littledavewatson

Fans are absolutely not to blame, but I'd argue there's a need for patience. At some point, there had to be a revolution with regards to our long-term plan and this summer has seen a huge churn to everything on the pitch and off the pitch and it's been coming for a while. I was pleasantly surprised with our start to the season, and have been unpleasantly surprised by our fall since but I think the inconsistency was inevitable, especially when you factor in key injuries and our transfer window activity going to the last day. It's disappointing when you compare to another relegated side in Leicester, but looking at the bigger picture their long term strategy is still along the same lines but with a new face at the helm. Ours has been flipped upside-down. Probably in the minority but I'd be far more concerned if in the majority of games we were being battered and played off the park, but I don't think we are. It's individual mistakes and missed chances, if that can change then I think the crowd changes almost instantly. But it has to start clicking sooner rather than later.

I posted about this on an earlier page but you have to look at the context behind this. Before / during this run they lost Obafemi in January, their first choice keeper to a long term injury, and the club added no-one throughout the entire window. Their first XI was significantly weaker for the remainder of the season and they went on a bad run. Again on the topic of context, their fixture list also worsened and out of the 1 win in 12 games and 8 defeats (they lost to Millwall after this) they lost to teams that finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5rd, 7th and 8th for 7 of those 8. As we know all too recently, relegation form is going on losing runs against your closest league rivals, not results against the best teams in the league. In 2015-16, we went on a run of 3 wins in 13 games, coincidentally with our first choice keeper out with a long term injury. We finished 6th that season, our highest league position and points total in the PL era. Bad runs happen, and can be worsened by circumstances such as key injuries or key departures without replacement, it's about bouncing back and improving just as they did (finishing unbeaten 3 points off the playoffs with said squad) and we did in 15-16, which turned when our best keeper in Forster came back from injury. Everyone is entitled to an opinion whether you're for or against a prospective managerial hire, but I really don't get the highlighting of specific bad runs or league finishes without exploring reasons as to why it might have happened.

Agree with the above around the possibility he could stay next year, and I think it'd be more to do with our valuation than any burning desire to stay. He's our captain, got 3 years left on his deal and there's no real need to sell. Combine this with obvious "emotional" attachment from the clubs side and the fact he is probably one of the only experienced heads in the squad, I think our valuation would be far higher than a prospective buyers. I'd be surprised if we settled for any less than about £40-50m for him and other clubs would see a hard working, tidy, set piece specialist who at 28 can add depth to an existing midfield, but not at that price. I don't think it's inconceivable that Lavia stays either, but probably more to do with Man City than us or him. With the way we know football works now, I find it hard to believe that Man City would prefer to take a sell on fee and see him play for a rival without even trying to organise some form of commitment/agreement around the buy-back and have a word with the outgoing Wilcox. We've been linked with Borges and I'd assume Wilcox would have his eyes on a few other youngsters so would it be a surprise to see a few favourable loans or cut down fees with buy-backs on the premise we keep Lavia until the buy-back is live next year. Obviously, Man City are renowned for their conformity to the rules... so maybe that suggestion is too underhand but I'm interested to see how it pans out. It's a big decision all round because in my mind, I think keeping or losing a potential midfield of JWP, Lavia and Alcaraz in this supposed new system could be the difference between a season of mediocrity or a promotion push.

There’s always going to be unique examples that differ, but in the main the better, more successful teams have more of the ball. The champions of the EPL/EFL this year finished 1st, 1st, 3rd and 1st in their respective “possession” leagues. If you expand that to top 6 in the EPL and all the promoted / play-off sides (25) only 5 of those 25 sides finished outside the top 10 in possession in their leagues. Of course you need to be efficient with it as well, but it’s hardly as if we’ve found the perfect formula prior.

