Phil SumblerSwansea City got the just rewards for another pathetic display at the Liberty this afternoon when a Scott Sinclair last minute shot rebounded off Matt Grimes and into the back of the net to send us to a fourth consecutive defeat on an afternoon where Steve Cooper’s side managed no shots on target once again.
After the debacle that was Birmingham City on Friday night, Steve Cooper made four changes and a tactical switch for this game. Into the side came Cabango, Manning, Hourihane and Whittaker as he went four across the back to try and make a difference and keep alive our slim automatic promotion chances.
On a day when an early goal would definitely have calmed any nerves that were in the Swansea camp we spent most of the fifteen minutes on the back foot almost inviting pressure from Preston. The visitors were not looking threatening during this period but they would have been lifted by the start made by the Swans who are just more and more reluctant to commit people forward home or away.
This set the pattern for large periods of the first half although matters were not helped by a consistent run of Preston fouls that went on without any punishment from the referee other than the awarding of a free kick which assisted Preston in what they wanted to create a break play.
Cabango headed wide from a Hourihane free kick but for the majority of the first period it looked like more of what we have become accustomed to from the Swans in it being a scrappy performances, passes all too often going astray and no real threat in the opposition final third making the overall game very difficult to either watch or enjoy.
Marc Guehi earned himself a yellow card on half time for hauling back Ched Evans but it was the last “action” of another crap half of football from the Swans and with no sign of the promised effort it was hard to even consider it worthy of tuning back in for the second 45 minutes.
The predictable no changes at the half time interval meant that the second half started in the same way as the first half progressed and considering this was a game where we were “going for it” the fact that we had no shots on target ten minutes into the second half said that we were doing anything but. As has been said several times over this weekend this is the part that fans are finding unacceptable, it is one thing losing a game but losing games where shots at goal are not happening is just not on. Six shots on target in the three defeats leading into this is just, frankly, pathetic.
The approach by the Swans was summed up by a yellow card for Jamal Lowe who elected to look for a penalty when the opportunity to create something was in front of him. The award of the yellow card was obviously correct and just adds to the pain of watching the Swans right at this moment in time.
In the 80th minute Steve Cooper made a double sub replacing Hourihane and Whittaker with Dhanda and Routledge. Both subs entirely predictable from a manager who has largely run out of ideas and both subs at least 20 minutes too late in a game where we were just creating nothing of note.
The only plus point for the Swans in the afternoon was that Preston were as bad as us and seemed content to pick up a point on their travels which on paper seems a good result but against this Swansea side right now would be viewed by McAvoy as points lost.
After the ninety minutes we were forced to watch it was no surprise to see Preston snatch the win in the last minute. The ball in the box dropped to Sinclair and whilst Woodman kept his initial shot out it rebounded into the net off captain Matt Grimes to give the visitors a lead that they didn’t necessarily deserve but then again we didn’t deserve to get anything out of the match anyway.
I hate to say this but this was another pathetic display from Steve Cooper’s side. To go through ninety minutes at home without a shot on goal when we are supposedly ‘going for it’ says it all. The side lacks almost everything that a promotion challenging side should have and we are getting the results now that our play is deserving.
There really is nothing else to say.
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