Lack of activity....and that is just on the pitch.
I did not start this to be a moaner.....but it seems that with the way we are playing thats all I can do.
Lets recap a week of shock transfer activity.....Tevez and Mascherano to Wham......Gallas and Cole swap places.......The Beast arrives and sulky Reyes gets his way. And finally a moody scouser (no not rooney) saunters off further down south to the land of the white stilletos. That is Mr McLeod.......the heavy drinking, volatile, troublemaker (wait a sec could be any scouser......or even essex lad) has finally been shown the door after three thousand warnings about his application and behaviour. To read this you would think I was glad to see the back of him, and in a way I am, but I also have my reservations. This could be a classic case of leaving the Swans and Wind Street and kicking on a career that promised so much and delivered so little so far. Any Swans fan will tell you he has amazing talent and on his day can be unplayable, but his days seem to be stuck between bottles, birds and street fighting. I hope for his sake he can get his head down and prove alot of people wrong, but I fear another player to the scrapheap of talent due to outside influences.
Oh well he's gone and our small squad got smaller. But good news on transfer deadline day an amazing story unfolded........at west ham though. Bugger all in South Wales. Even the free spending arab down the road kept his cheque book ( or is that a bank loan request) away. Koumas kissed ass and stayed with the Baggies, and the only bizarre occurences were in the prem.....oh and Cotterill for £2m.
So with a weaker squad we moved on from a good if not fortunate 3 points from the Orient, without Knight, to play a run of the mill Yeovil side. And again, a performance this season seems to be churning up. 60 minutes of nothing until we fall behind, a few changes then a panic stricken purge on the opposition to nick a point. In all fairness to Yeovil, they had the better chances up until they netted. Hardly a vintage performance by them, but compared to our attacking prowess was enough to clamber them into a lead. Cue the current setting of going a goal behind to spark a change to get the team playing properly, quick attacking football. The last 30 mins we started looking like the team we can be pressurising defence and constantly bombarding the wing backs with runs. The goal came, albeit a penalty (clear cut in my eyes...sorry Mr Slade), and a man who done nothing for the majority of the game took the plaudits for a good penalty......although if the keeper stood still would have saved it even if it probably would have broke his wrist.
As you can tell not a vintage performance but at the moment we are used to such displays. Desperation going behind and playing proper football whilst being desperate. Hello Mr Jackett........long ball does not work. Our strikers need service to chest or feet, at least if to the head do it from the flanks with our wide men..
Another bone of contention...................What constitutes outstanding?
My understanding would be something or someone that stands out inexplicably to the rest of the crowd surrounding them. Some Swans fans in my eyes (and this is a personal rant) do not seem to grasp this concept. What I mean is that of Pratley's performances. I will be first to say he has played okay and has been one of the more consistent performers this season....but as you can tell that is not that difficult. But outstanding.....far from it. He dwells on posession, loses the ball often, tires by 60 mins, does not bust a gut to get back (a role he is in the team to do), unable to pass the ball forward, and apart from his run to earn the penalty against Orient, his forward runs take him to the corner flags before....wait for it.....he loses the ball. Now if this constitutes outstanding then the dictionary definition needs to be altered. If people want to see an outstanding performance, get a tape of the Yeovil game and watch Tate. Now that defensive performance WAS outstanding. Won eerything in the air, on the ground, a goal line clearance and constantly ypping to marshal the defence and the midfield....which included our so called captain Pratley. Even though Pratley was named M of M (not surprising as it was Mr and Mrs Pratley sponsoring.......well it must have been or it was named to the player with the silliest name) anyone at the game would clearly tell you who was the main man.
Oh well work calls and I have successfully wasted another 25 mins. Until next time
Swanjackal