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It's fair to say that this week has been a shock to the system for Swansea City fans everywhere. 'In Roberto we trust' has been the mantra of many since the Spaniard took over the South Wales club in February 2007.

Since then a combination of excellent media skills, scintillating football coupled with fantastic results has made 'El Gaffer' a hugely popular figure amongst players and supporters alike. Amidst all that, Swans fans everywhere believed they had a man fully committed to Swansea City, someone who felt as strongly about the club as they did, but it seems that faith was misplaced.

Repeatedly Martinez spoke of wanting players who would 'walk through the night' to play for Swansea City, players who could look at their long-term careers rather than short-term financial gain. And, when players disappointed him in this way, the main examples being Lee Trundle and Andy Robinson, they were carefully lambasted by the Spaniard for their lack of loyalty and foresight.

On top of that, Martinez professed from very early on, that his departure from Swansea City as a manager would be as it was as a player - forced. He describes how terribly Kenny Jackett treated him, and openly criticised the fact that players' contracts were allowed to run down, despite the fact he was to oversee the same thing happening at the end of this season.

Taking us back to the end of the 2002/03 'Great Escape' season, and maybe many people forget it took him a long time to sign a new deal. Many people criticised him at the time for holding the club to ransom, but welcomed him with open arms when he took to the pitch, but there is unlikely to be such forgiveness at the Liberty Stadium in the future.

Football can be and is an incredibly cruel game, and it is easy to understand (if not accept) why those involved with the game, as average people in average jobs would, accept jobs for more money. Lee Trundle escaped mass criticism because he moved to a higher level at the end of his career, and whilst proclaiming to be a Jack at heart, never went to the lengths Martinez went to in portraying his dedication to the club. A portrayal which now represents betrayal for the Swansea masses.

In stark contrast to that, Martinez now faces the criticism of all the fans to whom he sold 'the dream'. Their unwavering belief and support has been left to look futile, and his reputation as an honest individual can never totally be repaired. Players that he wants to bring in wherever he manages in Britain will surely think twice before signing, as Stephen Dobbie and Nathan Dyer might have wished they had.

When Celtic approached the Swans for Martinez's services, the overwhelming feeling of foreboding was subsidised by a reluctanct acceptance that Celtic could offer him something Swansea could never - Silverware, Champions League football, 60,000 fans, and, in the future, potentially winning the English Premier League.

While Wigan do play in a division higher than Swansea, they have gained a reputation for being a 'selling' club, a club who buy players cheaply, allow them to prosper at the club, before they move on for a higher fee, to a bigger and better club. By and large, Wigan's stay in the Premier league has been one long battle against relegation, with little sign of development of the club beyond it's means. The club is funded by Dave Whelan, and is not currently a self-sustained club like Swansea City or Celtic.

So, why Wigan over Celtic? For sentimental reasons? Doubtful, given the way he has ruthlessly left Swansea City. Which leaves just one reason, for which he has criticised many, and t

Whether it proves to be a shrewd decision by Martinez or not remains to be seen, but football, the beautiful yet cruel game it is unerringly provides poetry, and do not be surprised should Wigan or Swansea cross paths in the foreseeable future, or indeed pass eachother between the Championship and the Premier League. It may yet prove that his career stalls in the same way Robinson and Trundle's has, and if so it can only be hoped that he recognises the mistake he made in the way he conducted himself at Swansea City.

So what now for Swansea City? It can go one of two ways. The fans, players and board alike can all revel in the misery of the situation and mourn the loss of the man responsible for the recent success of the club. Or, they can all dig their heels in and say, we are Swansea City, we are 7 places away from the greatest league in the world, and one man's departure will not change our destination.

However, whether the new man at the helm be Steve Coppell, Gary Speed, or Chris Coleman, it is imperative that everyone gets behind him, so the club can continue to enjoy football in the Championship and indeed progress to the Premier League. Because with or without Senor Martinez, Swansea City has proved that it is potentially a Premier League club.

Swansea 'Til I Die

So 3 pulsating South Wales derbies. 1 win and 2 draws, 4 sendings off (including Tom Butler's today), 9 goals and no end of drama. I think you have to say all in all, that's job well done. Faultless Opening Round, Cardiff hanging on in Round Two and using their Get out of Jail Free card in Round Three.

While I'd actually disagree slightly with Roberto Martinez's post-match assessment, (I thought a draw was, on the balance of play, a fair result) today's game showed us much more about the Swans.

Having seen Cardiff on numerous occasions this season, I thought it was today's derby that brought out the best in them. Some of their play was slick, forthright and competitive. That the Swans dealt with it comfortably for the main part, is a huge credit to them. While some supporters will look at the derbies with slight frustration because we could have taken more from them, for me we take the moral as well as the overall victory.

