Planet Swans ArchivesAfter the disaster that was the summer transfer window, Swans fans hoped – but probably in hope more than expectation – that it may be different this time around especially after Graham Potter had steered us within sight of the play offs and with a real chance of a second successive FA Cup quarter final.
But on transfer deadline day we woke up to this Tweet from Stuart James which says
All the makings of another abysmal deadline day ahead for Swansea. Dan James is set to sign for Leeds. He wants to go & a deal of some description will get agreed. Understand there's a very strong possibility that Leroy Fer & Jefferson Montero will leave too.
— Stuart James (@stujames75) January 31, 2019
We fully accept that this is nothing more than speculation at the moment but the departure of James, Fer and Montero with no sign of any replacements coming in is a statement that contradicts completely the claim made by our Chairman a few weeks back that we did what we did in the summer to try and build a promotion back to the Premier League.
That statement was as stupid then as it is now as the club seem hell bent on cashing in on the first opportunity for any of their players without having any plan for actually keeping the squad in the competitive nature that a football club simply has to be.
And they do this on the backdrop of a Championship club that has extensive behind the scene wages headed by a (self styled) CEO/DOF, COO and a global head of partnerships amongst others, all roles that show we are happy to live outside our means off the pitch but not on it. Business plan flawed when your main business is that of playing football.
The rumours between Leeds and Dan James have been rife all month and now it seems will come true at the 11th hour which shows that mistakes of previous transfers (anyone remember Gylfi Sigurdsson?) have not been learned and you can bet your bottom dollar (irony) that it will be a deal that sees us receive a small amount of money but probably a whole host of add ons that will probably include Leeds being involved in a Brexit deal before we get every penny through the door.
The club have long since talked about needing to sell players when they want to move but it seems to be only a rule that applies to players that play for us. Remember Ryan Woods he seemingly wanted to leave Brentford for Swansea in the summer and – putting aside your thoughts on the quality of the player – we failed to pull off that deal because Brentford held out for what they felt was a reasonable price. Not giving players away for a pittance under a claim that the player either wanted to leave or we couldn’t risk losing him for a free at some point in the future.
If the tweet from Stuart James is to be believed then it is a total kick in the teeth for Potter who has maintained all month that players in would depend on players out. Well it does look as if we are heading for players out and nobody coming in. Unless of course we can get a last minute deal through for N’gog, Emnes or Andy King. Don’t rule it out, you know somewhere it’s probably been discussed.
It is relatively clear that if this plays it out as has been predicted this morning that the owners and board have no desire to try and get this club into the Premier League and each of them is interested in self preservation rather than the best for the club. We have had ‘potential investment needed’ statements from the COO, we did this to win promotion from the DOF and no doubt at some point ‘Steve and Jason’ will issue a joint statement explaining what they have done with some justification for how we need to be together and understanding as they are doing the best for the club.
Today will be a very interesting day and pivotal as to where the club should be heading next but it is clear that changes are needed. If sales are essential to balance the books then those responsible for moving them into this precarious state should not be allowed to continue let alone draw attractive salaries in the process of continuing.
It will also add a question mark to how the manager reacts to the reduction of quality in his squad. He has been honest all window on what he thought would happen (incomings will happen only in the event of sales) so I wonder how he would feel if it was just sales (and first team regular sales at that) with no incomings. I know how I would feel, will be interested to see his feelings.
Either way the next 12 hours or so will be vitally interesting and could create a very different Swansea City at the end of it.
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