Rumours of a takeover

[The Blobster]

A BRAZILIAN ENTREPRENEUR WHO MADE HIS MONEY IN THE GOLD AND DIAMOND FIELDS IS APPARENTLY INTERESTED IN TAKING OVER FROM THE YANKS , THESE RUMOURS ARE CIRCULATING IN THE BRAZILIAN PRESS AND APPARENTLY THE DEAL COULD BE CONCLUDED IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. LETS KEEP OUR FINGERS CROSSED !

 

[Behindthegoal]

Watch out for pigs overhead. They say he’s offering £40m so if it goes through the yanks will have a bloody nose.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Watch out for pigs overhead. They say he’s offering £40m so if it goes through the yanks will have a bloody nose.

First loss is their best loss. They don't understand the business well enough to make a go of it. Their first mistake was getting rid of Guidolin and replacing him with BoBo. I rest my case.

 

[ivoralljack]

I read about this earlier today. We can but hope it's true BUT we don't want another gang of asset strippers moving in!

Watch out for pigs overhead. They say he’s offering £40m so if it goes through the yanks will have a bloody nose.

Not so bloody. They'll take a loss of circa £20 million on the purchase price but how much of the balance from £120 million or so we received in transfer fees have they already leached into their pockets?

First loss is their best loss. They don't understand the business well enough to make a go of it. Their first mistake was getting rid of Guidolin and replacing him with BoBo. I rest my case.

Which also cost us one of our most ardent fans in Rainbow! Their treatment of Guidolin was plain disgusting!! But what can you expect from people of their kind?

 

[JackBarSteward]

Receiving £40m capital might entice them as they want to take Bale to DC. More rumours of course.

 

[ivoralljack]

The club have issued a point blank denial about this proposed offer. But even if it were true they would deny it anyway wouldn't they? Laughably the club say that the owners remain committed to getting us back to the Premier League. Taking us for fools again is more like it.

They have done NOTHING to help us achieve that objective. They have utterly reneged on their promise of funds to buy the required quality of player that would be needed to get us back. All they have done from day one is TAKE, TAKE and TAKE again!! In my opinion they are Grade A parasitical arseholes and the quicker they haul their asset stripping backsides out of our club, the better we will all be pleased.

 

[Jackflash]

Maybe !!! Just maybe there is a God.

 

[Behindthegoal]

When you’re in the frying pan look over the edge before you jump.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

When you’re in the frying pan look over the edge before you jump.

Analogous to dumping Andy Pandy for Martin?

 

[Yankee_Jack]

He's got to be taking the piss ...

Russell Martin | We want players with the right character and attitude | Swansea

Russell Martin insists bringing in players with the right character for Swansea City will be a key strand in the club’s transfer business over the summer.

www.swanseacity.com

WTF have they been doing the last 3 years

 

[jackodiamonds]

In Martinland "The right character and attitude" = Unquestioning Compliance (to a football system as flawed as it is dated)

He apes the outline of 2011-era possession football to the point of parody, but that's where the Brendan Rodgers comparisons end. Acknowledging that one of Rodgers' biggest assets is his man management and ability to get the best out of anybody, Martin is the anti-Rodgers. You can see which players he had personality clashes with early on - they're the ones that suddenly couldn't get a game despite being either proven performers under Cooper (Bidwell, Fulton), high potential players based on stats (Dhanda, Cullen) or guys with a bit of spirit and leadership and an awesome second-half against Cardiff that time (Whittaker).

If I'm the owners, I'd have a big issue with a new manager alienating players I'd either spent money on (Whittaker) or were worth money (Bidwell). I'd tell him to play the hand he's dealt, and if he can't get a tune out of this squad he clearly isn't a good enough manager to start demanding transfers.

You'd think most managers would be thrilled to inherit the division's leading assists-producing defender (Bidwell), but not Martin. He gives him away to a division rival for free, signs an injured replacement who never plays, and ends up using a #10 at LWB instead, probably because Pep played Fabian Delph at LB for half a season once. And crying back to his old MK Dons buddies is a desperation move from a manager with a contacts book as thin as his tactical playbook. Every other manager is studying game tape of their next opposition, Martin is watching Moneyball for the 1000th time while blowing kisses to himself in a mirror.

