Two elements missing for me...

[Nocountryforoldjack]

Its all about opinions and we are all entitled to one but where do you think we would be without thus current board?
Thus has been debated long abd hard but this biard has kept the club afloat since relegation they have made mistakes along the way were critiscised for lack of spend in January yet have dug deep this window.
They are businessmen first unlike prevoiys ownership ( Silver Shield/ninth floor aside)
They will have a different view ti us fans and the previous reigme who sold out.
So much is talked of about identity etc but for the owners they wantbus back in thr PL as thats where the monies are and there they have a chance to flip us.
Im not sure we have deliberately sourced managers who were a reaction to the one before especially as Martin was what third or fourth choice?
We may have picked Duff because he is results focused and has a pedigree for promotion and play off finals....
Im not as fixed on identity as others and dont get it as i have lifed theough lots of mamangers and they all played a different way

He's a Martin love child and clearly still very sore he got jilted by Martin so he's never going to like Duff.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

Its all about opinions and we are all entitled to one but where do you think we would be without thus current board?
Thus has been debated long abd hard but this biard has kept the club afloat since relegation they have made mistakes along the way were critiscised for lack of spend in January yet have dug deep this window.
They are businessmen first unlike prevoiys ownership ( Silver Shield/ninth floor aside)
They will have a different view ti us fans and the previous reigme who sold out.
So much is talked of about identity etc but for the owners they wantbus back in thr PL as thats where the monies are and there they have a chance to flip us.
Im not sure we have deliberately sourced managers who were a reaction to the one before especially as Martin was what third or fourth choice?
We may have picked Duff because he is results focused and has a pedigree for promotion and play off finals....
Im not as fixed on identity as others and dont get it as i have lifed theough lots of mamangers and they all played a different way

Until this window, these owners have shown absolutely no interest in getting us back to the Premier League. And the only reason that's changed this summer is because Morris and others have stumped up a few quid. In all previous windows they'd left Potter, Cooper and Martin way short on quality and quantity. You can rationalise that if you like by saying "oh they're businessmen", and that's fair enough. I just prefer to think that one day we'll be run again by people who actually care, and know what they're doing.

Re the coaches I stand by what I said - they've lurched from one type of coach to another. They don't really know what they're doing - and that's not surprising because they don't have football knowledge, they're not football fans. I'm just hoping Watson hangs around long enough and can wield enough influence to eventually change that, because that's a guy who has proved he does know what he's doing.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

He's a Martin love child and clearly still very sore he got jilted by Martin so he's never going to like Duff.

It's taken me a while but I think I've finally worked it out. You're 12, aren't you?

 

[Neath_Jack]

The board should appoint one of the experts from this site, then watch them manage us to the champions league.

 

[cmajack]

The board should appoint one of the experts from this site, then watch them manage us to the champions league.

Possibly Darran? He could rival Gareth Ainsworth for dress sense and musical knowledge.

 

[jasper_T]

Some people will never stop crying that we weren't bought up by oil money or a betting company who will pour endless free money in to the club.

Transfer dealings this summer have been no different to two years ago when we brought in Piroe, Obafemi, Downes, Ntcham, Paterson etc. We overspend every season and the owners are massively out of pocket now that parachutes have run out and saleable assets have been limited.

 

[Swansea93]

Until this window, these owners have shown absolutely no interest in getting us back to the Premier League. And the only reason that's changed this summer is because Morris and others have stumped up a few quid. In all previous windows they'd left Potter, Cooper and Martin way short on quality and quantity. You can rationalise that if you like by saying "oh they're businessmen", and that's fair enough. I just prefer to think that one day we'll be run again by people who actually care, and know what they're doing.

Re the coaches I stand by what I said - they've lurched from one type of coach to another. They don't really know what they're doing - and that's not surprising because they don't have football knowledge, they're not football fans. I'm just hoping Watson hangs around long enough and can wield enough influence to eventually change that, because that's a guy who has proved he does know what he's doing.

Duff is 100% a Paul Watson recommendation and partly the reason Martin went, Watson wanted someone in who could prove successful and get results, if it weren’t for connections to Cardiff then we’d have Jones in as manager.

 

[Nocountryforoldjack]

It's taken me a while but I think I've finally worked it out. You're 12, aren't you?

No fella, your mistake, that's your IQ.

 

[monmouth]

Until this window, these owners have shown absolutely no interest in getting us back to the Premier League. And the only reason that's changed this summer is because Morris and others have stumped up a few quid. In all previous windows they'd left Potter, Cooper and Martin way short on quality and quantity. You can rationalise that if you like by saying "oh they're businessmen", and that's fair enough. I just prefer to think that one day we'll be run again by people who actually care, and know what they're doing.

Re the coaches I stand by what I said - they've lurched from one type of coach to another. They don't really know what they're doing - and that's not surprising because they don't have football knowledge, they're not football fans. I'm just hoping Watson hangs around long enough and can wield enough influence to eventually change that, because that's a guy who has proved he does know what he's doing.

