Phil Sumbler
An early goal could not lift the mood at the Swansea.com stadium for long as Stoke hit back with two quick first half goals and a late third killer goal to leave SA1 with all three points to the sound of more than frustration from the home crowd.
Or at least that was what was left of the home crowd as most headed for the exit when the third goal went in but in truth a crowd again of less than 16,000 suggests that more than a few fans are now turning their back on the team and the brand of football that Russell Martin has embedded through the club.
The manager talks about one of his aims when he was bought to the club was a return to the Swansea Way but, and it has been said before, this is not the Swansea way. Slow, laborious, meaningless passes with a lack of urgency is not the “Swansea way” that saw sides under Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup be so successful. Those teams were built on sharp, incisive passing that broke through defences the way it was created. The football we see now is, at times, no quicker than walking football and watched by an opposition defence who know that the Swans largely do not have the movement to break them down.
Defensively we have been making the same mistakes week in week out for most of the season but the manager seems unable to stop them and we are constantly told that we are “brave” and will “be better” from the hurt that we currently feeling. It doesn’t seem to be happening though on either front which makes you wonder whether time is now up.
His reaction at the end when it was suggested to him that his side was outplayed and short of confidence was to call it a “lazy assessment” but it was an assessment – lazy or otherwise – with which so many watching the game would have disagreed.
When Morgan Whittaker, making his first start since his return from loan at Plymouth last month, finished well in the second minute you wondered if it was the catalyst to a better night for the Swans but the reality was it ended up as good as it got.
Defensive shakiness saw us 2-1 down inside twenty minutes as Wood, Darling and Cabango looked flustered at best with the big signing of the summer hauled off at the half hour mark to be replaced by Olivier Ntcham.
Was that a brave move or was it to prevent Darling from any more mistakes at the back, mistakes that have far outweighed the positives of his performances since his summer move from Martin’s former club in MK Dons.
The truth was whatever it was it didn’t make a huge amount of difference. The Swans can point to chances for Piroe and Whittaker again but the reality is we never looked like clawing our way back into the game from the moment we went 2-1 down.
The late goal was a breakaway caused by the Swans “pushing” for an equaliser but the stark reality was 73% second half possession meant what it so often does for this side – absolutely nothing of note.
On Saturday after a late goal sent us to defeat at Blackburn we wondered if we had run out of options and based by the reaction at the end of the match last night many people think that we actually have.
Whether the ever absent and largely silent ownership group think that we have remains to be seen but for many (85% if a post match poll of more than 300 is to be believed) the time seems to be up on Russell Martin’s tenure here.
It’s Rotherham next on Monday night, let’s see what happens next. In many ways.
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This IS the final straw. He has to go!
The idiot hasn’t got a clue!
Play offs have long gone, crowds are dwindling!
We must be hading for League One with this man!
We couldn’t beat a good League Two side with him at the helm!
Stop the rot now and give him his P.45 for goodness sake!
Bad as the football has been in recent weeks last night seemed different and far worse.The crowd were resigned to defeat despite the early goal with the majority having given up on Martin and his extreme tactics .Why would you have two of your worst tevhnical players in Wood and Cabango constantly taking short passes in front of your own goal ?That alone sets the tempo for the rest of the team .The opposition know all about it and counter it .We have now successfully caught Wigan as the team conceding most goals .
The worst thing about last night’s game and the greatest criticism of Martin was that we were disorganised – as the game went on it became hard to know who was playing where.
The players have clearly lost confidence in the manager and the only thing that can keep him in a job is the reluctance of the Americans to pay him off .
Martin is living in his own closed world in which he thinks the Swans are better now than they were 12 months ago. Really ? All I can see is that we are getting worse and not far off the relegation zone. Let’s hope we survive, but what of the future ? More of the same next season is my guess ! I have had no confidence in Martin and his coaching methods for some time and change is badly needed as rectifying the team’s problems seems to be beyond him. How about Joe Allen as player-coach ?
I have tried to give Martin the benefit of the doubt but can now see clearly it’s time for change. Our football is far too slow and predictable, weak at set pieces, no width etc etc….
When it gets as predictable as our football is then it really does need a change in approach. This is nothing like the ‘Swansea way’ so I would be keen to understand why Martin thinks it is, misguided and Sunday league approach at best….pay him off and let’s start to wake the team up again.