STOP PRESS...... The Swansea team got low on the ground with regards to potential replacement defenders. So we grabbed what we could in desperation, and we havent seen them! Actually the back 4 have not been that bad, in fact I would say the fault has come from in front of them ! STOP PRESS..... Swansea have an abundance of similar styled small, skillful midfielders, the later the game goes on, the worse they are in quality. STOP PRESS ..... We need a strong holding midfielder to let the side flow. MY ANSWER...... break the bank for that man People say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.......
and before Rhys accuses me again..... I admit it .....I have been drinking....SO WHAT..... the chilli peppers are out of my nose, I have cleaned up the mess around the bog, my wife might forgive me in the morning and the goat got home safely!
We have one in the form of augustien , but you know the club won't break any bank on a player full stop, huw and co will not put careful financial planning at risk by bringing in somebody that may not make any difference. Also this said mythical player will want a wage packet beyond our structure, Brendan has gone on record to say that won't happen as it causes dis-harmony to the team as a whole, hence the reason why Senna didn't come to us.
I think the problem is, everyone wants to see a bruiser who can seamlessly slot into our system and pass the ball with aplomb. Name a player who can do that?! Off the top of my head, they're all daft expensive (Yaya Toure, Mascherano, err...anyone else you think would fit into our style?) and way out of our league. If we keep improving, and slowly and surely pick up players slightly/a lot better than the ones we already have, then we'll be just fine, I think. The emphasis on needing "steel" in midfield is overplayed at times, as if we've got the ball it doesn't matter how big the players are. Leon, Joey and Gower can play triangles all day, and the more they do it, the better they'll get, and, as a result, the opposition is going to find it harder and harder to get anywhere near us!
Saw all the 2nd half of your game against Wolves. OP is spot on first thing you need is a bit of steel in the centre of the park and a leader on the pitch. Wolves were so bad I think a League 2 outfit would have beaten them. Crowd all against them and their players seemed to have no fight. Swansea gifted them a point and another few minutes it could have been all 3 as Swansea seemed to fall apart. Swanseas 2nd half performance was sloppy. Players giving the ball away , passes going into touch and failure to finish off in good positions when in attack. They needed someone to shake them up on the pitch and needed someone to calm things down when the goal went in. From what I saw there was noone on the pitch who could do that. Seen Rodgers criticised for his subs. Dont think that mattered. Swansea should have finished Wolves off before the subs. The 2nd goal was schoolboy defending by what seemed players in panic. You need some steel and a leader.
Everyone keeps saying that, but who? I think the type of player everyone wants normally costs at least 5mil. QPR got lucky with Barton, but to be honest I wouldn't want him here, and I really can't think of anyone who would a)come to the Swans, or b) we could afford!
As said hilts we have augustien coming back and caulker for that matter, the club won't be reckless and they won't break any banks it's that simple! But a question to swans fans (no disrespect hilts) if we do bring someone in who do we drop ?
I think it'd be on form? At the moment, god knows! I'd say Gower, purely because he's the one of the three who doesn't have a dedicated "role" as such. Allen is box to box, snapping at people, gaining possession and then breaking forward. Leon is ball winning & ball retention, whereas Gower is a bit of everything. Any player we bring in needs to be able to do all these things, but be able to do them slightly (or a lot!) better than the players we currently have.
