Phil Sumbler
It was very easy on Saturday to react after another disappointing home performance where the result seemingly was in little doubt from the early stages and the Swans went through another ninety minute performance where the chances of us celebrating a goal was slim at best.
One point from the nine available this season at the Swansea.com stadium tells its own story but the frustration of the Swans crowd goes back further than that.
Saturday was Russell Martin’s twenty-sixth home league game in charge of the Swans. Out of the seventy-eight points available from those games, the Swans have secured just thirty-six. Nine wins and nine draws have been coupled with eight defeats. Thirty-two goals in twenty-six games tells another sorry statistic and when you factor all of that in the frustration seen after Saturday becomes much clearer.
Almost immediately after the game on Saturday long term poster Mr Swerve had opened a poll on the forum as to how people felt about the future of Russell Martin with, at time we started to pen this article (6pm Sunday) two in three voters voting for it being time for a change in management.
It’s not from a small cross section either with more than 360 votes cast at the time of writing which backs up the noises we are hearing at home games for a side who have not won at home in seven attempts.
It is difficult to see the club making a managerial change given the precarious nature of our finances but the reality comes is that the Swans are 20th in the league at this point and having won just one game this season thanks to our inability to hold onto a two goal lead on two occasions. This is not a pressing of the panic button just yet but the warning signs are more than obvious to most of us.
Our article yesterday generated much discussion in some very interesting places but highlights the predicament that we have. The manager is losing the fans support, he has no support from the owners it seems and you wonder whether he has the support of all his squad. It has been much publicised about the players he does not want here and yet the depth of the squad is laid bare when you consider that some of them are within the matchday squad and even the team at times.
Russell Martin has now been at Swansea for more than a year and clearly has a view in his mind of how he wants his teams to play. The challenge for us as Swansea fans is that style of play does not match the personnel that we have and the players do not seem to be adapting to it.
A look at Saturday’s starting line up saw the following players starting – Andy Fisher, Harry Darling, Nathan
Wood, Marty Sorinola, Joe Allen, Olivier Ntcham and Michael Obafemi all start. Each of them a Russell Martin signing and whilst Matt Grimes has been here way before the Martin era it is clear since he arrived that the manager builds his side around them. That just leaves Ryan Manning, Ben Cabango and Joel Piroe as players the manager did not sign. This his largely his team and worryingly they are not adapting or pulling the potential from his playing style.
Russell Martin will be more than aware that he needs to have things turning around and quickly and there are easier places to go than Middlesbrough and Stoke when you are under pressure but that is what is facing the Swans in the next two games.
For all of last season he bemoaned the lack of a pre-season but that was always going to signpost a judgement based on this season and the early evidence gives more than enough signs for concern.
Football remains a results business at all levels and when results start to go against you there is often just one outcome when you are a football manager. We all want Russell to turn this around, the question is can he or will the votes for the poll eventually mirror the votes in the boardroom?
Time will, as ever, tell.
The. Stats of 26 home games and just 9 wins with 32 goals scored is dreadful reading for a team that for 2 seasons previously finished in the play offs and made it to Wembley on 1 occasion now sit 20th in the league. True saying in football the league table doesn’t lie 😢
I would think that Ntcham was an Allen signing, but the point stands. However, they are young players still getting used to the Championship. For me that means we’ll be a better side six months from now. Similar to last season really. Which is disappointing as we all want more this time around. But that’s the cost of signing young players with talent rather than experienced pros. On the flip side I do believe we’re in a better place than after six games last season. I think there’s more to come from Wood. Sorinola must be sleepwalking as he was attracting interest across the division. And Piroe has to shake off the transfer window. If Obafemi starts taking his chance and Fisher backs himself to dominate his box, we’ll be more than fine.
We have a team totally devoid of pace . Our back 3 is so slow no wonder we get caught on the break.What do we base Russell Martin’s ability on. 2years at Dons no top 10 finishes 1 at the Swans the same.
Should we change manager no but we shouldn’t think that this 1 is the messiah. Also sick of him blaming everyone but himself for losing getting tiresome . Jamie punching ball straight back annoying but not the reason they scored. Just as Matt kicking to the corner instead of keeping the ball not. It was us sitting back waiting for the final whistle.
Well this is what you get by getting in players with no championship experience and the manager who blames everyone else bar himself and again it says a lot about the coaching staff at the club and the club will not be going anywhere while we have them two stroungers Levien and Kaplan running our club in it to line thyer own pockets they have not got a clue on how to run a football club just look at the other club they own DC United bottom of the league and getting hammered every week even with Rooney in charge and they have signed a premiership striker well you can see were thyere priority,s lie and it was never with the Swans in the first place they were only interested in how much money they could take out of our club and now they have said there is no money available for transfers well who would have thought that time to get rid of them before it is to late the only thing the Americans wont out of a club is money as we have seen lately.
It seems painfully obvious that the suicidal defensive passing is our downfall. We create opportunities for the opposition and we score own goals for fun. Martin needs to adopt a safety first strategy, and clearing balls out of defence up field, and across and back to fisher, to invite pressure and concede a goal from at attackers back-side. the alarming thing is Russell used to be a defender. we should be clearing the ball and pressing high to win the ball back and playing possession in the top third. We loan out Garrick a pacey winger and our best attacker obafemi passes the ball to the keeper when it’s easier to score (Rotherham). I would like a 4-4-2 formation with a solid back four, strong mid-field and two attackers up top. Also for all the good that our previous chairman did, it must now haunt him that his decision to sell to the Americans put into the lower leagues yet again. infact i would bet on the swans being relegated this season.
I agree that the passing can be slow and predictable, but how many goals have they actually conceded from giving the ball away in their own third? They look much more vulnerable, I think, when allowing wave after wave of attacks, which makes it seem like a good idea to keep the football as much as possible.