Russell Martin was a relieved man after the 2-1 win against Blackpool last night, obviously fully aware of the pressure on his head after a torrid run of form.<\/p>\n
On a night where a win was desperately needed, it couldn’t have been any less convincing against bottom of the league Blackpool with Swansea as usual doing everything possible to throw away the result.<\/p>\n
It’s largely what we’ve become accustomed to particularly of late but the lack of game management especially with the opposition bereft of any confidence and a man light was alarming.<\/p>\n
Indeed the win is a relief but for me it does nothing whatsoever to reassure fans or lift confidence with 17 games left of the campaign.<\/p>\n
And Martin pointing to being within five points of the play offs is simply nonsensical; he can’t surely believe that he with this team is capable of arresting the run of form that we’ve seen since October to offer a realistic challenge.<\/p>\n
He told the media post match: “Tonight, there is probably a bit of relief, but I am proud of the players for getting the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were the youngest team in the Championship again tonight, six of the 10 youngest line-ups in the Championship this season have been Swansea City teams so we have young men who are developing and growing all the time.<\/p>\n
We should be out of sight at half-time, we were so dominant, we created loads and we are frustrated that we then took our foot off the gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crowd could sense it and the one frustration we had with the players was that we did not have that instinct to really kill the game off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had two openings before half-time which were avoidable, and it created a bit of anxiety in the crowd and the players, and it gave them some energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did not start the second half well, they get a man sent off and we have a chance to go and kill it off, which we don\u2019t take.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe concede a goal out of nowhere, which causes big anxiety, which I understand and we end up relying on an own goal to win, when we should not need it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made it more difficult for ourselves than it needed to be, but I understand it because you will have tough moments in the Championship and we have a lot of young players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the supporters went home happy, because we have won and we hope this can be a springboard for something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you guys want to keep talking about two wins in 16, you want to include the cup games, you want to play to that narrative, it\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the performances in that run were really outstanding. We score the third most goals in the league, maybe fourth, with two recognised strikers and no wingers. I think the players deserve huge credit for that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe concede too many goals. You have seen tonight, we are the youngest team in the Championship. We are embarking on a journey where we have to do that.<\/p>\n
“The January window highlighted that. I don\u2019t want to talk about the window, but there\u2019s been a massive hangover from that, from staff here, from supporters.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t do anything about it. we are as frustrated about it as anyone else. But we made a decision to get on with it and focus all our energy on the players, to help develop them.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a big win for us and hopefully it can helps us restart something. We are five points off the play-offs with the youngest team in the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a club, players, supporters, staff, everyone, we just have to pull together and get behind the group of young players. That is the only choice we have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russell Martin was a relieved man after the 2-1 win against Blackpool last night, obviously fully aware of the pressure on his head after a torrid run of form. On a night where a win was desperately needed, it couldn’t have been any less convincing against bottom of the league Blackpool with Swansea as usual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":459,"featured_media":74405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[293,49,203,306],"tags":[666,636,665],"class_list":["post-76576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-team","category-news","category-opinion","category-reactions","tag-blackpool","tag-russell-martin","tag-the-2022-23-season"],"yoast_head":"\n