The talking needs to stop, it is time to deliver – no excuses!

If there was one thing to define the Swansea City season of 2023/2024 other than a series of bad decisions in the boardroom it is a constant stream of words from the playing staff that have, in the most, failed to materialise into actions on the pitch.

From the days of Michael Duff when “togetherness” was the key buzz word rolled out in interviews by almost any player that was selected to speak to the press/  Now, with the Swans looking nervously over their shoulders at the relegation zone it is a desire/promise to be better that creates the narrative but this simply has to transfer itself into performances on the pitch.

It has been a strange few weeks for Luke Williams as new manager of Swansea City.   Seven league games have resulted in four points won but when four of those games are against sides in the division’s top four teams then he has been given an almost “free hit” with an excuse trotted out by many (inside and outside the club) of the difficult fixture list.

The alarming part is those four games yielded three goals four and twelve against with criticism rightfully aimed at the team that they had simply not competed in the games.   Indeed, in all four of those games the scoreline could have been much worse as sides tore through a non existent midfield and defence with some ease especially Leeds, Southampton and Leicester.   Even last Saturday where the Swans put in an improved performance it needed two sharp saves from Carl Rushworth to keep the scoreline to some level of respectability.

With those games now out of the way, the Swans have five games between now and the next international break.   Sunderland (10th) is followed by Blackburn (16th), Watford (11th) and Bristol City (12th) before we close this run of games with the home game against Cardiff (14th) and it will not be lost on everyone at the club that there simply has to be wins in this run of fixtures.

At the end of that run of games there will be no excuses of playing the top teams – we are playing a series of mid table teams and that is right now as much as we can aspire to be.  The Swans in reality need four to five more wins to ensure Championship football next season and, as a minimum, two of them need to appear in the next run of games to take that pressure away.

We know that Luke Williams is new into his role and we know he is trying to bring a different way of playing into the squad.  In fairness, some of the signs have been good even during this last run of fixtures but, as he says, we cannot just produce for short periods in games we have to produce for whole games if we are to get the results that we need.

“Once we get used to the way of working and what the gaffer wants us to do, I think things will click and performances will improve, but we have to make sure that is the case,” said Josh Tymon after the weekend defeat to Ipswich.

“We are not a million miles off, we have had a tough run and we are getting used to a style of play we want to have moving forward.

“The lads who came in during January have giving us something a bit different and we just need to improve over this last third of the season.

“The manager wants that high intensity and the full-backs to drive forward and break the lines, from my perspective that suits me perfectly.”

It was a sentiment backed by Jamie Paterson who said “We have one lapse in concentration and it puts the pressure on again. It’s something we need to work on because that’s happened a few times.

“It doesn’t feel great because of the run of results that we’ve had, but we need to stick together and take the positives from pushing a side who are near the top of the table.

“It’s well documented that we’ve had a tough run of fixtures, but I feel like we’ve more than matched a good team here.

“We just need to stay positive. We need to get some wins under our belt and obviously we’ve got Sunderland away next. That’s another tough game so it’s not getting any easier.

“We just need to stick together, keep plugging away because I feel we’re not far off being a good team.”

These words are all well and good but we need to see them turn into consistent performances on the pitch.   One of the biggest criticisms of recent weeks has been what appears to be a lack of fight and desire in the squad.   Whether that is true or not probably isn’t that relevant but it is the perception given off and one that is hard to argue with when you watch the ease in which teams have gone through us.

It is clear from what is being said that the squad do believe in what they are saying but that belief has to transfer itself into performances on the pitch ad those performances have to turn into results otherwise the fight for survival gets bigger and that will be the time when we really do see the desire of the players.

Actions speak louder than words.   Ask Andy Coleman.