Q + A for Salut Sunderland

I was asked this week to do a Question and Answer session by the website Salut Sunderland which is a Wearsiders Supporters site.

These were the Questions posed, and my Swansea City centric answers.

Hope you enjoy. The Questions were posed by Colin Randell, a true Mackem, and a Webmaster on that site.  Many thanks to him.

A riproaring start at QPR. Can you honestly say you saw that one coming?

As I've written on my blog- I could not. My feelings were that we would do well to come away from there with a point. After all, our record at Loftus Rd stretches back some years, almost always unsuccessfully, and last season saw us turn in what was generally considered by ALL Swansea City fans as our worst performance of the season (we lost 3-0) and I've many unhappy memories of the 80's , when we were regularly spat upon there - not a nice place in my memory. So, when the team performed so well, the 5-0 win was a real treat. Needless to say, I've engaged in some worthwhile banter with some R's fans who were pre-match baiting us . I'm a believer in the concept of Football Karma - what goes around often comes around - often, to HAUNT you. Woohoo.

I imagine one or two pundits marked you down as relegation candidates but after a very bright first season back in the top flight, you must be feeling confident that you can now establish yourselves.

I honestly think that we have a realistic chance of  retaining or status as a PL Club. That would be a magnificent achievement, and it ties in with our realistic Board's attempt to make our PL adventure long-term sustainable. Already, work is underway to develop an Academy facility at Landore, and a Club Training Facility/ Sports Science centre at Fairwood in conjunction with Swansea University. This, coupled with phased Stadium Development is surely what the PL fruits should be used for, so that we have some sort of that cute word "Legacy" . I'm not foolish enough  though to forget that NONE of this comes without retension of PL status, so the team must also develop. Thus far, it has, and is. As far as pundits go, we Swans have a lot of time for Lee Dixon and the MoTD2 team last year, and less for Mark Lawrenson, but I have to say that Lawro's constant predictions of a 2-0 loss for the Swans spurred us on some. I think the only time he was right was at your place last year! Ouch!

How big a blow was the loss of Brendan Rodgers and do you feel he will become a god manager at Liverpool?

Losing BR was a blow, no argument, not least because it wasn't the first time it had happened to us. Whelan sucked Martinez to Wigan, Sousa's flit to Leicester was less of a shock and may have suited us, but BR had got us into the Division, so it was initially perceived as a body shot. However, our fantastic Chairman and Board, Huw Jenkins and colleagues pulled another rabbit from the hat, and Michael Laudrup's appointment was really well received by the fan base. I honestly think that BR needs to be given at least 3 years at Liverpool - if the fans and Board have enough patience, he will undoubtedly succeed, and pull their Club nearer to where they believe they belong.

Who will be your key players this season and where do you still need strengthening?

Laudrup's initial signings have been stellar. Chico Flores for the impressive Steven Caulker at CB promises to match SC's achievements and turn into a "Cult" player- one who gives his all and we fans love it. JdG for Sigurdsson is again a quality replacement- less goals but more skill- and this week we signed S Korea's Ki Siung Yeung from Celtic- and he is a terrifically gifted and highly rated player. In the background , we've also got in several low key but developmental youngsters - Proctor, Bartley, Scheckter. And then there's Michu - Miguel Perez Cuesta was last season's 17 goal scoring MF'er from Rayo Vallecano and he has been a delight to watch- when you get a realistcally quality MF'er with style, who scores the sort of goal that you saw in his second at QPR, it's a real buzz. We stand to lose SSinclair to Citeh, but since his replacement is likely to be Pablo Hernandez from Valencia at less than Scott's fee, I'll settle for that. We've been linked also with Miku at Getafe, and Alvaro Vasquez at Espagnol, but I suspect that you're in that game too, and may out-trump us there. Whatever, I'm happy.

Is there anyone in the SAFC squad you'd like to see in your team?

I'm hugely impressed by Stephane Sessegnon, I'd take him in a heartbeat, and Mignolet is a quality keeper. I think Fletcher is a quality signing - he and Jarvis for Wolves last year terrorised us in the crazy 4-4 draw at the LIB. Since you're offering, I suppose we'd take Adam Johnson and Sebastian Larsson off your hands- they show a lot of promise I feel. ( sic- please take that comment tongue in cheek)

Any good, bad amusing memories of games involving our two clubs?

My over-riding memory is of last year's defeat at the Stadium of Light - late in the second half, already 1-0 down to Sessegnon's worldy - the crisp papers and tissues swirled around on the pitch as the wind whipped in off the North Sea - and Craig Gardener lashed in ANOTHER WORLDY. It's true to say my chin hit my chest.

Did the success of the Olympics leave you a little blase about the return of football or were you raring to go?

I thought the Olympics were fantastic.I was always a sceptic - cost, location etc..........but got really caught up in the feel-good fever that seemed to reach all of the nation. (God bless Danny Boyle, btw, for starting it off right.) But,but, we've ALL got only one true love, so when Football came back I was itching for it. Olympics = Good. Football= Better.

Will we ever stamp out cheating or must we accept it as part of the game? Who are the worst culprits, individuals or teams?

We'll never ever stamp it out, but we can try. We must NEVER just accept it. Think back to the 80's, when Leeds, and Revie, encouraged players to stay down to "kill the attack". It was ever thus. Divers nowadays? - Ashley Young, Christiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba was the cutest of the recent variety. Teams? I'd never, ever, trust Man Utd whilst SAF is there, he has more faces than the Town Hall Clock.

Best player/s you've ever seen in Swansea colours and any who should have been allowed nowhere near them.

Ivor Allchurch, Alan Curtis, Robbie James, Leon Britton, Ferrie Bodde, and I suspect I'll get to adore Michu, Miguel Perez Cuesta. ALL players who've played for us have my admiration. I just don't believe in bad-mouthing people who've tried on our behalf. Some are better than others, but they've all worn the shirt with pride. Respect.

Club vs country, in your case Wales of course. Who wins for you and why?

It's Club for me.I guess it's because I have a weekly and enduring connection with the Club. Whilst the National Side have been better of late, it's the distance between National Games - by the time Wales play next, I'll have suffered the lows and highs of a weekly fixture in the "best League in the world". Whether you agree, or disagree, you must concede that it's fun in the extreme, and beats the "blank weekends" thrown up by the FIFA fixture list.

Name this season's top four in order and the bottom three.

Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Everton at the Top.
QPR, Wigan, Southampton to drop.

Where, if not in either list, will our clubs finish?

You will be 10th and maybe upwards. We will be 11th to 14th and hopefully settling into the Division. We are having a ball.

WIll you be at the game? What will be the score?

