One point gained and a glass half full

As I sit on this train from Swansea to London, I can hear a small group of Sunderland fans singing an obscene song. I'm sure it has offended lots of people already, especially the people standing on the platform at Cardiff Central, but not me. I cannot help but smile as they sing the utterly beautiful lines, "Cardiff's a sh*t hole and I want to go home". Music to my ears as I ponder over today's game versus Sunderland.

I think I'm a glass half full kind of guy. I must be, because I think that was another good point earned today.

I'm sure the half empty brigade will be out in force tonight, berating the Swans as boring, lacking creativity etc. In fact, I heard a particularly supportive bloke next to me mutter (after 30 minutes) that it was 'like watching paint dry'.  It annoys the hell out of me when I hear comments like that around me, how many times do I have to say... IT'S JUST THE WAY WE PLAY. If you don't like it, please give your seat up to someone who wants it to support the team and get behind the lads. There are plenty who want the seat. In my view it was a pretty exciting game. Frustrating yes, watching paint dry? He must have some pretty chirpy paint.

Today's match was very similar to the Wigan game in many respects. Swansea dominated possession for large parts of the game, but still lacked that killer edge in the final third and failed to convert their one big opportunity. Sunderland played some fast counter-attacking football but nothing that really threatened. Michel Vorm saved excellently to his left to deny Gyan and to ensure a second successive clean sheet.

I do think we are missing a key figure such as Ferrie Bodde in midfield. I though Britton was excellent today with Agustien but I don't feel like there's anyone commanding the midfield. No-one can play that gem of a pass through the opposition defence. Whilst I thought Routledge played another good game, he's very similar to  both Dyer and Sinclair and doesn't seem to be the answer. Danny Graham will be disappointed with his header in the first half. He should have scored, but we need to continue to support him because I have faith that he will come good. The worst thing that can happen is that the crowd start to get on his back. Swans fans have a habit of doing that to strikers. He will come good if we get behind him.

I think the fact that we're not leaking goals is a massive positive though. Ok, Wigan and Sunderland don't have the most threatening front lines, but I think we need to build slowly. This is a marathon, not a sprint! It has happened frequently in recent times with Blackpool and Hull being the most memorable. Promoted teams who've got off to a flyer but caved in worse than a Chilean mine shaft after Christmas. If we can build that foundation which is strong enough to last until next May then we're laughing. Let's build our house on concrete, not sand.

We also need to continue to support the lads, as frustrating as it can be sometimes, let's continue the dream, 'Premier and we're having a laugh'. Smile and believe.

Final shout out this week goes to the east stand singers and Señor Drummer. Top notch performance today lads. There was a great atmosphere at the Liberty today, even though the Sunderland fans were very quiet. Let's get behind the team Jacks and Jackesses, we're Swansea 'till we die, aren't we?

Arsenal away up next. I have had to pass my ticket on for this, but I will save that story for another time.

Jack

‘Swansea have ruined football’

There is so much football history being made at Swansea City at the moment. Saturday saw the first ever Premier League match being played outside of England and the first point won by a non-English team. We are also now a fairly short 5000/1 to win the title. Is that a record in week 2? 

A 0-0 draw and one point on the board can be looked at as a positive outcome, but it could have been very different. 

Swansea enjoyed the majority of possession in the game (my sources tell me it was 75% in the first half and 64% over the full 90 minutes) and I am in no doubt that we will continue to out-pass the majority of teams this year. But we do look to be missing that killer edge in the final third. 

This does bring me rather nicely to a quote taken from a football message board post that I came across this week. 'Swansea have ruined football'. A fairly bold statement, I hear you say, and you won't be particularly surprised that it was made by a (probably non-educated) fan of a team not far from Swansea. What a load of codswallop, yet I am impressed that he or she thinks that Swansea City have such an influence on world football. The statement was made in relation to the style of football that we play and the way we like to pass the ball around. I should add that the poster's team had just lost quite comprehensively to another team who play a similar passing game to Swansea.

It did make me wonder however, what do I want to see when I go and watch my team? Good football? Hoof ball? Goals? Possession? Hard tackling? Long throws into the box? A solid defence? I can honestly say that I love watching the way we play. Keeping the ball, passing, being patient, drawing men, finding gaps. Perhaps I'm biased, or maybe I have just gotten used to it. Of course it's frustrating at times when you want your team to press up the field and attack the opposition, but that is how we have played for the last 4 seasons or so and the majority of Swans fans are happy for us to be playing this brand of football. I think it's great that we have continued to play the same way in out first two games at Premiership level, it shows a lot of bravery and courage, but we do need to be able to kill teams off after dominating the game. Ruined football? Do me a favour. 

