Too soon for him. Hull City up next though,so a nic Gracious words from Guidolin for Ashley Williams.
Well at least there is one sensible journalist out there who had a little understanding of Swansea city. I'll copy and paste the best bits. Swansea rarely seem to get the recognition they deserve these days. One bad half of a season has seen the team's reputation plummet, with the majority of season previews condemning the Welsh club to a relegation fight before a ball's even been kicked. In truth, the second half of Swansea's previous campaign was a success. Italian manager Francesco Guidolin took the club from the doorstep of relegation to midtable security and a 12th-place finish after being appointed in January. His points-per-game average of 1.6 was so good that Swansea would have achieved their best ever finish -- 60 points, enough for 8th place -- had he been in charge for the whole season. So why does the relegation talk persist? Perhaps it's because Swansea remained dormant in this summer's market for so long, only acting over the last week or so. During this time, most of the focus has been on high profile departures rather than new signings. Captain Ashley Williams has left, as has last season's top scorer Andre Ayew. Looking only at those two departures, it is easy to throw a pessimistic slant on Swansea's aspirations for the coming season. However, selling Williams was good business and a safe move given the presence of Jordi Amat, while banking £20 million on a player who signed for free and was always an awkward fit at Swansea despite his goal haul has bloated the Swans' coffers and made Guidolin's job easier at the same time. Other players have also left. Goal-shy strikers Bafetimbi Gomis, Alberto Paloschi and Eder have all been shown the exit door. The trio combined for just eight league goals last season, so their loss can legitimately be seen as addition via subtraction; Swansea are a better team without them, and if losing three strikers at once looks bad on the surface, clearing deadwood out of a squad is anything but. It is a vital part of regeneration, a process without which teams stagnate. Yet Swansea are somehow copping criticism for daring to progress. What matters more is the players who have joined or who remain with the club. Precious little has been said about Amat in the fallout from the Williams transfer and yet he is a faster, tougher and younger version of Williams. He perhaps lacks the Wales international's leadership, but has the potential to surpass his predecessor in every other area. The Spaniard has been nurtured to be Williams' eventual replacement since Michael Laudrup brought him to Wales from Espanyol in 2013. Swansea are often praised for their succession planning when it comes to managers; where is the praise when the same process is applied to the players? Up front, new faces will look to better the accomplishments of last season's strike force, and while there are probably defenders who could score more than Gomis et al, the Swans' new strike duo look decidedly dangerous. Fernando Llorente's 0.34 goals-per-game average looks all the more impressive considering the striker spent two seasons scoring against Serie A defences, and the bulk of his career before that playing with Athletic Bilbao -- a solid midtable Spanish side, but not one full of world-class playmakers who might claim a share of responsibility for Llorente's prolificacy. In fact, Llorente himself was the centrepiece of the side known as Los Leones (The Lions), earning the nickname El Rey Leon, The Lion King. Joining Llorente is another Spaniard, Borja Baston. Swansea's record signing at £15m, a product of Atletico Madrid, has spent the past five seasons on loan at various sides and has always been among the goals, which suggests Borja's ability is inherent rather than the product of environment. Last season, he scored 18 times in 36 games while out on loan with Eibar, good for a 0.50 goals-per-game average. Swansea surely offer a better supporting cast, and the prospect of seeing how both men connect with the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Modou Barrow and Jefferson Montero is tantalising to say the least. It seems likely Guidolin will stick with Swansea's classic 4-2-3-1 this season. That allows room for only one striker and neither of the new men is likely to thrive on the wing. Llorente is the bigger name and was given the No. 9 jersey but Borja is the record signing. Who starts against Burnley might depend on how Guidolin perceives the tactical matchup, but for once Swansea have two genuinely intimidating choices to spearhead their attack. Goals were all that was missing last season and the side still finished 12th. If either striker can hit the ground running, Swansea will be a force again this season, especially since they are being underrated. Burnley have done little business of their own this summer and will be carrying a Championship roster into this game, albeit a Championship-winning one. Provided Swansea don't start to believe the negativity being spoken about them, Saturday will give Guidolin's revamped and better armed side an excellent chance at an opening day victory.
My main concern for Saturday's opener is that Burnley, being unfancied, will, a) up their game, and ,b) Swans' will be complacent assuming an easy three points. Such scenarios will produce a home win. Guidolin will be aware of this though, or at least I hope he will be, and get them fired up.
I don't believe that Guidoln will allow such complacency and if it's evident in the first half then it won't be in the second .
Don't know what you are worrying about, he's only been booked 40 times and sent off twice in the last 5 seasons
I'd like to see him play for us to be fair we could do with a defender that'll make players think twice before going for 50/50s
I suspect that you are correct. I think we could very well go for someone from the Italian or Spanish leagues - probably better value and a better defender
Fabianski had better start practising his penalty saves now as Shawcross can give plenty of penalties away with his shirt-pulling and niggly fouls. Having said that, it could be quite an appealing signing. Or maybe not. Ooh, I don't know. I need a fence to sit on.
Will be interesting to see who we do get in, no names leap out at this stage though Guidolin has players in mind and will have passed on his list to the chairman. It is up to Jenkins to get another quality signing as we do have spare cash after our recent departures so he must be prepared to back the manager and get a deal done fairly quickly.
