First let me say that I was as disappointed with today’s result as the rest of you; disappointed with the result but not the display!! We absolutely battered Villa, but it was one of those days when we got no luck whatsoever! Lambert knows how to play against us and set his team up to frustrate us – negative maybe, but who can blame him given the position they are in. Football is played as much in the brain as it is with the feet; we created so many chances in the first 15 minutes that it was inevitable that nerves would start to play a part when we didn’t convert them. We terrified Villa in the opening spell, and were unlucky not to be out of sight in the first quarter, but we didn’t get the ‘rub of the green’! As a result Villa grew in confidence whilst we got a bit ‘nervous’. We were far superior in every aspect of today’s game, but sometimes things don’t go your way and I have so much respect for our players for the way that they battled back and grabbed a late equaliser – this is a game we would have lost last year under Brenda! When you dominate a game but have nothing to show for it; when every 50 50 decision goes against you, it is so easy for heads to go down and lesser teams would have given up the chase – but we battled back, got an equaliser – and arguably should have gone on to win the game – for that I am extremely proud of our players! The one thing that separates our squad this year from last years is that we have grown a backbone! Last year we would have submitted and felt so sorry for ourselves because we had lost a game we should have won – this year we have the ‘steel’ and guts to battle to the very end! Take the Fulham game last week; we scored two opportunist goals against the run of play and held on to a victory despite being absolutely battered in the second half – today was the polar opposite; yes we should have won – but we could have lost – but our team showed fantastic resilience and battled to the end, grabbing a goal that got us a point in the fourth minute of injury time! Last year we played with style – this year we have added a ‘never say die’ attitude to that style! Yes, we should have won by several goals today, but everything went against us, but when the chips were down our players showed an impressive strength of character and battled to the bitter end! So tonight I am in ‘glass half full’ mode; we drew a game we should have won but am so impressed by the guts shown by our heroes who continue to put in performances against teams whose resources are far superior to ours! I still find that I have to pinch myself at times during games; gutted at drawing with Aston Villa!!! Disappointed that we drew Chelsea in the Capitol One semi final! Upset that we are up against Arsenal in the FA Cup – a tie we would have killed for a few years ago!!! We are living the dream people – from the brink of obscurity a decade ago, to strutting our stuff in the Premier League and being gutted to draw against the likes of Aston Villa!
Have already bigged up the Swans on Facebook so much that my 'friends' are getting a little pissed off by it! But f**k em, they post statuses about what they had for breakfast, so I will continue to bore them with my adoration of the mighty Swans!!
My glass is half full too, but a game we should have won, does not necessarily mean it is a game we deserved to win, and on our very poor second half, I don't think we deserved the win, and so we didn't, we gave no respect to Villa when we were poncing about, and allowed Villa to grow into the game, and if it wasn't for Danny boys extraordinary effort at the dying seconds, it would have been a loss to Villa, and he subsequently saved us from one of the most embarrassing results without a doubt this season, a game to forget in my view!.................
Nothing half full about a game we contrived to throw away when we were so much on top. What we did was slapdash and unprofessional. The fact that we salvaged a point at the end served to save our blushes. Michael Laudrup was raging on the bench and with good cause. Villa had been softened up, taken apart and we were set for a haul that would have done wonders for our goal difference. Instead, we took our foot off the gas, started waving our backsides to show how good we were and allowed Villa back into a game where they should have been dead and buried. It was a disgrace and it was inexcusable. I'm still angry about it, still shaking my head with disbelief. God knows how Michael Laudrup feels because the team badly let him down today, as well as us.
Well said Ivor, It just goes to show that even at little old Swansea, players can get too big with their egos, about time we got a serious captain in the midfield too, I don't think Williams leads enough!................
We should have won yesterday no doubt about it. We were the better side and I feel people saying that we weren't are only expressing their disappointment. We are 8th in the Premier League this morning and feeling disappointed that we didn't hammer Villa who have had a bad run of 3 games since beating Liverpool away. My cup is half full for sure, but I won't let disappointment turn to negativity. C O Y S
Great post Cartoon!! Yes with the amount of chances we created we should have won, but that wasn't to be. Penalty we should have had, but to battle back and get a last min goal shows the character in the team. Disappointed with the result mmmmm Yes and No, Yes not getting a win but to then pick up a point No. We have a bit of steel this year in never say die attitude. Not sure but I think we have got around 3 or 4 draws when being behind, we would never have done that last season I'm a half full glass. Onwards and upwards.
