Phil SumblerThere felt very little point in paying attention to Steve Cooper’s press conference ahead of tomorrow’s clash at Reading as it was always going to contain the same promises which largely are followed by the same dreary and disinterested looking Swans.
It was with some irony that I penned this morning’s “Meet The Ref” article ahead of tomorrow when I realised that the man in the middle tomorrow was the same man who took charge of February’s home game against Norwich. Back then optimism was high of a league winning campaign let alone anything else as this topic post at the time confirmed (“We’re the total package” – 5 February 2021)
You could almost change the topic title of that with just one easy amendment to read “Were the total package” because back then we just about were but right now, as we head into the last weekend of April, we are anything but.
We retain – and should achieve – a play off spot this season but there won’t be too many people reading this who believe that we are about to turn that play off spot into a promotion winning campaign. Like most of the past two months it has felt like a sleepwalk towards inevitability with the occasional glimpse of “maybe” thrown in but that hasn’t tended to last long.
So when Cooper lined up to face the press virtually this week nobody was really anticipating anything other than the same comments when he said “I think the psychological aspect has been there for a while now, for everybody, not just us.” ignoring the fact that both Norwich and Watford seem to have overcome it.
“When you get into the late run-in you are thinking about the what ifs, be they positive or negative. You are trying to deal with it all, while focusing on preparing and getting ready for games, and looking to deliver performances.
“I think it is that time of the season, where the psychological element is a factor.
“But for us it is a positive situation because we are at the right end of the table, you just have to really focus on the finish line.
“It’s final stretch and we want to go and finish on a positive.”
They aren’t the exact same words he uses every week but they have the same meaning. You want to hear/read them and think “is this the day” but you just know that come kick off time tomorrow it will be a predictable Swans side that takes the field to deliver a predictable Swans performance.
I’d happily be proved wrong but does anyone think I will be?
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