Divided Loyalties -Fans,Players and instant gratification.

Divided Loyalties -Fans,Players and instant gratification.


When I tell you that the first time I saw the Swans play-my first view of a live Professional Football match- was Swansea Town v Leeds Utd in the 1963/64 season, a Division 2 fixture that saw Leeds promoted at the Season's end, that will nail my generation..We finished 19th.My Dad took me for my first visit to the Vetch,we sat in the upper tier of the Double Decker and I was hooked. That was also the season that we reached the FA Cup semi-final(going out to PNE), and I was delighted to be allowed to go to our 4th round replay 4-0 win over Sheffield Utd in the January and the even better 2-0 5th round replay win in February over the mighty Stoke.On both of these occasions I was allowed to go on my own, to the fabled North Bank.Wow.I didn't make the stellar 2-1 win at Liverpool in the 6th Round and I'm not ashamed to say I cried at the semi-final defeat to Preston.
Hey,I was bloody 13 after all.What really shocked me though was my dad cried too.Wow and double wow.

Anyway,enough nostalgia.Good memories,which I know a lot will share.

Since those long gone days a lot has changed- both in football and society generally.Don't worry,this isn't going to be a rant about " the good old days".I happen to believe that they've changed for the better.Our Town became a City amongst other things, and the vagaries and vicissitudes,the fortunes and fate of our beloved Swans is reflected in far better detail elsewhere.Suffice it to say that when we beat Reading 4-2 on that fateful Wembley May day we were deliriously happy.Swansea City in the Premier League.Do you know,I still get a buzz from writing it.From thinking it,even.

So,as a Season Ticket holder(I sit in the Lower West and love it) I've seen all of our Home games and was lucky enough to travel to our Away defeats to Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup and to the Emirates where we went down to the Gunners.I really enjoyed those trips too- yes I was down that we lost,but a lot of good things happened .So,what's the point of this nostalgia trip; it's this- why do some of our own fans not only chastise,but curse,mutter and even boo some of our OWN PLAYERS.This irks me.It frustrates me.It annoys me.And,more than anything,it bloody shames me.

You know exactly what I mean.It's the sort of thing that you hear on some of the more
asinine Talk/Phone-in radio and TV shows.Where every caller seems to think football began with the creation of the Premier League.Where Arsene Wenger "deserves the sack".Where 5th = "failure".Where some fat,sloth-like(I guess but I bet I'm not wrong) keyboard/telephone dial warrior tells people that a professional athlete "isn't fit to wear the shirt".By this time I usually explode.Metaphorically,of course.

You will also have heard it at a football ground near you-usually your own.

The current cross-bearer at Swansea City is Mark Gower.This excellent,admirable pro joined us from Southend a couple of seasons ago,having started at Tottenham as a youngster and,on discarding by them, worked his way back into the professional game via non-league
Barnet amongst others.So,having seen him do well for Southend against us,when we signed him I was quite pleased.Since being with us,he's done absolutely nothing but please me-including advancing his skillset by transforming himself from an out and out winger to a graceful,skilfull,ball-retaining midfielder.He suits our game and our team,I like to think,suits him, and has helped him to advance.That's not quite enough for the naysayers tho'.I've heard fellow "fans" groan when he misplaces a pass(as do ALL PLAYERS) occasionally .When he took a
nervous while to get his first goal for the Club I heard some cretins scream abuse weekly.(Yes,I DID intervene-uncomfortable but I like to think necessary).Please don't think that my judgement of ANY player is necessarily right.But I think it's at least fair.

In the last couple of seasons,previous targets of the boo-boys have included Jordi Gomez,the ball-savvy technician who Martinez took to Wigan...."too flash(sic)" and Jason Scotland..."..he doesn't do anything but score goals" (sic-cer).

At Arsenal,I remember Eboue and Bendtner(before they left) taking the flak.Arshavin seems to be the current hate figure there.At Chelsea it's Kalou(christ,even Torres too).At Man U it's Nani for some.."too many somersaults?".

Liverpool?- Carrol.Villa?- Ireland.QPR?- Taarabt-especially after last Saturday.

Go on.Do it.Go down the list of clubs and you will find at least one if not more who are subjected to this dross weekly.It must make it pretty uncomfortable to run out in front of your OWN fans and be subjected to such hateful,sad behaviour.

One of the more positive ( I think) happenings over the last few years has been footballers(athletes,personalities etc) being willing to engage with fans through Social Media streams(Twitter,FB etc)..

But who could really blame them if the abuse they suffer both in grounds and via the ether caused them to withdraw.

Certainly,not us.

Pride in the Shirt-Silky Swans prevail...

