Hello. First of all I should be "own up" to not really being a football fan. I've lived in Swansea my whole life but have always been a rugby fan. Over the last few years I've become disillusioned with regional rugby (as it has become so mind numbingly boring - I often fall asleep whilst watching a match on TV) and now only really bother to watch international matches. My disillusionment with rugby has coincided with the rise of the football team. I've never been to watch the Swans at the Liberty so I'm not a real fan but I have (over the last few years) taken an interest by reading the match reports, watching the highlights, reading your comments on not606. So I suppose I've changed from someone who disliked football and liked rugby to someone who's bored with rugby and slightly interested in the Swans - a Swans follower rather than a fan I suppose. I suppose really that with the regular comings and goings of managers (every other summer when there isn't much else happening to take my interest) it's become interesting to "follow" the Swans. It's been very impressive to read about how the club always seem to select the next manager to improve the team - incremental improvement. Anyway, after watching MoTD last night I started wondering who Swansea's next manager will be. My (limited) understanding is that: - when Kenny Jackett left, the board appointed Roberto Martinez who developed the more skillful Spanish style smaller player style attacking football. Swansea scored more goals but a lot of goals were scored against them. - when Roberto Martinez left, the board realised that to improve the team (which could score lots of goals but conceded too many goals) they needed a defensively minded manager so they appointed Sousa. He improved the defensive ability of the team, they conceded more goals but they became a bit boring. - when Sousa left, the board appointed Brendan Rogers who improved the team by playing possession football, got promoted, but much of the possession was for possession's sake and fruitless (other than keeping the ball away from the "better" opposition thus stopping them scoring against the Swans). - whe Rodgers left, they appointed Michael Laudrup who improved the team by adding more direction and purpose to the possession game. I suppose my question, is that presumably Michael Laudrup will see out his two (?) year contract and then move on having proven himself to a big club where he can prove himself again by winning in European competitions; so, what sort of manager will be needed to improve the team after Laudrup leaves? If he was to leave now, what are the Swans' difficiencies and so what sort of manager would/should the board be looking for? From what I've read on here over the last few years, it seems that Hugh Jenkins plans ahead for these things, so if you were him, which aspect of the team's play would you think would be the next thing to improve and therefore what manager would you try to employ? Feel free to ignore my post if I've irritated you by not knowing much about football, admitting I'm not a real fan, or asking questions in my first ever post. Another thing I've been thinking about (whilst I'm lying here suffering from flu), is that I've often read comments here (not just recently) but over previous summers when the Swans have been in the news (losing a manager and so I've become intrigued/interested in what's happening and read your comments on not606) about how players who have left Swansea supposedly for bigger and better things (including bigger wage packets) have then been unsuccessful at their new clubs. I think De Vries and Andy Robinson get mentioned quite a bit. I wonder if it really is anything peculiar/unique to the Swans (that good players leave and don't do so well) or is it just that quite often a player who plays really well for one club then doesn't play so well or doesn't fit in so well at a new club - maybe that happens quite a lot and fans of other clubs have similar examples? Is it just that since they were apparently good players (fans' favourites?) at the Swans that you all then took more of an interest in how they did at their new clubs? Maybe there are players who were poor at the Swans that have moved on and done well elsewhere but because they weren't regular players or your favourites you haven't taken an interest in how they've done since leaving? Maybe there are players that were really good at other clubs and then moved to the Swans and disappointed and the fans of their previous clubs have conversations like you do about Robinson and De Vries? Just wondering what you thought. No intention to irritate anyone or argue with anyone about it. As I said I've never watched the Swans (other than a few live matches on TV when they were in the Championship and highlights on MoTD last year and this year) and I'm not really a football fan although I'm becoming more interested in watching football on TV spurred on by the fact the team from my city is doing so well. Anyway, feel free to ignore my post if you find it/me annoying.
It's an interesting question and before I answer it , may I congratulate you for a concise history of how the 'Swansea Philosophy' germinated and came to flourish. Indeed it may be said to be coming full circle under ML who himself flourished when he himself was playing this way. I believe that when ML eventually goes we will have to again look for a continental manager who has himself embraced this style of play , who that is I like all SWANS fans will leave it up to HJ and the board !