I will indeed be at the game. I sit in G120, Lower West Stand, and I'm looking for a Swansea City win, and 2-1's my prediction.

And finally, a paragraph about you, what you do, your history of supporting Swansea and your site.

I'm a 62 yr old retired Teacher, who saw his first Swansea City game in 1963 at the Vetch Field against Ipswich Town. I write a weekly Swansea - centric blog at http://pierre91.blogspot.co.uk/ that both Previews Matches and reports on the subsequent game. I also write for two of the best Swansea City fansites - http://scfc2.co.uk/ , which is run by Jim White, the Vice Chairman of the Swansea City Supporters Trust, http://www.swanstrust.co.uk/ , and Planet Swans , a site run by Phil Sumbler, the Chair of that very same Swansea City Supporters Trust . As a 20% owner of our current club, this was the organisation that saw us 10yrs ago almost to the day, help in the rescue the Club from the blink of oblivion.

I have always admired your Club, from it's "Bank of England " history through to it's current situation, with your admirable ex -Chairman Niall Quinn, the current combative Manager Martin O'Neil and your wonderful top-class Working Class support. We will never be as big a Club, but if we can work toward it I'll be delighted.

All the best for Saturday - enjoy the game, and may the best team win.

Swansea City v Sunderland, PL, Match Preview

The North East comes South West - hopefully to better weather.

In this our second season in the Premier League, it does well to cast our minds back just a year ago, when, early in the Season, the Geordie Martyr (as they know Steve Bruce up in Wearside), brought his team to work out a 0-0 draw, early in our nascent season. Not long after, they'd had enough, and Bruce left the Club.

By the time it came round for our return visit, SB's departure had seen him replaced by Martin O'Neil, and his experienced stewardship saw the Black Cats dominate the return fixture, despite our sweet possession for much of the game, and on a wild and windy afternoon beside the North Sea, two Worldys by Sessegnon and Gardener were good enough to see us off. Ouch.

So now we welcome back the marauders from the North East, and we welcome a Club that's in as much of a process of change as we are, albeit in a slightly more advanced and moneyed stage. I've written previously of SAFC's benevolent ownership structure under the Yank Billionaire Ellis Short, but that shouldn't detract from the basic truth - this is still a hugely (justifiably) proud Club that still connects and resonates with it's essentially proud working class support. In that sense, if that alone, we are not so very different.

MoN has been busy (when was he ever otherwise?) and the playing staff have been added to and trimmed, much as has our own, and the current squad list reads thus........

Goalkeepers
22 Simon Mignolet, 20 Keiren Westwood, 13 Jordan Pickford

Defenders
2 Phil Bardsley, 24 Carlos Cuellar, 5 Wes Brown, 11 Kieran Richardson, 12 Matt Kilgallon, 16 John O'Shea, 19 Titus Bramble, 34 Blair Adams, 42 John Egan

Midfielders
6 Lee Cattermole, 7 Sebastian Larsson, 8 Craig Gardner, 14 Jack Colback, 15 David Vaughan, 18 David Meyler, 21 Adam Johnson, 23 James McClean, 27 Ahmed Elmohamady, 28 Stephane Sessegnon

Strikers
26 Steven Fletcher, 9 Fraizer Campbell, 25 Louis Saha, 10 Connor Wickham, 17 Ji Dong-won, 33 Ryan Noble

We'll look at that squad in more detail, but just as we saw a 2 goal victory in this week's COC Tie against Barnsley to come out 3-1 victors, Sunderland, similarly, saw off Morecambe 2-0 too, with the impressive James McClean getting both goals. For that tie they lined up as follows...........

20 Westwood, 16 O'Shea, 19 Bramble, 06 Cattermole Booked (Meyler - 78' ), 07 Larsson, 08 Gardner, 14 Colback, 21 Johnson, 23 McClean Booked (Campbell - 73' ), 28 Sessegnon, 26 Fletcher (Saha - 66' )
Substitutes
22 Mignolet, 12 Kilgallon, 24 Cuellar, 18 Meyler, 27 Elmohamady, 09 Campbell, 25 Saha

For this tie, there are several points to be made.

Keiren Westwood, the reserve keeper, had a comfortable game as the ex-Coventry stopper saw little action. Titus Bramble and John O'Shea, experienced CB's both, held the middle comfortably. At FB, Craig Gardener played on the right and Jack Colback on the left, but both are primarily MF'ers, so to see both there on Saturday would be a surprise.

That back 4 had a protection from Lee Cattermole, the bruising MF'er, but it allowed a flexibility in front from Adam Johnson vaguely right (with license to roam), Seb Larsson and McClean (generally left) supporting Sessegnon and Fletcher up top. An original and attacking set up that showed a degree of fluidity and ensured their lower League opponents were outmatched.

The powerful McClean, nowadays an RoI regular, scored both goals, and Johnson was key twice.

These seem to me to be two of the better signings we've seen in this window. Johnson, the England International winger always has the capability to change games, and we Swans will remember Steven Fletcher well from the crazy 4-4 draw against Wolves at the Lib last season, when he and Matt Jarvis gave us a hard time.

Back to the Squad.

The first choice keeper remains Simon Mignolet, and the young Belgian no 1 is still improving. At FB, Phil Bardsley is the putative RB,and the ex Man U player retains a fearsome shot. Kieran Richardson (again ex Man Utd, there are a lot of them in the squad) has often played at LB. Both are equally capable, and raid forward at will along with their defensive duties.

Centrally at the back, challengers to Tuesday's team are Wes Brown, Matt Killgallon, and the Spaniard acquired from Villa, the reliable Carlos Cuellar. Killgallon is ex Leeds and a fierce competitor, and Brown, if fit, is still a decent defender who gives his all. I've seen some suggestions in the Press that Cuellar was an "odd" signing, but it seems to me that if MoN trusts him, as he obviously does after his days at Villa, then we as spectators can only make that assertion after a Season's viewing. Let's wait and see, shall we? Further depth is provided by youngsters Blair Adams and John Egan, both Academy graduates who cover FB and CB.

Cover in the Middle is provided by Welsh International David Vaughn, as we know a tricky footballer, and Ahmed El Mohamady, the Egyptian International wide man, with both pace and trickery. Not always a home crowd favourite, he remains dangerous.Vaughn in the meantime had a great spell at Blackpool prior to relocating to the North east, and has never let them down, scoring some key goals along the way.

