Yankee_Jack
Key Player
There you go. Fisher flaps into no man’s land, leaves the goal wide open, McB easy tap in. You don’t need to be any sort of prophet to call that one
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Yankee_Jack
Key Player
We played shit and deserve to lose by more. No shape. Too many players anonymous. With the 59% possession we are too lame in the final third, and we cannot afford to have anonymous players on the field. We that much possession if you’re not involved wtf are you doing out there
The Blobster
Prediction Champ
Same shit as always , time to remove Martin.
Victoria Swan
Key Player
Looks like a lot of the players have stopped playing for this manager. Pathetic. Why do I get up before the sun rises out here on the west coast to watch this shit.
KVetch
Key Player
Everytime McBurnie on for 3 minutes before he scores. No surprises today, Sheffield are a better side. The one touch passing we tried just wasn't working today. I like that they're trying it but it's going to lead to losing possession. At least we don't have to play them every week.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
I can’t focus and watch for 90, it’s too boring and predictable. No flair anywhere. Nobody posing any threat going forward. Slop and weak is not worthy of my time. The most excitement comes out of Wyndham’s mouth.
fair play, it took Fisher until the 89th to flounder in true Fisher-style to result in a goal …. Grasping at straws but that’s a positive.
and yet again we play too narrow and have no width.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
but perhaps not for long, we’re competing hard for that title.
Okay, so let's ask the question. Who wants Martin OUT? I vote yes.
The Blobster
Prediction Champ
So do I!
Martin OUT
Martin OUT
I would have made the change in the summer. Out from me.
Victoria Swan
Key Player
If he's replaced by Cameron Toshak, yes.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
I’m caught in between. This season is cooked. Dumping him now without a replacement to step in might put us at greater risk of relegation and cost us more money. Wait until season’s end, we save money, and if we have the replacement lined up then final whistle blows, Martin exits, new person starts next day … player contracts get settled … preseason starts and off we go. But this requires planning.
Clearly, there’s a total lack of enterprise in the final third, we have no width especially now with a back 4. Piroe is not competing enough for me. Ntcham cannot be allowed to start another game unless we have no U18 left. Cullen and Whitaker are playing for the same position and Piroe appears exempt from any repercussions. Fisher is a bad idea, why did we ever sign him. Cabango and Wood are the only competent CBs. When I watched today’s game I could see stagnant patterns in possession and going forward and no real method to the madness in how to beat a press. We had no long ball out and not enough movement to permit the passes to weave around the press.
now Martin is not responsible for injuries, but he is responsible for Darling, Fisher and the players that could have been developed here but were loaned out.
I don’t see anything different for next season. All the weak links have more than 2 seasons left on their contracts and the key players have contract issues. A third year of this is going to kill us. The system as it is, is ill-designed and poorly resourced. Martin will not change but the situation must.
in short, Martin needs to go, but I’m dithering on when to pull the trigger.
Clearly, there’s a total lack of enterprise in the final third, we have no width especially now with a back 4. Piroe is not competing enough for me. Ntcham cannot be allowed to start another game unless we have no U18 left. Cullen and Whitaker are playing for the same position and Piroe appears exempt from any repercussions. Fisher is a bad idea, why did we ever sign him. Cabango and Wood are the only competent CBs. When I watched today’s game I could see stagnant patterns in possession and going forward and no real method to the madness in how to beat a press. We had no long ball out and not enough movement to permit the passes to weave around the press.
now Martin is not responsible for injuries, but he is responsible for Darling, Fisher and the players that could have been developed here but were loaned out.
I don’t see anything different for next season. All the weak links have more than 2 seasons left on their contracts and the key players have contract issues. A third year of this is going to kill us. The system as it is, is ill-designed and poorly resourced. Martin will not change but the situation must.
in short, Martin needs to go, but I’m dithering on when to pull the trigger.
CroJack
Key Player
Not now when I see positive signs.
- Today performance was good enough to beat at least 18 Championship teams but unfortunately we played one of the two best ones in this division yesterday. If we play with such intensity against Blackpool we'll win 3:0.
- You can't accuse Martin anymore for playing his 'pets'. Obafemi is gone, Paterson is frozen out, Sorinola and Darling are benched, and Fisher is playing just because Benda is injured. I strongly disagree with you guys about Piroe. He has played well lately, and it was him who created Swansea best chance today, the chance Cooper missed.
