Michael Reeves
Somehow when you take a look at the Championship table this morning it shows that the Swans are still in touching distance of the Championship play off positions but for how long can we keep pace given our dreadful run of recent form.
Since Cardiff City were despatched with the customary ease at the Swansea.com Stadium bac in October, the Swans have managed just five draws in the seven games since yet find themselves potentially still just one win away from a return to the top six.
This does have all the hallmarks of being one of the weakest Championship seasons for many years and – at the halfway mark – we are in the position where it is quite possible that it will take less than seventy points at the end of the season to secure a play off place.
Burnley are threatening to run away at the top of the league and, if Sheffield United win tonight, then they could pull away with them which takes away the top two places for sides but, more importantly, opens up the possibility of a host of sides getting into the play offs.
The problems for the Swans appears to be that lessons are not being learned. Coventry could easily have been out of sight before we started the come back on Saturday afternoon and, as we have seen too often this season, our defence was left wanting on more than one occasion.
We have selections within the team that continue to baffle most fans and we still have multiple signings within the squad that continue to make you wonder why we made a loan move or in some cases a permanent one in the first place. All questions that fans reasonably have the right to ask as the team slide slowly away from the top end of the table.
We can take all the plaudits that we want from the way we fought back on Saturday but the reality is if we continue to play as we did for the first hour of that game then we will lose far more games then we win and that only means one thing in the long term in terms of league position.
Russell Martin has a massive month ahead of him not just fixture wise but also in terms of the window and how he chooses to use whatever backing he will be given by the board. There is little doubt, from all the soundbites that we hear, that he has the backing from everyone who sits above him at the club but he does need a good window in terms of signings as many of his “key” purchases are not, or have not, delivered in the way that clearly he would have wanted them do.
There is certainly no need to be pressing any panic button yet at the club but we have every right to be concerned at a recent run of form that sees us still in touch but only just as we slip towards mid table.
If you split the season so far into three sections – first nine games, next seven and then the last seven you have points tallies of nine, eighteen and five points respectively. Outside of that glorious run in September and October that is fourteen points from sixteen games – is that nearer the real Swansea City or is the thirty-two we have at the halfway mark the best reflection. In other words do we have a team that is capable of putting together more runs on a consistent basis?
The answer is we probably do not know completely. I’ve always been a firm believer that the league table does not lie so you would assume our current tenth place is a true reflection of the ability of our squad. Certainly ahead of the relegation form that the last seven game point return suggests. That is a dramatic statement as I do not believe that we are in any danger of relegation but no wins in seven is a concern no matter who you are.
Russell Martin now has over a week to work with his squad to get things back on the track that he desires. As he is working with his side he has to focus on the stupid defensive mistakes that have become so common this season and ensure that we eradicate the most of them to start getting back to winning ways.
The key part here is that the Swans remain very much in touch with those chasing promotion but we simply have to secure a win or two to keep that touch there into the New Year. Not necessarily saying that the next game is a must win but I do firmly believe that we have to come out of Reading or Watford with at least one maximum return if we are to consider ourselves serious promoton candidates.
I actually do firmly believe that we can achieve that but to do it, it absolutely has to be by learning from mistakes of the past. And if we do that then there will be additional belief in January for what will be Russell Martin’s biggest transfer window to date.
Over to you boss.
In fairness the Swans could have taken the lead before Coventry and, although not taking advantage of our possession, it was only after the Martin’s half time talk that things went really wrong.
No matter how good your back line, if the midfield is slow and static the opposition will take advantage. As pointed out by Nathan Blake, Cabango was left on his own too often and the wing backs ignored the ‘back’ part of their job description.
Once Martin relented and followed fan suggestion (and it is whispered player suggestion) on personnel and formation normal service was restored.
It seems we are constantly talking about the same problems – nothing changes .Strange team selection – why on earth did he leave Joe and Ollie out of starting eleven v Coventry?Wing backs who are too slow or simply not wing backs and a badly organised defence who are encouraged to overplay th ball when they don’t want to and are not capable of following those tactics .The media see the problems , the fans see the problems . The only person who refuses to recognise them and change direction is Russell Martin .Until he does so we are going to keep shipping goals and dropping points. At this moment in time only three championship teams have conceded more goals than us .Oh , in passing , Ntcham is a superb second half substitute but a strolling extravagance when he starts a game.