After each derby, it is Cardiff that have been considered the lucky ones. They were frankly thankful to get off the pitch after the Carling Cup game, and counting the seconds down following Gorki Pintado's equaliser in November. Today, they had to rely on an incredibly harsh decision to rescue a point in front of their fans. Galling it may be, but Jacks everywhere must remember we will get decisions like that eventually, it comes with experience.

The 'penalty' was well, I don't even think I need to go there. In all honesty, after 90 minutes of controlled refereeing, I have no idea why it was given. Most decisions were given on their merits, and while I had my heart in my mouth for 98% of the time, I actually didn't at that point. My instinct was 'Never' and then horror of all horrors, penalty.

It summed up the season in many respects. Much, much promise, plenty of style and substance, along with a touch of naivety which has undoubtedly unhinged us at crucial times this year. 59 points with 5 games to go in the Championship though? Not bad for a side tipped for relegation.

The play-offs are gone this season, it's true. But with Ferrie Bodde, Marcos Painter to come back, the continued development fo the current squad and another off-season for Martinez to do his best impression of David Dickinson, there are only positives to be talked about.

'Swings and roundabouts' they say - This season must be the swing, so next year should make for one hell of a roundabout. We may not have got the 3 points, and won today's battle, but we won the war, and under Martinez, you fancy it to be not the only one to be won.



PS - Just to clear up one or two people's guestbook comments:-

-Walter Boyd was sent off after 0 seconds. He was subbed on, eand elbowed a player before play restarted, giving him the dubious honour of the 'fastest ever sending off'. Tom Butler's sending off is nothing new, at least not to the footballing world. There have been numerous instances where a substitute or manager have been sent off by the referee for dissent or remonstrating with another official.

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Well Swansea City are the talk of the town. Not content with ripping up trees in the second tier of the league, they've set about the Premiership now. Having already dumped Hull City and Portsmouth out of cup competitions this season, it was Fulham's turn to be out-played and out-thought at the weekend. And boy were they.

The national journalists were fallng over themselves with compliments for the Championship side, the following quotes a mere taste of what followed a thoroughly excellent performance.

The Telegraph (15/02) - "It was the most enjoyable display I have seen from a team outside the Premier League in years. Roberto Martinez’s side were impressive enough in the first half.....and dazzling at times afterwards."

The Times (16/02) - "Neutral observers in Seville on Wednesday evening marvelled at the comfort in possession of Spain’s players as the European champions eased aside England. In South Wales on Saturday, the English invaders from Fulham — players and fans alike — might have experienced a sharp sense of déjà vu with Swansea City displaying a similar exhibition of free-flowing football."

The Observer (16/02) - "The last time these two sides met in this competition 14 years ago Fulham, then in Division Four, scored seven goals without reply from a third-tier City side. Here Swansea created so many chances that the scoreline could have been the other way round, a combination of Mark Schwarzer, the woodwork and sheer bad luck denying them a deserved place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1964, back when they were known as Swansea Town."

High praise indeed, but it hasn't always been the case from opposition managers. It seems Swansea are rather fortunate this season, as every team they've played against, has had an off-day. Confused? Take a look at these post-match comments from oppostion managers.

-Roy Hodgson (Fulham) - “I thought it was a jaded performance from us and a good performance from them."

-Glenn Roeder (Norwich City) - ''I give them some credit because they capitalised on our mistakes and they did that well. I like the way they play. I said to their manager afterwards: 'Keep on passing the ball because it's attractive."

-Simon Grayson  (Blackpool) - "We lacked that a little bit and gave it back too easily, which you can't afford to do.

-Owen Coyle (Burnley) - ''We didn't start well enough and we're not going hide behind the penalty incident. We didn't have our usual urgency and tempo early on. I thought we'd got through that, but just when we were starting to look lively, they got in front.''

-Tony Adams (Portsmouth) - “We were caught by surprise. They were all prepared and I showed them what a good team Swansea were but they were still caught on the hop."

Hardly over-generous these managers, in stark contrast to the ever-cynical national scribes, though it is hardly surprising. Each of the managers above had just seen their side out-played by a Swansea side intent on playing the beautiful game. And if there's anything more galling than seeing someone younger do your job better than you, then I wouldn't introduce it to any of the above men.

It may pain them to say it, but even they would have to admit to themselves, Swansea City are going places.







 

Recent messageboard and guestbook activity on Swansea City websites has been dominated by the future of Roberto Martinez. With a lack of results and performances to bemoan, some people always have to find a negative in there, and so they've plucked Roberto Martinez jumping ship from nowhere.

