People are judging Coleman and the results are plain to see

The first home league game of the season is a traditional highly attended game,  fans will normally head back in their numbers to catch a first home glimpse at the new summer signings and see how the work of pre-season pans out.

For the Swans that first home league game arrived yesterday afternoon when Preston North End arrived in SA1 and were duly despatched by the Swans in a 3-0 win that was as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests even though it was clear to see that there is still work to be done and whilst the positives were good, the better news (if you look at it that way) is that there are still definite improvements that can be made.

It is no wonder that Luke Williams was a happy man when he addressed the press yesterday evening and he knows that next Sunday he will be greeted with a near capacity crowd as Cardiff arrive in SA1 for the first of the two South Wales derby clashes of the season.

Behind the scenes though this morning there should be much concern at those who control the purse strings as to exactly why there were so many empty seats around the Swansea.com Stadium.   An official attendance – referenced on the Swans TV commentary – of just over 14,000 was placed against a reality picture that there were certainly less than 13,000 in the Stadium with best guesses maybe suggesting that number was nearer 12,000.   For the first home game of a league season that is a worrying statistic and certainly a reflection of the fact that the club remains in decline under the current ownership model.

This was a point that we raised on X yesterday evening, generating a huge amount of responses (and in fairness not all were in agreement with the view) but the general response is an overall indication that the fans have done exactly what Andy Coleman asked them to do and that is judge him by his actions.

If todays attendance is not a message for Andy Coleman then he may never get a clearer one

The fans are voting with their feet at the general way we are run and that sits firmly at the feet of Coleman, Levien and the rest of the leeches

They’ve been judged by their actions!…

— SwansNews (@swansnews) August 17, 2024

Andy Coleman arrived in Swansea in May 2023.   During that time he is just coming to the end of his third transfer window, he appointed (and sacked just a few months later) Michael Duff and spent a month looking to replace him when he made that decision to dispense with Duff in December.   He has constantly talked about our windows being planned out and that we will take action early and in the second and third he is proving that we leave things to the last minute.   The less said about the first of the windows he oversaw the better and signatures since that first window have been sparse although, in the interests of balance, have generically been better.

We continually here that “it is difficult to get deals over the line” but as much of that will be down to the way that we undertake our negotiation business as it is a genuinely difficult position to get deals over the line.   After all, other sides seem to manage it.   Last season we were prompting up the club’s finances to the tune (at the end of the season) of £2.5m per month, some of which is down to poor previous transfer business but some of that is down to the fact that we have allowed general expenses to spiral out of control and, no matter what people tell you, there is no way that Coleman and Gude (and anyone else you want to include here) is working here free of charge.

The club – as we know – has been being prepared for a sale for several years now but there is also a reason why buyers have not been overly forthcoming.   In eight years of this ownership group we have regressed from a side that was relatively comfortable (but never totally safe) in the Premier League to one that is what you would class as lower mid table in the Championship at best.   Pushes for the play offs under Steve Cooper have been replaced by an over reliance on average Championship players on a frequent basis and a style of football that doesn’t resemble the Swansea Way as often as we are told our strategy desires it to be.

These are all reasons why the empty seats were more prevalent around the Swansea.com Stadium yesterday.  People are simply voting with their feet.  Too many have progressed from being season ticket holders to occasional attendees at the stadium and, with the development of the new Sky deal and the readily available TV coverage outside it, people are just choosing not to attend matches more and more.

The new ownership continually work with “our Supporters’ Trust” (words used by Andy Coleman in yesterday’s programme) around the matchday experience but all seem to have lost sight of the fact that the matchday experience for a football fan is determined by the performance and result on the pitch and all too often in recent seasons that has been left so far lacking that people don’t turn up.   Steve Cooper and Russell Martin were not backed in the way that they wanted and now both manage in the Premier League whilst, as good as the four signings have been this summer, we are anywhere between four and six more players short of having a squad that can compete at a higher level in this division on a consistent basis.  Yesterday’s performance was good but it will take a shift much more than ninety minutes to entice people back to the stadium on a frequent basis.

So whilst there can no doubt be excuses referenced for yesterday’s attendance the reality remains that they are just that – excuses.  The facts remain that Andy Coleman asked us to judge him on his actions and that is exactly what many are already doing.  We know that next week will be a big crowd and big attendance but games against Norwich, Bristol City and Stoke that follow that will tell a very different story and no amount of different music, food, flags and other initiatives will change that – quality signings made with intent to improve the team will do that.

And if those aren’t realisations that are dawning this morning behind the scenes then there will be more bumpy days ahead as more people become disillusioned with the club.   Andy Coleman is not going to turn the way that people are feeling around overnight (apathy is a word I heard several times yesterday) but he has to start making strides in the right direction relatively quickly or the reality could be that a league attendance could drop below 10,000.

It’s over to you Andy.