Nice summary and I hope you make a full conversion to the faith. There are a couple of points with respect to yours. We didn't just start playing possession football with Rogers, we were also doing it under Martinez, with much more rigor under Sousa, and Rogers just tweaked that model a little. Sousa suffered because the goal scorers that Martinez enjoyed left when Martinez left; so Sousa achieved remarkably with limited attacking flair in the team. Rogers brought in that attacking flair - so it could be argued that Rogers was "Sousa plus forwards". Others will no doubt debate that point - I appreciate Sousa far more than others for is technical accomplishments, although there was not a lot of entertainment in his team's football (e.g. Gower was our left wing not Pablo - huge difference). If we stay on our current trajectory we are likely to be in the top four of the Prem and playing in Europe when Laudrup's contract ends. If this is achieved, it is far more likely that Laudrup would stay on to continue his project than move to a "BIG" club and start over. The way we are structured and our philosophy of both football and business is a great fit with Laudrup. He is unlikely to find as good a fit in as football progressive an organization as us among the top leagues. Martinez and Rogers are both classic examples of BIG (in whatever relative terms you want to look at it - Wigan v us 3+ years ago, 'Pool v us now) not being better and such great places to ply your trade. By the time Laudrup's contract ends we could be the nouveau BIG club - and if so, why move.
I was brought up watching football and rugby ecmm, but mainly rugby. If it is on tv now I turn it off because as you say it has become so boring. Rugby has lost its way.
Welcome ecmm! They aren't a bad bunch of coves on here. I think Laudrup will want to stay in the Premiership for a good few years due to the profile of the league and the challenge that entails from it. That being the case only the biggest 4-5 clubs could realistically tempt him. I worry that clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea will have the 'Greatest Dane tm' on their radars for the future. Maybe he will get 2-3 years of success here and then Abramovich will be looking for his 19th manager or something and look at Laudrup. Should that happen Hugh Jenkins will no doubt appoint the right man for the club in due course. I think we will be seen as a fantastic opportunity for a higher calibre of manager than we have previously attracted (In fact Laudrup himself is testimony to this point). At the moment we DO have Laudrup and he is a Jack bastard, no doubt. Viva La viKing.
Good post mate, the answer to that question(of who replaces Laudrup) is probably written on a peice of paper in a drawer in Huw Jenkins office.. Nobobdy guessed Kenny Jackett Nobody guessed Roberto Martinez Nobody guessed Paulo Sousa Nobody guessed Brenden rodgers (in fact not many had even heard of him) Nobody guessed Micheal Laudrup Only Huw and the board know !! i have a feeling that as long as his family is happy here and things on/off the pitch are going well for him he will stay for a couple of years, but of course thats like giving the kiss of Death around these parts the last few years..
Yes, you did Ivor. Everybody line up to buy Ivor a pint .... take it easy, no jostling, he's got plenty of time to enjoy.
Fair play to Ivor, when we he was championing Laudrup I thought no. I wanted Di Matteo, but he was bang on. When the odds were dropping I thought Ivor's chucking money on him. The big question now is do the board look at the contracts signed by: Laudrup, Michu etc and extend these? Think Huw and the board can rest assured we will be a PL team next season, so he can now start the building plans for the Liberty.
yes you did didnt you Ivor, i remember now ...sorry about that i shall re phrase Nobody guessed Micheal Laudrup (apart from ivoralljack) ... What i really mean is that Laudrup wasnt really on the radar of bookies the same as sousa,martinez,jackett and brenden wernt, it was very astute of ivor, there were rumours that we had talked to him but i dont think anybody beleived it . I wonder where would be if Graham jones and Gary monk assistant manager had taken over...
Probably steve.. no caulker no siggy no allen no sinclair no taylor no chico no michu no JDG no pablo no Ki but we would have Alan tate Its quite staggering when you list those players how much we have changed and how well Laudrup did bringing in total quality! there is no way another manager could have replaced with such high standard players as the ones we have now.
Ivor, yes to be fair you've jogged my memory and you did call Laudrup. FFS, still on the loose I see. Why haven't the Coed caught you yet ?
I'm hiding down Penclawdd, fit in well hear they're all fcuking off it! Especially one staggers around muttering '' I'm number1 , Huw knows Fcukn all''! A hamper full of sandwiches away from a picnic if you get my drift, apparently known to be a bit over familiar with the local please log in to view this image if you know what I mean please log in to view this image
I think Swans have a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League this season or next. If they do I think Laudrup will stay, as I don't think money is his motivation, so I doubt he'd move just for the money. But if he thought he could play in the Champions League with us or win it with someone like Chelsea, I'm not sure sure he'd stay. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to move somewhere like Chelsea though. I could imagine him moving to Man U though when Ferguson retires. Or even Arsenal, who stick with their managers. It Depends on so many things that's it's impossible to say. But I can only see him moving to a very big club. Who comes next is also impossible to say. But if we do well before Laudrup leaves, we should be able to attract some great managers. Don't forget that Huw wanted Graeme Jones as manager, so things might not have been so great if he had joined. So we are very lucky that Jones said no. I think that showed a lack of ambition from Huw, but I could be wrong. As for players moving away and not doing well, that happens with all clubs. Some do well and some don't. If players are doing very well at one club it can be difficult to replicate that at a different club, because everything is different - different management style, different training, different style of play, etc. If a player is doing well with us because our style suits him perfectly then it's not going to be easy to join a team with a different style.