Pride in the Shirt-Silky Swans prevail...


At Sunday's Premier League match at the Liberty Stadium I was the proud buyer of this year's Swansea first team top(prem badges and all) as the Adidas stock back-up had arrived and the Club cutely provided a Sales caravan outside in the beautiful sunshine at the base of the West Stand.Proudly clutching my newly bought swag(and no less proudly wearing some of my other Swans colours) I watched the first half of Chelsea's demolition of Bolton on the Lib's bigger than last year's TV screens in the concourse.




We had known ,of course, of Stoke City's physical prowess and their admirable progress in this League over the past few seasons.On Thursday evening they had beaten Besiktas 2-1 in the Europa cup, and their line up for Sunday showed 9 changes to that night's team,with Manager Tony Pulis going with what many would call(pacey Matty Etherington-injury absence) his strongest side.

Meanwhile,Leon Britton's back problems meant he too was an absentee for us and perhaps Brendan Rodgers' decision to replace him with Wayne Routledge and to swap Danny Graham for Leroy Lita up front gave a clue to Swansea's attacking intent.

We started well with Rangel's early sublime ball to Dyer over the top of Marc Wilson giving the Swans very own buzz-flier an opportunity to angularly advance on goal,from where he unluckily allowed the ball to drift a little too far ahead and the chance was gone.A couple of minutes later,Danny Graham was very close to Sinclair's super chip from the left to the far post and Swansea's start had been encouraging.Both sides were competing for every ball and
the muscularity of some Stoke tackling-Wilkinson(booked) and Shawcross(not) the glaring examples.

The breakthrough came early,in the 9th minute, and was a direct result of pace.Allen threaded Routledge through in the inside left channel(in the area but going wider) and the skilful forward showed Shawcross just enough ball for commitment to a tackle and then moved it last minute with a touch that meant the subsequent sweeping away of his legs brooked no argument from Mike Jones in awarding the pen.Scott Sinclair did what Scott Sinclair does-scored, with a neat quality strike into and beyond Begovic's reach and perfectly in the corner of the net.Is it my
imagination,or did SS strike this one a little harder than previous ones? Whatever,he knows damn well what he's doing and the Liberty rocked.

The first half flashed by(for me) and was compellingly watchable.Swans with their pass and move fluency,slow- quick- slow tempo, and frustrating(for Stoke) ball retention.Stoke came closest when the grafting Walters seized on a Swans mistake and accurately and powerfully volleyed a loose bouncing ball toward the roof of the net only to see Michel Vorm in the home goal spectacularly parry it in an acrobatic arch and onto the bar and behind for a corner.DDV was a good shot stopper(our previous Dutch Keeper before decamping to Wolves).Signed from Utrecht for a reported 1.5m, the Vorminator is showing us Swans that one of the world's best footballing nations(Holland) does not put ordinary players into their national squad and in my eyes, if Maarten Stekelenburg is the Dutch no 1 to Vorm's no 2 , then he MUST be one hell of a keeper.Because ours is.
1-0 at half time and the second half was no less compelling.

Incidentally,it's very easy to (snidely) denigrate Stoke as a long ball,bruising team with little else about them.I can be as guilty as anyone on that front but that would be doing them an injustice.They are all of those things, but they have a great deal more about them.There
were periods in the second half when we came under sustained pressure from their legitimate attempts to drag themselves back into the game.The closest they came was when Whelan,their industrious midfielder,curled a box-edge free kick around the wall and struck the base of the Swans post.Fortunately for us it bounced clear,although you've got to admire a guy near me who calmly pronounced..."the wall did it's job,see".

And then,for most home fans came the icing on the cake.Danny Graham,who had spent all match selflessly running channels,linking play,defending with heart and head when need be, managed to strip the ball from Jonathan Woodgate some 35yds out.Racing away,with Shawcross and Woodgate snapping at his heels he drew the keeper and calmly slotted it into the corner.Cue mayhem,delirium,happiness.2-0 and at last we could breathe easy.Sinclair had previously forced Begovic to turn a screamer around the post and both Lita and particularly Moore made important contributions in running down the clock and preserving the status quo.The crowd were in fine voice both in supporting the team throughout and in castigating the officials for leniency by not punishing some overly robust challenges.Both Sinclair and Lita were fouled when advancing at goal to howls of derision.

We saw the game out safely and the team were justifiably clapped from the field.Am I proud?You bet I am.I haven't had the chance to highlight ALL of our team-from Joe Allen (sponsors MOM-deserved) to Monk and Williams(giants against GIANTS at CB).Have a look at our teamsheet.As Brendan said- the team played for the City (all of it) and it was a performance that made me feel a great deal of pride in the shirt.My new shirt,as silky as the Swans performance.Going into the International break,the Club will be psychologically boosted by 3 hard won points and a presence in the table in a healthy 10th place.