Chris Kamara put it excellently when he said he was unsurprised at the level of attention now being focused on Swansea City, and our Spanish manager. Our results, performances and style of play have all been excellent in the 2 years since Roberto took the helm. As Kamara continued to say, Roberto Martinez and Swansea aren't a surprise package any more, and that extra attention will bring speculation - be it players in and out or the managerial merry-go-round.

So, what is the liklihood of him leaving? Martinez himself has always been the epitome of calm and professionalism in the press. When the subject of his future has come about, he has always maintained his future lies with Swansea as far as he's concerned. Even in his autobiography he pushed the fact that the only time he will leave Swansea is if the board's ambitions to go all the way did not match his own, or if he was let go, as he was as a player.

Big talk, some might say. Swansea have an infamous past with regards quotes such as these. Brian Flynn was told he had 'a job for life' when he saved the club from the abyss, yet less than 12 months later found himself unemployed.

Many people have written on forums and the like that Roberto would leave if Barcelona came in for him. Ridiculous. Now I am one of Martinez's biggest fans. Although the original appointment smacked of the 'cheap option' no-one can argue that the correct decision was not made. But Barcelona? The favourites for this years Champions League? Whereas I believe that one day Martinez will have both the reputation and silverware behind him to be linked with a job such as Barcelona's, that is a long way off right now.

The reasons? Well, whereas Martinez can walk into a dressing room here and command instant respect, do you think the same would be true if he walked into a dressing room containing Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry? They would look at him and in all honesty probably not know who he is. This is the reason so many high-profile players get the big jobs maybe before they are ready - they command instant respect within dressing rooms and football circles.

Now I believe Martinez commands much respect within British circles, but I'm not so sure about the Spanish ones. Remember this is a player who played no more than a handful of times for Real Zaragoza and spent the best part of his career at Wigan Athletic, whilst they were stranded in the lower divisions. As a manager, a wonderful job though he has done at Swansea City, it is a completely different pressure to satisfy the demands of the Catalan faithful. That theory can also be applied to any club big enough to tempt Roberto Martinez away, too.

It shows how far Swansea City has come since 2003 when some of the supporters biggest concerns is that the manager will jump ship for FC Barcelona, however.

At the end of the day, no Swansea fan has any reason to doubt Roberto Martinez's word. He dropped down a division because he didn't want to play against us when he left as a player, and has done nothing since to warrant any criticism frankly. He is one of football's gentlemen and I for one am so glad we have him.

-Congratulations to Roberto Martinez for his first Manager of the Month award at this level.

I, like many Swans fans ahead of Tuesday night's game against Preston,was a little fearful for the way we would react. In fact, most fans would have forgiven the team had they indeed taken their eye of the ball and not turned in a performance expected of them. However, as is the norm, Martinez and the Swans didn't make the same mistake twice (a la Cardiff Cup match and then Reading), and Preston were duly dispatched. In spectacular fashion.

The 4-1 thumping was of course tempered by the news that we will miss Darren Pratley for up to 10 weeks. This situation as we all know, is nothing new. Back in November, things looked desperately bleak when Ferrie Bodde was ruled out for the season, and here we are once more with another leading player out for a long time. The solution for most people will be to continue with the three man midfield, albeit with Gomez, Britton and Allen, and I'd be surprised if Martinez thought differently. 

It has to be remarked that while greatly dismayed at the news of Pratley's injury, it's fantastic to feel like we can still get both results and performances without two of our first choice centre midfielders. Gone are the days when we relied on one man to win games.

Because, the truth is, the team wins us games now. Scotland is there for his goals. Bodde and Allen for their passing. Pratley and Britton for their tireless running. Rangel and painter for their ability to attack and defend and I won't bore you with the rest. It seems we can take any one of these out and replace them, and be ok.

Much was made of Owain Tudur-Jones' poor form when he came into the side, but not once did we lose. Most people would have been hiding behind the sofa at the prospect of Alan Tate playing left-back or the majority of the match in goal, but once more, we haven't lost in either of those situations.

Butler, Tate, Tudur Jones, Scotland, Monk and De Vries have all come in for staunch criticism at times, but here they are, contributing greatly to a team just 9 places off the Premiership.

Never has the saying "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" been more apt. Gone are the days of pre-empted celbrations from the likes of McLeod, Trundle and Robinson. It's amazing what can be achieved when it doesn't matter who's getting the credit. Because at some point or another this season, each player has been taking the plaudits.

That is what Martinez will have wanted at the start of the season, and it's what Martinez will continue to instill into them as we draw a) closer to the play-offs and b) towards the end of the season.

