Phil Sumbler
When Swansea City signed nobody in the January transfer window of 2023 there was said to be a full review of the club’s transfer operations to ensure that we never made the same mistakes again.
Changes in personnel ahead of the summer window of last year saw Andy Coleman and Paul Watson arrive and oversee the arrival of thirteen players in the summer window. A mixture of loan players and permanent transfers, some for significant outlays of money and the cub were clearly happy with their activity under their new manager – Michael Duff.
Speaking after that particular window closed, Club Chairman Andy Coleman said “The recruitment team has brought 13 players into the first team, the most Swansea has added to the squad during a transfer window, since its return to the Championship.
“Paul and his team were able to generate significant return for the club through player sales, despite some of those players entering the final year of their respective contracts. Even considering the departures, we have strengthened the club in key positions, added significant depth, acquired assets and brought in high-level first team talent via loans from top Premier League clubs.
“We are now focusing on strengthening the football department so that we are in the best possible position heading into each successive transfer window.”
Fast forward six months and two of those players – Nathan Tjoe-A-On and Kristian Pedersen are both now elsewhere on loan and it was strongly rumoured that two more in Jerry Yates and Mykola Kuharevich were possible departures yesterday should the right offers have come in.
We were told that months of preparation went into the January window which gave some confidence in quarters that we could work early in the window and avoid the last minute panic that always seems to come around in the January window (or the summer one for that matter)
In December the Swans made the decision to sack Michael Duff and the best part of a month progressed as we looked for his replacement – eventually settling on Luke Williams who took his place at the start of January. However the preparation for the window continued and Coleman reassured supporters at the start of December that those preparations would not be hindered by the search for the new manager
“Over the last several months,” opened Coleman. “We have been building the foundations of our data and analysis infrastructure that supports the football department to ensure we have an elite football operation. That process is bearing fruit in the head coach search and Paul Watson has been critical in implementing these improvements. It has also enhanced our capabilities ahead of the January transfer window, and our preparations for that—which have been ongoing since September—have not been affected by the head coach search.”
Those words echoed the words of a month before when Coleman said “What I can tell you is we are investing in data, we are investing in scouting, we are investing in [sporting director] Paul Watson and others and we are planning not only for January but for other windows as well.
“We have the ability here to move very quickly and make those decisions to improve this football club.
“I have told you before: don’t tell me what you are going to do, show me what you have done. The summer was a great success.
“One of the things we needed to learn from [experiences at] this football club and others, was looking at windows in a very narrow band.
“We have changed our mindset now to think three windows out. We are planning not only for January but for next summer and the next January.
“That’s the only way we can build a consistent pipeline of players coming through that improve the football club.”
Now with severe doubt cast over the success of the summer window the Swans meticulous planning for the January window ended with a triple signing inside the last four days. Ronald’s arrival on Monday was added to yesterday by the loan capture of Charles Sagoe Jr and, very close to the end of the window, the confirmation that we had signed Przemyslaw Placheta from Norwich on a short term deal until the end of the season.
I can fully accept that planning can not always go to , well plan, and Luke Williams himself talked earlier in the week that we had missed out on a couple of targets due to league position and similar challenges but it still leads most people to beg to question just how good our transfer planning is. And that is without thinking of the folly that we seem determined to be driven by a data model.
I sincerely hope that the three players that we signed certainly make an impression in the time they have at the club. We certainly seem to have added pace which has been sadly lacking in the squad for many years so that has to be a step forward. The concern this time around will come possibly not so much from the number of additions but the damming view we have now taken on the activities of the summer.
Josh Key and Carl Rushworth would be the only two players you would say have had a consistent impact from that window and one of those players isn’t technically ours. The other loan signings have added depth to the squad if nothing else and the fact that we have looked to move on a third of the signings tells you much about the decisions that were made back then. It doesn’t give huge confidence for anything going forward?
Andy Coleman talked about being judged on his actions and he certainly will be. No matter how a January transfer window works (and there are plenty that tell you how difficult it is to navigate) we have to remember that it happens every year (my calendar certainly has a January every year anyway) and we should learn and be able to plan accordingly for how it works out. For every Plan A, if things can change quickly then a Plan B, C, D and even beyond should be available.
I won’t’ question too much here our decision to bring in another loan player in this window – I fear we remain way too reliant on loan signings every year and this creates some of our problems – but we have signed players who, based on what we have read, have attributes that the squad needs so we have to be hopeful that it will be for our benefit.
Because if it is not then the questions being asked of Coleman, Watson and the whole recruitment team will become louder and more critical.
And how long now until we are told that the planning for the summer window has already started? Let’s hope it is as detailed as it should be.