Up front they will choose from the not only recently signed Steven Fletcher, but the equally experienced and again recently signed Louis Saha, and we all know that if he weren't so often "broken", this is a hell of a player. His spells in British Football at Newcastle, Fulham, Man U, Everton, Tottenham et al have always seen his talent thrive when fit, and we shouldn't forget that the French have always rated his innate talent as being on a level with Thierry Henry. You can only wish such a talented footballer blighted by injuries better health - although I wouldn't mind him waiting till next week to find his form. :)

England International Fraizer Campbell, and England youngster Conor Wickham will also challenge for places, and the squad includes South Korea's Ji Dong Wong, scorer of that remarkable winner against Citeh, and the Academy graduate Ryan Noble, who has had spells out on loan at Derby, Watford and Everton, and he's been a prolific scorer at Reserve level. Wickham cost £10m + from Ipswich, and is young enough to kick on from a slightly stalled progression, and Campbell too has had his share of unfortunate injury. He also will want to see a greater contribution this season.

It strikes me that whilst I've named him earlier, I've not described the extraordinary Stephane Sessegnon. This classy footballer, with a dangerous low centre of gravity, (think Eden Hazard, Juan Mata etc ) turned us inside out last year (and a great many others teams beside), and as well as scoring that first worldy against us at the Stadium of Light, had several other half chances, and he remains the one player in the opposition this week I genuinely fear. A top class, usually top performing forward who makes you glad you've paid money to get in. Let's hope we can keep tabs on him.

All in all this is a sound, serious balanced Premier League team. Martin O'Neil, recruited part way through last season, will this year have time to stamp his mark on the Club. His reputation, and record, suggests he's more likely to be successful than not, so despite our rampart start, this is exactly the sort of game that we should heed ML's stipulations that there will be bad days to go along with the good, and thus it would be more than foolish to be complacent and to assume that we only have to perform half decently to win.

MoN has not got, I would suggest, a signature style - he remains flexible about formations, but one thing we can be assured of - he insists on every player contributing. There will be none of the opposition this weekend able to "hide" behind a second rate game - all of his players will contribute one way or another.

We will have to perform a great deal better than that "half decent" suggestion - we will need to be equally as good as we were against both QPR and WHU. Against Barnsley mid week, a slightly rested team was good enough to get us through the tie. This is different - this is the Premier League - and nothing, nothing comes easy.

Having said that, I find it hard to criticise any aspect of our performances to date. We have been both incisive and committed. ML seems to have a handle on keeping the team able to perform to its capabilities, and the squad to its ever expanding depth. Ki, after all, looked a class act Midweek.

Mind you, I'll be bloody glad to see the close of this ridiculous "Transfer Window " this Friday. Whether SS goes, Pablo, Miku, Alvarez and all and sundry we've been linked with come/s in, - Oh for a quiet period when we can get on with what we've got and try to make these players play to their potential and capacity.

That scenario leads me to believe we can do ourselves justice. Starting this Saturday, against the dangerous Sunderland.

Last year, the admirable Salut Sunderland website did a Q+A with our very own Jim White. This year, it's curator, the egregious Colin Miller asked me if I'd do the same, and I was proud to continue to fight the good fight. You should be able to read it in the days before Saturday's game. Please have a look at
the link I've provided, and when it's up I'll post the link again. Thanks.

The Liberty has been rocking for the League games. I've heard a suggestion that the Cup Tie against Barnsley was less frenetic (and I was there), but when you think that we were, unsurprisingly, and like most others, at half capacity, it's really not that surprising, surely.

Be assured that on Saturday it'll be different. We're back to our bread and butter. We're back to the Premier League. WooHoo.

Welcome to the Lib all you visitors. Welcome back to the Lib all you regulars. Whatever.

Onward, Swansea City.

Swansea City v WHU Match Report

Aerial assault fails - Big Sam looking smaller.

I've always had in the back of my mind a puzzlement as to quite how West Ham's Manager, "Big" Sam Allardyce acquired his always used sobriquet. I could understand it when he was at Bolton, with Sammy Lee as his assistant, and the contrast between Big Sam and Little Sam made sense.

However, nowadays, with no side-kick to use as a useful measuring stick, it's always struck me that he's not particularly "Big", in any sense of the word, either physically or, more pertinently after this game, character wise. What was that someone once said about losing with a degree of grace?

I pose this question, as I say, on two levels - one inconsequential, and one a tad more enlightening, I feel. After all, his physical stature when compared to some genuinely "Big" men within Football ( think Yaya Toure, Joe Hart at Citeh, Crouchie at Stoke, or Mertersacker at Arsenal) or "Big" men in Sport (think LeBron James, Yao Ming or Shaquille O'Neil in Basketball), or any number of Rugby Union players, is at least explainable by that early Little Sam contrast.

On the character side, however, the very nature of the man if you like, I've always felt that it's a most inappropriate handle. Over the years, "Big" Sam Allardyce has never, ever done anything resembling praise for the opposition ( or even an admittance of his and his team's shortcomings) in the aftermath of any of the defeats suffered by his team on any occasion.

I'm going on about this at some length because subsequent to Swansea City inflicting a 3-0 defeat on West Ham last Saturday at the Lib, which most pundits nationally described as comprehensive, he was at it again - insisting in the post match interviews that "....we controlled the game". Check those interviews out here .

Now forgive me for pointing this out, and I'm sure that most West Ham fans would back us up on this, - that's just deluded.

The game, especially in its early parts, was competitive, but became progressively easier for the Swans, and that's something we'll get to.

Anyway, the teams lined up as follows.............

Swansea City

01 Vorm, 03 Taylor (Davies - 84' ), 04 Chico, 06 Williams, 22 Rangel, 07 Britton, 09 Michu, 12 Dyer, 15 Routledge (Moore - 81' ), 20 De Guzman (Agustien - 75' ), 10 Graham
Substitutes
25 Tremmel, 05 Tate, 33 Davies, 26 Agustien, 27 Gower, 14 Dobbie, 19 Moore

West Ham United

22 Jaaskelainen, 02 Reid, 03 McCartney, 05 Tomkins (Vaz Te - 46' ), 19 Collins, 20 Demel, 04 Nolan, 07 Jarvis, 16 Noble, 21 Diame (Diarra - 69' ), 09 Cole (Maiga - 62' )
Substitutes
13 Henderson, 17 O'Brien, 14 Taylor, 23 Diarra, 08 Maynard, 11 Maiga, 12 Vaz Te

Ref: Atkinson
Att: 20,424

On another sun kissed but showery afternoon at the Lib, it was no surprise to see ML send out the same team as the previous week's 5-0 beating of QPR, but with SS left out of the squad altogether (adios, and thank you SS) , and WHU made 2 changes, new signing Matt Jarvis replacing Matt Taylor out wide, and James Tomkins, the England U21 Centre Half brought into a holding MF role.  Tactically, I would suggest, that told us a lot.

