Monk's Marauder's

Well,football continues to confound me.

Having anticipated a heavy defeat at St.Mary's,I am more than happy to say,WELL DONE SWANS',what a terrific result.

I didn't actually see any of the game,preferring to listen to the live radio transmission,whilst reading 606 offerings from those who were actually viewing it.

As the first half unfolded,my fears were looking well founded.
The match commentator's indicated that Southampton were all over The Swans',and 606 posts were talking in terms of "Rorke's Drift",without the benefit of us having Stanley Baker,Michael Caine,and Ivor Emmanuel in our team.
So,a sound beating was in the offing.

However,it's goals that win matches,and by half time,despite apparently dominating the game,The Saints hadn't scored.

My half time cup of coffee,minus the Hansen's pie,was drunk in silence,my having turned the radio off,and given 606 a rest.

But I wasn't feeling too disconsolate.
No goals had been scored by the home team,although an early chance had been scorned,or was it the brilliance of Fabianski,and his lucky legs that prevented the score?

Down the years I have witnessed numerous occasions where The Swans' had dominated the play,failed to capitalise,and gone on to lose.
A heartbreaking experience for any supporter.
Mentally challenged pundits would put it thus,"That's football,Brian".
And who, among the sane,could argue against that?

So,I asked myself,could we nick this one? What if we hold out for another 20/30 minutes?
The home team will become desperate,supporter's will be become agitated.
And so it came to pass.

Enter the hero of the hour,or the villain,depending on which team you supported yesterday.

Shelvey continues to frustrate his many admirer's,but his goal was very sweet,Allchurchesque,even.
Why,oh why,doesn't he do it more often?
I think he needs more "managing" than most. An arm around his shoulder on a regular basis;soft words whispered in his ear telling him how great he is;encouragement to shoot for goal when within 30 yards of it,etc.
That's what I would do,were I his Manager. But I'm not,and more's the pity.

I watched MoTD,and was expecting to see a very one sided highlights. The BBC editors did no such thing,and the game looked very evenly balanced,so well done to them.
Keown grows in stature as a pundit,even though he was a bit of a **** as a player. Great player,mind you. Love to have him in my team.

Some say Monk had a definite game plan yesterday. Whether he did,or didn't,is moot,since none of us can possibly know.
However,the time has come to praise him,since I am giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Well done Garry,your keenest of follower's are preening themselves at the moment,and they can feel justified in that.
We rode our luck yesterday,no doubt about that,but we quite often don't get any,so I'll take it when it comes along.

There were some good performances,and most single out Ashley Williams,who certainly had a few "Rorke's Drift" moments late in the game. Nice one Ash.

Fabianski's legs deserve another mention,since they prevented an early Saints' score. The game would have likely taken a different direction had they converted that chance.

But the real hero was our goal scorer. Goals win matches right?

So, I turn to Shakespeare's Henry V th for inspiration,(he was Welsh by the way,born in Clydach,but not many people know that),and say ---

--- "GOD FOR SHELVEY,ENGLAND,and THE SWANS'"---

 

Was a bloody great win away to a very strong Southampton side and im delighted for Monk and the lads.
But even still, its the performances I want to see improve. The wins are great and all, but if we are going to be a mid table club (which, lets be honest, is about where we are), my only ask is that we do it playing the style of football that the majority of us enjoy. For 80 minutes yesterday I was not enjoying myself. We very rarely get so drastically outplayed. I'm hoping that we've turned a corner and now with a few key players coming back, our performances will start to improve. And what better team to start against than Sunderland at home!

 

Without Leon, Ki, Gylfi, Montero and Routledge. It makes yesterday's win all the greater. When these players return, along with Cork, then things will become good again.

Gomis also filled me with a lot of confidence yesterday too.

 

Superb post Vetch!

I didn't expect a victory yesterday - I would have gladly taken a point before the game. However, the guys ground out a gritty victory, with Ash outstanding (but not good enough for Garth Crooks' Team of the Week').

If - and as we know with the Swans, always a 'big' IF - we beat Sunderland on Saturday, then Monk would have picked up 54pts from his first 38 games.

Whatever one's views on whether he should have been appointed Manager on a permanent basis last Summer - and I for one would have preferred Koeman - we have to recognise that he has done a more than acceptable job, not perfect, but then again, no one is perfect!

 

Thanks Taff.

A win against Sunderland is A MUST. Failure to capitalise on yesterday's win,would be such a wasted opportunity.

Koeman.who I respect a great deal,let himself down when criticising the red card given to Bertrand.

It was a dangerous,cynical tackle. Very Mourinhoesque,by Koeman.

 

Just spotted this on BBC transfer deadline day blog. Not sure it's worth starting a thread over, I'll post it here as your thread is current.

"Burnley have lodged a bid for the West Brom midfielder Graham Dorrans of around £1.5m and the two clubs are still talking. Neil Taylor the Swansea left-back may also be joining West Brom today while funds could be generated by the sale for around £5m of striker Brown Ideye to Qatari club Al-Ghararafa. In short, a busy day for Tony Pulis et al."

 

Admirable is the correct word and well done to the players.

 

I'll be very surprised if Neil goes this late in the day unless a deal for his replacement is cast iron guaranteed.

 

SWEP are mooting a last minute deal possible for Stuttgart midfielder,Alexandru Maxim. His name has been doing the rounds for a while now.
Quiet news day at SWEP,perhaps.