Happy New Year from Planet Swans

2022 has ticked into 2023 and, as we sit here in the early hours of January 1st, our mind turns to what the next twelve months may hold for our football club.  Could it come with a return to the ‘promised land’?

A look at the Championship table yesterday morning will have told you that there is much to play for.   Whilst the top two of Burnley and Sheffield United appear to be already out of sight and marching towards the Premier League, there are just 12 points that separate 3rd placed Blackburn and 21st placed Rotherham United.

In fact it gets more close than that as just three points separate Sunderland in 4th and Preston in 15th whilst there is just one point between Middlesbrough (6th) and QPR (13th)

In 12th place the Swans are right in the mix.   Just four points from the 3rd place spot, many could argue that the position is a good one from which to strike.   Often as the second half of the season progresses there is a team that comes out of the chasing pack and puts together a run of form that eventually ends with a magical day at the end of May at Wembley.

On the evidence of Friday night’s performance there is no reason why that could not be us.   For me that was the best performance we have seen from a Russell Martin side here in Swansea.   We have had some comprehensive performances and some excellent wins but this was beating a side who many said would be up there setting the pace this season.   And we didn’t just beat them we tore them apart with a passing display that really was “The Swansea Way” in evidence.

The challenge for us is to do that week in week out.   We put together an excellent run of results in September and October, doing that in January and February will stand us in good stead.   What the run of non wins that preceded Friday night has taught us is that you can go eight without a win and remain in contention, win a few on the bounce and you are a front runner.

When you look back on 2022 as a whole for the Swans there was of course the first ever South Wales league double.   2023 could bring a second (and will if we play anywhere near how we did on Friday night) but in truth it was a year where consistency was the one thing that we missed.

The Swans were entirely unpredictable for large periods of it and often were the architects of their own downfall.   Remember the periods where losing two and three goal leads seemed commonplace?  The sloppy goals conceded from set pieces?  The messing about at the back and presenting chances?  They were, and sometimes still are, visible for us.   That maybe part of ‘the process’ but it doesn’t make it any less frustrating to watch.

Losing most – if not all – of those mistakes will make 2023 look very different as will the positivity that we saw against Watford on Friday night.  It is something that will not be lost on Russell Martin and his coaching staff and something he will drill into his players when they put the final touches on the preparation for their first match of 2023 against Burnley.

The truth is none of us know what 2023 will bring for us as fans or for us as a football club.  We have the capability in the squad to mount a promotion challenge right to the end and there is little doubt that this division is set up for one of the tightest finishes in living memory.  If we can find the consistency that was missing for so much of 2022 then we definitely have the ability to be up there right at the very end.

Do we dare to dream once more?

Wishing all our readers, contributors, Swans fans everywhere and the excellent team behind the scenes here at Planet Swans a happy and prosperous 2023.