The early stages saw both teams testing each other out rather tentatively, with the Swans content to keep possession (there's a surprise), whilst the Hammers began by trying to get Jarvis on the ball, and sling in the first of the aerial assaults. The moves from both were negated., including a Jarvis cross that threatened with Nolan challenging and Vorm up to the task of matching, letting the dangerous ball clear all and run out behind.

In this period, West Ham were aided by a couple of misplaced Swansea passes, with both Chico Flores and JdG giving it away, but both players played their part in defending the ensuing attacks.

From 10m forward it was evident that Swansea were getting on top with the predominance of possession, and a pattern was now clear.

Whilst Swansea continued to enjoy the protracted build up, the Hammers were content to play on the break, often via the Bomber Harris route.

The concerted City pressure paid dividends on 19m.

Michu, primarily, drove the ball forward on the the inside right channel, and a swift exchange of passes coupled with a run outside from Angel Rangel allowed Nathan Dyer to play the ball into his path,. The RB took it well, and from some 15yds out on the right drove a fierce cross shot that may have been creeping in at the far post, only to see Jussi Jaaskelainen at the near post attempt to drop on the ball but find it ricocheting off his right elbow into the net. Ouch, 1-0 , and the Liberty rocked. It may be read as a GKing error, but the move had cut West Ham apart.

The shape of both sides was now clear.

Swansea's back 4 always had Britton ahead wth JdG the middle of ND to the right and WR to the left, leaving Miguel Michu to support DG. It was working well, too, particularly as the wingers were playing 10yds infield from last season, leaving both FB's Rangel and Taylor, room to break forward fast.

WHU's back 4 had Tomkins protecting, with Noble right, Diame central and Jarvis left, all pumping balls forward and high to Carlton Cole, supported by the funky chicken Kevin Nolan, who spent the time when he wasn't contesting with either Michu or de Guzman in a repetitive ear-bashing harangue of the ref, Mr Atkinson.

The paucity of the Hammers approach was being frustrated further by the high fast Swansea press, with Hammers given little time on the ball when they had it, and on 28m it led to a deserved second goal.

In possession just short of Halfway on the right, Reid was forced to turn back and play the ball to James Collins, some 10 yds deeper. Michu continued to press Collins, forcing him to attempt to play the ball back to Jaaskelainen, but his right foot pass hit his own left foot and stuttered toward the area and the keeper. Michu increased his pace and just as the ball rolled into the area and the Keeper was diving to collect, he stabbed a strong left leg to poke the ball home into the bottom corner.

As the ball rolled into the net for the second time, you could hear the roar swell, and it burst forth onto the delirious Lib. 2-0, and Miguel Perez Cuesta did his telephone gesture as he ran to the East to celebrate, urging the fans to turn up the noise. We did, even us old geezers in the West.

WHU best chance came on 35m, when a James Collins high ball FK again was only half cleared, and a clever spin and volley by Matt Jarvis drew a breathtaking one handed save from Michel Vorm, with the dropping ball hacked clear by Ash Williams.

Swansea were comfortable till almost half time, but a mis-placed pass led to three further corners after the 44th minute, all of which were dangerous, and the last of which saw Leon Britton hack the ball clear off the line. We drew a breath as Mr Atkinson blew for Half Time, and with a 2-0 lead, things looked promising.

It's interesting after a game to look back and consider what one's experiences were and to how it compares to general tactical analysis.

The consensus around me was that we had only been really threatened by the high ball, and ensuing knock ons, so it was brilliant to hear ML confirm that he's a little cleverer than we fans, since he highlighted that by cutting out the Free Kicks etc that allowed this aerial bombardment, we'd be a little more comfortable, which is exactly the way the second half turned out. Identifying the symptom, as well as the cause. As Morrisey once said, "this charming man".

Style and substance.

Half time saw Allardyce realise that he had to go for more, so Vaz Te replaced Tomkins, though the pattern was little different.

City's greater control was now evident, and from a break on the left, Danny Graham cut in and curled a right footed shot toward the far corner, only to see JJ turn it behind for a corner.

Joy of joys, in the 52nd m Kevin Nolan was at last booked, for one foul too many, this time on Leon Britton, to be followed 6m later by the equally reviled James Collins. There must be a God.

Swansea were by now severely testing the West Ham back line, and whilst Danny G was closely given offside, just 5m later saw him break free from a sublime Dyer ball, and whilst we all got ready to holler from his check back onto his right and his clipped shot (after all, we've seen it before), our cheers choked in our throats as the ball rolled agonisingly an inch wide.

No matter, City were now playing total football, with everyone content to give, and receive the ball, and it was a pleasure to see in the flesh the later 44 pass move that kept the ball for 2 minutes, and the 27 passes leading to the third goal will take some beating.

After recycling the ball around, back and forth, Dyer's deliciously timed ball put Routledge free on the right , and his clever cut back was met by the equally clever Danny Graham, who had held his run some 8 yds out as the defenders careered toward goal, leaving him to side foot home. 3-0, and another quality goal to put the tin hat on it.

By now, West Ham had replaced Carlton Cole with Madiga, and Diarra later came on for Diame. The threat got less and less, and Swansea were cruising home.

For us Swans, Agustien came on for JdG to close the game out, and Luke Moore gave the high performing Routledge a rest.

Perhaps best of all, the supremely confident Neil Taylor came off to give an enlightening cameo PL debut to Ben Davies, and the youngster impressed in his brief time. The conveyor belt rolls on, we hope.

Apart from another Dyer shot which went wide of the upright, there were no further close threats, and it was clear from long spells of Swansea possession that the game was well and truly over. The final whistle blew to a blast of the Levellers - What a Beautiful day, indeed.

You know as well as I do that after that sort of performance and win, it's always going to be a pleasant weekend.

It was indeed comfortable to watch MoTD, Football First, Goals on Sunday and MoTD2, and hear our team being praised with a little less condescension than we sometimes got last year. Hey, I'm not complaining - as it happens I think we get a generally good press - it's just nicer to be offered it in this, our second season.

As our admirably level headed Manager stresses, there will be bad days to go along with this good one, but I suspect we'll settle for that. No deeper tactical analysis today, let's just enjoy the buzz.

Onward, Swansea City.

Swansea City v West Ham United, PL, Match preview

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

We Football fans are used to the term "Bubble Match". It's used where, when we play our Far Eastern rivals from the Splott Peninsula, or Adge Cutler and the Wurzels from further East along the Intercontinental Highway (the M4), we're condemned to ride the Magic Bus trail like Welsh Beef being shipped to the Continental Slaughter House, before being made to strut our stuff on the way into their hallowed Stadia in front of a cacophony of cute local jesters (sic).

This Saturday, contrastingly, we've a fixture against a Club that has adopted the iconic " I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles " as it's song of recognition, with far more pleasing connotations.

