Rob Davies
Michael Duff cut a forlorn figure in his technical area last night and nothing in his post match press conference served as any sort of comfort.
The Swans boss – already under pressure after just two points in five games – saw his team deliver an utterly abject performance demonstrating a serious lack of identity and (most import!ntly) pride.
Some accountability needs to be owned by the manager but after this defeat not much was on offer as Duff bemoaned the sideways passing without offering a reason as to why his team were so poor.
Since our promotion to the Championship in the 2008 we have never failed to turn up in these derby games but unfortunately the performance was reminiscent of everything we’ve mocked Cardiff City for.
A team of fairly expensive individuals without any fight or plan clearly lacking the importance of what this day means to the normal Swansea City fan – all the things they used to be.
Indeed Cardiff City were fired up and were every hit worth the three points in a game where they probably should have had more. In contrast the first effort on target from the Swans came with a tame header from Liam Cullen.
Being honest and even taking away the five games before it is clear as day that things are not right and this performance is befitting a club and team in an identity crisis and disarray. The worry is how will it unfold?
Duff said: “I don’t like getting beat. I’m not stupid. I’m not naïve. I’m sure there’ll be a vent at me today. But I’ve been here before. This is where you see the true characters at the club. The ones that stick together. The ones that don’t blame everyone else. The ones that don’t whisper in the corridors.
“I’ve been here before. There’s been a lot of change at the football club and that’s not me hiding behind it.
“We’ve had three debuts today. Kristian (Pedersen) looked tired at the end and you could see that from the penalty. We had Olivier (Ntcham) refusing to play the night before the first game. The Joel Piroe situation, the Woody (Nathan Wood) situation, Joe Allen’s in the team today and then gets injured in the warm up.
“So it feels like it’s backs against the wall. But this is when you see the true characters
“Lots of staff have left. Lots of players have come in. New coaching staff. So, I’ll just stick to what I believe in and my values. I won’t come off script on that. We’re trying to change the way they play because last year was extreme in terms of the way they wanted to play. I don’t think this is the first time we’d been on a difficult run because I think we went through this last year when I wasn’t in the building.”
Early calls for the manager’s dismissal is likely to be nothing more than noise aa the faith demonstrated to Russell Martin proved that the owners are not keen to make knee jerk decisions.
There are lots of issues at the moment – the lack system, the manager’s negativity, no cohesion between defence midfield and attack , the lack of attacking midfield players and why one or two pllayers sre not playing a more dignificant role .Ginnelly and Kukharevych sre two who come to mind.
How long doed it take to settle in?Who bought them and why?
Although it is still early days the atmosphere doesn’t seem healthy .You have to wonder what the players make of Duff.
With the position he finds himself in I can’t understand why he doesn’t go for a simple back four allowing himself an extra midfielder . It’s aneasier system to manage and makes the side more solid An old fashioned Cooper 1-0 win would be welcome at the moment .If he sticks to this chaotic way of playing and we din’t win one of this week’s games he’s going to take his team to Millwall in a fortnight with everyone press and fans on his back
Can we blame the our current situation purely on Duff’s head? In my opinion the owners have run the club down, selling our best players and replacing with those who are not of the same calibra. Young lone players replacing the likes of Manning. It’s a mess due to the change in playing style. Is Duff tearing up a playing blueprint that has has been in place for more than a decade, dooes Duff think that we have not got the players to succeed with the technical passing game?
No of course it isn’t all Duff’s fault but we have to ask ourselves is he getting the bedt out of the players available .I think the answer is no .
He needs a win soon or he ‘ll be fighting for more than a victory .He’ll be fighting for his future.
I’ve heard whispers that the training is old school, if you remember the Burnley sides they were scrappers who attacked quickly , ok we needed to evolve as passing was sometimes excessive but it seems we have got the polar opposite in the Sam Alladyce mould
You are correct. The training is very old school, often without the ball. His guru is not Allardyce but Dyche, but the result is the same.
I looked at the bench during the game, Duff didn’t seem to have much support or comment from his own backroom staff to help him identify issues. What the hell does KoL offer? below average player, failed manager at local clubs, hardly someone to inspire belief in players – Swansea need to wipe the slate clean – new staff, new ideas and a manager to inspire and build a team – Duff is totally offering us nothing – sorry everyone needs time but you have to believe they will get it right and I just don’t see anything positive in Duff remaining!!!!
Yes get rid of our manager before it is to late surely there were managers out there who had experience in the Championship and the board were not willing to pay the going rate for them and our passing movement has stopped under Duff and we have a striker in Lowe who is not good enough well it just goes to show them at the top will not invest money for experience players as for the ones they sold again the board we have are just not on the same planet as the supporters as in the past watching the pennies again all these investments coming in all for what to see the club playing in the first division then we will see if them Americans will keep hold of the club I have been a supporter of the swans for well over 50 years and things are going from bad to worse over the past few years with these Americans in charge.
Utterly dismal performance disgusting players should hang their heads in shame I’ve seen better football in the Sunday league if the trend continues we’ll be in the 1st division our next game is at QPR can’t see us getting anything from that game show some pride and start playing like professional footballers earn your wage show some respect to the supporters who by the way PAY YOUR WAGES EARN YOUR MONEY