The Swansea Way

[magicdaps10]

We are seeing the decline after the rise.....it was inevitable.

Every season we go without going up will see the gates drop to eventually we hit the hardcore numbers. If people are honest with themselves then they will admit that this was eventually going to happen.

What is the worry, many who supported us before the rise haven't yet realised how the years of success and in the premier league has effected them year on year since relegation......the need for the buzz and excitement that gets further and further away is just putting them in a mindset of depression and the feeling of not being bothered.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Plenty of other clubs do/have done that to be fair, it's not exactly something we can claim exclusivity for

Yes I know that, but we were outrageously good at it. A lot is made of Bournemouth and Brighton and Brentford and rightly so, but they were spending millions before they got to the PL, never mind when they got there. We genuinely did it on a complete shoestring compared to them. Some of our signings like Scotland, Bodde, Rangel and Dobbie were just ridiculous value for money, they had no business being that good for what they cost.

 

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

Part of it was also being in different markets to other teams due to the way we played. We could sign Britton without much competition as he was 'too small' for other teams, but ended up being just fine for us as we weren't looking for 6'2" meat units in every position.

In terms of the style of play, at least in the days when we were up and coming and were making a name for ourselves doing things differently, it was about moving the ball on the floor QUICKLY using one-touch give and go football and not relying on physical attributes to make progress. We moved THROUGH teams, not physically overpowered them. Pace and quick thinking was crucial as was bravery on the ball and off the ball movement. It was said many times at the time of Martinez that you couldn't get out of League 1 or the Championship with smaller players, without being a big physical powerful team, and we swam against that tide and it felt really f*cking good.

We are not on the same planet in any way as those days. Bravery on the ball for us from Martin on means 'it's ok to be a f*cking moron in possession in stupid areas' rather than 'always try to play facing the opposition goal, always look for the forward out-pass first, think positively'

I need to stop, this is just all too depressing thinking about it.

 

[cadleigh]

I believe the term ‘The Swansea Way’ was coined by Andrew Gwilym after we began our decline, as a way of describing what we had supposedly abandoned (https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport...s/slow-painful-death-the-swansea-14069130.amp). If not, then it was certainly popularised around then because I can’t recall anyone using the phrase during our successful period.

For it to have any meaning at all, it needs to describe some thing or combination of things that no other team could replicate, otherwise it’s not ‘The Swansea Way’, it’s just ‘The … Way’.

Gwilym’s description of a mix of possession-based football, shrewd managerial appointments and smart recruitment could be claimed by any number of clubs.

I know this is going to upset some people but it’s magical thinking. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because they tasted the apple. The Roman Empire fell because the Romans got fat and lazy. Swansea were relegated because we turned our backs on The Swansea Way. It’s easier to blame the Yanks and the sell-outs (who I do also think have to bear a big share of responsibility, for the avoidance of doubt) for breaking the magic spell than it is to accept that sh1t happens and clubs with our resources get relegated from the top division, sooner or later.

 

[monmouth]

Derby have a 'Way' too I believe. It last bore fruit in 1975.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I believe the term ‘The Swansea Way’ was coined by Andrew Gwilym after we began our decline, as a way of describing what we had supposedly abandoned (https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport...s/slow-painful-death-the-swansea-14069130.amp). If not, then it was certainly popularised around then because I can’t recall anyone using the phrase during our successful period.

For it to have any meaning at all, it needs to describe some thing or combination of things that no other team could replicate, otherwise it’s not ‘The Swansea Way’, it’s just ‘The … Way’.

Gwilym’s description of a mix of possession-based football, shrewd managerial appointments and smart recruitment could be claimed by any number of clubs.

I know this is going to upset some people but it’s magical thinking. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because they tasted the apple. The Roman Empire fell because the Romans got fat and lazy. Swansea were relegated because we turned our backs on The Swansea Way. It’s easier to blame the Yanks and the sell-outs (who I do also think have to bear a big share of responsibility, for the avoidance of doubt) for breaking the magic spell than it is to accept that sh1t happens and clubs with our resources get relegated from the top division, sooner or later.

