Rob Davies
Russell Martin was a relieved man after the 2-1 win against Blackpool last night, obviously fully aware of the pressure on his head after a torrid run of form.
On a night where a win was desperately needed, it couldn’t have been any less convincing against bottom of the league Blackpool with Swansea as usual doing everything possible to throw away the result.
It’s largely what we’ve become accustomed to particularly of late but the lack of game management especially with the opposition bereft of any confidence and a man light was alarming.
Indeed the win is a relief but for me it does nothing whatsoever to reassure fans or lift confidence with 17 games left of the campaign.
And Martin pointing to being within five points of the play offs is simply nonsensical; he can’t surely believe that he with this team is capable of arresting the run of form that we’ve seen since October to offer a realistic challenge.
He told the media post match: “Tonight, there is probably a bit of relief, but I am proud of the players for getting the win.
“We were the youngest team in the Championship again tonight, six of the 10 youngest line-ups in the Championship this season have been Swansea City teams so we have young men who are developing and growing all the time.
We should be out of sight at half-time, we were so dominant, we created loads and we are frustrated that we then took our foot off the gas.
“The crowd could sense it and the one frustration we had with the players was that we did not have that instinct to really kill the game off.
“They had two openings before half-time which were avoidable, and it created a bit of anxiety in the crowd and the players, and it gave them some energy.
“We did not start the second half well, they get a man sent off and we have a chance to go and kill it off, which we don’t take.
“We concede a goal out of nowhere, which causes big anxiety, which I understand and we end up relying on an own goal to win, when we should not need it.
“We made it more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be, but I understand it because you will have tough moments in the Championship and we have a lot of young players.
“I hope the supporters went home happy, because we have won and we hope this can be a springboard for something.
“I know you guys want to keep talking about two wins in 16, you want to include the cup games, you want to play to that narrative, it’s cool.
“Some of the performances in that run were really outstanding. We score the third most goals in the league, maybe fourth, with two recognised strikers and no wingers. I think the players deserve huge credit for that.
“We concede too many goals. You have seen tonight, we are the youngest team in the Championship. We are embarking on a journey where we have to do that.
“The January window highlighted that. I don’t want to talk about the window, but there’s been a massive hangover from that, from staff here, from supporters.
“We can’t do anything about it. we are as frustrated about it as anyone else. But we made a decision to get on with it and focus all our energy on the players, to help develop them.
“It’s a big win for us and hopefully it can helps us restart something. We are five points off the play-offs with the youngest team in the league.
“As a club, players, supporters, staff, everyone, we just have to pull together and get behind the group of young players. That is the only choice we have.”
I think we can gather from Martin’s comments that we have the youngest team in the league!
Second half we were dreadful and hanging on at the end against the bottom team in the league playing with 10 men .Worse than that we had completely lost any shape that we might have had .
When you consider the owners we have and the ridiculous system the manager employs we are in a serious mess .
Players like Ben Cabango are underperforming and going backwards under the current regime .
I suppose the manager felt he had to mention play offs after last night ‘s win but does anybody really see us going on a winning run.
Start of second half tells it all. Flat, no urgency, poor body language, casual passing reverting to sideways and backwards. What do these well-paid players need to get them stirred up?
Back to the past when RM joined us (we never left there to be honest) his only claim to fame which he keeps pushing is we have the youngest team in the league yes but they not good enough to play out from the back they always get caught out and give away goals having 70/80% possession and making 500/700 passes means nothing if you leave the back door open and don’t have two decent wing backs time for a major clearance from the owners/board/coaching staff and half of the team.
It’s a case of The Emperor’s New Clothes – it’s obvious to most who watch the Swans that the current team is too slow in attack, which allows any opposing team, including the bottom of the league side, to get into shape and be ready to defend. In being ready and able to defend through the Swans’ slow, low-risk build-up play, they can often win the ball back in midfield or deeper, allowing them the opportunity to break quickly against our “in a slow gear” midfield and attack-committed defence, often cutting through us with energy and momentum and scoring. “Playing out from the back” is fine if you have fast, high-quality (eg Man. City level) players at your disposal. We haven’t. Our players are being asked to ignore what they’re good at doing and fit into a system that they just can’t manage for an entire match. It’s truly admirable that they can sometimes manage to play this way effectively for 45 or even 60 minutes but to expect that level of play for 90 plus tiring minutes from players who just aren’t up to it is a recipe for losing more often than winning. The manager – Russell Martin or someone else if necessary – needs, in my opinion , to allow our players to play a) to their strengths and b) quickly and directly, as comes naturally to most young, professional players. Play like this until we’re 2 or 3 goals up and the game is essentially won, THEN get the possession game out of the locker and keep the opposition away from the ball. So – win the game first, play the possession game to hold onto what we have. I say this with 65 years plus experience of watching and playing football at all levels. In my opinion, this current Swans team and its style of play cannot succeed in the Championship until they recognise the hard realities of this really tough league and play to WIN, not just to perform elegantly and become yet another gallant (and maybe relegated) losing side We need to change our attitude and QUICKLY !
Excuse after excuse! Why have we stuck with Martin? He couldn’t manage a meal for a woodpecker in Epping Forest, let alone a poor Championship. Let’s look forward to another year in the league. Play offs, ha ha.
Our lack of attacking focus surely has to fall at the feet of RM and his coaching staff. O’Leary was never an attacking player and im not sure what he offers this squad. We need a dynamic coaching staff who are focussed on forward not sideways and backward passing. It is always the safe short pass. How many times have we seen a player pass a ball only to have it straight back without any change of positioning… pass for pass sake. Sadly im losing my love for a club ive supported for over 40 years and now no longer a season ticket holder. Sadly until there is a major owner shift the finance will restrict RM ever building a team of positive forward thinking plsyers