Ayew and Grimes.

[Itchysphincter]

I’ve noticed André quietly coming in for some stick recently but I’m with Cooper on this one. Even when he’s not as potent as he can be in front of goal the difference he makes by his defensive contribution of relieving the press on the back three is immense. Massive shift and a great performance against Naarch.

Grimes has long been misunderstood. The way he pivots between defence and midfield and then supports the attack is s thing of beauty. Probably our most important player.

All of them awesome to a man and the second half possession stats meant nothing, we didn’t need the ball at that time but when we decided to keep it we looked like the old Swansea. Properly pissed on Norwich’s fireworks. Brentford fans just wouldn’t understand.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Norwich smashed into a Swansea wall tonight.. Fact.

 

[old cob]

I’ve noticed André quietly coming in for some stick recently but I’m with Cooper on this one. Even when he’s not as potent as he can be in front of goal the difference he makes by his defensive contribution of relieving the press on the back three is immense. Massive shift and a great performance against Naarch.

Grimes has long been misunderstood. The way he pivots between defence and midfield and then supports the attack is s thing of beauty. Probably our most important player.

All of them awesome to a man and the second half possession stats meant nothing, we didn’t need the ball at that time but when we decided to keep it we looked like the old Swansea. Properly pissed on Norwich’s fireworks. Brentford fans just wouldn’t understand.

Never particularly liked Grimes, but his recent form has won me over. As his form has improved so has his confidence, and incidentally our performances as a team.

 

[Fireboy]

Even though hes frustrating at times you just cannot leave ayew out at this level because he will do a few things that are a class above the championship and tonight he scored what looked to be a simple goal but it wasnt.

 

[JackSomething]

Even though hes frustrating at times you just cannot leave ayew out at this level because he will do a few things that are a class above the championship and tonight he scored what looked to be a simple goal but it wasnt.

This in spades.

Even against Rotherham, he wasn't having a good game, but Cooper kept the faith and he was the only one on the pitch who was going to produce the run he did to help set up our third goal. He's one of the class players in this division, which is to be expected to be fair.

 

[bakajack]

Ayew has looked a bit tired recently, but tonight he showed the calm to come up with the goods in a very tightly packed six yard box to give us the lead. The cynic in me might say its just lip service, but he has said he feels a responsibility to get the Swans back up to the Premier League and the way he leaves everything out on the pitch you can start to believe it.

Grimes is starting to approach his Potter era form where he was full of confidence, a lot of his passing today was filled with intent to get us on the front foot and there wasn't too much wrong with the long range shot he took from the corner in the first half it was just one that the keeper was always going to be behind.

 

[Pegojack]

Agree with all the above. A shout out for Jamal last night too, he did a shed load of the hard graft, closing down and chasing lost causes. I wish he'd hit his best chance hard and high into the net instead of trying to sidefoot it around Krull, but apart from that, I was highly impressed with his effort.

 

[Dr. Winston]

In two of the goals against Rotherham our space to move came from Ayew spotting the right pass to play and opening the game up. He's quality through and through, but it's nice to not be as reliant on him as we were earlier in the season and for most of last.

I think we could probably rotate a bit more to keep things fresh and give Morris more time to get up to speed (not just upfront) though.

 

[monmouth]

Agree with all the above. A shout out for Jamal last night too, he did a shed load of the hard graft, closing down and chasing lost causes. I wish he'd hit his best chance hard and high into the net instead of trying to sidefoot it around Krull, but apart from that, I was highly impressed with his effort.

The best chaser of causes I have ever seen. Can always make something out of nothing. Very intelligent runs too.

 

[thefranchise]

Ayew was always like this though, he was always frustrating even under Monk he had the habit of being in the right place when the ball was loose in the box though.

He is the team's leader. He always plays unless injured and we just moan about him wandering.

 

[Malvernjack]

100% agree with this bit about him feeling he owes it to the club to help us get back up. He must have passed up
opportunities for top league football either domestically or European in the last 18 months.

 

[Magic_Michu]

100% agree with this bit about him feeling he owes it to the club to help us get back up. He must have passed up
opportunities for top league football either domestically or European in the last 18 months.

Very much doubt any club would have been willing to pay him £80k a week

 

[Jinxy]

Grimes' self belief and confidence are probably quite fragile. Weirdly, he is one of few players who perhaps thrive when there are no groans and moans from us fickle fans. Shots from outside the box absolutely highlight a player's confidence. Hopefully, when we get back in, we will appreciate the occasion and be a little more patient (though somehow I doubt it!).

Agree with Cooper and most of the above re Ayew, the only things to guard against are burn out and over reliance. Often, when one person steps forward, others step back. Awesome professionals though, both of them.

 

[Hammy]

It can't be a coincidence that Grimes has found confidence and form since the introduction of Hourihane to the team. There has always been a good player in there but his general play and long range shooting prowess has improved markedly over the past few games.

As for Hourihane, I think there is even more to come. Along with his amazing goal scoring capability, his general play will improve as he starts to gel better with Grimes and Fulton. Last night he gave away a few sloppy passes around the edge of the box which is no doubt due to being a bit ring rusty. So I think there is even more to come from this midfield trio and they will continue scoring a lot of key goals.

Also want to give a shout out for Morris and his 20 minute cameo last night. I thought he looked strong, fast and pressed a tiring Norwich defence very well; he should have been given a penalty when Gibson brought him down. He is an excellent backup for Lowe and will be a right pain in the backside for Championship defences when he comes on in the final quarter

It's looking like a very exciting end to the season and we'll hopefully kick on from this very important win ... starting with Pep's billionaires on Wednesday :lol:

 

[JackSomething]

100% agree with this bit about him feeling he owes it to the club to help us get back up. He must have passed up
opportunities for top league football either domestically or European in the last 18 months.

Very much doubt any club would have been willing to pay him £80k a week

Exactly. I have no doubt that the club and his agent have been letting teams all around the world know for the last 3 years he's available, almost certainly with no transfer fee attached. The only reason he's still here is that no team was willing to match his wages (or any that did were unattractive for other reasons).

All credit to him though, he hasn't been phoning it in since he returned to the team. He seems to be working his socks off to get us promoted. I could be cynical and say that's because he knows getting promoted with us will probably attract a good offer for him from us or elsewhere, but let's be positive after such a great result last night.