I sort of get what you're saying with the last bit, but if it was as simple as "ah well, we've only got limited resources" then every promoted club would always come straight back down wouldn't they.

There is absolutely no question we lost our way circa 2014. We stopped doing stuff that had, up to that point, been working really well. And at the same time we started doing stupid stuff. We committed harakiri basically. If we'd just kept doing the good stuff and cut out the nonsense, who's to say we still wouldn't be there now?

Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford are very similar sized clubs to us on most comparable metrics (if you remove the PL riches obviously). Yet they're doing the biz year after year after year. Because they're doing good stuff, they're making (mostly) good decisions.

I find it quite reductive, and also a bit defeatist, to say "ah well, it was always coming".

 

[monmouth]

I sort of get what you're saying with the last bit, but if it was as simple as "ah well, we've only got limited resources" then every promoted club would always come straight back down wouldn't they.

There is absolutely no question we lost our way circa 2014. We stopped doing stuff that had, up to that point, been working really well. And at the same time we started doing stupid stuff. We committed harakiri basically. If we'd just kept doing the good stuff and cut out the nonsense, who's to say we still wouldn't be there now?

Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford are very similar sized clubs to us on most comparable metrics (if you remove the PL riches obviously). Yet they're doing the biz year after year after year. Because they're doing good stuff, they're making (mostly) good decisions.

I find it quite reductive, and also a bit defeatist, to say "ah well, it was always coming".

Next time the cretinous Coleman goes on about the Swansea Way, he needs to be told, f*** off, we want the Bournemouth Way.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Next time the cretinous Coleman goes on about the Swansea Way, he needs to be told, f*** off, we want the Bournemouth Way.

I'm not sure it's Bournemouth's way or anyone's way is what we need, to begin with we just need people running the club who have got their shit together.

That would be a decent start, and then we can go from there.

 

[Dr. Winston]

Generally agree that our downfall was of our own making, although the longer you go on the harder it is to keep making good decisions all the time.

This is Bournemouth's third season in the PL and Brentford's fourth, so it might be a bit early to laud them as better examples than us. Of those listed only Brighton have exceeded our seven consecutive seasons so far.

 

[monmouth]

Generally agree that our downfall was of our own making, although the longer you go on the harder it is to keep making good decisions all the time.

This is Bournemouth's third season in the PL and Brentford's fourth, so it might be a bit early to laud them as better examples than us. Of those listed only Brighton have exceeded our seven consecutive seasons so far.

It was more competitive in terms of getting relegated when we were last there. Now, barring a miracle or very rich owners like Florist, the three promoted clubs have a hell of a job on. Wolves might be in danger this year so it may be that one gets away with it, but I'd expect them (like Everton always have) to have enough at the real business end. Teams are crushing the championship and being crushed in the PL these days.

That SU team last night was an awful team, far inferior to the three plus Leeds from last season imo, so I don't fancy their chances, but I don't think they'll make it. Leeds, Burnley and Sundo through the play offs for me.

 

[Neath_Jack]

Yes I know that, but we were outrageously good at it. A lot is made of Bournemouth and Brighton and Brentford and rightly so, but they were spending millions before they got to the PL, never mind when they got there. We genuinely did it on a complete shoestring compared to them. Some of our signings like Scotland, Bodde, Rangel and Dobbie were just ridiculous value for money, they had no business being that good for what they cost.

There’s a clear theme with those three clubs.

We should rebrand as Bwansea City.

 

[cmajack]

Generally agree that our downfall was of our own making, although the longer you go on the harder it is to keep making good decisions all the time.

This is Bournemouth's third season in the PL and Brentford's fourth, so it might be a bit early to laud them as better examples than us. Of those listed only Brighton have exceeded our seven consecutive seasons so far.

Never won a major trophy though have they (yet).