Swansea City 1-0 West Brom: Liam Cullen the hero again as hosts start 2024 with deserved victory

Swansea City began 2024 with a deserved 1-0 win over Championship play-off contenders West Bromwich Albion at a sodden Swansea.com Stadium.

After a sluggish first half, Liam Cullen popped up with his second goal in as many games, midway through an impressive second-half showing from the hosts. Indeed, Josh Tymon could have added gloss late on were he not denied by the woodwork.

The result hands interim boss Alan Sheehan the third win of his temporary tenure. It also gives Swansea back-to-back home victories for only the second time this season, and their first clean sheet for nearly two months.

There hasn't been an afternoon of so many positives for some time for the Swans, but the high of what was a deserved victory cannot detract from the fundamental issues that still remain at this football club.

Swansea's 2023 ended with turbulence and uncertainty behind the scenes, and a smattering of outright anger on the terraces. The American ownership once again the subject of criticism from supporters here.

No matter who the Swans hierarchy opt for in their bid to end a managerial search that has lasted the best part of the month, some of the self-inflicted wounds suffered during the hunt for Michael Duff's successor will clearly take some time to heal.

In the eye of the storm, interim boss Sheehan has every right to be proud of his seven-game record. Barring that horror show at Southampton on Boxing Day, performances have been admirably passable, and sometimes even bordered on being quite good. Indeed, this victory was perhaps his best yet.

But the current status quo has nevertheless felt unsustainable for some time. As caretaker manager, Sheehan hasn't quite been able to stamp his authority on Swansea, who need some sort of