First post since 2014, but regular reader so go easy on me here as it's a lengthy start.. I've never really watched Swansea and know nothing tangible about Russell Martin as a coach but went down a bit of a rabbit hole this morning in reference to the concerns around his mediocre league finishes, which I was also worried about. I found the context behind it quite interesting. 19-20 - 1/2 season at MK Dons. Took over 21st, 3 points off safety and in a bad run. Finished 19th, 5 points clear. Got them safe and mild improvement. 20-21 - Lost their top scorer - squad got slightly younger with a few experienced heads. Finished the season 13th - 9 points off play-offs, 18 off relegation, applauded for their "style" but significant improvement on the previous year. 21-22 - Summer at MK, he signed Twine, Darling (both in Champ now) before leaving for Swansea in July post-Cooper, 2 weeks before the start of the season. Manning took over MK Dons and took the side to the play-offs. This season he lost both of those players, was sacked by Christmas and MK Dons finished 21st getting relegated. Swansea - Parachute payments stop and lots of wage-heavy (educated guess) outgoings. Lots of frees and loans, which I guess contributed to the "mutual consent" of Steve Cooper's end. Paid for Downes, Obafemi and Piroe. Finished 15th - which on paper doesn't look great as a position but lost a few players in the summer, including another top scorer in Ayew, and to add context (the Puel 8th on 46 points always bothered me) they had 61 points, which was 24 points off relegation. 22-23 - Sold Downes to WHU for big profit and Obafemi in January, neither replaced with a fee (Joe Allen on a free and no new striker). Signed 2 x CB (Darling, Wood) and a few other youngsters who haven’t played a game yet and a few loans. Lost Obafemi in January (I know he's not Messi but wasn't replaced and played a lot). Finished 10th - 3 points off playoffs, 22 off relegation. An awful run post January and an unbeaten run to finish. The bad run is concerning but during that they lost to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5rd, 7th and 8th out of the 7 defeats in 9. Now looking at losing Manning (Champ TOTY), Latibeaudiere (supposedly rated, ex-City "Hi Jason") on frees and Joel Piroe (2 x top scorer) is in the last year of his deal with a number of rumoured suitors. I'm not shouting his name from the rooftops, and I'm not crazy about any metrics SR will use to profile him. I'm the idealistic / unrealistic, throw the book at Potter type. But I think, pulling back the curtain on the league finishes, he's done well under the respective circumstances. I'd far prefer him than a high profile ex-pro based off their playing career like Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, Vieira etc. If we can't get the "reach for the stars" option I think he's not miles off next best. There seems to be some sort of background in stabilising then improving a team, that given our current off-field shitshow seems well suited. He has Champ experience as a coach, playing experience in the PL and plays a style of football that I personally would like to see and think (transfer dependent) could suit us. Outside of top-flight experience, I think he ticks a lot of boxes and if the speculation about having a big say in signings is true, seems to be able to spot a player (SR would love the profits) and would assumably have greater resources to do so. I am aware of the Nathan Jones water into wine likeness but A) he doesn't have a Stoke-esque failure on his CV at a larger club, B) I think we have to moderate expectations - this is probably the pool we're now swimming in and the time to go big was instead of NJ. C) For me, seeing an identity on the pitch that doesn't involve searching for the ball in the floodlights buys you some slack and D) he doesn't SEEM to be that type of deflective, immune to criticism narcissist that would alienate a fanbase after a couple of press conferences.

Another Striker we're interested in... http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2015/06/04/agent-of-southampton-and-swansea-city-transfer-target-gregoire-d/? Just hope he's a good as the last player we signed from Cesena.

Just out of interest, has a footballing related-boycott ever succeeded in anything other than 15 seconds of fame on South Today and a small ego boost?

I don't think you can point to the substitution as the turning point, IMO the second goal completely killed us. We still looked good first 10 of the second half and Gaston was a part of that. He is one of the few in our team who actually tries to make something happen as opposed to being content with purely keeping the ball. I like the principle but there comes a time where that alone isn't enough.

Personally I think Chambers is more suited to RB. Seems to be very comfortable going forward, and whilst he is not as direct as Shaw, has a far better delivery.

Just seen the prediction for tonight's Swansea vs Hull game. Talking about Hull's defence. "The only time this season where they have looked vulnerable was in the first half-an-hour of their opening game against Chelsea. Since then, they have looked very solid at the back and this game looks like a draw to me." The same Hull that we put 3 past after 37 minutes. Including Lallana dancing round most of their back 5 for his goal.

Yet no-one picks up on the fact Lovren was more interested in trying to barge Demba Ba, than actually go for the ball?

First 20 minutes we looked good, but on the day we were outplayed by a better side. Move on to Villa

Whilst I agree he was fairly poor today, he was feeding off scraps all game. Lambert came on for the best part of half an hour and you could probably count on one hand the amount of times he touched the ball. It's not as if he is squandering chances every game. He has scored goals every club he has been at in the past few seasons. You don't turn into a bad player overnight.