Feel good factor..

[Dillwyn the Dog]

I like this post alot and echoes my views on the situation.

The club means business and at the moment is getting on with it.
People are getting excited with things happening mainly because of the lack of it happening with the previous regime.

I don’t mean to rain on the cautious optimism of this thread but here goes……………..

Since the Laudrup era (when we’d won our first major trophy, played in Europe proudly with a fantastic style of football) I would say we have been starved of any real excitement. We were never going to win the PL but we were more than holding our own and even after Monk (fortuitously in my humble opinion) got us our highest finish it didnt feel the same and we sort of glided to relegation in our 7th season up there.

Potter gave us some good football but the financial fall out meant we couldn’t bounce back and despite Coopers best efforts again money was an issue and Covid also helped to dampen any real optimism.

Then it got considerably worse under Martin first (doubles aside) and latterly Williams . I felt the most depressed I’d ever been as a Swans fan - the football was mind numbing and we were so open at the back opposition fans were openly taking the p*ss out of us, in the same manner as their teams were.

Then we lost our two most negative influences- firstly Grimes and the Williams and the three year Martin/Williams/Grimes ball was over. My heart actually leapt for joy when both departed and the results began to show under Sheehan almost instantaneously.

O’Brien’s arrival also gave us a real shot in the arm and for the first time in three years we really started having a go at other teams and beating them. I was so impressed I renewed my season ticket and losing Coleman and the other changes at the top seemed a real blast of fresh air.

When you at least compare the last four summers to this one in regards of transfer activity, the calibre of player we are not just being linked with but signing it’s like night and day. Okay there’s an element of the unknown in the likes of Bobby Wales and Inoussa but they come highly recommended. They may take half a season to fully adapt but we have other players who have gone through that process like Eom who will definitely hit the ground running this year who can take the weight of expectation off their shoulders. Bianchini is another who wasnt really used to his full capability but he’s stil here. Ronald probably is the first name on the team sheet but even he will improve this time out.

I think Widdell is different gravy altogether- he might take a few games but there’s nothing in the championship for him to be scared of. As time goes on he’s going to be very very good for us (I hope I haven’t put the mockers on him!). A Swedish international he’s going to be some player with a career at a higher profile club. Can’t wait to see him in full flight.

We’ve got an arguably better CD in Cameron over Darling even though I’d loved to have them both - but with the recent departures of Tjoe , Mykola and next up Yates I reckon we’ll get a central defender who can cover full back as a minimum, O’Brien back (or if not an equally talented replacement from abroad) and the Wow striker then we are looking considerably stronger going in to next season than we were this time or beyond last year.

A mention to the new coaches too. O’Dea will bring fresh ideas and it seems that Sheehan and him dovetail together well and in Richard Stearman we have a very decent central defender in his day who I’m sure will coach our back four well.

But it’s not just the new players, coaches etc - it’s the change of emphasis in how we play, how we recruit and how we are generally now being administered- it’s in stark contrast to what we have seen over the last 4 seasons.

I think it’s fair for people to be cautiously optimistic but it’s also ok to feel genuinely excited for the first time in quite a few years. No more Levine, Kaplan, Silverstein and Coleman (though his heart was 100% in it) - now we have Morris, Cravatt, Cohen and Modric (!) running the show with Montague and a great recruitment team who look like they have a scouting network equivalent to 4 or five Kevin Reeves types.That engenders not just hope for the coming season but those long after hopefully.

This is the polar opposite to where we were this time last season and I for one am going to let my enthusiasm run a bit wild. Bring on Spain and Stevenage Borough and the new season. Honestly can’t wait!

(Sorry for the lengthy a**e dribble but I couldn’t express myself in a more concise and readable way like my betters on here) C’mon the Swans!!

 

[MrSwerve]

Definitely a bit of a feel-good factor going into this season. Positive moves early on in the break capped off our strong finish to the season and Cardiff getting relegated didn't harm the feeling either.

Hoping we are in and around the playoffs this year, or just outside at least.

 

[bytholwyn]

I don’t mean to rain on the cautious optimism of this thread but here goes……………..

Since the Laudrup era (when we’d won our first major trophy, played in Europe proudly with a fantastic style of football) I would say we have been starved of any real excitement. We were never going to win the PL but we were more than holding our own and even after Monk (fortuitously in my humble opinion) got us our highest finish it didnt feel the same and we sort of glided to relegation in our 7th season up there.

Potter gave us some good football but the financial fall out meant we couldn’t bounce back and despite Coopers best efforts again money was an issue and Covid also helped to dampen any real optimism.

Then it got considerably worse under Martin first (doubles aside) and latterly Williams . I felt the most depressed I’d ever been as a Swans fan - the football was mind numbing and we were so open at the back opposition fans were openly taking the p*ss out of us, in the same manner as their teams were.

Then we lost our two most negative influences- firstly Grimes and the Williams and the three year Martin/Williams/Grimes ball was over. My heart actually leapt for joy when both departed and the results began to show under Sheehan almost instantaneously.

