Don't fret , we will all be singing "we all dream of a team of Alan Tate's" when he either assists a goal for us via a perfectly weighted and inch perfect diagonal ball through to <Dobbie / Graham / Sinclair / Dyer etc > (delete as appropriate) , or via a block on a shot against our goal via any one of his four legs. We must ensure we remind the refs of his disadvantage in having four legs and no arms , a lot of people mistake his excellent blocks for handballs with their ignorrance of his condition.. All together now "WE ALL DREAM OF A TEAM OF ALAN TATES , A TEAM OF ALAN TATES , A TEAM OF ALAN TATES ........."
great match thread scott, now about the game, well on paper we have no chance so its lucky we are not playing on paper then it will be a big ask for us to win against a big side like man city but its not impossible, the one good thing that this is the first game and both sides will not know much about each other, depending what team Brendan puts out could effect our chances because if he plays all our new boys together then they will have trouble playing the type of football we are use to...we must play our normal game and keep possession as much as we can to stop man city from playing. if they cant get the ball then they cant do much damage, its a massive ask and we are not expected to get anything out of the game so as long as we put in a strong display and give man city a game then we may get a bit of luck and get something......whatever happens we must remember that we are away against one of the favorites for the title......and we will be playing so called lesser teams at home for the next two games, that will give a much truer picture where we are this season....
Minimum of 6 points from 1st three home games required (unless we can SHOCK all and get a result from any of the 1st 3 away games). I see us picking up more points from the next batch of 6 games though.
Thanks and well done, Scott, top stuff. Head says we will get mullered, heart says 1-1 if we get the breaks.
Great Scott. Actually about the right size for an away game. From your location you have done an unbelievable job. Hope you can keep it up when we get two games a week. 5* from me.
Once the diving season finishes I'll be back in the UK, temporarily at least, for a while so that'll make things a bit easier I'd imagine! Hopefully manage to get to a few home and away games too. To be honest I'm online a hell of a lot so I guess location doesn't really make a difference! The way I look at it, the more research I do the more I end up knowing about football! Better threads - better general knowledge! Win win.
Great thread Scotty!! Having seen this Article and and the Article on the BBC, it's all sunk in and I'm bloody terrified!!!! Having watched the Swans train earlier though, Alan Tate looked really good so fingers crossed there. But then again Taylor would have his work cut out defending against Silva. My head prediction is 3-0 to Man City and my Heart Prediction is 3-4 to Swansea. It's flipping exciting though isn't it?!?
excellent thread Scott - interesting stats about headers, makes you think that noone will be aimlessly pumping balls into the box, hopefully Caulker can improve our ratio though - you went for Augustien in the midfield holding role, i havent seen him play, do you rate him? considering his lack of matches maybe a game of this magnitude might be too much for him?
I really rate Augustien, last season it was down to fitness I heard. But he's physical and has plenty of vision.
Agreed about the headers thing. Either that, or we're equally pants at defending from them so it'll be 3-3 with all goals from crosses and headers! I went for Augustien purely for his size. In De Jong and Toure they have two of the best, most physical midfielders in the league, and as good as Leon and Joey are, I don't see them matching them in the power department. I included Dobbie purely because if we're to get something from this game, then we'll need to score at least a goal, and Dobbie was one of our main points of inspiration towards the end of last season. I rate Augustien highly. He can tackle, pass both short and long range, and he's a big lump to boot. Obviously we haven't seen that much of him but by all accounts he's been given a second chance and he's fitter than ever, so if he can fulfil his potential I'd love for it to be with us.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/12/swansea-city-premier-league Nice article remembering the Hull game 8 years ago, and a short interview with James Thomas about it.
It's going to be three nil to a team, tell you after the game to which side great thread scotty shame there is no man city fans on here to chat with , well there is one I suppose he pretty much speaks to himself though lol
Yes a great article, and Thomas in my mind played a more pivotal role than Sinclair did, without Thomas IMO there would be no Swansea City! Really sorry that his injury prevented him getting the glory along side tatey and leon, but I can see that he has paved a new career for himself which is more profound.
Quality match thread Scottswan,great work All the pressure is on the Mancs so hope we keep our heads and stay disciplined and have belief The 'experts' who have dissed our chances all seem to point to the number of defeats we picked up on the road-none mention we won almost as many! We're a far better unit and overall package than Blackpool and they surprised almost everyone and scored plenty-so my head says 2-0 M city heart says 1-2
Some good comments on here and due to Man City's recent history of promotions and relegations, it brings back some (not too distant) memories of anticipation, trepidation but overall excitement about being the new boys in the league. I have watched City for too many years to think that it will be a stroll for us and I am sure that your lot will be busting a gut for you. We wont be sitting back expecting to witness a massacre!! I haven't seen too much of Swansea recently but it looks like you try to play football. Whatever the outcome on Monday, I hope that you have a great season and enjoy your night in Manchester.
Scott -there were lots of promising noises about Augustien when he joined, lets hope this is his time to start fulfilling them, certainly we need a bit of steel in there. Dobbie is a must for me too and when Brendan takes him off we always seem to lose our shape - for me he is pivotal to the way we play and i reckon he will be one of hopefully many who will really impose themselves on the premier stage. Cant wait!
More likely starting X1 Hart Richards Lescott Kompany Kolorov De Jong Milner Yaya toure Silva Balotelli Dzeko Subs Aguerro Johnson Tevez Wright Phillips Zabaleta Barry Taylor Hope the season pans out ok for you and enjoy the ride Sadly it will be a long journey home on Monday night after the 4-0 hiding How many tickets have you sold?
Great article Scott, good effort mate! Samuel L. Jackson has tipped us for a 1-0 victory on Monday, lets not let him down Here's the link