Full steam ahead!

Let's rewind the clock. Much has been said of Swansea City's rise from near extinction in 2002, and near relegation in 2003, and the FA Cup once more provides us with another opportunity to exorcise the ghost of years gone by.

November 11th 1995, and the Swans face a tricky trip to Fulham, a team in the division below. However, even given the fact the Swans were struggling in the then Division Three, it was hard to imagine the 7-0 thumping that followed. The result was made even more incredible by the fact Fulham had been on a 14 match winless run.

Things have of course, changed around since then. The Swans and the Cottagers no longer operate in the lower echeleons of the football league, preferring to mix it with the big boys.

While Fulham have been bank-rolled by the ever obliging Mohammed Al-Fayed, the Swans have stabilised the club after years of uncertianty and are now run by a board who are Swans fans through and through, and who have the club's best interests at heart. We may not have the money, but you know what, we've got the talent, heart, style and work-ethic to add Fulham's scalp to that of Portsmouth's.

As Roger Freestone, one of Swansea's most loyal servants picked the ball out of the net 7 times against Fulham, I imagine his frustration was almost unbearable. As it was when he was crudely refused a contract by Kenny Jackett, whithout having been given a chance to say goodbye to the fans.

Roberto Martinez, a man acutely aware of the emotion in football made amends for this. And in presenting both Roger and hat-trick hero James Thomas before the Liberty faithfull, he gave two very important men in Swansea history the chance to say goodbye. Don't be surprised if a similar masterstroke is pulled again.

Roger's appearance came in timely fashion, whipping up a fervant atmosphere ahead of a game the Swans needed to win by 3 goals to win a play-off place and boy, was the atmosphere special. Wouldn't it be a nice piece of footballing symmetry to welcome Roger back once more, so he could watch his beloved club put to bed probably one of the worst days of his career.

Because mark my words, following the fabulous win over Portsmouth, the sky is the limit for Roberto's silky Swans. We will now be an even bigger attraction for televised matches in both the league and cup, and are going from strength to strength. On the back of a 12 game unbeaten run, it's difficult to back against the Swans at the moment. And, having not conceded in 5 games, Roger, Roberto and the whole of Swansea will be safe in the knowledge that there will be no repeat of that terrible day in November 1995.

Hello to all readers on scfc.co.uk! Hope I can provide you with as interesting a column as the other columnists do. I write on a variety of topics not just Swansea City, so if you want to have a look, please do. www.osheasport.co.uk is where you'll find sporting opinion, betting tips and even a podcast amongst my archived Swans columns and interviews. Right, so onto the good stuff.

First of all, please excuse me for putting the excitement of the Portsmouth game aside. As desperate as I am for the Swans to put on a great show and beat Pompey (which I think we will), I'm more excited about our league prospects.

The next 7 games are played against teams either around, or below us, and 4 of them are at home. Given our 11 match unbeaten run and 3 consecutive wins, it's hard to not be excited at the prospect of a good amount of points in the coming weeks.

It's been very interesting looking at supporters opinion as we've gone through the season so far. Some pessimistic supporters were panicking during the run of draws, and pointing to the lack of a Mr. Bodde - other more optimistic individuals point to the fact that we've not lost without him. Either way, you can't deny the facts. Seeing as I am always fascinated by the more hidden facts in sport, I thought I'd bring a few of Swansea and the Championship's stats to you.

It is always fascinating when facts come up against popular opinion - for example Jacks around the world will bemoan the number of dropped points this season, and they'd be right to - we've dropped a total of 15 points from winning positions, drawing 6 and losing 1, the 5th worst team for doing so. If we had Sheffield United's record this season, (just 2 points dropped from a winning position), then they'd be level on points with Reading in 2nd place.

Anyway, moving on, what should be mentioned is that the Swans are also in 5th place for gaining points from losing positions. 11 points have been accumulated despite falling behind and of the teams above us in this respect - Burnley, Preston, Wolves and Birmingham, we've beaten 3 of them - quite a feather in the cap, I'd say.

We've also had a fair amount of players sent off for the opposition this season, including in our last 3 games, where we really have stepped up our performances I feel. In total, it stands at 6, which is almost a quarter of all our games. My favourite stat has to be that Stephen McPhail has picked up 6 cards against us this season, in just 2 hours of football - one for every 20 minutes spent on the Liberty Stadium pitch.

Our defence has come in for some criticism this season too, but a run of 4 consecutive clean sheets and a total of 10, (Reading have the most, with 12), means we have one of the tightest defences in the division, although the recent run suggests it is an improved defence. (Anything to do with Alan Tate?).

