The lack of ambition from upstairs plays its way through on the pitch

Tuesday, 29 October 2024, 7:49
28
6 mins read

It was the summer of 2016 when the ownership changed at Swansea City.ย  ย After fifteen years of unparalleled success the local ownership group that had steered the club from the edge of bankruptcy to a first major trophy and five years in the Premier League handed over the keys to a group who promised much.

The words, not long after that takeover was confirmed, will never be forgotten with co-owners Stephen Kaplan and Jason Levien releasing a statement which said “We will be relentless in our determination to continually improve this club, and we do have the financial resources to do so.

“We will be competitive and we will outwork our opponents on the pitch and in the boardroom”ย  ย Words that were published on 19 August 2016.

We now stand more than eight years on with the club in a seventh season outside of the Premier League with a squad that almost everyone that looks at it will tell you lacks depth and a feeling of disillusionment that runs throughout the fanbase.ย  ย We are on the back of a series of transfer windows that have underwhelmed in terms of delivery of both quality and quantity of players and those two co-owners who were so visible in the days of the Premier League have probably even forgotten where Swansea is.

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Through Chris Pearlman, Jake Silverstein and the current charge of Andy Coleman they have sent people to try and build a relationship with the fans but each of them have been aย  part of the club’s history that has seen a series of dreadful decisions made which now see us in the place where we have a fifth permanent manager in the six and a bit years of Championship football and a place where each of them appears to be dealt a gradually weaker hand on the pitch.ย  ย When you look back you remember that Graham Potter had the benefit of the immediate aftermath of the Premier Leeague, Steve Cooper was aided by the last remnants of that top flight squad and Russell Martin was blessed with Joel Piroe who scored more than forty goals in two seasons.ย  ย  Michael Duff was a mistake that equalled the mad decision to appoint Bob Bradley to the club and we move to Luke Williams who is hampered by the position that we have now pretty much sold off all the crown jewels and replaced them from the jewellery section of B&M Bargains.

The squad lacks depth, the squad lacks pace, the squad lacks creativity and the squad lacks goals.ย  ย Luke Williams isn’t getting a tune out of the squad but there will be nobody out there who can convince me that we have anywhere near a squad that can compete on a frequent basis in this division.ย  ย After the weekend defeat to Millwall, Captain Matt Grimes said โ€œWe know we can do it, we have shown enough this year to show we can be a really good team but itโ€™s not quite falling into place at the moment. We have to keep at it.โ€ย  ย He is right, we can show that we can be a really good team but his words completely overlook the fact that we simply cannot do it week in week out and have not done that since Steve Cooper led us to back to back play-off appearances in 2020 and 2021.ย  That squad was on the edges of a return to the Premier League, this squad is heading in the opposite direction.

The strength in depth is not in this squad.ย  ย You could construct an argument that, when fully fit, our first choice eleven is probably good enough but the simple fact is as soon as we need to look deeper into the squad we are looking at average players and certainly a group of players who would struggle to get into squads at many Championship clubs.ย  ย Our lack of ambition means they get good appearance stats and that tells its own story.

The words made in that statement in August 2016 are as hollow now as they probably were back then.ย  Our improvement of this club have seen endless players leave who added much to our squad and been replaced by players who have even struggled for game time.ย  ย The summer window of 2023 was as close to a total disaster that you can get and the signs are the one from 2024 was very little different.ย  ย Those are the summer ones where we have several months to do our work, you can only begin to realise on that basis that the January ones are even worse.ย  ย And that takes some doing.

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Former midfielder Owen Tudur-Jones called it on BBC Radio Wales yesterdayย “I think Swansea’s lack of depth in the squad is starting to show,” he told their breakfast show.

“I think the fact they lost the winger Eom Ji-sung has been a problem. I think the 11 that start games and a couple in reserve, Swansea have a strong 13 or 14 players. Anything beyond that and I think the weakness is showing itself.

“I think that comes down to investment in the summer. Those attacking players who provide and score plenty of goals in the season, they’re few and far between.

“The fact that Swansea have been unable to attract those sort of players, for financial reasons probably, is starting to show itself.”

In the eight years of this ownership group, the whole approach to transfers and player negotiations has been an unmitigated disaster.ย  Just look back at the transfer fees received, the contracts that have expired and, in a true definition of insanity, we are now playing a game of jeopardy it seems on the contracts of Cabango, Darling and Cullen.ย  The sheer fact that yesterday Luke Williams admitted when questioned on whether there has been progress that bridges need to be rebuilt suggests that our normal style of negotiation leaves much to be desired.

“There has been for sure,” said the Swans boss when asked if there had been any talks.ย  “I can’t tell you more than that, other than there has been significant contact since we last spoke in an attempt to get the ball rolling.

“I’ll be honest, I think that because it went so long, there’s some bridges to be built to engage with them again, with their agents and that as well.”

In the early days of this ownership group’s tenure they firmly believed that they could negotiate the same kind of deal that Manchester United or Liverpool demanded and through almost every negotiation since then they have believed they hold the aces.ย  ย However, when aces are held by jokers then there is only ever one result and our current predicament is the outcome of that.