Thats what scouts are for. Cardiff need some players with pace. Weve little money to spend and I havent a clue who we can sign. Hope though Malky and his staff have been watching games and have targets. See youve been linked with that young Chelsea player. Very good talent but not sure if hes what you need. Rodgers and his staff should be able to identify a strong holding player and a leader on the field. Maybe hes not looking for that type of player though and hes the manager and to be fair hes done pretty well so far,
Yeah Hilts, granted, that's what scouts are for. I just think for a player to be able to play our style, but still have all the "grit and determination[sic]" that people are asking for, then we would be seriously, seriously lucky to find someone on the cheap. Looking through the Premiership squads, here's who I think matches the description of players who could both do a job in a footballing system, but would still be able to put it about and drive a team on. Arsenal - Alex Song - worth god knows how much now. Arteta? 10mil. Aston Villa - Stiliyan Petrov - though he's not the most physical player. Blackburn... no one jumped out... Bolton - Muamba?........ Pratley? ducks head Chelsea - Ramires, Essien - enough said. Everton - Cahill, Fellaini, Rodwell. They'll all be mega money when they leave. Fulham - Dickson Etuhu and Danny Murphy... debatably. Liverpool - Gerrard, Henderson, Adam, Lucas... Man City - Yaya Toure, De Jong yada yada yada Man Utd - Anderson, Carrick, again debatable. I think Man Utd's biggest problem for this year is their lack of drive in midfield. Newcastle - Guthrie, Cabaye? Wouldn't be cheap, and possibly not the right types of player. Norwich - Johnson, Hoolahan - I actually think these players would work, but could we get them? The only way I see that is if Norwich got relegated, and if we stayed up in that eventuality we should be looking to sign players of a better calibre than that for our 2nd season in the PL. QPR - Barton, Faurlin - Barton I wouldn't have in a Swans team if you paid me, but Faurlin would be class (and uber-expensive!). Stoke - Palacios & Whitehead, possibly? Palacios the more likely of the two, but again, expensive, daft wages, and he's a bit of a thug too! Sunderland - Cattermole & Larsson - In fairness, both could do a job. Here's hoping they get relegated so we can nick them! Spurs - Parker, Huddlestone, Sandro - How much would they cost in wages alone? No chance. WBA - Dorrans is a player I like, but would he improve what we have? Up for debate... Wigan - Ben Watson - Decent player, could do a job, but, again, would he improve the team? Wolves - O'Hara - Good player, but he wouldn't be cheap. I think what I'm getting at here is that every team in the Premiership needs players like the ones people are crying out for here. Problem is, if you want to buy a player to do that job straight away, you pay big money, and even then it's not guaranteed. Clubs are constantly searching for players, but most (bigger) clubs can afford to spend a million or two on a punt, in the hope that the "new Vieira" will emerge, whereas if we spend a million you have to fight Huw first! I have no doubt we'll find the players we need, or that the club are currently searching for said players, but I think we'll be surprised at who is brought in.
Granted man! I think he could be class. I like Augustien, but I don't know whether he's at a level which would allow us to step up again, if that makes sense? They've all got my backing though.
Hopefully Situ turns out to be as good as I hoped. Hopefully Situ turns out to be ours! Do I need to quote my chant again.... ok not this time!
Haha, he's ours swimaway. The Swans kitman has been all over him on Twitter after beating him in a crossbar challenge! Apparently the forfeit is to record himself singing then uploading it onto the internet... we're still waiting on that though! He'll be available in January.
"Actually the back 4 have not been that bad" At home, maybe. Away? Shocking. "We need a strong holding midfielder to let the side flow" As has been pointed out, Agustien is the man. Has experience and has always looked the part to me. Can pick a pass and never gets muscled off the ball. No need to break the bank just yet imo, particularly with Josh McEachran coming in January. Hope you don't have a hangover like mine!
I think everyone wants us to buy a 'Roy Keane'. As you said, very expensive, way out of our league. Augustien is the way to go, he just picked up an injury. Chill! We decimated Wolves and lost our shape in the last 10 mins. That IS the back four's fault, but Brendan sounded like he has it in hand.
Back fours fault? You might want to go back and count how many defenders were on the pitch when that goal went in. No doubt about it, brendan lost us that game. Granted, it wasn't going well but brendan made subs which caused the second goal. If at any point this season we play that system again, we will collapse like we did against wolves
please log in to view this image 100% spot on, and Jacks are talking about Rodgers poor subs!!....................... please log in to view this image We already have the man for the job, if he can just get off his arse, you won't find a better midfield general than Ferrie Bodde, but will he ever see the light of day, and with very little official info from the club, it does make you wonder, why the hell he's named in our squad, I'm fast losing patience on this Bodde saga!............... please log in to view this image
I can't understand why people feel the need to blame the Manager OR the defence for last week. It was both, guys! Piss poor and completely unnecessary subs from Rodgers started the rot. As Allan Hansen pointed out on MOTD we were well organised early in the game but for their second goal we looked like a bunch of 6 year olds bunching up and chasing the ball in panic. That left a huge hole in the centre of defence. Can't blame the Manager for that. Not hard to see really.
