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| The names of Martinez, Britton and Llewellyn will do wonders for this club if we can get them. Maybe, I’m a cynic but I cannot help but think here of Tottenham Hotspur. Last summer there were noises coming from inside White Hart Lane which linked virtually every name to them. Fans bought season tickets to see the likes of Morientes wearing the cockerel shirt and were left disappointed when ‘terms were never agreed’ |
| Let me get this bit straight at the start I would settle for seeing one of the three afore-mentioned people (and I’m not talking Morientes although it would be nice!) wearing the black and white of Swansea next season. However, the cynical side of me would hate to think that we are banding these names around to get people to buy season tickets on the back of it. I would like to believe that the current Swans board, all of them fans, would not allow that to happen as it has happened to them in the past. Back in the dark days of Silver Shield/Ninth Floor we were treated to names that never materialised with the line that was heard from Spurs last summer becoming common place. |
| We know we have a restricted budget at the club and I genuinely cannot see the day where Martinez, Britton and Llewellyn are lining up in the same team for us no matter how hard I would like to see it happen. I hope and pray that I am wrong. It puzzles me that last season we kept the name of most signing quiet until the day that they signed but we are now open about who we are trying to sign. Again, the cynic in me wonders why. The name of Chris Llewellyn is certainly having the desired effect in that fans are stepping up a gear in their optimism for next season. |
| I have learned to be pessimistic about our chances of success over a long period of being built up and then knocked back down again. I refuse to get my hopes up about signing these players until they have put pen to paper. The squad head out on holiday this week courtesy of the Travel House – a reward for winning the last game of the season. Of the players we want to keep at the moment, I understand that terms have now been discussed but as yet we have had no announcement of any of them signing. Until they do then we have no-one in the squad for next season bar Andy Mumford and Richard Duffy and one of then is available on a free transfer. |
| It’s great to hear of these players being linked with the club and their existing clubs’ fans recognising that these players have talent. We know for sure that Martinez and Britton do and Llewellyn seems to be highly recommended. It is certainly a change from last summer with the names of David Moss and Michael Jackson coming out. But please don’t let them be names that are released just to keep the fans happy and want season tickets sold off the back of it? |
| Season ticket sales are vital to this club but let’s get them because the fans want them and want to be behind the team rather than the potential to sign this player or that player. We have a challenge for next season that will be hard to beat. We have a decent fan base that turned out in the hour of need last season and we need to ensure that these people come back next season. Not when we are in desperate trouble or when success beckons but all the time. I am not convinced that we can win the battle with all of them but a significant number of them will make a difference. But if these people buy tickets on the back of possible signings which don’t materialise are we in danger of losing them for ever? |
| As I have said before I know I am a cynic but I cannot help that. I want to see all these players at the Vetch but I just fear that names are being released to build us up – I just don’t want people to be knocked down. |
| The board are fans of the club, Brian Flynn says he used to watch us in his youth – I hope and pray that they remember the feelings of fans in the summer and I would like to believe that they wouldn’t just be doing this for PR. |
| Let’s hope that I can believe it and that all my fears are alleviated when we sign some of the players that have been named. When the ink dries on the contracts I will be able to realise I was wrong. |
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