Rob Davies
It seems that the sinking ship that is Swansea City gets more bizarre by the day, much like the comments coming from boss – for now – Michael Duff.
We were led to believe by Barnsley fans that he had brought the fans and team together through good winning football, positive soundbites in the media and a positive vibe around the camp.
That couldn’t be further from where we are today.
The pressure is clearly beginning to show for the former Burnley defender and his latest comments following last night’s dire draw at QPR just exacerbate an already bad situation.
Over the weekend we began to hear rumours on social media that the players and Duff were at loggerheads and his recent comments will do nothing to bridge the perceived gap between the two camps.
He said: “My job’s not to win the fans over.
“My job’s to win games. If they’ve made their mind up, they’ve made their mind up.
“The Bristol City game wasn’t good enough. There was no intensity. The Cardiff game, we’ve shown the players. The reason it looks like there’s a lack of identity is that we’re doing certain things in training and then on matchday they’re doing their own thing.
“They’ve been shown that. Today I’ve said to them, if you can guarantee that shape, togetherness and spirit. Then you can start focusing on other parts of the game.
“At the minute it’s half an hour there, 20 minutes there, an hour there, an hour against Preston, and we feel the pressure a little bit.
“It’s about sticking to the process. You build teams on foundations, on solid foundations, on non-negotiables, and then you can build on the other stuff. I’m not naive enough to forget that I haven’t won a game yet.
“But if people have already made their mind up, they’ve already made their mind up.
“If I don’t win a game, then I’ll get the sack anyway. That’s not just me. That’s anyone in football. But I think there were lots of positives today.”
Duff said he had a text from the chairman and owners in the last few days as the pressure builds on his position at Swansea.
“I had a text from the chairman this morning.
“And I had a text from the owner over the weekend. The Saturday game magnifies it because of who it is.
“It wasn’t a brilliant performance. But it’s been explained to them why because there were two weeks where we worked on things and then on actual matchday the players are doing their own thing. They’ve been shown that and shown it doesn’t work. But today people stuck to task.”
I’ve been a manager, admittedly at a considerably lower level than Duff, and when you start to speak out against your team, saying that your instructions are being ignored, then it shows you have no authority in the role.
This team is largely Duff’s – 7 of his new signings started at Cardiff. So if they won’t listen to him, why not?
Answers on a postcard to Cheltenham.
What we saw last night was primitive at best. 2 sides previously known for good football reduced to lumping it up for some head tennis. Dire stuff. Duff has made no connection to club or fans, or seemingly the players, just doing his job of work within his limitations. Get him gone.
The first 10 or 15 might be the Duff blueprint to me. Ran QPR into the ground, won possession back time and time again, made the opposition look sooooo poor on the ball. Then: foot off the gas. Dropping off. Skipping challenges. So I wonder: can this team sustain a hard press for long periods? There has been little pressure on the ball in other games, although Duff calls that a hallmark of his approach. Some of the incomings are hard workers first and foremost, which points to the same. Fielding Yates and Lowe at Cardiff is going for the press. Then: nothing, 50/50 balls in-behind, basic errors, reliance on one-twos and 1v1s, no patterns. Duff needs them to do a full 90 minutes of rough and tumble, peak aggression and crisp passing overloading the opposition, but hasn’t seen more than half an hour of sustained effort so far. Will he get there?
The periods of games the players have ‘done their own thing’ is when we have looked half decent. Duff has a go and or and half time gets them pjaying kick and rush.