Planet Swans ArchivesIt may have taken some time coming but it came in the end and finally Garry Monk got his hands on the League One trophy on Saturday after a couple of false starts. In years to come they will ask which side won promotion twice and the league title twice in the same season. All because some people in suits at the football league allow things to drag on as well as others failure to admit that they did something wrong.
The football league messed up badly this time and maybe next time they will be less lenient. As effectively a 'private members club' they are entitled to ask the members to work with whatever rules they wish to impose and if they say it is wrong then it is wrong. Sure you can appeal but surely if the option was League Two or minus fifteen points and you accept one, if you then challenge it further the result should have been the other – or maybe worse?
Even now there are people from Leeds who claim that they are the best team in the division. Um, add fifteen points on if it makes you feel better, even your whippet would still see that we earned more points on the pitch than you. Ergo, best team in the division.
And deservedly so. Swansea have played – a fact accepted by 22 other clubs – the best football in the division this season. We have had respect afforded to us by Leyton Orient and Brighton especially in the last two games but other sides admit that they have been beaten by the better side. We played football the right way and the way that people want to see. No long ball tactics, no kick and rush and no attempts to kick players off the park. Just neat football.
The highest scorers in the division, the most points by a margin of 10, the best goal difference, 27 wins in total, 14 wins on the road – they are all statistics that back up exactly why we ended up topping League One this season and why next season we can already look forward to the Championship challenge. Hands up how many Swans fans watched yesterday's action at Stoke and allowed themselves a little thought of "maybe next year"? It could happen, let's not get carried away but it could happen.
For once in our history as well we wrapped things up in advance. Despite the farce coming from League HQ we were there with three weeks to go, we were Champions with two weeks to go – it's not the usual way we do things but it was a great way to do it.
From the very first moment this season, you knew there was something special afoot. We lost at Oldham on the opening day and drew with Forest in our next league game. 1 point from 6 and yet everyone believed greatness was round the corner. For those two games we were awesome. At times it was like a siege on the opposition goal and it was only a matter of time before something clicked and we hit top gear. The only performance where I thought we got it totally wrong was Leeds away where we seemed to afford them too much respect but other than that there wasn't much wrong other than the blip here and there which all will get.
What if Robbo had scored against Gillingham, what if we hadn't thrown away a 2 goal lead at Crewe, the late goals against Bournemouth and Tranmere – we could go on but there were more points in us this season for certain.
Of course there are areas of the side that need work on but to those who come out with that like some huge "revelation" everybody knows that and – guess what? – it's what happens when you move up a division. You need to strengthen to progress again. Always has been, always will be. There are always people who struggle with the step up and people who take to it naturally but Roberto will be aware of that. And he has done a fantastic job to date so I suspect he will get more right then he gets wrong over the course of the summer.
But for now we can look forward to the trip to the Championship and all the teams that we have to play. Renewing acquaintances that we have gone for too long without making. Some great trips, some great supports down here and hopefully some great games into the mix as well.
A job well done…..