Interestingly enough, Swansea amongst it's fans have gained a reputation for losing to teams they really shouldn't. However this season, not since the opening day have we lost to a team that is now in the bottom half. We've won 5, drawn 7 and lost 1 (Charlton) in total, putting us in mid-table in this respect. When you then look at how we've fared against the top-half of the table - won 4, drawn 7, lost 4 (7th position), it's easy to see why Martinez thinks we can have a real go at this division.

3 of our 5 defeats have come against the top 3, and considering we don't have any of them to play again, it's hard to argue against the reality of a play-off push.

A random statistic which perhaps shouldn't be paid that much attention to is that Swansea have not lost a single game when drawing at half-time. Of the 15 games that have been locked after 45 minutes, we have won 3 and drawn an incredible 12, but importantly not lost. Just goes to show what Roberto must say in the dressing room certainly does us no harm. We have however, lost on 1 occasion when in front (Birmingham (H)), but that is widely attributed to losing Bodde and Britton.

Since that game on November 21st, Swansea have not lost, making the current 10 match unbeaten run, the best in the division so far this season. Swansea have also lost the least amount of home games and the much celebrated league record of 8 consecutive draws is safe in the bag.

The only concrete statistic us fans can influence directly of course is the attendance, and perhaps we are a little harsh on ourselves. Our attendances have come in for some criticism in some quarters, but we fill 75% of our stadium every game. Taking into consideration the poor away support that comes to almost every game, that's not that bad at all, 11th in the Championship in fact.

All in all, the stats make for good and interesting reading. As a Swans fan though, I think the only one any of us care overly about right now however, is that magical 6th spot (or above), come May 3rd.

Well I'm very chuffed with my 2-0 and Jason Scotland to score prediction, though I'm quite glad Pratley didn't. If he had been there in the box instead of Scotland at the end, I'm pretty sure I'd have been crying seeing as I didn't put any money on it and the odds would have been astronomical!

Anyway, it was a fantastic and well deserved victory, which I thoroughly enjoyed watching in a Parisien bar. Most of the locals were fascinated as to why there was one TV not on the Stoke v Liverpool game - it became apparent when I screamed at the TV at every opportunity. I actually discussed the match with a Frenchman who supported Birmingham, though he didn't seem to know too much about them. He was however, impressed with how we'd kept the ball, and played expansively.

In any case, given our loss to Reading in September, I thought I'd take a look at all the games Roberto Martinez has been in charge of so far, where we have lost the first league game against a team, and how we have fared in the second meeting. I'm not going to pay too much attention to the 06/07 games we lost, as there was a long time in between the two meetings, and Roberto was just weeks into the job. Anyway, here goes:-

-Oldham 2-1 Swansea          ------>        Swansea 2-1 Oldham

-Swansea 1-2 Doncaster      ------>        Doncaster 0-4 Swansea

-Swansea 0-1 Huddersfield   ------>        Huddersfield 0-1 Swansea

-Leeds 2-0 Swansea             ------>        Swansea 3-2 Leeds

-Swansea 2-3 Birmingham    ------>         Birmingham 0-0 Swansea

Even adding in the 06/07 games-

-Millwall 2-0 Swansea            ------>         Millwall 2-2 Swansea (07/08)

-Swansea 3-6 Blackpool        ------>         Blackpool 1-1 Swansea  (08/09)

Added to the well rehearsed statistic that we have never lost 2 consecutive league games under Roberto, must surely go the fact that at the time of writing, we have never lost to the same team twice. As shown above, each team we lost to in the first half of last season, we turned over on the second meeting, be it home or away. This season, even after losing to Birmingham at home having dominated the game, we went away and dominated there too, restricting a team in 3rd to just one shot on target all game, whereas we created 19 shooting opportunities.

Something we must appreciate more than perhaps we do about Roberto is that he seems to be able to work teams out, or motivate the Swans to ensure that the same result does not happen again. It is no fluke statistic the above, given that the teams we lost to were all teams there or thereabouts in the division. You can guarantee that if that record is in tact come the end of the season, we won't be far off the play-offs.

Tomorrow's game is very hard to call, however I can't help but fancy us and not just because of our record. Aside from the first 45 minutes away to Reading, there is no team we have failed to compete with and we've already gone to Birmingham and Wolves. Our home form is good in the sense that we very rarely lose there now. Our sole defeat came in a game where we lost two key players, and therefore our momentum. However, we haven't lost since then, and going without loss through November and December and so far January is no mean feat at this level even given all the draws.

So, I'm going to let my heart rule my head once more and go for a third win in a week, with the Swans triumphing 2-1, Jordi Gomez and our Jase doing the damage.