Planet Swans ArchivesSwansea City chief scout and former Norwich City striker Kevin Reeves believes that Glenn Roeder’s side will provide a tough test for Roberto Martinez’s squad.
Swansea’s unbeaten home run of form spanning back to April came to an abrupt end on Tuesday night as Watford stunned the Swans to go through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup. After making wholesale changes to the side that beat the Hornets so convincingly just 52 hours earlier, Martinez rested key players ahead of Saturday’s trip to Norfolk. Speaking after the Liberty Stadium club’s solid start to the season Reeves told the Norwich Evening News of his delight at the clubs current position, he said, “We are pleased with the way things have gone so far after coming up from the league below. The Championship is a tough league with some fantastic teams but we have held our own in the league in every game except when we played at Reading, but they are a very good side and they beat us 4-0.The first priority when you’re promoted is to stay in the league, that’s the key thing, but then you set yourself different targets over the year. We are on the fringes of the play-offs and we’d love to stay there.”
In 1977 Reeves moved from Bournemouth to Norwich City for a fee believed to be in the region of a measly £50,000 which proved to be a shrewd investment by then Canaries boss John Bond. After flirting with relegation for a number of seasons Bond answered the call from Manchester City and subsequently took the helm at Maine Road. Before his switch to the Blues Bond had made Reeves one of the first players in the British football history to be sold for £1 million as the Burley born player made the much anticipated switch to the blue side of Manchester.
Reeves has become an integral part of Swansea City’s recent success and has been a key figure in recruiting Swansea City’s increasing foreign legion. Dutchman Ferrie Bodde has earned high praise indeed from the 51 year old and has outlined his respectability as the clubs chief scout as he alludes too, “I have a couple of really good scouts who do match assessments on the opposition, which frees me up to bring players to the club. We have recruited from quite a few countries in Europe. With Robbie being Spanish that’s a big area for us. He also likes Dutch players so we have a couple of them in the squad, and Scotland and Ireland are places I tend to go more than anywhere else.” outlined Reeves. ““There are one or two players from other countries, but that’s more through contacts than me watching them. The majority have stepped up to it really well, the players are comfortable on the ball, and we know they’re capable of playing Championship football.
Possessing such a strong midfield quintet at the club there are so many options for Martinez and everyone has played their part as Reeves attests too,“We have a strong midfield which has been fairly steady with Britton, Bodde, Pratley and Gomez, Garry Monk has been excellent as captain, and Jason Scotland up front. Everyone has played his part. But Ferrie Bodde has scored some great goals so he’s one who has probably taken the eye individually more than anyone else.”
With coffers to strengthen in January empty , the Carrow Road club could be embroiled in a relegation fight this season after lying just two points off the drop zone at this early stage of the season but Norwich will provide formidable opposition to Swansea City come Saturday afternoon; But Reeves has been surprised by the position his former club find themselves in “There are some very good players at the club and this is a real test for us. The fan base is fantastic with anything from 22,000 to 25,000 at every game, they try to play the right way and pass the ball around. I am surprised to see them in the bottom six. I expected them to kick on this season but it’s still early. It’s only a matter of time but, as they always say, as long it’s after the weekend.”