Early days I know,but in continuing to make the Liberty a hard place for visitors Swansea are beginning to look the part.On the resumption of the program two tricky away fixtures approach at Norwich and Wolves .We will hope to transfer today's form into both fixtures.

Onward and upward.

Moras is less.....or is less Moras?

Moras is less..........or is less Moras?

Swansea City,as many fans are aware,are suffering a spate of unfortunate injuries.Brendan Rodgers,the Club's admirable young Manager,could be forgiven for thinking that the Fates were conspiring against him were it not for the fact that his approach to managing the South Walians is a little more grounded.Having given of his time and effort subsequent to the Play-Off victory by charitably ascending Mt Kilimanjaro as part of Chris Kamara's Marie Curie Cancer Care effort, his return to manage the team's first full season in the Premier League has been disrupted by genuine personal hurt and a series of footballing fitness/team building issues.

Part of Brendan's motivation for the South African trek had been the loss of his Mother to Cancer last year.Then,on the week of his club's enticing fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates he suffered the further hurt of his father Malachi's defeat to the disease.The dignified young Manager was a pall-bearer at the funeral whilst his coaches took the Swans to the London fixture.

His immediate return to the club shows the measure of the man.The injuries and absences from the squad currently are worth noting individually.

Let's start with Ferrie Bodde.For those unaware of this Dutch u-21's international talent I say get on You.Tube.Two years ago,against Birmingham,he damaged a ligament so badly that the subsequent operations to his knee have meant that he has been unable to (as yet) make a successful comeback to the team.That's both our,and the Premiership's loss.Wonderfully combative,skilful,typically Dutch maestro.I do not use the word lightly.

Secondly,in an accident you couldn't really make up, the club's long-serving and effective utility defender Alan Tate broke his leg in a Golf-buggy accident.No,I didn't make that up- google it.

Thirdly,on the weekend of the Arsenal 1-0 defeat(unlucky-again,google the goal-bizarre) Stephen Caulker,the England U-21 centre back signed on loan from Tottenham, damaged HIS ligament in a brave goal-line clearance.2 months M'lud.

Oh,and by the way,we also lost Kemy Agustien to a hamsting injury.The Dutch u-21 midfielder is a powerful,mobile footballer who has been known to play CB.That's that bust then.

All this has meant that Gary Monk,the Club captain,has been forced to play sooner than his full recovery from a foot injury that's visible to most.

Now Brendan is far from foolish,and to cope with this defensive frailty particularly at CB on deadline day signed both Darnell Situ,a French u-21 Cb coveted by many, and Rafik Halliche,a full Moroccan International.But,but....he didn;t you see- because FIFA,that august ultimate Football Authority of impeccable probity(sic) did NOT sanction either signing.Because we're Welsh,it would seem,and as these deals required International Clearance,we did not,it would further seem,get them done in time.Although we WERE inside the deadline. Work that out.I still can't.

Which brings us to this week, and our upcoming game against Stoke City.We have had,on trial,both Zoltan Liptak,a Hungarian International and Vangelis Moras,a Greek International.Both come with impressive(for us) pedigrees from Hungarian and Italian football.It's a pity that in a reserve friendly this week against Newcastle(which I saw), both played-but we lost 5-3.

Liptak seemed off the pace and has subsequently been released.But Moras,Moras.........at least he looked comfortable on the ball and I believe that there may be some light there.

And,from today's reports,we May have come to an agreement.So Stokies- bring it on I say.

Less,is indeed,Moras.

This Sunday we play Stoke City.....

This Sunday we play Stoke City, generally considered to be the second oldest club in football (after Notts County) ,and for many, myself included, the road map to "How to survive in the Prem without selling your soul". Perhaps I should explain myself.
I have this naive (I'm told,regularly) notion that on attaining Premiership status, as our club did at Wembley last May, as Stoke did in 2008(after a 23 yr gap-nearly as long as us ,eh?), then that club should not Mortgage it's future to attempt survival in said division. Anyone remember Southampton,Derby,Middlesbrough,West Ham- top 4 in the championship since you ask- or
Palace,Blackpool,Ipswich,Leicester,Leeds,Reading,Watford,Burnley,Portsmouth,Barnsley,Birmingham,Forest,Coventry(9th
to 21st since you ask).
And the point?
The point is at least some,if not all,of these clubs did exactly that. Mortgaged their futures that
is.Only problem,just like the Banks nationally,the house was reposessed on relegation.Which is what Banks do.

