Season 23/24 | The Official Match Thread | The Swans vs QPR | The EFL Championship | Easter Monday

[Copamundial]

We’re a side without any substance,can’t defend, no threat in midfield and impotent up front.
The fact that we can get up for a game like Cardiff and then turn in two dreadful performances says it all.
A squad full of players that nobody else wants and I include Ronald in that as well.

 

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

It baffles me how slow we play the game when we clearly appear to be set-up as a side that should be attacking with pace down both flanks, with attack-minded full-backs and wingers (we missed Placheta today - has Sagoe Jr been sent back?). Yet we dawdle about and suck the energy out of the game. The number of times today Wood in particular just stood still, put his foot on the ball and just....stopped. As if he wanted to make sure our souls were sufficiently dead inside before proceeding.

Key was erratic today - often a liability, but he's coming back from a long lay-off, and he still showed the odd glimpse of why he was a player of the year contender in the first half of the season.

I've decided: we have too many 'scurrying' players in midfield/attack. Cooper, Walsh, Pato and Yates to name a few. They just...scurry around. We're missing someone like...Pratley or even Ntcham...someone who can play upright, head up, more of a physical presence, able to carry the ball well in the middle of the park. There's too much scurrying going on.

 

[monmouth]

'As if he wanted to make sure our souls were sufficiently dead inside before proceeding.'

That's exactly how it feels. Rushworth does it too. Just wait until the opposition is ready before passing it sideways, getting it back and doing it again.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I've decided: we have too many 'scurrying' players in midfield/attack. Cooper, Walsh, Pato and Yates to name a few. They just...scurry around. We're missing someone like...Pratley or even Ntcham...someone who can play upright, head up, more of a physical presence, able to carry the ball well in the middle of the park. There's too much scurrying going on.

Physically slight, I'd call them.

They can look half decent when we have days where teams stand off and let us play. But they wither under the slightest physical pressure. Yates in particular is guilty of this. I don't think I've ever seen an alleged centre forward bullied so easily, he's pathetic.

No one wants us to turn into a team of 6-footers resembling Pulis's Stoke. But by Christ, we're weak as piss and we are crying out for some bigger boys in this side. This is the Championship. If you can't or won't compete physically with other teams, you've got no chance.

 

[LeonWasTheDogs]

But it was lucky to be anywhere near the post. It was just a crap cross.

Nah, he meant that 100%. Well, maybe 5% lol.

Joking aside, he looked lively.

 

[jasper_T]

Tymon was a standout today but anyone describing him as "consistently good" needs their memory checked. He's had his fair share of shockers even recently, despite improving over the course of the season. Only player in the squad who can cross a ball.

We seem to have bought fullbacks who want to bomb on and then put orthodox flying wingers in front of them. No wonder it looks disjointed. Key isn't going to play the kind of passes Naughton has been, he's not that sort of footballer.

Shame we couldn't have kept Iwan Morgan, he'd have been in the starting lineup by now.

 

[Pentyrchjack]

A really awful and woeful performance. I’m not complacent about being safe from relegation - some of the teams below us are hitting form whereas we are sliding.

Thought Grimes was superb today and the lack of quality around him showed.

 

[cwmdonkinjack]

Tymon was a standout today but anyone describing him as "consistently good" needs their memory checked. He's had his fair share of shockers even recently, despite improving over the course of the season. Only player in the squad who can cross a ball.

We seem to have bought fullbacks who want to bomb on and then put orthodox flying wingers in front of them. No wonder it looks disjointed. Key isn't going to play the kind of passes Naughton has been, he's not that sort of footballer.

Shame we couldn't have kept Iwan Morgan, he'd have been in the starting lineup by now.

Alright I concede- consistently good is over egging it but he's certainly making the most of his ability and yes the only man who can cross a ball. It is inexcusable for 'wingers' not to be able to cross.

 

[cadleigh]

We always lose games where neither side really deserve to win. It happens too often with this group of players. It's a mentality deficiency that runs through the entire side.

I wouldn't keep one player in our squad this summer apart from the keeper. Realistically that isn't going to happen, of course. But none of the outfield players make even approaching a compelling case for why they deserve to be at the club long term. The most stale, uninspiring and fundamentally lacking squad we've had since the Nick Cusack era.

So if you had to create a pie chart of players/manager, how would you apportion responsibility for the last two games? Given what we know about this squad’s ability from the Millwall and Cardiff matches.

 

[Ringwood]

LW is keen to defend his brave squad and he thinks, should, possibly, maybe we should play with more intensity. In fairness to him he has inherited a poor squad so he has leeway especially now we're almost safe. The recruitment needs to vastly improve. As for a pie chart of responsibility, 50/50 Manager and players

 

[Niigata Jack]

Sam Allison will be the man in charge when Swansea City host Queens Park Rangers at the Swansea.com Stadium on Easter Monday (3pm kick-off). This will be the fourth time the former firefighter has taken charge of a Swans match, and will mark his second visit to SA1.

His first trip to Swansea was on February 3 for the Swans home defeat to Plymouth Argyle. Allison also blew the whistle for the away defeat to Leeds United earlier this term, and for a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic last season.

The man from Chippenham began his journey as a footballer, and was on the books at clubs including Swindon Town, Exeter City, and Bristol City before becoming a referee in non-league in 2011. He was added to the professional rota in 2020, and impressive performances in the lower leagues saw him promoted to Select Group 2 in the summer of 2023.

On Boxing Day, he made his Premier League debut when he officiated the clash between Luton Town and Sheffield United at Brammall Lane. He took charge of his second top-flight match on March 13 when Bournemouth mounted a dramatic second-half comeback to beat Luton Town.

On Monday, Allison will be assisted by Mark Pottage and Richard Wild. Ben Atkinson is set to be the fourth official.

He had a shocker, bloody hopeless.

 

[Niigata Jack]

LW is keen to defend his brave squad and he thinks, should, possibly, maybe we should play with more intensity. In fairness to him he has inherited a poor squad so he has leeway especially now we're almost safe. The recruitment needs to vastly improve. As for a pie chart of responsibility, 50/50 Manager and players

Don't know about pie charts, but I think the players having been eating to many pies this last fortnight.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

So if you had to create a pie chart of players/manager, how would you apportion responsibility for the last two games? Given what we know about this squad’s ability from the Millwall and Cardiff matches.

I'd prefer to look at it over the course of the 40 games (plus cups) so far.

What's clear to me over that period is that Williams is the one who has managed to get the best tune out of this squad out of the three coaches we've had in charge, but even then it has only been sporadic.

The bottom line is this is an incredibly poor squad, and, if it's not sorted out in the summer, we can expect at least as bad a season again next season, potentially even worse if Luton's bog cleaner makes another mess of the forthcoming summer window.

 

[Gors Buster]

The lack of movement and intensity yesterday reminded me of the way they were under Duff, with too many players in key areas, doing the bare minimum and coasting through games.
Massive Bank Holiday crowd and they completely blew it. Tymon the only positive.

 

[Swim (A)]

Why are you banging on about Martin on a QPR match thread

Comparisons between the new and the old version

Not that difficult to understand is it?