In tonights evening post sorry i cant find a link but he makes an intresting point. He thinks we have a problem out wide with Dyer and Sinclairs lack of quality with thier crossing of the ball, and our lack of headed goals. Instead they try to cut inside with the ball themselves which is fine sometimes but you need a bit of variety to be successful. He recons he can help solve it with a crossing clinic as he did for former wide man Stuart Roberts which made a big difference to his game. Im not sure iff hes the man for the job but we have lacked good accurate consistant crosses in from anywhere for a while. What you recon has he got a point ??
This is part of the problem, we`re too predictable and teams in this league will snuff us out easily. If he can help, then why not give it a go! Yes, he`s a bit of a tosser and not very well liked, but hey ho. Variety is the spice of life, let`s get varying.......... please log in to view this image
Yes, he has got a point. Our crossing isn't good enough for a Championship team let alone for one in the PL. It's been a problem for a long time. Sincs isn't the greatest at it and Dyer, quite frankly, is pretty poor - they can't be good at everything and it is a weakness in their armoury. The cut back on the floor comes off occasionally for them but dangerous flighted balls are rare. If possible, take a look at a video of the Wigan game. The number of times a corner, cross or free kick failed to clear the first defender had me screaming in frustration. This has been the case for more than a couple of seasons. Granted, we have lacked aerial power in the past so we might not have paid too much attention to this skill set. However, Graham isn't too bad in the air and we have Caulker who is a tall defender, so we do have a bit more of a threat now. Love him or hate him, LJ had great technique and I would say that he should be well capable of handling a clinic. Give him a try, I say because, when he was playing, his ability in this regard was way better than either of our two wide men.
Saying we are too predictable is not really strictly true, I mean you could lay that on most teams and if you ask a club's supporters this question they would say it's true for them. So if this was actually a fact no team would ever win as you can predict what they are going to do, and then just cancel it out, the truth is very different though as every team is beatable and we can expect results from the most unlikely games. As for LJ there is a reason why he is a pundit, and that is because he was useless as a manager, like most pundits he analyses games after the fact and has the benefit of hindsight, I don't want him near our club in any form!
Jager, being a useless manager is no reason why he shouldn't make a good coach in this context. As for hindsight, you can only identify some problems after the fact and when identified, you fix them..... if you can. Point of interest last season when LJ showed commendable foresight. He was sat behind me at the start of the Bristol City game. He said to his mate something along the lines of, "I know Bristol are struggling but they'll give us problems with their pace. Our defence will struggle to cope particularly (no names here) and they'll get at least one goal". He was proven absolutely right as Bristol got a surprise 1-0 win. Leighton James was a superbly gifted player and if he can help our guys get better then we should go for it. My neighbour is a very good friend of Stuart Roberts so I'll try and get some feedback from him.
To be honest, I'm always interested what Leighton has to say about the Swans & football in general. He was a cracking player for us & he can't help but demonstrate how much he loves the Swans on the Real radio phone-in & that's certainly a good start for me. But if you can actually be bothered to listen to him, he actually speaks a fair amount of sense!! Trouble is, some people don't like his manner, because like Tosh, he say's it as it is!! So much of what he say's about football tactics, sound quite reasonable & maybe shows he certainly understands the game. Attributes you need, if your to have any coaching credentails, nothing to do with managing!!!!
Agreed he is a true jack and a real character, i look for his bit in the post every friday because he doesnt hold back no p.c. bull. And he has lived and breathed the game from the inside i respect most of his oppinions on all swans matters more than any keyboard managers anyway .
Agree swantastic, that's what I like. He doesn't pull any punches!! Catch him on the phone-in mate.....
I don't know... I vividly remember Leighton James slagging off Martinez after one game ( I assume it was after a loss anyway) basically saying how we needed to sign someone big to lump it to in an emergency as a plan B and we'd never get promoted playing like we do. Having said that, if he was as good as everybody says he was, then he'd probably have the attributes to do it. As long as he didn't rock the boat... would Dyer and Sinclair even know who he is?! It might look a bit patronising from their point of view maybe?
Scott, he was every bit as good as people say he was. At his peak he played at the highest level and was regarded as one of the best wingers in the game. Scored a few as well. Like the guys say, he is a true Jack, if outspoken at times - and yes, his opinions can be wrong. He's not wrong about the quality of our crossing, though. It's there for all to see and it is sub-standard.
He does wear his heart on his sleeve like many fans and it can be hard to tell toungue in cheek from a rant when he goes off on one, but he makes a lot more good than bad points on the whole imo. I doubt Rogers would let him coach for many reasons but he has a valid point in that we have had that weakness in our attack for a long time. I can only think of Williams looking able to sometimes head the ball in rescent times . Who was the last great header of the ball with goals to show for it since the old Toshack days ??
