Planet Swans ArchivesThe former Swansea City defender will bring his Coventry side to the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day as he looks to get within a point of the side he supported as a lad.
It will be the second time he has locked horns with the Swans this season and Coleman is determined to see his side get just their sixth clean sheet of the season at the home of the division’s draw specialists.
Speaking to the Western Mail, Coleman said “It was a big surprise when I saw the fixture list
“It will be nice to have the chance to see my parents but we are not going down there for the festivities – this is our job.
“To be honest, I was hoping for Wolves or Derby, somebody close like that, but you have to take what you are given.
“We’ll be in for training on Christmas Day and then leaving to get down there at 8.30-9pm, ready to go to work the next day.
“Swansea are the team I supported as a boy – I have never supported anyone else
“I know it is a cliche, but they have always been the first result I look for.
“I only played against them twice, and I took Fulham there for Alan Curtis’ testimonial.
“It is a great stadium and it is always lovely to go back home.
“My links with Swansea will always be strong, but this is a game that we badly need to win. When we play them they will just be another team for me, they will not be the team I support.
“They will be the latest team who I want to take three points from – and just another obstacle in my way.
“I went down there for the first time when I was six,” said Coleman, capped 32 times by Wales.
“I was standing there when John Toshack was manager and took us up through the divisions.
“So when you have experienced that side of it and you then get the opportunity to play, it becomes extra special.
“It is every supporter’s dream and I was lucky enough to get the chance to do that.
“I remember when I was there you couldn’t say money was tight because there wasn’t any – sometimes we didn’t have enough kit to train in.
“It was incredible, but I think times like that do tend to pull people together.
“Swansea are doing very, very well,” he said. “For me, they have the brightest young manager outside the Premier League.
“I really like the way Roberto has got his side playing football. He has got that foreign edge.
“The way they pass it and the formation they play, he is doing things the right way and under him things are looking very good for them.
“Ask anyone who has faced them this season and they will vouch for what a good side they are.
“There is no pressure on Swansea to do anything this season other than to stay in the league, so sometimes you can play with a bit more of a swagger, a bit more confidence in that situation.
“A lot of sides have the pressure of getting into the play-offs or getting promoted, but that is not there for them.
“But they have come up with a bit of momentum – why shouldn’t they reach the play-offs?
“There is always a surprise in this division.
“Don’t get me wrong – compared to last year when I had sleepless nights and was biting my nails because we were in trouble, I think we have come on.
“But we are caught in that little space at the minute where we are thinking, ‘maybe, maybe’, but it is not quite happening.
“We have got to get to the next stage where we know it is going to happen for us.
“We’ve scored four goals in two home games but we’ve only got two points to show for it – and that’s not good enough.
“At the start of the season I could point the finger at our strikers because they were not scoring goals.
“But now we’re not keeping clean sheets.
“I know that if we go down to Swansea and keep a clean sheet, we have got a great chance of winning.
“But we have only got five in 24 games and that is not enough.”