- We missed a couple of chances, Sheff. United were clinical, and that's it. I didn't see a huge difference between these two teams, and that's a good sign. Since we beat Watford 4:0, we've played well against league leaders Burnley (though lost 1:2), against Sunderland away (beat them 3:1), against QPR away (drawn 1:1), and we outplayed Birmingham for 75 minutes just to collapse in the last 15 minutes for different reasons. Burnley, Sheff. United and Watford are in the top six, Sunderland are currently seventh, whilst QPR and Birmingham are just like Swans mid-table teams.
- The Championship is extremely competitive this season. There are at least 15 teams capable of challenging for one of the spots in the top six, and even Norwich, a team with an excellent and experienced manager, are not garanteed a place in the top six, and are now sitting in tenth place. I would also argue that at least 10 Championship teams have better players than Swansea.
- We definitely need better players in some positions. Especially defenders. And these new players have to have pace.
- Today performance was good enough to beat at least 18 Championship teams but unfortunately we played one of the two best ones in this division yesterday. If we play with such intensity against Blackpool we'll win 3:0.
- You can't accuse Martin anymore for playing his 'pets'. Obafemi is gone, Paterson is frozen out, Sorinola and Darling are benched, and Fisher is playing just because Benda is injured. I strongly disagree with you guys about Piroe. He has played well lately, and it was him who created Swansea best chance today, the chance Cooper missed.
- We missed a couple of chances, Sheff. United were clinical, and that's it. I didn't see a huge difference between these two teams, and that's a good sign. Since we beat Watford 4:0, we've played well against league leaders Burnley (though lost 1:2), against Sunderland away (beat them 3:1), against QPR away (drawn 1:1), and we outplayed Birmingham for 75 minutes just to collapse in the last 15 minutes for different reasons. Burnley, Sheff. United and Watford are in the top six, Sunderland are currently seventh, whilst QPR and Birmingham are just like Swans mid-table teams.
- The Championship is extremely competitive this season. There are at least 15 teams capable of challenging for one of the spots in the top six, and even Norwich, a team with an excellent and experienced manager, are not garanteed a place in the top six, and are now sitting in tenth place. I would also argue that at least 10 Championship teams have better players than Swansea.
- We definitely need better players in some positions. Especially defenders. And these new players have to have pace.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
We are now in 15th place. 3 wins behind the playoff spots. We lack width and it’s increasingly apparent that most of our attacking patterns confine us to the width of the penalty box. In fact considering we have been playing against concentration defenses for two seasons, we still don’t have pattens and movement in the final third to unlock this situation.
Don’t forget if it wasn’t for that spell earlier in the season when we were harvesting points like crazy, we would now be in a very bleak situation. That spell is increasingly looking like an aberration and not something that we can reacquire. If this is true, every season since Andy Pandy has been worse than the previous. An unmistakable downward trend with the next logical stop being L1. Instead of building a squad it has been getting thinner as the weak links are being exposed and not corrected. We have burned through all of our academy’s past diamonds - Roberts, McB, James, Rodon.
The Club is clearly not going to buy success. How is our academy doing? How do we rate Martin’s eye for and use of young talent? He thought Fisher and Darling and Sorinola had value. He has reluctantly used Cullen and Whitaker, he refused to use Flex. Our future is currently pivoting on the answers to these two questions.
martin has been extended an extremely long piece of rope. Exactly how long can it possibly be. What we do know is that Toshack and Roberts could develop talent and achieve success because they did. We have been financially supported by their success for the past three years. The well is running dry
Don’t forget if it wasn’t for that spell earlier in the season when we were harvesting points like crazy, we would now be in a very bleak situation. That spell is increasingly looking like an aberration and not something that we can reacquire. If this is true, every season since Andy Pandy has been worse than the previous. An unmistakable downward trend with the next logical stop being L1. Instead of building a squad it has been getting thinner as the weak links are being exposed and not corrected. We have burned through all of our academy’s past diamonds - Roberts, McB, James, Rodon.
