Groundhog Day – Its all the same words but where are the actions Andy?

Andy Coleman has started again the words that follow a transfer window and there is more than a small feeling of Groundhog Day about his words as he defended what appears to be another poor window by determining that we are in a better position to go into the summer window.

The Swans bought in three players at the back end of the window as well as seeing – amongst others – two of the summer signings depart whilst there was more than a small amount of speculation that we would have been happy to see more of the summer captures depart the club during January.

It was a damming statement of the summer window that was lauded so highly by Coleman after the window closed at the end of August and brings heavily into question the effectiveness of a transfer policy that seems to rely much more on the data mechanism than it should do.   And of course a transfer policy that has more failures than successes over the past few years.

With potentially up to eighteen players either seeing the end of their contract or loan at the end of the season together with those who seem to be surplus to requirements the Swans are facing a massive summer window with very few fans having any confidence that we have the ability to navigate it with any success.

These were all points placed to Coleman when he spoke to BBC Sport at the weekend but he opened with a claim that the Swans ended the window in a stronger position than we started it “I think we wanted to end the window stronger than what we came into it, which I feel we’ve done,” Coleman said.

“We needed pace and some physicality, and I think Ronald is a great example of a bit of both.

“We’re excited to see how all the new signings fold into the club and how they can help us move on for the rest of the season.

“There were certainly other targets that we wanted, which we didn’t get, whether that be down to targets going elsewhere or not being available.

“January is never going to be a massive window, nor should it be planned to be a massive window, as there aren’t typically great deals out there.”

His last part is probably classed as correct overall but the issue with us not planning a massive window is that it puts more pressure on us getting the summer deals right which clearly we have already admitted that we fell well short on.   To move on two signings within six months tells you much and the impact of the players that we secured during that window has been minimal in most cases with other players not even being given the chance to prove whether they were a good signing or not.

Much of the criticism of that window has been aimed at Sporting Director Paul Watson, a point that Coleman addressed in his interview “I’m aware of it and if I were a fan I’d be upset as well,” he said.

“The team isn’t performing and we haven’t seen the results we all hoped for at the start of the season.

“Injuries have certainly played a part. You can plan and have strategies in place but ultimately, if the players aren’t there, it limits you significantly.

“The planning that took place going into the window did use data as a key component, but it’s not the only key component.

“We worked more closely with the scouting department and the manager to make a full team enterprise, which I feel it is now.

“The set-up is very different from the summer – there were vital pieces missing from the scouting and the data side.

“Now I feel we are getting them in place, each window we progress, we will be able to utilise those tools and take advantage earlier.”

As ever these are just words that are provided with hindsight from the Chairman.   Going into any window where you make thirteen signings when there are pieces missing from the scouting side feels negligent at best and even with his comments he is suggesting that the places aren’t there as he would have wanted which tells you that we are even possibly now saying we have wasted two windows in a row?  And that is before we consider the fact that last January we failed to make a single signing.

Unfortunately, as every window closes we say the exact same things just using different words.   They focus around how difficult it was to conduct business, how players have turned us down and how we will learn the lessons of the previous window(s) and not make the same mistakes again.   With the problem being we do just that – make the same mistakes and continue the constant regression of the football club.

And to prove that point, Coleman finished “We’ve already started working on the summer, be it pre-contracts and targets, you name it, we are now in a better position to move earlier which I think is ultimately what we all want to focus on.

“We want to be better now and in the future. We need to build a sustainable club on and off the pitch.

“This doesn’t happen overnight. I do recognise fans, they’re just like me, we all want to win.”

So there we have it.   We are working on the summer (we were working on January in September) and we are in a better position to move quicker (as we were supposed to be in January) and overall we want to be better.

When do the words end and the actions start?