We come to this game against West Ham United, a Club long revered for the style of their football (much as we are now), on the back of last Saturday's pulsating 5-0 drubbing of QPR, and the Hammers too won their first fixture 1-0 against the Villa, so both teams will be keen to continue the good work.

That reputation for pleasing pure football from WHU has, in the last couple of seasons, begun to come into question, with a large proportion of their own fans voicing their disquiet at the perceived long-ball tactics employed by the current Manager, Big Sam Allardyce, he of contrasting pasts and presents, even.

Listen on - hey - Sam doesn't do "Irony" or "Self Deprecation" even - and one of his most memorable quotes concerned his surprising (in his eyes) failure to be offered one of the really "BIG" jobs in the game and is a corker.

His suggestion that  " I would like to think the next manager is English. And the public seem to demand that at the moment." when passed up for the England gig included the memorable rider that if he'd been called Allardice rather than Allardyce he'd have a better chance of managing Real Madrid.

No, I didn't just make that up, check it out.

Big Sam is a man of stark contrasts. Rightly lauded in his earlier and current managerial career for an innovative and technical, sports science approach to modern football (started in his  Bolton days), he retains an ability to annoy his own fans for his antediluvian, almost Neanderthal approach to battering teams from direct football - just ask some Newcastle Utd fans and a large proportion of the current Hammers faithful.

Truly, a Charles Hughes for the modern age , much given to to talk of POMO (position of maximum opportunity) - known in many circles as LOLAQ ( Lump it long and Quick).

This is West Ham's first season back in the Premiership after a disastrous relegation under the funereal Avram Grant some 2 years ago, so Allardyce has at least achieved the brief demanded by the Clubs recently ensconced owners, the Adult Publishing and Adult Apparel chain Impesarios David Sullivan and David Gold ( think Razzle, Big 'Uns and Ann Summers), who, prior to their purchase of the controlling interest in WHU some 2 years ago had been in charge at Birmingham. The organisation also includes SurAlan's redoubtable henchwoman Karen Brady, Mrs. Paul Peschisolido, as Vice Chairperson.

The renaissance at the Club also currently involves the fate of the Olympic Stadium, since it is the Hammers' Board's wish to be considered the preferred long term tenants, although Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient are ensuring that this is a story that has at least a couple of years to run.

So, with this fizz-bang-pop background, what of the team we can expect at the Lib this weekend.

This is the current squad................

2 Winston Reid DEF, 3 George McCartney DEF, 4 Kevin Nolan MF, 5 James Tomkins DEF, 8 Nicky Maynard STR, 9 Carlton Cole STR, 10 Jack Collison MF, 11 Modibo Maiga STR, 12 Ricardo Vaz Te STR, 13 Stephen Henderson GK, 14 Matthew Taylor MF, 16 Mark Noble MF, 17 Joey O'Brien DEF, 19 James Collins DEF, 20 Guy Demel DEF, 21 Mohamed Diame MF, 22  Jussi Jaaskelainen GK, 23 Alou Diarra MF, 23 Ravel Morrison (on loan to Birmghm ) MF, 27 Jordan Spence DEF, 32 Gary O'Neil MF, 43 Callum Driver DEF.

Last week the team lined up v Villa with Jaaskelainen in goal, Demel, Reid, Collins and McCartney at the back,  Diame protecting, with Noble, Nolan and Taylor supporting a front 2 of Carlton Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te.

A putative 4-1-3-2 with the capacity to go 4-4-2 and others at will and circmstance. Whilst Villa had the bulk of possession, Allardyce's troops were cute, and effective.

Jussi Jaaskelainen has replaced Rob Green in goal, and the QPR man gave us Swans evidence last Saturday which is the better keeper, and Big Sam had Jussi for years at Bolton, and he's always been one of the PL's best keepers.

Guy Demel and George McCartney played as advancing FB's, but given Villa's possession, were somewhat limited. I've a feeling one or the other of our wingers could have a feast day if they're not on their game throughout.

The NZ International CB Winston Reid is getting better by the game. He was raw last year, but seems to be settling in well, and they have the classy James Tomkins (if a little error prone) in consideration too.

The other CB was our old friend James Collins, who returned to the Club from Villa, and I have to admit to "not quite getting him" in the pantheon of decent players. I've always thought him limited, but that may be my prejudice.

Ah well, we'll get to see, since Danny Graham's performance last week leading the line was exemplary, and DG will surely test him.

Maohamed Diame, the holding MF'er came from Wigan, and is a grafting presence who can shoot, too.

Mark Noble, the long term internally developed Hammer, and Matty Taylor, the ex Portsmouth etc player pushed wider, with the funky chicken Kevin Nolan supporting the strikers.

Noble is a player who represents the heart of this proud London Club - came through their famed Academy to graduate to a fully fledged top flight player. Taylor retains the ability to perform key actions in games, especially when you think him ineffective, and has a fierce shot and dead ball expertise.

Whatever I think of Kevin Nolan will be forever linked to his visit to the Liberty as skipper of Newcastle a couple of seasons ago, when he was carrying some timber - he looked broader than he was tall - a sort of Yakubu of the M/Field. He remains, I'll admit, an admirable snaffler of goals and many from half chances. It's just that bloody chicken strut he does when he scores- I'll ALWAYS hate that.

Up front, the perennially disappointing Carlton Cole seems always to be one smidgeon away from being a truly top class striker- physically imposing, technically good, and yet...............

Am I being unfair? - I dare say Hammers fans would say Yes, but I can't help feeling that maybe he ought to have been even better than he is. That's the pompous thing about being a fan - we proffer these opinions when the people we judge/rate are so much better than we ever were or could hope to have been. Ah well, it was ever thus.

He was partnered last week by the familiar Ricardo Vaz Te, another Big Sam reclaimee from his Bolton days, and we will face more difficult opponents, but few more lively.

Looking at the rest of their squad there are a few points to be made.

It appears that they're close to signing the fine winger Matt Jarvis from Wolves, but excuse me if I think £10m (as reported) is overpaying, particularly when you compare it to a putative £5m for SS to Man City : maybe £6m for Pablo Hernandez from Valencia in his stead : and then there's Man City's Adam Johnson, who MUST be worth a more equitable fee than I'm seeing reported.

For the record, I think that's double what Jarvis is worth, the SS and PH fees seem fair, and Johnson should be the priciest in this equation. Still, that's just my opinion, since that's what I'm here to do.

They are backed up by the players listed above, and perhaps later in the season we'll get to concentrate on some of them, but the ones who catch my eye now are the striker Nicky Maynard, signed from Brizzle City and a regular scorer, the classy Midfielder Gary O'Neil, and the recent import Modibo Maiga, who, reports suggest, is a pacey striker cum winger from Mali.

