Silly season in full swing – Swansea City not helping themselves

Silly season is certainly in full swing in SA1 at the moment.   Leaks and speculation is rife over the future of the manager, his staff, the CEO and incomings and outgoing on the player recruitment side.   And all of that is before we think about what players we may sign before the season starts.

Let’s start with the position regards the manager.  Russell Martin is seemingly on his way to Southampton and it was reported by the media almost two weeks ago that agreements were reached and that he would be unveiled at St Mary’s within days.   Days turned into a week, a week into almost two and now we have rumours that the Swans have moved the goalposts on compensation and also that Russell Martin is wanting agreement on players to go with him.  Even suggestions that Southampton had to cancel a press conference, scheduled for Tuesday, because of the changes.

In the middle of all of that will be the truth somewhere but the fact remains, Russell Martin is still Swansea City manager and whilst the whole footballing community accepts he will go to Southampton, we still await the official communication that will confirm his departure from SA1.

Then we move to Julian Winter.    Since Andy Coleman was confirmed a few weeks back everyone has believed he is going.   The fans have discussed it, the press have reported it but nobody has actually said “thanks Julian” in any official capacity from the club.    Andy Coleman did get a bit irritated and the club sent a tweet with some level of a statement but radio silence rules.

Josh Marsh.  He’s going isn’t he?   Or so everyone believed until the point when Wales Online ‘learned’ that he was staying.  So he is staying after all then.    Until it was suggested again last night that he was still going despite the reports saying he was staying.   So he’s staying then.   Or going.   One of them.

Paul Watson sits in the middle of this somewhere too.   He’s coming from Luton we were told well over a month back.   After the play off final.   At the start of June.    He’s replacing Marsh.   No wait he’s working alongside him.   Or has he changed his mind?   The fact is nobody really knows what’s happening here.  We still think he is coming but nobody has confirmed one way or the other.

Andy Coleman we referenced earlier with his very odd tweet on speculation which is “not OK” and then we have Jake Silverstein and his disclosure on social media private messages (that didn’t end private) and we know that if the deal between Martin and Southampton did break down then it would be almost impossible for him to return to a working relationship based on the indiscretion of one of our owners.

It all as the feel of another shambles about it if I am honest.   Coleman and Silverstein can bemoan the amount of speculation all they like but the silence of the ownership group – which has been existent almost every year since we dropped out of the Premier League – causes most of the issue.

The futures of Winter and Marsh will be known.   So tell us what they are.  Remove any doubt.   The discussions on Martin may be ongoing and protracted but there is no harm in telling us that the approach is there and Martin wants to go with discussions ongoing.   You do not need to disclose the finer detail of any discussions or agreements but you kill the speculation.    Rumours and misinformation is clouding everything at the moment, simple facts will kill most of that.   And will no doubt show that some of the rumours were right and some of the information was correct.    It’s not difficult.

There is very little doubt that things are being leaked to the media to try and clarify positions – BBC and Wales Online have both become good at “learning” but that isn’t the way to do it.   Let’s hear from those running the ship at the moment because frankly we aren’t looking very clever the way it is all playing out.

These things happen in football.  Discussions become elongated,  people come and go and whilst there will always be speculation this has got to the stage where the largest part of the speculation is guesswork and that doesn’t help anyone.    Especially when it hits the press.

Martin and his staff, Winter, Marsh and Watson are all people who have a future currently unsure.    Discussions with Southampton clearly are not as done and dusted as we were led to believe and whilst Winter (and Marsh?) seem gone and Watson seem in, nothing is certain as yet.

This isn’t a case of wanting the club to comment on every level of speculation – that would be a full time job in itself – but on occasions like this the simple thing is to tell us exactly what is happening and kill those discussions almost with one quick pounding of the keyboard.

For what its worth – Martin and the four will be at Southampton by a week Saturday.   Winter (and Marsh in time) will both depart with Watson coming in and the Swans new manager will be in place by the end of the month.    Guesswork and speculation only!   Can’t wait for the transfer window to open…

As has been said before, never a dull moment!