I don’t see that to be honest. Cooper and Martin were both backed heavily for the players they wanted. Both didn’t use a fair few of the assets they had. Martin was ridiculous in ignoring the MK players he obviously demanded. Ayew and some others took up a fair whack, but the loans in Cooper’s seasons were mega bucks loans. When Hourihane (and whoever else, can’t remember) came in and we beat the Delias with him scoring a screamer, everyone was creaming themselves and saying we’d nailed ourselves on for auto.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

I don’t see that to be honest. Cooper and Martin were both backed heavily for the players they wanted. Both didn’t use a fair few of the assets they had. Martin was ridiculous in ignoring the MK players he obviously demanded. Ayew and some others took up a fair whack, but the loans in Cooper’s seasons were mega bucks loans. When Hourihane (and whoever else, can’t remember) came in and we beat the Delias with him scoring a screamer, everyone was creaming themselves and saying we’d nailed ourselves on for auto.

I must have been in the minority there, because at no point did I ever think Cooper would get us auto prom. You could have given him the best squad in the Championship and his sole tactic would still have been "give the ball to Andre and hope". One dimensional doesn't even cover it.

Anyway back to the main point - I never said those three coaches didn't get given some players they wanted. But they were all shafted at one time or another, and certainly all of them had to put up with players they didn't want being foisted on them at different times. They were never unconditionally supported in the market. And to be honest it looks that way for Duff - it's clear for instance that he has to play Key out of position to accommodate a stipulation that Ashby must play if fit.

This summer has been a lot better thanks to Watson, but we've still got a long way to go to convince me that we've completely got our sh1t together as a professionally run outfit.

 

[Swanjaxs]

Nearly every manager gets players signed they didn't want, just ask Rodgers and Laudrup (thanks Huw).
As for Cooper and the rest not being unconditionally supported in the market, we are Swansea City not Man City.
Let's give Duff a fair go and see where it takes us...

 

[cadleigh]

Nearly every manager gets players signed they didn't want, just ask Rodgers and Laudrup (thanks Huw).
As for Cooper and the rest not being unconditionally supported in the market, we are Swansea City not Man City.
Let's give Duff a fair go and see where it takes us...

Well said. No one is saying Duff is an off-the-shelf Messiah, but he deserves a chance to show what he can do. These are very early days and I do see signs of progression. How many of the long balls we played on Saturday reached their marks, but were too hard to control, or narrowly missed them? Compare that to Oxford when half our long passes were nowhere near their targets. I also remember how shocking it was when Laudrup ditched Rodgers’ short passing game for much longer passes (just like the Spanish national side did at the same time), and how quickly we grew to love it. (Of course, he had better quality players to start with.)

Long, surgical passes are not ‘hoofball’ as I understand it. Too many people are criticising Duff for ‘hoofball’, ‘Duffball’, being Cooper Mk2, being the Board’s choice, when really they are just sore that Martin jumped before he was pushed. Time to move on.

 

[Andrew - North Hill]

What's interesting on these most recent pages is that the people who keep saying we should move on from Martin, are the very ones who keep bringing him up all the time.

Usually because it's an easy go-to slur any time they hear something they don't like in relation to Duff.

Here's a thought: you can harbour some early concerns about Duff, yet still be 100% behind him and want him to succeed, and also be completely 'over' Martin whilst thinking that occasionally it could be relevant to bring his name up from time to time.

It's a thing called "shades of grey".

That's going to blow a few minds, I know, in this binary online world of ours. Might want to grab a cuppa and sit down first, before mulling that one over

 

[twoeyedjack]

Pace and creativity.

Early days I know, but do we have them in our new squad ?

I'm more hopeful to tighten up the defence with the newbies due.

And even though systems can be changed, pace with skill is a beautiful and exciting thing to see on a football pitch.

I loved their No. 7 today btw. Think it was no.7. The small fella with Modric hairstyle

yes I liked their no 7 too

 

[monmouth]

What's interesting on these most recent pages is that the people who keep saying we should move on from Martin, are the very ones who keep bringing him up all the time.

Usually because it's an easy go-to slur any time they hear something they don't like in relation to Duff.

Here's a thought: you can harbour some early concerns about Duff, yet still be 100% behind him and want him to succeed, and also be completely 'over' Martin whilst thinking that occasionally it could be relevant to bring his name up from time to time.

It's a thing called "shades of grey".

That's going to blow a few minds, I know, in this binary online world of ours. Might want to grab a cuppa and sit down first, before mulling that one over

I don’t really see why we can’t keep the good elements that Martin brought (confidence and skill on the ball, retain possession rather than percentage channel ball), but build it around looking to be ‘brave’ in areas where it counts, turning forward when you beat the press, looking forward first, before looking back, defending properly, set piece improvement). We don’t have to change everything, and certainly not straight away.