But Stoke didn't.They took the flak-long ball,pub team,disgrace to the prem,troglodyte football included- and stuck 2 fingers up to the pundits.Under their estimable manager,Tony Pulis,this is a club that did things in their own fashion.Which,I like to think,is how we might do it,albeit in a contrasting footballing fashion.

It is inarguable that when Stoke came up they were somewhat limited. Didn't make them less attractive to their fans,or less succesful if, as an opponent, you couldn't cope with their aerial bombardment and their commitment to run through brick walls for their manager. Arsenal anybody?? As a template it worked for them.It is also inarguable that in the subsequent seasons they have gotten a great deal more sophisticated.Witness the addition of
Pennant,Etherington,Crouch,Upson,Woodgate,Palacios in the last couple of seasons. Add to that the solidity given by Sorensen,Delap,Walters,Shawcross,Wilson,Fuller,Huth,Jones Whelan and Begovic(and that's just half the squad) and you can see that this will be no easy game.Still,that's what I expect in the Prem.

We have,I believe,thus far followed the Stoke model in outline. Our football,tactically and aesthetically,is very different. To succeed we're going to have to rely upon our passing ability,our retension of the ball, and to establish a tempo that ensures WE are in charge of the game. To that end, Danny Graham for Lita will aid us.

Whatever the outcome,I believe it's still essential that we follow the Stoke model in financial and administrative terms.But let's please follow the Swansea model tactically and technically.That way we both win.

So it's 3 pm on Sunday.Can we continue to play the successful,posession based game that Brendan favours before that troglodyte section of our own fans start not only muttering but actually booing some of OWN players. Some of us can remember when Mamady Sidibe played for us, and we,like Stoke, seemed to think that the long ball launched from
Center Back into the opposition's penalty box was de rigeur.

The Season so far.....

It is both difficult and wrong to extrapolate from our completed games thus far and pronounce a season's end result.Why is this?


Well,I would suggest that the problem lies with the resulting polarity of opinions.

People either place in the "happy clappy" camp, or the "we're all doomed" faction , neither of which adequately describes EVERY poster - although I'm happy to admit that most of us are guilty of it now and again.


Problem is,as Mick McCarthy said the other day...".opinions are like arseholes, just 'cause we've all got one doesn't mean it needs to be aired all the time".

Having said that, any GB would be ill served if the only contributions were facts, figures, PR guff and the Party Line. If that's what you want then try any PL Official Website. So we read this (and other) board/s as well.

My analysis,for what it's worth, is this then.

Having played MC, Arsenal and Chelsea as our first 3 away games the results turned out as most expected with 3 defeats. But, as has been said both here and elsewhere, all 3 games were very,very different.

Having started well at the Etihad and competed for an hour we were blown away by the quality and inventiveness of the quality attack in opposition. Aguero ,arguably, was the catalyst. Remind yourself how much he cost.

At the Emirates, the game was totally different. I would argue that with a little more luck and experience (which we will get as we play more games) we could have come away with at least a point.

At the Bridge different again. For the first time this season I felt we started for the ONLY time this season looking a little in awe of Chelsea and their array of "stars". Despite imposing ourselves for brief 10/15 minute spells (mid first half/start second half) I came away with a tinge of disappointment for the ONLY time this season.

Our 3 home games giving us a draw against both Sunderland and Wigan (creditable and explainable both) and the win against West Brom show me that the team has made an observable advance tactically (better performance), practically (better results) and emotionally (happier fans, decent crowds).

As well as seeing all of our games so far (including Shrewsbury) and our home Reserve fixtures at Parc-y-Sgarlets I read as much as I can about not only us but all football.
I'm a Sky armchair fan too.
Poor sad me.
I happen to think that thus far we've done reasonably well from what I've seen, and I think also we'll not only continue that, but do a little better.
I honestly think the next 7 games, up and until and including Villa at home (which takes us to end of November) will give us all a pretty accurate picture of our progress.

I suspect I'm not so very different from a large proportion of our fans who love the Club and it's "Alice's Adventures in Premierland."

Guess that makes me a "happy clappy" eh?

Bully

.......sad red nose.......huffing and puffing and jumping up and down and chewing constantly.Are you with me yet?Most,most unattractive.Ugly even.

When you look at things and see only the lesser part....the hype,the nonsense,the overblown,frustration mounts.The world's best player?Far from it. Even the billiard ball potato headed chav gives more.

And people pay a fortune,75000 weekly at ££££'s too much to see this weekly.

Ugly,ugly.

there is a God after all........

If you don't believe me, then what on earth made this happen..................http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/05/uselections2008-barackobama


..........not quite in the "I have a dream territory..", but very very good nevertheless.

Woohoo.