Here's a question - if you replaced Martin last season with any other Championship manager, how many of them finish lower than 15th with this exact squad?

10 bucks says a team made up of the players Martin has marginalised and/or pushed out of the club could beat the current first 11 at least half the time (Benda, B Cooper, R Williams, Burns, Bidwell, Garrick, Fulton, D Williams, Dhanda, Cullen, Whittaker). So why get rid?

Ironically, I would argue that anyone who disagreed with Martin to the point of getting shipped out on loan (Whittaker) IS showing character. Those are the guys you want, because a bit of Devil's Advocate keeps you honest. Your system should be good enough to convince your players. If it can't do that... maybe it's not that good.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

I think the post from @jackodiamonds sums it up vy well … the player movements don’t support any other viable alternative.

going into next season we have just two keepers on the books: Benda and Fisher. Benda is better. I don’t think there’s a doubt.

As for Dhanda and it’s disgraceful that we did nothing to develop that talent further. He has shown more than capable under Potter and Cooper.

 

[KVetch]

I wonder if he's trying to buy shares instead of an outright takeover.

The club have issued a point blank denial about this proposed offer. But even if it were true they would deny it anyway wouldn't they? Laughably the club say that the owners remain committed to getting us back to the Premier League. Taking us for fools again is more like it.

They have done NOTHING to help us achieve that objective. They have utterly reneged on their promise of funds to buy the required quality of player that would be needed to get us back. All they have done from day one is TAKE, TAKE and TAKE again!! In my opinion they are Grade A parasitical arseholes and the quicker they haul their asset stripping backsides out of our club, the better we will all be pleased.

Sums up my feelings, afraid we're more likely to drop to League One than get promoted now.

 

[CroJack]

In Martinland "The right character and attitude" = Unquestioning Compliance (to a football system as flawed as it is dated)

- Unquestioning compliance to their football system is what every manager wants. Martin is not any different.

- Not all of the Martin's football is flowed and dated. Agreed that some of it is.

- Passing football is not outdated, Martin's implementation is. Take any top European football league and you'll see the same stats everywhere. The top ten in the passing stats table are the top ten in the league table. The bottom ten in the passing stats table are the bottom ten in the league table. Though, there are some exeptions that prove the rule. Swansea (bottom half with the best passing stats), Blackburn and Millwall (top half with poor passing stats) in the Championship, and the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise (poor passing stats and top of the league).

He apes the outline of 2011-era possession football to the point of parody

- Yes, some of his football is naive, boring and parodic. But some of it is excellent.

Acknowledging that one of Rodgers' biggest assets is his man management and ability to get the best out of anybody, Martin is the anti-Rodgers.

- Nobody can get the best out of anybody, not even Rodgers.

- Martin has got the best out of Piroe, Downes, Obafemi, Paterson, Naughton and Grimes. Cabango, Wolf, Laird, Manning, and Christie are worth mentioning. Smith and Latibeaudiere have not been poor either.

- Yes, he's failed to get the best out of Fulton, Dhanda, B. Cooper, Benda, Cullen and Whittaker, but it's not like his man-management has been a total crap. Let's not exaggerate.

You can see which players he had personality clashes with early on - they're the ones that suddenly couldn't get a game despite being either proven performers under Cooper (Bidwell, Fulton), high potential players based on stats (Dhanda, Cullen) or guys with a bit of spirit and leadership and an awesome second-half against Cardiff that time (Whittaker).

- Bidwell doesn't fit into a team that plays passing football. He is hopelessly left-footed. Martin requires a broader range of passing than Bidwell can provide. Last season Bidwell's pass accuracy under Martin was 77%, and at Coventry (also a passing team) 67%. Manning's pass accuracy was 82.8%.

- Bidwell's stats from 2020/21 season (1 goal and 8 assists) is exception that proves the rule. Bidwell has averaged 4 assists per season throughout his career, and in his first season under Steve Cooper he scored 0 goals and had 3 assists. Hardly a "proven performer". Last season he played both for us (2 goals and 1 assist) and for Coventry (0 goals and 0 assists). All in all, he played approx. 2700 minutes of football last season, scored 2 goals and had 1 assist. Again, hardly a "proven performer".

