Your latest Swansea City headlines for you on Sunday, May 28.
Taylor: Swans need to improve recruitment model
Former Swansea player Neil Taylor says the club need to improve their "succession planning".
This summer Ryan Manning, Joel Latibeaudiere and Kyle Naughton are all leaving the club, with question marks hanging over star man Joel Piroe too as he enters the last year of his contract.
With Russell Martin also heading out of the door, it is set to be a turbulent summer for the club yet again and Taylor feels allowing players to run down their deals is not smart business.
READ MORE: Movement expected at Swansea City as sequence of two events to put wheels in motion
"Succession planning is really important," Taylor told the BBC. "Whether Swansea have or not, I don't know. If you have a look at the recruitment at the football club, it suggests that they haven't planned very well given the amount of players leaving.
"Letting your best players go for free, I don't think that's a good model. They've gone down the route of wanting to sell players for more money and having a manager that develops them, which is perfectly fine.
"You never know what a football club is like behind the scenes, but the longer you're in the Championship the more difficult it gets."
Martin is on the verge of taking the reins at Southampton, with the St Mary's club relegated from the Premier League. Taylor believes Swansea need to follow in his footsteps when it comes to a replacement, with their style so important to their identity.
"They've got a good manager in Russell Martin, who, if he leaves will be a big loss," he added. "It's important with the next one that he follows the same model and the same style of play. If you lose your identity you can slide quite quickly, so you've got to keep that as best as you can.
"Hopefully he gets a bit more support in terms of the quality of players you need to do that last bit which is at the top end of the pitch.
"Dominating the football and playing a certain style has to be the way for the Swans, only because when they've come away from it, it just hasn't worked."
Martin to Southampton moves closer
Southampton play their final game of the Premier League season today.
The St Mary's club host Liverpool to bookend their campaign, which will see them return to the Championship after 11 years in the top flight.
Ruben Selles was informed this week that his contract would not be renewed on the south coast and one suspects after the game's conclusion there will be a gear change in the situation.
Latest odds
Not a huge change in the runners and riders list in all honesty, although Cameron Toshack and Gregg Berhalter have joined the long list, according to bookmakers BetVictor.
Chris Davies - 5/4
Steven Schumacher - 6/1
Steve Cotterill - 8/1
Oscar Garcia - 12/1
Ian Evatt - 16/1
Ryan Mason - 16/1
Cameron Toshack - 16/1
Gregg Berhalter - 16/1
Coach's pride in young Swans
Swansea under-21s boss Anthony Wright has spoken of his pride seeing the club's youngsters push on this season.
The starlets finished just a point behind top two Bristol City and Millwall, hitting their straps at the end of the campaign which saw them win nine of their last 12 games, including a 10-1 thrashing of Birmingham City at the Swansea.com Stadium.
Wright has been delighted with what he has seen.
"I think it's been a terrific season for everyone. From an individual perspective, I think everyone has grown this year," said Wright.
"From a team perspective, that growth has been visible week in, week out. They're still growing, and every game they just get better and better. For us, as a club and as team, the future is bright. We want to continue to bring players through the system as that's what the academy is about.
"We had four scholars start against Birmingham City, so we're still a really young team for an under-21 side. A lot of the boys still have a couple of years to grow, which is brilliant for us. Next year, when some of the under-18s make the step up, that cycle will just repeat.
"We want to keep pushing them, and get them as close to the first team as possible, and as quickly as possible.
"Several lads have had that opportunity this season, and we want to make sure those experiences become frequent, because their hard work will pay off in the long run."
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