With regard to our own side, after the cracking impetus of last week's result at Loftus Rd, I wouldn't dare suggest that we'd go with anything other than what ML deems acceptable. As I write this on Thursday, it appears that Ki Sung-Yueng is due for a medical with us tomorrow (Friday) and that the Pablo Hernandez deal is still alive.

Couple that with the far seeing arrivals of Kyle Bartley and Jamie Proctor and we can see that we're moving on the right lines.

'Doncha just LOVE being a Swan? I do.

Onward, Swansea City. 

Match Report, QPR v Swansea City, PL, Loftus Rd..

Swans go nap at the Bush.

Approaching this first game of the season, I'd been as nervous as many of us Swans, particularly given our record at Loftus Rd in recent years, where we've taken some horrible beatings, in every sense, as I've written previously.

As it turned out, on a brilliantly sunny West London day, I certainly could have been a little more relaxed.

Consensus within Football Punditry of both print and broadcast variety had suggested pre-match that we'd do well to come away with a point, but I can't criticise that as being either biased or misguided, since it echoed the way I felt myself, if truth be told.

Whilst we've seen the churn and turmoil of seeing yet another Manager snaffled away, Michael Laudrup's appointment and initial recruitment of replacement players for our losses had begun to soothe my fevered brow. Meanwhile, in Shepherd's Bush, the bullish Mark Hughes had stated that there was "no way etc.........." and spent within reason (some would say, others may hazard adventurously maybe) but broadly in recruiting 9 new players to upgrade his retrograde Rangers side.

We fans of both Clubs had all had our say, so the official teams were these............

Queens Park Rangers

01 Green, 05 Ferdinand, 06 Hill (Wright-Phillips - 64' ), 15 Onuoha, 20 Fabio, 02 Diakite (Derry - 86' ), 07 Park Ji-sung, 10 Taarabt, 09 Cisse (Johnson - 77' ), 12 Mackie, 23 Hoilett
Substitutes
26 Murphy, 17 Nelsen, 04 Derry, 11 Wright-Phillips, 18 Dyer, 08 Johnson, 25 Zamora

Swansea City

01 Vorm, 03 Taylor, 04 Chico, 06 Williams, 22 Rangel, 07 Britton, 09 Michu (Gower-84' ), 12 Dyer (Sinclair - 77'), 15 Routledge, 20 De Guzman (Agustien - 70' ), 10 Graham
Substitutes
25 Tremmel, 05 Tate, 11 Sinclair, 26 Agustien, 27 Gower, 29 Richards, 19 Moore

Ref: Probert
Att: 18,072

I'd written previously of my decision not to travel for this fixture and the reasons, so my live Internet link was via a quality German feed, and may even have topped up my rudimentary German language skills.

With the Temperature 30 Degrees plus, both sides played out a cagey opening few minutes, almost as if they were getting the measure of each other, as Boxers do in that initial tentative poking stage.

The early moments for Swansea saw Jonathan de Guzman comfortable on the ball, and Chico Flores cool in defence, as QPR attacked mainly through the quality of Junior Hoilett, who looked threatening.

Swansea responded, with both Michu and de Guzman threatening Robert Green, who plunged low to his left to save, to leave Dyer frustrated by a late tackle.

The equality of the early game was broken in the 8th minute. Routledge drove forward in the Inside Left channel, and when tackled the ball ran to Dyer, who carried it on. A last gasp check on him sent the ball loose some 25 yds out and central,  and whilst 4 players tried to get there, Michu had timed his run and sent a rasping side-footed drive curling toward the bottom left corner, where a struggling Rob Green got a touch but could not keep it out. 1-0, and an excellent goal from a player who was imposing himself more and more on the game.

The JackArmy sang, and I put the kettle on.

Overall, however, QPR were the more lively, constantly probing at the Swans, and on 13m, Hoilett, cutting in, curled a fierce shot just wide of Vorm's goal. They followed this with a barrage of shots, from Taarabt, Mackie, and a Fabio drive that went over the bar.

Shortly after came their best chance- a deflected shot left Mackie clear one on one with Vorm just 6yds out, but the keeper's one handed save from his right foot hit  trickled toward goal, only to be ushered away by the vigilant Chico Flores on the line.

The next period of the game saw Swansea consolidate their equanimity by keeping the ball - Britton was prominent as ever- and we began to see the confidence instilled by the knowledge of technical excellence - all of our players look comfortable on and off the ball, but QPR were testing still, and the lively Mackie produced a good run and earned a corner.

It went short and was cleared out toward halfway, but Fabio produced a long ball back in that drew Vorm from his goal, who was beaten to connection by the incoming Hoilett, and his header sailed close, but wide. Phew, it was indeed close.

It was end to end stuff, with Swansea almost giving as good as they were getting, but after a Vorm save from a Taarabt drive, the game changed dramatically.

Swansea now began to exert control., and the first example was De Guzman's sweetly struck free kick from 30yds, which was arrowing to the bottom corner before Green turned it behind.

JdG took the corner, and Chico Flores rocked the bar with a bullet header and everyone beaten. Desperately unlucky.

Next, Neil Taylor foraged from the left, and after being brought down by Jamie Mackie just outside the box, JdG's ball fell to Michu in a scramble, and the Spaniard volleyed against the bar again, with the follow up narrowly poked over by Wayne Routledge.

Swansea ended the half comfortably on top, and somewhat unlucky not to be further in front. Still, what did we know - better was to come in the second period.

QPR came out fighting for period 2, and a Junior Hoilett run was perilously close to a penalty ( Mr Probert disagreed ) and their last practical gasp was a 47m header just wide, because on 52m, Swansea scored a sublime second that took the game away from them.

Routledge, in possession deep in his own half, produced a run on the left where he both outpaced the cover tacklers, and cut in dangerously. He slid a superb ball into the Inside Right channel, where the elegantly loping Michu stroked a first time side footed pearler curving into the top left corner. Without a doubt, the goal of the whole PL weekend, and we Swans, myself included, buzzed, shrieked, cried and celebrated. A Quality goal from the game's best player.

But, to City's eternal credit it didn't stop there.

At 2-0 down, the Home crowd were demanding a response, and Rangers, in their desperation to appease, made the crucial error of a gung-ho response, leaving themselves open to the way we just love to play- on the counter attack, at pace, in short sharp breaks, and it tore them to pieces to the crowd's frustration.

QPR's rabid desire to get forward left them vulnerable, and on 62m Routledge, who was having an excellent game, did it again. Once more from the left he slid Dyer free on the right approaching the box, and the speedy Nathan got clear and buried a low composed finish past Rob Green. 3-0, games don't often go much better than this. (if they do, I'd assume Carlsberg make them)( sic).

