Are the storm clouds gathering in SA1?

Things have been quiet – at least on the face of it – for quire some time at Swansea City but trouble may be brewing if you take a step back and look at the wider picture.

Things looked rather rosy at the end of October following the 2-0 win against Cardiff City with the team in great form and the Swans well positioned for a promotion tilt in 4th place.

Fast forward six weeks from there and things look a little bleaker; down to 11th place, no wins in six and contract disputes with soon to be out of contract players – it doesn’t bode well.

Combine that with what looks to be another disagreement with Michael Obafemi after he was left out of the Norwich loss last weekend and there looks to be a number of matters that need addressing.

If we start with the form, it is clear to see that the Swans are following a pattern that has been seen since Martin took charge in July 2021. A good run has always followed a bad and that was much the same during his time at MK Dons.

The optimism was high back in October that the team had turned a corner and so had Martin, moving to a quicker approach on the pitch which was delivering points. A clear – but very brief – indicator of this would be to compare the games against Sunderland at home and Huddersfield away.

The Sunderland game saw the Swans attempt 477 passes, a similar figure to Sunderland on the day. This was a game that we won 2-1. Fast forward to Huddersfield just before the international break and the pass stat had increased to 742. A figure three times the amount of the opposition who held on comfortably to a goalless draw.

That is indicative of where it’s gone wrong of late, the emphasis of quick attacking play has been ditched in favour of the more traditional Martin style resulting in far less points and goals.

The Swans boss needs to find the correct balance and quick as a poor result on Saturday at Coventry could see fans looking over the shoulder at the bottom six of the table, rather than the top six.

Martin’s cause won’t be helped by the recent revelation around contracts talks with Joel Latibeaudiere and Ryan Manning after he spoke out about their reluctance to agree extensions to their deals past next summer.

The club has been in talks with the pair for some time but there looks to be somewhat of a stalemate, probably with both players realising that there are far greater financial rewards elsewhere in the Championship.

Perhaps most surprising is the lack of agreement with Latibeaudiere. Fans would largely say he is yet to set the world alight although being shoehorned into a right wing back position when you are a young centre half can’t be easy. As one of Martin’s favourites his reluctance to agree a new deal speaks some volume.

It’s never great to be bringing contract disputes into the public domain and it’ll be interesting to see how this one pans out and whether it forces the hand of either player to agree a deal at the club. Perhaps instead it offers prospective clubs an opportunity for a cheap purchase in January. Maybe that was the agenda?

Moving onto the Obafemi situation and despite conflicting information that he is suffering an injury, there is little doubt that there is still discord between the player and manager. I’m unsure how he can have so many injury problems these days when last season (after January) he was largely fine.

The current situation with rhe Irish striker is anyone’s guess but the goal output from both him and Piroe is not what you’d expect at the halfway stage of the season. It’s another issue that keeps rearing its ugly head and if Martin doesn’t feel like Obafemi can be managed effectively then the club has a decision to make.

Things were difficult between manager and player at the start of last season but some common ground was found and Obafemi hit the ground running when given the chance in the second half of the season. The failed move to Burnley in the summer looks to have affected him and there’s little doubt that looking back he should have been let go.

Perhaps the question should be whether there would be this many disagreements with another manager? The list of excluded players is incredible – Paterson at times, Rhys Williams, Nat Ogbeta, Obafemi, Piroe at the very beginning, Jay Fulton all last season, Fin Stevens. Ryan Bennett,  Morgan Whittaker, Oko-Flex. Are they all wrong ‘uns?

The Swans welcomed both Jake Silverstein and Jason Levein on a rare visit for the Norwich City game on Saturday and according to Martin they are fully behind the process and the progress the club is making.

I wouldn’t be so sure. Have we moved on from last season? For me, the answer is no. Apparently talks have been ongoing over a new contract for Martin but would that be the right move taking into account all of the above?

Let’s see what Coventry brings.