The competitiveness and outworking that we were promised back in August 2016 has proven to be anything but.ย  ย We are not competitive on the pitch and we are not competitive off it.ย  ย And we certainly do not compete in the boardroom.ย  ย It has been suggested several times that to some other clubs who have had dealings with us in recent years that we are maybe seen as the amateurs in the negotiation stakes and it is difficult to disagree.ย  It was certainly let slip to several people when we sold Joe Rodon to Spurs that they hadย  more money earmarked for that deal but we folded quickly.ย  ย It won’t be the first and won’t be the last time either.

It is difficult to see that anything will change within the club whilst these people remain calling the shots.ย  Andy Coleman has proven himself to be vastly out of his depth in the same way that the previously named predecessors were.ย  ย Trevor Birch appeared to buck that trend as he came in with a football background but his time at the club was short lived.ย  ย I suspect trying to work with two hand tied behind your back probably isn’t the easiest thing in the world.

Andy Coleman will eventually move on and no doubt be replaced by someone else.ย  ย He doesn’t make the decisions, he may have more “skin in the game” than someone like Pearlman did but ultimately he is as hamstrung as anyone else who has to deal with the control that is demanded from the other side of the Atlantic.ย  ย That doesn’t change and won’t change.ย  ย Unless they move on but even if that happens – as it widely speculated – does that make it any better?ย  ย The balance to that is it is a struggle to believe it could be any worse.

Until then though our lack of ambition, competence and coherent plan will be there for all to see both on and off the pitch.

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Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.

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Avatar of Pegojack
Pegojack

Alan Curtis

3,852 messages 331 likes
m
magicdaps10

Lee Trundle

1,804 messages 246 likes

Glad to see a bit more going towards the main problem at the club and it needs to be more frequent.
Our voice won't be as loud as it has been in previous battles but their lack of interest will hopefully get the better of them.

Reply 2 Likes

Avatar of waynekerr55
waynekerr55

Alan Waddle

962 messages 50 likes

The fact of the matter was we needed experts to get us on a decent financial setting after the Defacto self appointed DoF left behind a mess. They've shown themselves to be amateurs and that has compounded the mess

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Avatar of Andrew - North Hill
Andrew - North Hill

Alan Waddle

914 messages 376 likes

There isn't anything any of us can really do to change the situation. By now we all know that they aren't going to magically improve and become brilliant football administrators, or start really giving a shit about the club. It isn't going to happen.

Best we can do is vote with our feet (many already are, that's beyond question) but also start managing our own expectations a bit better. For example, not getting excited when we sign quantity over quality in a transfer window (as we've done over the last 18 months) and start banging on about making the play offs. Those days ended when Cooper moved on and the parachute money ended.

We need to be realistic as a fan base and understand the reality of where we are, and accept it's very unlikely it'll get any better until this bunch of charlatans finally go.

Reply 3 Likes

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m
magicdaps10

Lee Trundle

1,804 messages 246 likes

The unrealistic issue has been a big issue for the last handful of seasons with some suggesting we were a top 6 team a couple of seasons back.
Managers have had it in the neck with fans playing on how much the owners have spent! Doesn't matter how much you spend.......its like buying a Pepsi for a ยฃ5 when it's available elsewhere for 50p with this lot at the helm.

Reply 2 Likes

T
T8AD365

First Team Player

315 messages 145 likes

There's been plenty on here this season saying we can finish in the playoffs or we're only a couple of players away from being able to do so, it's delusional and only sets them up for disappointment.

If we can manage to finish between 12th and 16th then it will have been a decent season. I dread to think what we've got to look forward to next season though

Reply 1 Like

Avatar of Andrew - North Hill
Andrew - North Hill

Alan Waddle

914 messages 376 likes

Spot on, and that leads to threads being set up titled:

"[Insert manager name here] OUT"

When all the manager is, really, is just a human flak shield for a set of clowns who bought into a professional football club and don't know how to run it.

The delusions help no one.

Reply 2 Likes

Avatar of Nocountryforoldjack
Nocountryforoldjack

Roger Freestone

5,973 messages 112 likes

My expectations are we will go down.

Reply Like

C
CurtessECarr

Tommy Hutchison

1,239 messages 32 likes

In fairness I've felt like that at this stage of the season on numerous occasions since our stint in this division. Somehow, someway we tend to go on a little run and avoid what I'm sure what will become inevitable in the near future. Not being able to score any goals makes that little run become more unlikely at this moment in time.

Reply 1 Like

m
magicdaps10

Lee Trundle

1,804 messages 246 likes

To be fair, if we had 2 or 3 decent players at the top end then we could really push on.
BUT the reality is the board won't push on with it and if they did then they would likely get it wrong and have spent a few million in doing so.......but the usual crowd would say that we are top X spent and the yanks are providing money without actually getting the light bulb moment that each and everytime it's been wasted.

We can always just call for the managers head ๐Ÿ™ˆ

Reply 2 Likes

Phil Sumbler

Been watching the Swans since the very late 1970s and running the Planet Swans website (in all its current and previous guises since the summer of 2001 As it stood JackArmy.net was right at the forefront of some of the activity against Tony Petty back in 2001, breaking many of the stories of the day as fans stood against the actions where the local media failed. Was involved with the Swans Supporters Trust from 2005, for the large part as Chairman before standing down in the summer of 2020.

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