Now football people will tell you- at 3-0 down at home, get tight, concede no more, and get a bit of pride back.

QPR did the opposite - they streamed more and more forward, leaving themselves even more naked to plundering, and Swansea pillaged, and did.

Agustien, who had replaced the tiring JdG on 70m , just a minute later chipped through a sublime ball to the clever Nathan Dyer, who had held his run against a flat back line. Dyer collected with a cool touch, and despatched. 4-0, and I was giggling. The home fans were less happy, and the first rat-runners could be seen , streaming their way home early.

Always a satisfying sight, I think.

QPR had thrown on Shaun Wright Phillips for Clint Hill, and Andy Johnson for Cisse, but neither got even a sniff.

Moreover, on 81m, another high Michu press won the ball back, and his cute pass allowed the oncoming Scott Sinclair, who had come on for the irrepressible Nathan Dyer, to bury a quality shot into the corner to make it 5-0, and we were in dreamland, Narnia even.

By the way, those fans who booed the oncoming Sinclair, one of OUR players, hang your heads in shame.

Gower replaced Michu at the end, and gave a controlled cameo, and there was even time for the irresistible Danny Graham, who had played the pointed fulcrum to perfection, to cushion a shot wide that when most times he gets a chance like that, he will score. Whatever, it had been, and remains, a wonderful start to the season.

Some tactical, technical and social analysis.

Let's start with the Manager. ML retains an admirable balance between control and passion. He cares, deeply, but he's classy enough to control it and remain open. Wow. Very impressed. Both Managers, contrasting naturally, can be found interviewed here.
Our 3 key signings - what a performance- all. Chico will be a cult hero, JdG has silky skills that make Jordi Gomez a fond memory, and Michu is, even on week one, the best PL signing of the season. Talent, ability, application, technique, and a great degree of style. I love him already.

We sometimes forget the solid core of our side - I DO NOT. Each and every squad player played their part to perfection.

Our out and out 4-3-3 seems to have evolved, allowing our wide players to play in slightly narrower channels and thus influence the game more, leading to our FB's being given a degree more forward freedom. Taylor was top notch, AR's time will come. There is also a greater degree of tempo. Whilst sometimes we have passed for possession's sake, this time we seemed to do so quicker, and with a greater end in mind,.

The social aspect is this. I've often seen our team enjoying itself and themselves. I've rarely seen a greater display of the the genuine affection and regard that they have for one another.

This promises to be another excellent season - there will be harder times and days along the way, of course.

But hey, what a lovely start.

Onward, Swansea City.

QPR v Swansea City, Premier League, Match Preview.

To the nasty part of West London. (Isn't it good to be back? )

It seems particularly ironic to me that in the week of the closing of London's fantastically successful Olympics 2012, with all and sundry rightly praising the welcome and friendliness afforded by the Capital, our first game of the new season sends us to Loftus Rd., a reminder of what football used to be like in the 80's.

Despite its gentrifying and tartification, where the Club's hierarchy has explicitly tried to move it up-market with the cancerous phrases "boutique football" and "retro-chic" prevalent (with concomitant but unsurprising increases in cost of admission - £50 Cat A anyone??), this remains one of the most unpleasant of all PL Grounds to visit.

Here's a bit of advice to any fellow Jacks travelling - don't drink in the local pubs, wear spit-proof clothing if possible, get in = get out = get home.

That comes from at least 6 visits for me, and each and every time has been unpleasant, not just for the results, which were almost all uniformly bad for us, but from the experience. Anyway, having started you off by revealing my prejudices, I leave you to form your own impressions on Saturday, and let's hope the football matches a more pleasant experience.

QPR, our closely linked arrivistes from our most recent Championship season, did at least survive last year,(see final table here), but in a manner a degree less comfortable than for either ourselves or fellow first timers Norwich City, and their last day defeat to the Champs Man City left them relying on the eventual relegatees to do worse than they did. To their great relief, Wolves, Blackburn and Bolton did, and were.

Whilst we are rightly concerned with a progressive development of our modern stadium, any amount of layers of fresh paint can't disguise the fact that Loftus Rd, with its 18500 capacity remains the PL's smallest stadium, and an era of increasing reliability on Clubs to maximise their income, has led to their owner, the slightly more enlightened than previously Tony Fernandes, the Air Asia supremo, concentrating their efforts on relocating to a 35000-45000 alternative in the foreseeable future. Trust me, this is not easy anywhere. In West London, it's nigh on impossible (ask RA at Chelski), and the search goes on.

So with this off field churn and turmoil on going, what of the on field progression, or otherwise.

You will remember that despite his beneficent comments re their erstwhile Manager Colin Wanker (sic) toward the end of his tenure - ( "He's a special guy, we're very happy with him," Fernandes said then ) - it didn't stop an eight game non-winning run leading to Warnock's dismissal, and replacement with a familiar foe, the egregious (choose your adjective), Mark Hughes.

Whilst Hughes attempted to re-shape the team before the season's end, their last day survival owed more to the ineptitude of the three below.

However, we shouldn't belittle the ubiquitous Hughes, since he has a habit of producing teams after his own style - combative, technically proficient, tactically astute, hard grafting and dirty. Yes, I did say that, and I mean it. His teams would generally kick their Grandmother for a point. Often.

There is, indeed, evolution underfoot under Hughes' tenure, and, to be fair, it's of a rather higher order than previously, and the Jay Bothroyd/Junior Campbell type signings are making way for greater quality.

Using his Blackburn Rovers period and influence, two of the more intriguing signings were Ryan Nelsen, the veteran NZ CB acquired from a Tottenham release, and the exciting and young David (Junior) Hoilett,on a Free Agency from Blackburn.

Whilst Nelsen is long in the tooth, he brings experience, and Hoilett, as those of us who travelled to Ewood Park last year remember, turned us inside out on more than one occasion. Still, I like to think we've learned from then.

Furthermore, in goal,the error prone Paddy Kenny has gone, to be replaced by Rob Green, the England keeper from West Ham, although Green has had moments of his own.

The observant will have noticed that whereas last season when Hughes came in, the fees for Cisse and others were somewhat inflated, when we contrast this year with the above, who were all free at Contracts end, even the £2m paid for Park Ji Sung, Man Utd's still combative 31yr old midfielder, and a player who SAF trusted, have not been overly excessive.

Similarly from Man Utd., the lesser twin, Fabio de Silva, has come in on a full year's loan, with a view to buy. His brother Rafael's excesses in Brazil's defeat to Mexico in the Olympic Finals perhaps reinforced the perception that Fabio is the better of the twins, so The R's may have got lucky.