- Last season Ryan Manning played 3100 minutes of football, scored 2 goals and had 4 assists. Ryan Manning also had an 'exceptional' season in 2019/20 when he scored 4 goals and had 7 assists for QPR. Both Bidwell and Manning are ok wing-backs, but neither of them is something special.

- With other words, I can understand why Martin has kept Manning and got rid of Bidwell.

- Fulton is a good defensive/central midfielder, but again, Grimes and Downes have been excellent last season, so I understand why Martin used them and not Fulton. Could Martin have used Fulton in other positions? Sure he could and should instead of Smith and Ntcham.

- I agree that Dhanda, Cullen and Whittaker could and should've been used more last season. Dhanda could've been used when Paterson went on strike, or as a left wing-back, Cullen instead of Ntcham, or as a sub for either Obi or Piroe, and Whittaker on the right wing-back.

Here's a question - if you replaced Martin last season with any other Championship manager, how many of them finish lower than 15th with this exact squad?

Not many, if any.

10 bucks says a team made up of the players Martin has marginalised and/or pushed out of the club could beat the current first 11 at least half the time (Benda, B Cooper, R Williams, Burns, Bidwell, Garrick, Fulton, D Williams, Dhanda, Cullen, Whittaker).

You are exaggerating, but I understand what you want to say.

Ironically, I would argue that anyone who disagreed with Martin to the point of getting shipped out on loan (Whittaker) IS showing character.

I don't know what you mean by "anyone who disagreed with Martin to the point of getting shipped out on loan"?
Disagreed about what? Are you implaying Whittaker was shipped out on loan because he disagreed with Martin about the style of play? Or because Whittaker thought he was better than Piroe, Obafemi, Paterson and Ntcham, so he deserved to be a regular in the starting XI?

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Martin didn’t get the best out of the team as a whole. Individuals would have blossomed under any manager. We finished 15th with a squad that Sousa would have romped into the playoffs with. Comparatively speaking Martin has been nothing but a series of excuses for non-performance, indifferent results, lack of organization, and capitulations. Martin’s Madness is not going to be accepted by his successor; it will be changed. It has to be changed. It is not economically viable. It has not been successful; it cannot be successful as it cannot be staffed with players willing to play at the championship level that could possibly execute …. Then if it achieved promotion has so many vulnerabilities that Prem opponents would sort it out, contain and defeat in short order. Martin has created a massive discontinuity that has percolated down into the academy. There is no next step, next manager, next anything that would move this forward.

Bidwell has been highlighted as being too left footed, have we already forgotten Taylor … a player that would turn up his own arse to avoid passing with his right foot …. Yet a successful player in a team of successful players. Successful teams are units of XI where individuals excel, not eleven units of 1 with no cohesion. Martin’s Madness “empowers” players of mediocre ability to go walk about … Manning is a classic example. He plays not because of any a great particular ability but because he follows orders and is willing to do stupid shit that sacrifices defensive cohesion …. And he’s a really weak defender. Despite having a player like Piroe we conceded 68 goals versus 58 scored, net -10. Replace Piroe with Pintado and we would have been relegated - Sousa had Pintado and almost reached the playoffs with a lesser squad. Martin happened to be gifted players from which he realized sub-par returns that slapped band-aids on and covered up his Madness.

 

[CroJack]

Martin didn’t get the best out of the team as a whole.

Agreed, but that has nothing to do with Bidwell, Cullen, Whittaker, B. Cooper and D. Williams not playing (enough) for us.

Individuals would have blossomed under any manager.

Which individuals? Are Cullen and Whittaker better players than Piroe and Obafemi? Is Yan Dhanda, a player who needs 28 shots to hit the target) is a better player than Paterson? Would playing Fulton instead of Downes or Grimes in the starting XI change anything?

I don't think any other manager would make ALL Swansea players blossom.

First of all that's impossible, because we have approx. 27 players in the squad and only XI starters. And if you want some kind of continuity, then you don't change your starting XI so often, which, again means, the fringe players can't blossom, at least not all of them.

We finished 15th with a squad that Sousa would have romped into the playoffs with.

We don't know that, but he certainly wouldn't allow us to concede so many comical goals.