But is it good football? That's the extraordinary thing about the beautiful game, every single fan can have their own opinion. What is good football, and what is bad? I would be much more inclined to call our style 'good football' as opposed to the way teams like Stoke play. It has served them well to keep them in the Prem, but I think it would frustrate the hell out of me watching that week after week.

Back to yesterday... Disappointing to see almost a thousand empty seats in the away end, which meant fewer fans to witness their poor performance. Wigan didn't show any creativity what so ever, lacked a dominant presence in the centre of midfield and provided no attacking threat. However, I can see how they can snatch wins after being dominated for 80% of the game. I remember the last game of last season against Stoke which saw them grab a goal after being under severe pressure for the majority of the match. That goal saw them stay up, and fair play to them for being able to do that. Soak up the pressure and hit teams on the break. The Swans could learn a lot from this for the rest of the season, and possibly learn to do it the opposite way... dominate the opposition, and finish them off!

Final note should without a doubt go to the Swansea keeper, Michel Vorm. Take a bow son. Obviously not called the Penalty Killer for nothing. Brilliant. Another possible title... The Vorminator!

Onwards and upwards Jacks and Jackesses. Sunderland next up at the Liberty. An opportunity for some points, hopefully all three. But first Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup. C'mon the Jacks!!

Total Mileage: 22 miles

v Shrewsbury prediction: A confidence boosting 3-1 win

Pointless fact about Swansea City: The club fields rectangular corner flat due to not having won the FA Cup. Teams who have won the FA Cup can field rectangular flags. What an honour eh?

I found this fairly amusing chart of passes from the game.  It looks like a terrible child's drawing but shows how much we pass the ball. I think we covered every single blade of grass in the 2nd quarter of the field!

Welcome to the Premier, lads!

BOOM!!! No, that's not the sound of Aguera's second goal flying in the far corner, it's the sound of two and a half thousand travelling jacks coming back down to earth with a bump.

For me though, I think I must have hit a trampoline because I've bounced right back up to where I was. We are in the Premier League and no-one can take that away from us (for about 8 months at least, I hope!). Ok, my 1-1 prediction was rather ambitious but I couldn't publicly predict a pummelling in our first game, although between me and you I did say 4-0 on the way to the ground!

Let's not shy away from the fact we lost 4-0 though. On paper it looks like a drubbing, but in reality we were beaten by a better team of World class players who were stronger than us and had that 'edge'. We held our own for long periods I thought, continuing our footballing mantra throughout. I've never been a fan of Man City, but it was a pleasure to watch them play tonight, and it gave me particular pleasure watching them start to get twitchy bums in the second half when it was still 0-0!

I think it's fair to say that we did Wales proud tonight. I'm sure our dear friends up the road may question that, but as a team with a record transfer fee of a whopping £3.5mil compared to a squad of proven internationals and worth way in excess of £300mil, we can have no complaints.

I do believe, however, we may have stormed the bragging rights for the singing though. I think there were two thousand Tom Jones' and a few Max Boyces' in the crowd tonight. In fact, there was one citeh fan to our left in the upper tier who quite possible threw her verbal knickers at us. It wasn't pretty, believe me.

Well, that was it, game one. No goals, no points. No problem. Our season doesn't rely on getting points from this type of game. Our home form is crucial, as are the away games against the likes of Wolves, West Brom, Blackburn, QPR etc.

I'm not going to single out anyone for praise or criticism as not only was it the first game of a long season, but I feel the boys deserved to enjoy that game as a little treat for reaching the promised land. No more chances though lads, anyone misfires on Saturday and you're toast.

Next up at home is Wigan Athletic. Roberto Martinez makes his first return to South Wales since he ever so kindly left two seasons ago. Tasty!

Keep the faith Jacks and Jackesses.

Total car mileage: 490
v Wigan prediction: 2-1

The race starts now

Saturday August 13. Two days to go to the biggest game in our teams history (in my lifetime at least), and even though I'm a little bit gutted that the Jack Army won't be appearing on the first Match of the Day of the season, I am just a little bit more excited to be making the trip to the City of Manchester Stadium, sorry Eastlands, sorry... what's it called again? Ah, the Etihad Stadium, on Monday.

Having been a Swan since August 22, 1992 (I will get to this in a later post), I am filled with a sense of anticipation, excitement, hope, dread, fear, pride, jubilation ... the list could go on. Of course, I would do anything for us to survive out first season in the big time, but I've said for many years that I 'just want to see Swansea City in the Premiership, and say I was there!'  I can see it being a long, hard season.  Yes, we'll get our drubbings but the sense of achievement surrounding the club at this time is amazing, and I for one will be relishing every single game, and every mile travelled.

The first Welsh team in the Premier League.  It's going to be special.

Swansea Till I Die.

League prediction: 16th
v Man City prediction: 1-1

Jack