Phil Sumbler
Morgan Whittaker’s absence from the Swans line up at QPR this afternoon tells you much about what is likely to happen to the player and plays out what many believed was always the case – the player was recalled to sell.
You can read into the events of January what you want but the reality is Whittaker was one of the club’s few saleable assets and we know what that means with regards the way the club is being run.
Julian Winter can talk all he wants about the club being run in a sustainable fashion but the simple reality is that we aren’t. We largely need to make one or two sales a year to at least have a chance of balancing the books and that is why the seemingly inevitable departure of Whittaker should not be a surprise to anyone.
It was pretty clear early in the window – Russell Martin just about said as much – that the recall of the player from Plymouth was because those above him wanted him back. That could only have meant one thing and that he was not being bought back to add fresh depth to the squad.
The player did not want to come back and it appeared that the manager did not want him to come back so a decision made in the boardroom is usually only done for financial reasons. Russell Martin tried to deflect that by saying that he was not back to be sold but in the next breath he added “unless we get a suitable offer” which completely contradicted his first statement. Quite simply he knew there that he could not play the player until the danger window for those “suitable offers” had passed – had Morgan Whittaker appeared in a Swans shirt this month then a sale was not going to happen. The two club rule tells you that.
It was reasonably clear from Martin’s words that the club were ready to receive offers for the players and therefore no surprise this week to hear of the bids from Rangers with two of them already declined. The club tried to insist that Whittaker was going to feature at QPR today but the reality was that there was more than a minority that felt that was never going to happen. It can be brushed off as “not in the right frame of mind” but the simple fact comes back to he would not play for us if he were to be sold in January. The player may not want to jeopardise that move but neither do the club.
What we have to hope now is that those that run the club complete a transfer quickly to give at least half a chance to us getting in replacements. And ideally replacements that we will play and not some of the disaster transfer moves of the past couple of windows. We know from their seven years here that their record in concluding deals is not the best and we know that our majority owners can – and have – hampered many transfer deals from the other side of the pond consistently for all their time at the club.
The way this has played out should not be a surprise to anyone – it was as signposted as anything possibly could be. Whittaker was gaining strong reviews for his form at Plymouth and the financial decision makers at the club felt now was the right time to cash in on him. All we have to wait for now is how much profit we can make on the player and how much actually is reinvested back into the team.
And then of course hope that we use that reinvestment wisely and not just on some more pointless loan players.
But of course the funds from the sale of Whittaker (and of course Obafemi et al) won’t be reinvested in new players in any meaningful way.
These owners just don’t operate like this – 7yrs with them at the helm has demonstrated that they ruthlessly put their own pockets first and the needs and aspirations of the club second. In fact SCFC is just a money making-machine and nothing more than that. It is a callous approach and so easy from across the Atlantic for them to hide from the impact their actions have at local level in Wales.
Beyond their own pocket-lining they have proven themselves to be absolutely rubbish at the business of football, consistently selling our assets below market value, failing to support their managers (most recently Potter, Cooper and now Martin), lacking any vision for progressing the club, failing to show visibility to the supporters, and constantly fouling up in every transfer window. They really are numpties from a football perspective.
Shame on you Jenkins, Dineen, Morgans (and I have forgotten the name of the final director) for selling out to these leeching owners back in 16/17. Shame on you Julien Winter for not standing up to these owners who time and again demonstrate that they don’t know the first thing about British football and don’t put the needs of Swansea City above their own self-interest and gratification.
Hear, hear!!
Couldn’t have put it better myself 👏