O’Brien’s arrival also gave us a real shot in the arm and for the first time in three years we really started having a go at other teams and beating them. I was so impressed I renewed my season ticket and losing Coleman and the other changes at the top seemed a real blast of fresh air.

When you at least compare the last four summers to this one in regards of transfer activity, the calibre of player we are not just being linked with but signing it’s like night and day. Okay there’s an element of the unknown in the likes of Bobby Wales and Inoussa but they come highly recommended. They may take half a season to fully adapt but we have other players who have gone through that process like Eom who will definitely hit the ground running this year who can take the weight of expectation off their shoulders. Bianchini is another who wasnt really used to his full capability but he’s stil here. Ronald probably is the first name on the team sheet but even he will improve this time out.

I think Widdell is different gravy altogether- he might take a few games but there’s nothing in the championship for him to be scared of. As time goes on he’s going to be very very good for us (I hope I haven’t put the mockers on him!). A Swedish international he’s going to be some player with a career at a higher profile club. Can’t wait to see him in full flight.

We’ve got an arguably better CD in Cameron over Darling even though I’d loved to have them both - but with the recent departures of Tjoe , Mykola and next up Yates I reckon we’ll get a central defender who can cover full back as a minimum, O’Brien back (or if not an equally talented replacement from abroad) and the Wow striker then we are looking considerably stronger going in to next season than we were this time or beyond last year.

A mention to the new coaches too. O’Dea will bring fresh ideas and it seems that Sheehan and him dovetail together well and in Richard Stearman we have a very decent central defender in his day who I’m sure will coach our back four well.

But it’s not just the new players, coaches etc - it’s the change of emphasis in how we play, how we recruit and how we are generally now being administered- it’s in stark contrast to what we have seen over the last 4 seasons.

I think it’s fair for people to be cautiously optimistic but it’s also ok to feel genuinely excited for the first time in quite a few years. No more Levine, Kaplan, Silverstein and Coleman (though his heart was 100% in it) - now we have Morris, Cravatt, Cohen and Modric (!) running the show with Montague and a great recruitment team who look like they have a scouting network equivalent to 4 or five Kevin Reeves types.That engenders not just hope for the coming season but those long after hopefully.

This is the polar opposite to where we were this time last season and I for one am going to let my enthusiasm run a bit wild. Bring on Spain and Stevenage Borough and the new season. Honestly can’t wait!

(Sorry for the lengthy a**e dribble but I couldn’t express myself in a more concise and readable way like my betters on here) C’mon the Swans!!

I think it's Ok to get a little bit carried away, after all if you can't get carried away in pre-season when can you?

But even with a cooler examination of our prospects there's good reason to be optimistic. That 2023/24 summer window seemed decent at the time simply because of the number of signings made. The quality was debatable even then. Signing Kukharevych for nearly 2 million despite only 5 goals in 15 and little else. Pedersen, a mediocre Birmingham reject. Patino and Yates looked decent, and had reasonable highlights reels, but nothing in their background suggested anything exceptional.

This window we can point to Burgess, who has real pedigree, appreciated by Ipswich fans, and good stats. Similarly Santos has strong pedigree, albeit at a lower level, 4 seasons in team of the year, and strong stats. Good credentials for a squad player. Inoussa and Widell both have strong stats and exciting highlights reels. Wales is the only unknown, but at 19 and 300K he's very much one for the future.

Of course, injuries could scupper things, as was the case with Pedersen and Allen. But I don't think we should suppress our excitement now just because things could go pear shaped down the line.

 

[bakajack]

I think it's Ok to get a little bit carried away, after all if you can't get carried away in pre-season when can you?

When you win the first three on the bounce and are convinced you will be promoted by October

 

[JackSomething]

Of course pre-season is the time for optimism. It's especially understandable here because we had a great finish to the season and seem to be getting our transfer business done early for a change.

You see optimism this time of year among fanbases who have far less reason for it than we do. Even Man United fans are dreaming that signing a player or two will transform them into being as good as Amorim's Sporting team and Cardiff fans are dreaming of destroying L1 like Birmingham did...

 

[Jackareme]

I am not sure what the collective noun for brick shithouses is - but with Cabango Santos and Burgess we should certainly not be a soft touch.
Much needed with the defensive “qualities” of Key and Tymon

 

[bytholwyn]

I am not sure what the collective noun for brick shithouses is - but with Cabango Santos and Burgess we should certainly not be a soft touch.
Much needed with the defensive “qualities” of Key and Tymon

If there is a concern it will be our lack of pace at the back. I can see Sheehan chopping and changing approach based on the speed of the opposition strikers, perhaps defending deeper at times.

 

[Itchysphincter]

Considering we’ve been pretty naff for the last three or four seasons but yet still been flirting with the playoffs after handful of good results it’s not unreasonable to suggest that trimming the fat from the squad and adding a bit of quality should see us in with a shout. I think aiming for the playoffs is a mistake in terms of ambition though as it seems an acceptable level of failure. The aim should be the top two, always.