Phil SumblerYou could sense the frustration in Russell Martin after he watched his Swans side gift Reading three goals at the Swansea.com stadium yesterday afternoon and surrender what was a pretty decent home run in the process.
Two good goals from his side were more than cancelled out by three Reading goals all of which you think could have been avoided and probably would have been on another day but were also a harsh lesson that you cannot switch off for a second even at this level.
Martin will no doubt have also spent yesterday evening looking the fixture list for the end of the season and hoping that there were not many more occasions where his side has to play three times in a week as he once again moaned about the lack of intensity in his side’s performance.
For Birmingham and Bournemouth way you can now add in Reading at home to a growing list of teams we have played in those third games where we have come up short in both performance and result and that must become a growing concern to the Swans boss as to why it keeps happening.
“The first 45 minutes is nowhere near good enough in terms of our intensity. Some of the stuff with the ball was great, we scored an incredible goal and maybe we fell into the trap of thinking it was going to be easy,” said Martin after the match.
“We conceded a really poor goal, the lack of intensity out of possession has really hurt us in that first 45 minutes.
“We have conceded three goals today where we have let people (cut) back inside the pitch, which does not happen usually.
“That is seriously frustrating, and I have said to the players they should be hurt with that and we are hurt to get beat.
“Fair play to Reading, they have good players and experience, but we have gifted them three goals and it feels like we have beaten ourselves and I don’t mean that as any disrespect to the opposition.
“It’s a big reminder to us as a group that when you play with a lack of intensity and energy, and lack a willingness to run it can really hurt you.
“It’s a brilliant group, we love working with them but we need to learn from this because we have missed a big opportunity to make it a big week and really impact the league.”
The key word is still Patience – and it will remain the key word for the rest of the season. Yesterday, I was disappointed at times, frustrated at times, but also thrilled that we are playing a much better brand of football than we’ve had to put up with over recent years. The head coach was very clear at the outset – this is a project; we will make mistakes and some parts will be a bumpy ride. This is exactly what we are seeing.
What really disappointed me yesterday, though, was some of the toxicity around me from so-called supporters. Yelling “rubbish” all the time is going to do nothing for the confidence of young men who are working hard to learn this process. And the guy in the back row of the east stand who has been booing on top of his voice when Russell Martin comes over to acknowledge the crowd at the end of a game the Swans haven’t won is a despicable disgrace. He had a pop at Martin after the Blackpool game and again yesterday. It sickens me, to be honest.
I am enjoying this season immensely, the bumpy parts included. Long may the Martin, Potter, Laudrup, Rodgers, Martinez process continue to evolve.