Nice article and the sentiment is spot on..however i do feel that like many Swans fans we know when we've been let down, nothing wrong with a moan when that happens its part of football. If we were to just think of all the good the club has done these last few years then in reality there would be no option of debate at all!! its been a truely fantastic 8/10 yrs with constant progress. Some may feel that players have earned that right the right to take their foot off the Gas in certain games, i feel that if anything its the fans that have the right and nobody else, remember that most of the players in that team have only known prem football with us and nothing else,they havent experienced the same level of anguish as the regular 2-3000 die hard jacks that were there during the lean years and dark days. Its for this reason that all our comments are seeped in a strong dose of reality and when things dont go according to plan some Swans fans feel the need to point out why,not because they wish ill on the team but probably because they feel a defeat more than the players if truth be told! Calling things how you see them are also great for debate and how boring would things be if we all decided that the Swans were fab all of of the time.. Being a Swans fan is not and never has been an easy thing, its very difficult to forget about the past even when things are so great nowadays, there are many that still cant quite beleive where we are,im certainly in that bracket! it sounds horrible to say but im always thinking about the day when we reach our level,there is only so far our club can keep progressing, thats not negative thats just plain fact. championship? no. season in the prem?no. solid prem team? no. top 10 prem team? maybe. top 4 prem team? not really. A poor team performance will always raise the alarm bells, a string of poor performances makes them ring louder! im sure we will be fine and we are indeed in the best shape ive ever known the club to be in but it does take some getting used to as well.. What many dont understand is that a team like Swansea will always be up against it and it hurts when we know we can do better and throw away points,sure it will happen here often but it does not explain why it happens against teams like Villa who are totally devoid of confidence and ability or teams like Reading who are one of the worst prem teams ive ever seen. That is not being big time as a fan that is just the facts as i see them, i dont care for a teams History or what they have done,sure Villa are massive but bigger clubs than them have been relegated and size means nothing when its 11 v 11 on the field. Our recent performances have been poor by our standards its not about saying its " being dissapointed with a draw against Aston Villa shows how far we have come" its about saying "beat the teams that are off form to make sure we maintain our prem status" Its more important to beat Villa,Reading ,southampton etc than it is to beat Arsenal,chelsea,liverpool etc. the former are our rivals for prem status the latter are nothing to do with us in this league..at least not for a couple of years..if we maintain our status and keep growing Different strokes for different folks init
Well said, Norway. It is indeed hard being a Swans' fan and it's doubly so when the team throws away points as they did against Villa and others. Our hopes and expectations are raised when we go to places such as Arsenal and Newcastle and get great results then we go and lose all the impetus by dropping points against the likes of Reading and Villa. We need to be beating such teams to maintain or increase the gap between us - as Laudrup has said several times. We would be more secure had we lost at Arsenal and Toon and beaten Reading and Villa. What irks me, is that Michael Laudrup has told the players how important it is that we win these games, yet they can't seem to take it on board. The capitulation against Villa was shameful after our early dominance and we failed to beat Reading who are one of the worst teams I've seen at this level. The players have to take responsibility. Football is a 90 minute game yet I have still to see consistent 90 minute performances and we are too hit and miss as a team at the moment. There is no doubt that we need an injection of steel because we are cream puff in midfield at the moment, which is where the problems are. Let's hope that we recruit a big engined unit who will strengthen us there. Now, before I get pelters, I want to say that, despite this, the lads have done us proud and are exceeding my pre-season expectations. I just feel that with a little more application it could have been so much more.
And there is my point in a nutshell in the above statement.. Yes its great where we are now, but it wasnt great 10,20,30 yrs ago and alot of people keep that dose of realism in mind when things go a bit wonky these days, nothing wrong with that either It really does go without saying that we are extremely proud of the boys this season, this is stating the obvious isnt it? As Ivor said and as Laudrup said, its about beating the teams around you this is a priority for our team and as much as Laudrup keeps trying to tell them this it aint happening!! its great to compete with Man utd at home and play a blinder but at the same time we ALL know that means diddly squat when the performance level drops drastically the next game!! i know the players fancy putting their name up in lights now and again but its not the intelligent thing to do,what it does is give the lesser teams a chance to dig themselves out of the holes they've got themselves into !! Not a smart move in the grand scheme of things and Laudrup has talked about the very same thing,so i think myself Ivor and a few others are in good company there..
Villa were there for the taking like they have been most of the season, We were let down by the players showing off by their needless back passes, back heels and wasteful passing, They had the game in the bag or so they thought and it back fired on them so where we saw others destroy villa with goals we destroyed them by showing off and playing tippy tappy football without hurting them. we played right into lamberts hands and he nearly stole all 3 points...sir mike was furious with the players you could see by his face....It must go down as the worst 2pts we have ever dropped that quite easily have been all 3.....LIke i stated on another thread...a video nasty on how to look good and batter sides but nearly lose through too much showing off and show boating and not getting the job done...
Were doing great. Even with a few blips on the way to survival we still punch above our weight , plenty of talking points on the way and good to read fans point of views after good or bad results but nowt to get on the anti depresants about eh ! On a side note a good few years back i was at the vetch for a testamonial match where villa came down i think it was for Cornforth and Dion Dublin played for them, it was a great friendly match where even cyril n curtis got a kick about i think it was Hollins managing us im sure i remember him having a go too. Villa seemed like a team light years above and ahead of us back then but not anymore aye !
Didnt Curtis come on in that game too ?? They were light years ahead of us then, but so were Sheff Wed. Sheff Utd, Crystal Palace,Ipswich etc,etc etc Nobody likes us performing below par, especially in a league where every single point is absolutly vital, thats the crux of it really . The evil of the prem league is that every single point is worth millions of pounds and every defeat gives the oppositon a chance to take away your dream. Its tough at the top boys but im glad we are there
Curtis did play a bit as i said and he was **** hot to. Good point about the points mean pounds Norway , with the stay up money being pumped up to more than £60m this season does it include money for the higher the ranking or is it a basic wedge for all plus ranking money on top ? anyone know how it will work n be dished out inc... relegated teams ?
