Agreed Ivor. Don't get me wrong, I love our plan A when it is working, but there has to be a plan B or C at times. A great football team needs to be able to adapt during games as sometimes styles clash, luck/decisons go against you.
It was a concern for me about our size too but i said from day 1 that it might actually work to our benifit , the fact we are smaller often means we are getting much more free kicks in the prem than we ever did in the lower leagues!! and thats another point ,we have had to cope with the physical aspects all the way through the leagues and that experience will have taught the players alot , there is a time to win a free kick and the boys are getting wise to this in the prem leauge, the refs here are more inclined to give a free kick for the smaller infrigements here than they ever were in the lower leagues. I also dont think the heavier pitches will be a problem, i mean will there be heavier pitches in the prem league ?? the playing surfaces are nearly all like bowling greens so i dont see this being a factor. Where i tend to agree is on the fact other teams will work us out and tiredness will play a part , unless we have our first 11 on the field we are weak , leon already has a back problem we have lost kemy and caulker as well so it shows that bodies are going to be needed throughout the season , this IMO is where we will come unstuck! The flip side of that though is because we play more of a passing game and dont rely on being physical with the opposition then it may help preserve our players fitness , also have more posession than the opposition means they should be chasing the ball more than us , all these factors will come into play over the season. My view is that we are going to need more strength in the squad after xmas , a small investment on the right players could mean the difference between survival and relegation. If we are very lucky with injuries we might just scrape through
Stats like this just confirm to me that Leon is our most important player this season. Without him, our game lacks rigidity, which is why we retain possession so well. I don't think we need a physical player in the centre unless we can sign someone who can do what our players can do already. To find someone who is physical and technical enough to play in our system, would cost an amount of money that we just don't have. And I don't think we need a plan B or C. If we get our A game right 9 more times this season we won't get relegated. We're not a great team, so we just need to concentrate on our strengths and believe they will keep us up.
And to think some Jacks didn't want him back aye?? I remember putting an article up on the old BBC 606, about 'The Return of a Legend' and boy did I get a load of rubbish from some regarding 'We don't need him' ' He will never return' 'we have not missed him' now who said "Leon can stay where he is we want better than what he can give, we had his best years out of him anyway" Dai your a star, anyway it's good to see he's appreciated for his skills, regardless of his goal scoring abilities, one of the best players to ever put on a Swansea shirt, and long may he continue with us! A legend he is.............. please log in to view this image
Well Dragon i have to say that when Leon left i was dissapointed and i think alot of people were a little bit angry as well ,so cant read too much into peoples comments there
Phil here is the thread you were talking about, and I agree we didn't miss Leon at that time, we were in an auto spot at that time I believe http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A79327263
Norway was it you who said to me we have Gower!!!............. I'll have a look at that link Jager, cheers, strange though how we see things differently, because although our position seemed to show we could do without him, I felt there was something definitely lacking in our midfield without him......................
Driving back from the game yesterday listening to 606 and a caller rang in saying about Leon's pass completion rate and Chappers was going to talk to him but never did. I know the sceptics will say about the passes range, would be interesting for the stats to see how far the ball travelled with these passes. Leon does look tidy on the ball and very comfortable on the ball. I think he has made the step up to the PL look very easy, still a long way to go.
doesnt matter how far the ball travels to me , we all know leon doesnt pass more than 15m anyway!! the point is that he keeps the ball and doesnt waste it, which means we spend less time defending and trying to win it back!
Yes dragon i did say that..kind of !! i said we have gower AND allen to fill that spot and it doesnt cost us 12k a week for the priviidge! seemed like a fair assement to me considering we were doing well at the time. guess it proves i am more of a gower fan than thought!!
Dragon this is what i replied to you after you mocked me for mentioning Gower (telling me to drink a Brandy!! wine is my tipple dragon!!) "DPJ- ha ha in fairness i never thought id ever type that about gower look,britton coming back would be good for the team of course, but it was his choice to leave not the clubs. if he comes back then thats fine by me but do we pay him 9-12k a week ? for a player that decided he wanted away and turned down a good contract its a hell of a u-turn! all im saying is that the club havent really missed a 12k a week player have they? gower ,kemi and allen together are probably on less than leon ! is he better than 3 players? i think not! if he comes back then thats fine ,but it would make jenkins look silly wouldnt it, especially when the one player we really needed to return was scotland !! of course there is another angle here, it is possible that we can get leon back for less money than we origionally offered him!! now if he had a deal of 12k a week offered before and he wants a move back here for say 8k ,then it will indeed be a good deal by the club! it would mean that jenkins yet again comes out smelling of roses!!! hmmm...its looking like it could be a possibility now! having him back for less money we offered him 6 months ago does look good from the financial point of view. and of course we know what we are going to get with him too . intresting stuff. add comment | complain about this comment
