Swansea are searching for their third manager in the space of a year after sacking Paul Clement on Wednesday night in a desperate bid to save their season.

Sportsmail revealed on Tuesday that the club’s hierarchy were on the brink of making a change and they have now acted, with Swansea bottom of the Premier League table after eight defeats in 10 games.

Ronald Koeman has been sounded out in an ambitious move, with the club hoping they will get a new manager in before Saturday’s clash against Crystal Palace.

Paul Clement has been sacked as manager of Swansea City, with the side bottom of the league

With Clement's axing Swansea are now searching for their third manager in the space of a year

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder is in the running to take over at the Liberty Stadium

It is understood former boss Roberto Martinez, who is currently managing the Belgian national side, has been sounded out too in what would be a stunning move, albeit one that is unlikely before the World Cup.

It is also believed that contact has been made with Koeman, while Frank de Boer, Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic and Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder have supporters at the club. Sources insist no move is planned for Tony Pulis.

Ambitiously, the club intend to have a new manager in place in the next 48 hours ahead of the next game, against Crystal Palace at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

The club’s American owners had been reluctant to make a change after Clement inspired an immense change in fortunes in avoiding relegation last season. But the woeful results and poor performances have been decisive in a decision that was taken yesterday afternoon.

Intriguingly, Clement retained the support of his players, but there was an acceptance among the club’s leadership that he simply was unable to get a response any more. That, though, could be more to do with such a weak squad of players and personalities.

For that, a heavy share of the responsibility within the club is being put on the recruitment department, according to club sources.

Chairman Huw Jenkins says the club gave Clement every opportunity to turn their form around

The loan signing of Renato Sanches has fallen horribly flat, which, combined with the arrivals of Wilfried Bony and Tammy Abraham, has not balanced the summer losses of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Fernando Llorente.

It has been telling that after they splashed out £11million on Roque Mesa, it took until late November before he got a sustained run in the side amid claims from Clement that he was struggling to adapt. That has been privately held up as an example of a faulty transfer system.

The irony is that it was once held up as a success story in the Premier League, along with the team’s style of play and local ownership. Each of those notions has now disappeared, with the club in disarray and supporters regularly berating the ownership on match days.

SWANSEA'S DECEMBER SACKINGS Swansea's sacking of Paul Clement was the third successive December that they have dismissed their manager: Garry Monk, December 2015 Former Swansea captain Monk had a real roller coaster ride in his 20 months in charge. Monk took over from Michael Laudrup in February 2014 and led Swansea to a Premier League-best finish of eighth in the 2014-15 campaign with a record 56-point tally. But Swansea's form quickly unravelled after Monk had been touted as a future England manager. One win in 11 games saw them hurtle down the table to 15th, and Monk was sacked after a 3-0 home defeat to Leicester on December 5. Bob Bradley, December 2016 The former United States manager was a surprise appointment when Swansea sacked the Italian Francesco Guidolin in October 2016. Bradley was the first American to manage in the Premier League but his reign lasted only 11 games and 85 days. Swansea won only twice under Bradley and the club's American owners deemed his position untenable following a crushing 4-1 home defeat to West Ham on Boxing Day. Paul Clement, December 2017 Swansea were bottom of the Premier League with 12 points from 19 games when Clement was appointed at the start of January but he kept them up as Swansea took 29 points from 19 games to finish 15th. The summer departures of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fernando Llorente and Jack Cork, however, weakened the Swansea squad considerably. Swansea were rock bottom again and four points from safety when Clement became the latest December casualty at the Liberty Stadium. Advertisement

As recently as last week, Clement was expected to get a transfer window to turn the club round, but the 3-1 defeat at Everton on Monday was his last stand. His assistants Nigel Gibbs and Karl Halabi have also left the club.

Chairman Huw Jenkins said: ‘To change the manager, especially at only the halfway point of the season, is the last thing we wanted to do as a club.

‘We had three different managers last season and as a result we all wanted to give Paul as much time as possible to turn things round. But we felt we couldn’t leave it any longer and needed to make a change to give us the best chance of an uplift and a turnaround in fortunes with the club bottom of the Premier League.

The signing of Renato Sanches from Clement's old club Bayern Munich has fallen horribly flat

‘Paul has been at the club for 12 months and what he achieved in the second half of last season to keep us in the top flight was a tremendous feat. For that, and his effort and commitment this season, it goes without saying that the club thanks him for his work, together with Nigel Gibbs and Karl Halabi.

‘I have had an excellent working relationship with Paul and we are all, including the owners, surprised and disappointed it hasn’t worked out this season.

‘We wish Paul every success in his career going forward.’

Clement replaced Bob Bradley at the start of this year, after the American was sacked last December following his arrival in place of Francesco Guidolin.

Interestingly, Swansea have got rid of a manager in each of the past three Decembers, with Garry Monk having been axed in December 2015.