Comparatively speaking Martin has been nothing but a series of excuses for non-performance, indifferent results, lack of organization, and capitulations.

Agreed.

Martin’s Madness is not going to be accepted by his successor; it will be changed. It has to be changed. It is not economically viable. It has not been successful; it cannot be successful as it cannot be staffed with players willing to play at the championship level that could possibly execute ….

His successor should continue to play passing football but also

- buy a new goalkeeper or play Benda instead of Fisher,
- change formation to 4-3-3,
- sign two dedicated centre-backs who have pace,
- sign two full-backs who have pace, who can defend crosses, and who are good crossers,
- tell the players to stop dribbling in our own third and stop passing the ball to the players who are under pressure,
- tell the players to stop passing the ball backwards and instead cross and shoot at every opportunity,
- play either Downes or Grimes as a defensive anchor (midfielder), and not both of them,
- buy two creative attacking midfielders who can also run and tackle for 90 minutes and score some goals.

Passing football CAN be successful in the Championship and it can be staffed with the players willing to play and execute it.

Then if it achieved promotion has so many vulnerabilities that Prem opponents would sort it out, contain and defeat in short order.

We can't achieve promotion by playing this slow, boring, backward and sloppy football.

Bidwell has been highlighted as being too left footed, have we already forgotten Taylor … a player that would turn up his own arse to avoid passing with his right foot …. Yet a successful player in a team of successful players.

Yeah, right. And then we got rid of him. Because that's what you do with players who are not good enough.

Martin’s Madness “empowers” players of mediocre ability to go walk about … Manning is a classic example. He plays not because of any a great particular ability but because he follows orders and is willing to do stupid shit that sacrifices defensive cohesion ….And he’s a really weak defender.

So, you are telling me that Manning is crap, and Bidwell a world beater. Based on what? What I said was that both of them are ok wing-backs, but not more than ok. I also said that I understand why Martin got rid of Bidwell. When you play passing football, and you have two similar players where one of them is a better passer, which one would you keep?

Manning outperformed Bidwell last season.

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[Yankee_Jack]

Taylor left because: he broke his ankle, was replaced by Ben Davies, and could never reclaim his place. Davies is now the strongest Welsh defender in the Prem League. Taylor was a very tidy Championship LB.

The players that excelled this past season - Piroe, Obafemi, Grimes - would have excelled under any manager - their ability is innate. The likes of Dhanda were ignored and set aside. Martin did the one thing a coach is never supposed to do ... select a system, regardless of the resources at hand, and force the square pegs into round holes, instead of selecting a system with round holes, where the round pegs that you have fit perfectly ... all you need to do then is enhance player performance in that system. It can be argued that Andy Pandy, in fairness, at least attempted to do that ... and his results support that conclusion.

Martin's Madness is not passing football - passing football is what he tries to do, as a foundation, to support all the stupid shit. However, the majority of our passes are in our own half, between our back line and backward not forward. Toshack (e.g.) would also deliver passing football, but he would use that foundation to deliver a different system, product and result.

Or as you stated ...

His successor should continue to play passing football but also

- buy a new goalkeeper or play Benda instead of Fisher,
- change formation to 4-3-3,
- sign two dedicated centre-backs who have pace,
- sign two full-backs who have pace, who can defend crosses, and who are good crossers,
- tell the players to stop dribbling in our own third and stop passing the ball to the players who are under pressure,
- tell the players to stop passing the ball backwards and instead cross and shoot at every opportunity,
- play either Downes or Grimes as a defensive anchor (midfielder), and not both of them,
- buy two creative attacking midfielders who can also run and tackle for 90 minutes and score some goals.

Use the foundation and deliver a better result ... you would'nt need to buy so many players, just deploy a system lacking the Madness.

I'm not saying that Manning is crap, but that he's mediocre. He's a jack of all trades in the various roles Martin uses him for, but he's not a master of any. His decision making is suspect, is recovery is weak, he lacks the engine to get back when he forays forward. If Manning was so good then why didn't he command game time under Andy Pandy.

Manning may have out performed Bidwell last season, but Bidwell rarely played and did Manning out perform him compared to 2020/21. If you want a fair comparison then take the best of Manning (2021/22) and compare against Bidwell (2020/21).