Planet Swans ArchivesI’ve written a lot of these reports in my time and sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. There are some games that the football flows so freely that you just bounce off the keys in a flurry of excitement at the display you have just witnessed. That doesn’t sum up today. Other times the referee has wound you up so much that you feel like throwing the keyboard at him because he cost you the game. That doesn’t sum up today. There are days when you are so irritated by what you have watched that you pound the keys until they break. Strangely, that doesn’t sum up today. I think what sums up today is a day that the penny would have finally dropped and if anyone has any doubts as to whether this team and it’s management is ready for the Championship, those doubts should by now have been finally extinguished. We are not and without some serious changes we won’t be.
Oldham Athletic are league leaders and by that title alone they are the best side in this division over the season to date. They are a decent TEAM that work hard for each other, have a desire to win and don’t over complicate the game of football. They showed us today that you don’t need “The best squad in the division” to take three points on the road, you just need a work ethic and players playing in positions that play to their strengths. They don’t have on loan Premiership right backs at left back whilst two left backs sit on the bench, they don’t make holes to fit players into, they keep it simple and for that alone they top the league. There is much to be learnt there
So where do I start. Well, the team lined up
Willy Catchit
Tatey Izzy Lawrence Duffy
Britts Craney Pratley Robbo
LT10 Pav
Subs: Bayo, Oakes, KOL, Kev, Painter
A few surprises maybe in the line up. As I mentioned before Duffy at right back with Painter and Austin on the bench just smacks of a manager trying to ensure he can play both Tate and Duffy. That is no slight on Duffy but he isn’t a left back, I am sure he would admit that himself. I also have to wonder why Austin, undoubtedly our best defender of late, was left on the bench when surely the defence needs the stability and no nonsense attitude that Kev brings. The midfield I guess pretty much picked itself for this game and LT10 and Pav was something that we wanted to see. I would have liked to have seen it for more than 45 minutes
From the outset I could have predicted that Swansea nil would have been half the scoreline. To be honest I expected the other half to be Oldham nil but that never materialised. I remember first half shots from LT10 (blocked), Craney (saved but I think it was heading wide) and a big shout for handball from another Craney shot. I remember Britts going down too easily to not get a penalty and LT10 not going down when had he done so he would surely have got a penalty. But I don’t recall us putting Oldham under any great pressure during the first 45 minutes, I don’t recall them really looking troubled by our play and I don’t recall ever thinking “there’s a goal coming our way in a minute”
At the back though, Tatey was being given a torrid time by the Oldham wide man on their left and two or three times he was skinned leading to dangerous opportunities. Lawrence and Willy need to introduce themselves to each other at some stage as I swear at times that they have never met and you just always get the feeling that a disaster is only just around the corner. Hence why I don’t see the logic in Kev on the bench
The goal was no major surprise – a loud shout for handball by us was waved away by the referee and from the resulting break they scored. To be honest I don’t recall a great deal about the goal itself other than I am sure we had chance to clear it before the goal was slotted home into an empty net. One could have been two just before half time as Lawrence and Willy played a game of “your ball, my ball” without either wanting it but somehow we got away with that.
Two subs at half time – Painter for Tate (groin strain?) and Bayo for Abbott prevented much difference in the game itself as the second half passed by in a blur of mediocrity. LT10 hit the bar from a free kick but it was only ever going to be a set piece that we would score from as we hustled, bustled and created pretty much naff all.
The crowd of 9,880 showed as 6.047 (I think) on the big screen – a sign of things to come?
This was a performance that pretty much lacked everything that you would want from a Swans side and to cap it all seeing Leon Britton leave early with an injury just about caps off the afternoon football wise.
Doncaster Away, Scunthorpe Home. Yeovil Away. The next three fixtures, anybody got that button marked panic?