The Club is clearly not going to buy success. How is our academy doing? How do we rate Martin’s eye for and use of young talent? He thought Fisher and Darling and Sorinola had value. He has reluctantly used Cullen and Whitaker, he refused to use Flex. Our future is currently pivoting on the answers to these two questions.
martin has been extended an extremely long piece of rope. Exactly how long can it possibly be. What we do know is that Toshack and Roberts could develop talent and achieve success because they did. We have been financially supported by their success for the past three years. The well is running dry
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Regarding that earlier spell of success: from Sep 17 to Oct 23, we played 6, won 5, lost 1.
If we had played at our seasonal points rate (39/30 points per game), we would now have just 31 points. We would be in the shit just 2 points above Cardiff and Wigan.
So keep this in mind when considering our situation. We all try to be optimistic and consider the glass half full, whereas in reality our glass is a lot closer to half empty.
To reinforce the point: our seasonal points rate above includes the aberration period. Exclude that and we have a points rate of 24/24. Apply that rate to the aberration games and we would now have just 30 points and considerably lower goal difference. It’s a knife edge.
If we had played at our seasonal points rate (39/30 points per game), we would now have just 31 points. We would be in the shit just 2 points above Cardiff and Wigan.
So keep this in mind when considering our situation. We all try to be optimistic and consider the glass half full, whereas in reality our glass is a lot closer to half empty.
To reinforce the point: our seasonal points rate above includes the aberration period. Exclude that and we have a points rate of 24/24. Apply that rate to the aberration games and we would now have just 30 points and considerably lower goal difference. It’s a knife edge.
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CroJack
Key Player
I disagree. Swansea are fourth most scoring side in the Championship and had it not been for so many missed chances we would probably be the most scoring one. Piroe alone has missed 15 big chances this season.
Agreed. But every manager and every club can make wrong signings from time to time. Martin is not an exception. Potter thought Asoro, McKay, John and Govea had value. Also, I remember how Cooper refused to use Connor Roberts.
Martin is going to quit in the summer.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Scoring ... would have, could have, should have ... but we haven't and time and again, game after game, we see the same old story. Teams with piss poor possession, get in as many shots, often as many on target, scoring as many goals if not more and we end up on the shit end of our own stick. Teams that we should throttle by half-time survive, Martin says something at half-time, we come out slower, weaker, and end up either hanging on for grim death, or chasing a game having choked and given up the lead. Our table position is what it is because our season to date performance puts us there buoyed by 6 games where it seems we could do no wrong. X-goals, X-points, not withstanding, we are lucky to be where we are, and not in a more dire situation ... but there's plenty of games left for that to happen.
On Piroe ... good #9s don't waste that many scoring chances. If Cullen had squandered that many chances he'd be in the stands.
Cooper's overall performance and achievement vs Martin is night and day different. We all - certainly I did - hammered Cooper on a regular basis, but you can't argue with the outcome. Little did we know what we would get after he left.
Martin quitting could be a blessing in disguise. The remaining games will tell all.
On Piroe ... good #9s don't waste that many scoring chances. If Cullen had squandered that many chances he'd be in the stands.
Cooper's overall performance and achievement vs Martin is night and day different. We all - certainly I did - hammered Cooper on a regular basis, but you can't argue with the outcome. Little did we know what we would get after he left.
Martin quitting could be a blessing in disguise. The remaining games will tell all.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
I need to correct my numbers from a couple of posts back. The aberration was actually 7 games: from Hull to Cardiff. Won 6 lost 1.
Removing those 7 games from the season ratings yields: 21/23 (91%) => less than a point per game. Rating those 7 games on the adjusted seasonal basis would give us: 27 to 28 points. We would most definitely be in the shit.
It's even more dire than I thought.
Oddly, during those 7 games, Piroe played in just 5, scored 1, assists 0. He was suspended for 2 games.
Cullen has started in the last 8 league games: scored 5, assist 1. Piroe has scored 6, assist 1. Nothing to choose between them.
Removing those 7 games from the season ratings yields: 21/23 (91%) => less than a point per game. Rating those 7 games on the adjusted seasonal basis would give us: 27 to 28 points. We would most definitely be in the shit.
It's even more dire than I thought.
Oddly, during those 7 games, Piroe played in just 5, scored 1, assists 0. He was suspended for 2 games.
Cullen has started in the last 8 league games: scored 5, assist 1. Piroe has scored 6, assist 1. Nothing to choose between them.