Matt WilliamsSwansea were given some respite this week after last weekend’s humiliating 4-0 loss to Sheffield United. They were set to face Bournemouth on Tuesday, but the game was postponed due to poor weather.
On Monday, Swansea travel to West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies find themselves in 11th after a poor run of form, although they are still eight points and six places above The Swans.
Their January Transfer Window
First team signings
With Valerien Ismael’s time almost up, West Brom kicked off their January window by signing Daryl Dike. The American striker was prolific under Ismael at Barnsley last season while on loan from Orlando City. The 21-year-old forward has scored three in eight games for the US national team.
The Baggies added their second striker on 28th January, bringing Andy Carroll in on a free transfer. Carroll has proved to be a real handful for Swansea over the years, even scoring for Reading against The Swans earlier this season.
First team outgoings
Robert Snodgrass was the only player to depart The Hawthorns on a permanent basis. On deadline day, the Scottish international left by mutual consent. He is yet to find a new club but has been linked with several SPL clubs.
Meanwhile, West Brom loaned out Callum Morton to Peterborough. They also sent three players on loan to lower league clubs, with Kevin Johnson, Jamie Soule and Owen Windsor joining Kettering, Cheltenham and Carlisle respectively.
Their Captain
West Brom are captained by a former England international. Jake Livermore played seven times for his national side between 2012-2017.
He began his career at Tottenham, although much of his first four years were spent on loan. He played his first senior league football on loan at MK Dons in 2007-08 before four Championship loan spells at Derby, Peterborough, Ipswich and Leeds. He made his Premier League debut in the 2009-10 season.
In 2011-12, Harry Redknapp brought Livermore into the first team at Tottenham. He played 24 league games and also made eight Europa League appearances. However, his playing time was limited in 2012-13 which led to a loan spell at Hull City the following season.
He was a regular for then-Premier League Hull, missing just two of their top-flight games. He also scored three Premier League goals for The Tigers as they avoided relegation. This led to a permanent move to Hull, where he spent three more seasons.
Midway through the 2016-17 campaign, Livermore made the switch to fellow Premier League side West Brom where he has remained ever since. He has played 177 league games for The Baggies, including 45 in their promotion campaign in 2019-20.
He has made 25 appearances so far this season.
Their Top Scorer
After a difficult first season at The Hawthorns, Karlan Grant has found form this season in the Championship.
He started his career at Charlton. His first four seasons were largely unproductive but a prolific loan spell at Crawley saw him become a key player for Charlton in 2018-19. He scored 14 in 28 League One games, earning him a January move to Premier League side Huddersfield. There he scored four in 13 games as Huddersfield suffered relegation.
He followed that with an excellent Championship campaign, scoring 19 in 43 games. His goalscoring form attracted West Brom’s attention. They paid a reported £15 million for his services but it took him some time to start repaying their faith. He scored just one goal in 21 Premier League games as West Brom plummeted back to the Championship.
However, this season has been more productive for Grant. He has scored 10 goals for West Brom so far.
Their manager
This weekend sees one of the league’s most inexperienced managers meet one of its most experienced. Russell Martin’s Swansea side travel to The Hawthorns to face Steve Bruce’s Baggies. Bruce was appointed earlier this month after Valerien Ismael’s sacking.
Bruce began his playing career in the Third Division at Gillingham. He was a regular for the lower league side, earning a move to top-flight Norwich in 1984. There, he won the League Cup in his first season as Norwich were relegated. However, they were immediately promoted back to the top tier, winning the Second Division title in the process.
He moved to Manchester United during the 1987-88 season. During his nine seasons at The Red Devils, Bruce won three Premier League titles as well as three FA Cups, one League Cup, three Charity Shields, the European Cup Winners’ Cup and European Super Cup. He made more than 300 top-flight appearances under Alex Ferguson.
He finished his playing career with short spells at Birmingham and Sheffield United before hanging up his boots in 1999, serving as player-manager for the latter.
Since retiring, Bruce has managed 11 different English clubs. He started out at Sheffield United before taking the Huddersfield job in May 1999. He then managed Wigan for the final two months of the 2000-01 season.
Bruce moved to Crystal Palace in May 2001 but remained in charge for less than six months. This was followed by his longest managerial spell to date. He joined Birmingham in December 2001 and remained in charge for almost six years. He led Birmingham to the automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2006-07. However, disagreements with the board led to him departing for a second Wigan spell in November 2007. Wigan paid £3 million to secure his services, a record at the time.
Bruce managed Wigan until the end of the 2008-09 season, departing for Sunderland. This was controversial as Bruce is a fan of their rivals Newcastle. He was sacked in November 2011 after a poor run of results.
He remained without a job until 2012 when he was appointed Hull boss. His first season was a success, clinching second place in the Championship. He led them to a 16th-place finish in the top-flight the following season with The Tigers also reaching the FA Cup final. They lost to Arsenal but still secured a place in the Europa League for the next season.
Hull were relegated in 2014-15 but made an immediate return via the playoffs in 2016. Despite this success, Bruce resigned that summer.
Since departing Hull, Bruce has managed Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and most recently Newcastle. He joined West Brom on 3rd February but has had a difficult start. He is yet to secure his first win as Baggies boss. Since his arrival they have picked up one point, losing the other three games.
Previous Meeting
After triumphing in the first South Wales derby of the season, Swansea welcomed West Brom to the Swansea.com Stadium in October.
It took just one minute for the visitors to open the scoring. The aforementioned Karlan Grant struck from close range after a defensive mix-up, giving Swansea a tough task. West Brom held on to their 1-0 lead at half-time.
However, Swansea were much improved in the second half. An impressive long ball from Jamie Paterson found Joel Piroe, who struck home from close distance, showing flashes of Michu with his calm finish. The two linked up again with seven minutes to go as Paterson flicked the ball between ex-Swan Kyle Bartley’s legs before drilling his shot beyond Sam Johnstone.
Swansea held on, securing back-to-back wins for the first time all season.
Final score – Swansea City 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Match Preview
Ahead of Monday’s game, Russell Martin spoke to the media. He announced that Swansea have “a full squad pretty much to train with.” Only Nathanael Ogbeta remains out, but Martin said he should be back next week.
Swansea have had a longer rest than the hosts, who lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough on Tuesday. They will be expecting their first win under Bruce on Monday, especially with Andy Carroll’s history of strong performances against The Swans.
Expect a cagey game between two sides in poor form. Swansea will need to keep Grant and Carroll under wraps.
After Monday’s game, Swansea return to the Swansea.com Stadium to host Coventry on Saturday.
