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Ahead of the Boxing Day game with Swansea City
in South Wales, we spoke once more with Swans' fan Steven from the City fanzine
Swansea Oh Swansea.
He gives us his views on their season so far, their Premier League survival prospects, former
boss Garry Monk, and more. You can find Steven on
Twitter at @StevenSOS1987
How would you
view the Swans' season so far? Have the club's struggles come as a surprise?
It's been very disappointing.
Finishing 8th last season was a terrific achievement and one that I thought
would be difficult to replicate but i didn't see a struggle like this on the
horizon and no one else did either. Especially after we picked up eight points
from the first four games. Since then it's been seven from thirteen which is
dreadful. Things must improve as soon as possible or we will be cut adrift in
the bottom three.
Looking back at Garry Monk's
dismissal, was it the right decision and how did the majority of
Swansea supporters feel about it?
Unfortunately I think it was. At
first I thought we were just having a blip - going four or five games without a
win will happen to nearly every side in this league throughout the season but
when we lost at Norwich in early November I started to become more concerned as
we dominated without ever looking like scoring and Monk made some baffling
decisions. After that we were battered by Bournemouth and it was obvious then
that Monk was really struggling. We then lost narrowly an Anfield before the
worst performance yet at home to
Leicester and by then we'd reached the point of no return. Not only
were we struggling but we were getting worse. I think a few things have gone on
behind the scenes and a lot of the squad weren't playing for him any more.
Who would you
like to see replace Monk?
This is a difficult one, I was
hoping for Brendan Rodgers but he quickly ruled himself out. Our biggest problem
is we have moved away from the style of play that has been so successful for us
over the last decade or so and in my opinion we must appoint someone who will
re-implement it. Who that is though I'm not sure, plus it's very difficult to
second guess our board of directors, they don't tend to go left field with their
managers and it usually works so whoever they choose is fine with me. They need
to do it soon though.
How confident of retaining
your Premier League status are you?
I've said all along I think
we'll get out of it because I believe there are at least three worse teams than
us. However I'm starting to have my doubts and I see our clash as must win from
a Swansea point of view. We are two points from safety now and travel to Crystal
Palace and Manchester United after Boxing Day where we are unlikely to win. Fail
to win any of these three and there will be a bit of a gap forming and it'd be
one win in sixteen. Hate to say it but my confidence is waning, a lot depends on
who comes in though of course. That is probably going to be the biggest factor
in decising our fate.
What areas of the team would
you like to see strengthened in January? Is it likely to happen?
Striker is the main one, eight
goals in thirteen games tells its own story. We were too tight in the summer and
it's backfired. There's an article in the local paper today that linked us with
Salomon Rondon before you bought him actually. I'm not saying he's set the world
alight but he's probably better than Bafetimbi Gomis who lives offside and Eder
who is also not up to it. There is not much money available as far as I know so
I wouldn't expect much activity but they have to get a good striker from
somewhere.
Who's caught the eye for the
Swans so far this season?
Tough one to answer, so many
have been disappointing and not at the standard they should be. To be fair
though Andre Ayew has made a good start to life at the Liberty with six goals so
we need him to keep chipping in if we are to get out of this. Leon Britton has
been excellent since he returned to the side. Other than that I don't think
anyone deserves a mention, that is how bad it's been and why we are struggling.
Anyone been particularly
disappointing?
Gomis is one. Started the season
on fire but one goal in fourteen since and offside over thirty times. Ki Sung
Yeung who was player of the year has been nothing like that this term and is
lucky he hasn't been dropped. Jonjo Shelvey's England call up seems to have gone
to his head and hasn't been the same since. Ashley Williams has been at fault
for more goals recently than in living memory. I could single out a few more
here but we'd be here all day!
Prediction for
Swansea's season?
I suppose I'll say we'll just
survive. If our players start performing and we can convert chances we should be
fine. Talking about it is one thing and doing it is another though and we need
to start doing it now. Starting with our clash on Boxing Day.
Prediction for Albion's
season?
You're 13th now and I'd say
you'll remain around there. No danger of getting sucked into the relegation
battle in my opinion. It probably won't be pretty, it rarely is with Tony Pulis
but he always makes his sides hard to beat and that will ensure that you won't
struggle.
Premier League champs?
Tipped Chelsea at the start,
understandably I'm no longer confident that will happen. It's got to be
Manchester City hasn't it? I would love Leicester to do it but you'd expect them
to tail off a bit even though they have a genuine chance of top four. I can
never back Arsenal either, when push comes to shove they're bottlers so it's got
to be City even though they are far from convincing. It will be a very low total
this year I think, maybe mid 70's that wins it.
Relegated?
Said Leicester, Watford and
Sunderland in August, two of those are spectacularly wrong too! I'll stick with
Sunderland I think, there's only so many times you can pull clear at the end
before you eventually go down. Aston Villa look doomed, it would be a huge
effort to get out of it for them now. I'll say Norwich for the other side even
though I'm tempted to say us purely because my other predictions have been so
wrong!
Thoughts on and prediction
for Saturday's game? How are the Swans likely to line up?
I would expect you to come for a
point so the onus will be on us to break you down and West Ham had a similar
tactic on Sunday and we did struggle and I think you will prove an equally tough
nut to crack but I'll stick my neck out and say we'll nick a precious 1-0.. I
would expect the same eleven which means a 4-4-2 diamond with Fabianski, Rangel,
Williams, Fernandez, Taylor,
Britton, Cork, Ki, Sigurdsson, Gomis, Ayew.
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