any relegation says former Luton and Southampton coach Sheehan is in "pole position" to become Swansea head coach on a permanent basis."It's his job to lose if you like," Britton added."He'll be looking to get some results in this period, some strong performances, to really put himself in a position to say 'look, I am the man to take this club forward from the summer onwards'."Obviously if things don't go so well and performances and results don't follow, maybe the club will look to go in a different direction."But he will be looking at this period to really stamp his authority on the team and get the job full-time."Britton says Sheehan's "main job" is to ensure Swansea are still in the Championship come August."I think we will be," he added."There are a couple of very tough games in there, including this Saturday against Leeds, and Sunderland, but the other six are games where you'd expect us to pick up enough points to make sure we are safe."
BBC News
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Manic Street Preachers: The story behind David Hurn album cover
David Hurn has always had an eye for seizing the the acclaimed photographer has revealed the inspiration behind the new Manic Street Preachers album was while on his way to photograph the Navajo native Americans in Arizona that he saw the "strange" and drunken sight that has been used by the Welsh rockers for their latest release."I was given a bi-centennial fellowship award by the American government to go to Arizona and photograph," Hurn told Radio Wales Breakfast."The picture came about because I had contacts with the Navajo through doctors. "I was driving to the reservation and went through an area called Painted Desert."Suddenly through the windscreen I saw this strange wiggly line. It was almost as if someone drunk had been making a drawing on the road. So I photographed it." Critical Thinking is the Manics' 15th studio album and the first to feature the lead vocals of bassist Nicky Wire, a long-time admirer of Hurn who he has described as a "colossus" of of modern documentary 90-year-old has worked with a remarkable array of stars, including Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Sophia despite once spending weeks behind the scenes with the The Beatles, this is the first time any of his work has featured on the cover of a rock album."Back in the '60s I did a few classical album covers but I don't even have the copies of them because they were so bad," laughed Hurn."The request came through my agent and when I was asked if it was OK for them [Manics] to use the photo I immediately replied, 'obviously yes'." Raised in Cardiff but now living in Monmouthshire, Hurn was recently presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Journalism award at the 2024 Wales Media Awards for his near-70-year career."I never leave the house without a camera," he said."It's not that I go looking for a photo but for something that I find interesting and, hopefully, other people will find interesting."It's more to do with feeling than sight."
BBC News
05-02-2025
- BBC News
Ammanford stabbing: Police can check school bags, minister says
Teachers can call on police officers to search pupils' bags if they do not feel comfortable doing so themselves, Wales' education minister has Neagle said there were lessons to be learned following the "terrible incident" at a Carmarthenshire school in which two teachers and a pupil were stabbed.A teenager was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, leading to calls for improved safety measures in schools, such as security to calls for heightened security in schools, Neagle said this may not be an option school staff were comfortable with, adding she would be holding a "behaviour summit" to tackle the "complex" problems facing schools. "There's been a culture shift and what I'm seeing is a whole range of societal problems are now playing out in schools and schools are having to do things that they didn't have to before," she told Radio Wales Breakfast."I'm hearing a lot from schools about behavioural issues [and] we are seeing more and more young people with complex mental health issues."One of the things we are doing as a government is I'm bringing together all partners in Wales later this year - as soon as we can - to have a behaviour summit where we're going to look at these issues… I want that to be really action focussed, so we come out with an action plan."Following the verdict, Fiona Elias - one of the teachers who was attacked at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in April 2024 - said she wanted to meet the local authority and Welsh government to make sure no one else went through "the nightmare I have endured".Neagle said: "I've already met with Fiona Elias, I've also visited the school on two occasions. I've been really clear that I want to do everything that I can to support the school who've been through this terrible time, but it is also obviously important that we learn lessons now from what happened."Now that the trial is over, we need to understand what happened on the run-up to this case and we are talking with the local authority about how we best learn the lesson from that."During the trial, it was revealed that the teenager responsible for the attack regularly took a knife to school, until her father began checking her bag each morning. Cefin Campbell MS, whose brother works at the school and tried to restrain the girl, previously said employing security guards to assist with bag checks could be an option for schools to consider."I don't think the onus should have been put on the father to check the bag every day," he to the suggestion, Neagle said: "I'm not sure lots of teachers would be comfortable with security guards in schools. And if they don't want to [check pupils' bags] they can ask the police to do that, the guidance is very clear on that."She added "really strong guidance on the carrying of knives" was already in place in Wales, with schools permitted to search pupils for offensive weapons or permanently exclude pupils if they have a knife in school."It is an exceptional thing to be carrying a knife in school and these incidents are, thankfully, very rare," she said."I want teachers to have the tools that they need to be able to deal with these issues in schools, but it can't all be on teachers."