There remain, of course, the eternal problems relating to Twitter's very own Superstar and Renaissance man extant, Joseph Barton 7. Suspended for 12 games, specifically for a multiplicity of offences v Man City last season, and currently purportedly on loan to Fleetwood Town, in a crude attempt to shorten the suspension, this is an issue that will not just go away. It appears, however, that the FA have seen this for what it appeared to be - namely, an attempt to shorten JB's suspension period by getting him some games for a lesser but earlier performing club. To their credit, the Game's Trustees are not minded to let this go through.

More power to their elbow.

Most sensate adults would acquiesce if asked to give an offender a second chance. Lets be honest - most of us have probably nicked a Mars Bar from a sweetshop when young ( mea maxima culpa) .

But a 9th Chance?? Surely not, brother. Lest I be accused of trivialising the misdemeanors of JB, please remember they include beating a youth insensible outside a Liverpool McDonalds (classy-sic) (for which he was jailed) and assaulting a team-mate and breaking his jaw shortly after stabbing a youth player in the eye with a cigar.That's just part of his CV. 'Nuff said.

Good footballer though, eh? as I heard some very silly person on TalkSport say recently. You couldn't make it up, really.

All of the above parts will add to the remaining signings from last year, particularly Djibrill Cisse , Bobby Zamora, Samba Diakite and  Nedum Onouha. All of those are decent players, so Hughes will believe that he can merge the older with the more newly acquired.

Add the impressive Alejandro Faurlin, the flighty Shaun Wright Phillips and some older warriors like Clint Hill and Shaun Derry. Then we get to that lesser controversial half of the Ferdinand brothers, Anton, (sic), along with Armand Traore, and the perennially-posturing Adel Taarabt, who still remains for me a sort of Christiano Ronaldo from the Blue Square.

Forgive me my insouciance, it's just that this is a club that winds me up. I don't know why (......well maybe), I do know how, but this over-inflated, bloated squad is going to contain a number of disaffected players who don't make the final mark. Subject to that cut, we'll see where we go from there. This, currently, is their squad listing, or the nearest to it that I could get.........

Goalkeepers
Murphy, Cerny, Green

Defenders
Nelsen, Onuoha, Traore, Hill, Connolly, Young, Ferdinand, Da Silva

Midfielders
Wright-Phillips, Barton, Taarabt, Ehmer, Ephraim, Faurlin, Diakite, ParkDerry

Forwards
Hulse,Campbell, Zamora, Mackie, Helguson, Cisse, Smith, Bothroyd, Balanta, Hoilett, Johnson

You will notice from my notes above that I haven't even mentioned the grafting forward Jamie Mackie, a sort of  Bambi on stilts who retains an ability to score when he should fall over, or the headhunter Rob Hulse, who would give Jade Jones a bloody good fight. Some might question his footballing ability, but maybe on Saturday, we might get to see.

Whoops, I've forgotten the aggressive Tommy Smith, who continues to score goals against decent Clubs. Helgusson has gone to Cardiff, it seems. And then there's Andrew Johnson. Snaffled from Fulham again at Contracts end, he has still some pertinent ability, but seems to be a player who can be controlled, as we proved last year at both Craven Cottage and the Lib..

Then we get to players like Luke Young, the ex Villa FB, Peter Ramage, Danny Gabbidon, and Hogan Ephtraim is still on the books, a grafting MF'er. Add in Angelo Balanta, Bruno Andrade, and several others, and it will tell you that to get to a squad of 25 they have some crucial decisions. Still, we know how that feels. 

So what of tactics, and the approach?

Hughes' teams generally operate to a 4-4-2 variant.There is a degree of flexibility, but the ultimate sin is failing to graft. They will be ferociously committed.

One of the advantages of a smaller, old stadium is that the crowd intensity becomes an influential factor. For all it's faults, Loftus Rd does at least tick this box. Expect rabid R's fans at the throat of our team throughout, with special dispensation given to "Sheep" songs. Gimme shelter. Just give them the finger, please.

Think back to Blackburn when Hughes was in charge and as I've said above, they always had their share of technical proficiency, but, above all, they were

physical.

Arsene Wenger has said on countless occasions that they always took the rules to the limit - and we should expect no difference. Hughes will send his side out to physically intimidate, just as he did personally, so it will be key to be able to resist this.

From what we've seen of the Swans so far pre-season I find it hard to evaluate just where, exactly, we are.

In comparison to last year we know, of course, that we've lost Caulker, Sigurdsson and Allen. Good luck to Joe btw, he brought us a lot of pleasure, and in the ethos of the PL, undoubtedly the "greed is good" League, it was ever thus.

The immediate replacements seem sound, if that's what they are.

Chico Flores will be a hand on heart player who gives his all and I suspect he'll become a favourite.

Michu is the best deal we've done for a long time. I'll buy into a player who scored 15 La Liga goals last year in a struggling side. A sound character, too, who will give his all for our club.

I've seen a great deal of debate on Swans friendly websites recently on JdeG. I say one thing - chill, brothers. This is a hugely talented footballer who will take longer to settle in, and that's because he's a playmaker. So please, give him time, give him our support, and it'll help.

I'll reserve judgment on Itay Shechter, but any attacking support for DG is welcome.

We all know the quality the rest of the squad afforded us last season. After suffering another pilfering of our Manager, it was fantastic and ambitious to recruit the admirable Michael Laudrup.

I've read a lot about our nascent differences from last year, where we varied from an out and out 4-3-3 to a sophisticated 4-2-3-1, via the odd avenue of 4-1-4-1 along the way. Btw, no more 3-5-2 please ML, my heart won't stand it.

The very least we should expect is a subtle difference. Michael Laudrup is not Brendan Rodgers (thank goodness), so it was interesting to read his comments on his differing take on the role of our wide players.

Each new Manager at our Club brings his own, and his staff's, influence. Whilst it would be foolish to expect a carbon copy of our style, most of us will hope that ML can develop and build upon what we've already achieved. But, it will be different, and we should embrace that change in the fond hope that it makes us better still.

Don't forget that despite the loss of 3 gifted players, and their replacement by 3 who'll be their equal (we hope), we still have many and varied talents within the Squad, not least the  pass master, Leon Britton. Short people, eh?

Isn't it great to be talking about our second season in this hardest of Divisions? I think so.

Our job, as fans, is to support the efforts being made on our behalf, and to ENJOY!!

Am I nervous? Yes, intensely.

Am I worried? Not in the slightest, this is Football.

Am I expectant? You bet your life I am.

Start me up.

Onward, Swansea City.

##
And in further news , perhaps JB7 would like to spend some time in the sun, but I'd recommend not getting into any fights down South.They take things rather seriously in France's largest port.