Leighton James may remember how to cross the ball, but he has never been involved in top level coaching, has had a string of failed attempts at management and I would much rather listen to someone like Alan Curtis, who was also a winger, but also has coaching experience with the swans at all levels. Just because someone was good at a sport does not mean they would be a good coach, as proven by his managerial record
Sorry but i think leighton james is a tosser. Great player and all that but he does more harm than good sometimes with his biased and out of date views on the swans, certain players and managers.He slaughtered Sousa at a time when the club needed everyone pulling in the same direction , he slated martinez in the past because of his style of football ,he beleived bobby should be mixing it up a bit more. LJ is still bitter about being passed over for role at the club(i beleive something to do with scouting) this is the same man that was a total faliure as a manager at various Welsh league clubs and never ever discovered a single player in all the time he was in the game here in wales. I realise his job as a pundit is to be objective and controversial but half the stuff he comes out with is total drivel. If scott sinclair could do everything he wouldnt be playing for the swans !! same for nathen. both these players have weaknesses in their games but as leighton maybe forgets to point out(havent read the full article) they are still very young players ,overall nathen and sinclair have been nothing short of sensational this last season , what LJ is now saying is that he can coach better than our current set up. im sure brenden rodgers will find that funny!! It shows how bitter Leighton james is IMO, the fact that he thinks he can do better than current qualified coaches says alot about the man. He did such a fantastic job of stuart roberts didnt he ? someone who is currently residing in the "where are they now " files of football failiures. His colunm is a joke and should really be taken as such. great player and was a swans legend ,he now makes a fool of his self on a regular basis in print and on radio. should stick to being a lolly pop man
lj gives it to you straight, a lot of footballer's today could'nt handle it cause they're pansie's, they should let lj train luke moore, now there's a boy who could benefit from lj's atitude, cause you can have all the ability in the world but if you have'nt got that confidence and arrogance you'll never make it.
having analyzed what Leighton said in the post and watched 3 separate games then Leighton has got a very good point as the crosses by both Sinclair and dyer have been poor, i hope they have took onboard one of the greatest players swansea has had and take his free offer of teaching them how to cross the ball properly and more efficient..
Yeah Luke Moore will never make it will he ! ! WBA,Aston villa ,Derby county and Swansea city. Alot of footballers today are streets ahead of players in the past. I dont want to go down the road of comparing old and new but having seen LJ play back in the day and compare him with say our current wingers would he get in the team now? no. these pro players are doing 100m in 11.0 secs and less they are athletes that can play football ,in LJ day they were just people that could play football . I would like to know this, If LJ has such a good feel for the game why isnt he coaching right now ?? I think the game has moved on now , I loved tosh and thought he was the right man for wales ,i supported him until the end but i think maybe some of his methods were out of date and didnt come across to the players(right or wrong) times have moved on so have coaching methods , player psyhcology is very often the difference between good and bad performances . LJ is very much out of the tosh mould ,a mould that has been proven not to work. he is better off helping kids to cross the road than going anywhere near a professional football club .I could imagine LJ telling rodgers how to coach properly as rodgers "never played the game like i have " LOL
He's right, we don't mix it up enough and our crosses and corners tend to be of very poor quality and this area of our game definitely needs a lot of work. But just because someone is a 'true jack' doesn't mean he should be given any sort of coaching role within the Club. There must be people in place who recognise the problem and are dealing with it - or should be at least. I lost count of the number of times Norwich crossed the ball diagonally last season for Holt or someone else to get on the end of it. Carbon copy goal after carbon copy goal. My point is that good quality crosses can deliver goals even at this level imo and we are definitely lacking both. Maybe that'll be put right today, who knows?
On the wing It's not about how fast you can do 100, it's about how fast you can do 5 or so from a dead stop. Watch Sinclair closely. When he's already moving when he gets closed down he's great. But when he receives the ball stationary and gets closed down he invariably passes it off. A top winger, now or in the past, Bale or LJ or Cliff Jones or Len Allchurch, should / did delight in taking on the defender in that tight situation, skinning him and delivering a telling cross. And it was all about going from dead stop to flat out in 5 yards. This is why Sinclair is so easy to shut down on the wing. This is why he all but disappears in stretches in games. Sinclair is a dangerous player, but he's a forward or midfielder that plays wide, not a winger in the classic sense.
Leighton James not get in our present team? Norway, are you having a laugh? Yes, he would have to bring his fitness levels up to today's standards but that is easily done. Anyone can get fit but you can't shoehorn talent into someone who hasn't got it - and LJ was talented! He plied his trade in days when pitches resembled muddy battle grounds, oh, and they were often just that, battlegrounds, with the likes of Tommy Smith, Bremner, Hunter etc etc etc prowling their patch aching to kick anything that moved. Then there was the old leather football....... I would love to see LJ play today on these perfect surfaces facing sanitised defenders - I know some put the boot in but not in the quantity or with the ferocity of LJ's day. As for the ball in use now, I reckon Leighton would get it to sit up and beg before swerving it in three different directions past the keeper. Of course I'm exaggerating but you get the picture............ We are not discussing his managerial capabilities here, nor in fact, his general coaching ability. We are debating whether or not LJ could coach this ONE particular discipline and if you believe that he is not good enough or talented enough to do that then I take serious issue with you. As for your remark about "in LJ day they were just people who could play football" ???????? Just what game do you think we are talking about? Yes, we need fit players, I'm always banging on about it, but first and foremost we need people who can PLAY. And Leighton James, by any yardstick, could do that. Athleticism and fitness can be easily achieved, ability far less so. Let's get one thing straight. We'll agree that Sinclair and Dyer are not only good players and they are very fit as well. However, let's paint the whole picture - their final ball (the cross) all too often is pure CRAP. There's absolutely no consistent quality. Not an opinion, it's fact and evidence exists on practically any video of them that you care to watch. I won't go into detail of what I saw in training but some things had me shaking my head in disbelief. I don't see the likes of Ferguson, Redknapp, Wenger, Dalgleish et al, tolerating it. They would get it put right, so where's the harm in allowing Leighton James some time with the lads to see what he could do? It would cost little and might be of benefit. If it doesn't work, no harm done but, if the players, including the likes of Rangel and Taylor, buy into it, we could see some improvement and any improvement would be worthwhile.
