FAN’S VIEW: 24/25 – No.50: SWANSEA AWAY

SWANSEA CITY 3 OXFORD UNITED 3

Well, here we are again at the end of another season. They come and go so quickly. This one seems to have been relentless, yet we’ve only played 49 competitive games (a nice round 50 FVs because I covered the friendly v Palermo too as that was something different). In addition to the 46 league games we had just three cup matches, one in the FA Cup and two in the League Cup. We didn’t cover ourselves in glory in these knockout competitions but realistically our focus was rightly 100% on remaining in the Championship right from the off.

In our promotion campaign, although it didn’t feel like it to me, we played a total of 58 competitive games. With the league season over we had three play-off games, only one in the League cup but three in the FA Cup and we also had to suffer five EFL trophy games, a competition I avoid. This means in 23/24 I watched the mighty Yellows playing competitively 53 times compared to the 49 this time around but I feel more emotionally battered now than I did a year ago.

Never mind, it comes with the territory and we’ve got the summer to relax. Well kind of. Or realistically not at all. There’s that rather important matter of the planning application decision to be made at Cherwell District Council in June.

This was the first time since the last game two seasons ago when there wasn’t anything to play for regarding potential relegation or promotion. On 7 May 2023 we lost at the Kassam 2-1 to Accrington having secured L1 for another season the week before at Forest Green. What a mess we were in then. Before beating Cheltenham 4-0 on 25 April we’d gone 17 games without a win, picking up just six points.

Just look at us now. Some of it might have been a hard watch and not pretty but we really are Championship. We’ve proven ourselves. There’s not pretty and not pretty. League Two is not pretty.

The turnaround in two years has been remarkable but no-one should be kidding themselves it is not going to be another hard slog in 25/26. It can’t be any other way. We’re in one of the toughest leagues in the world.

Even though we had this rarity of a fairly relaxed football day on Saturday I still really wanted to win and was getting more excited than I thought I would when we scored, particularly the final time we equalised when the added minutes had nearly run out.

When your team is drawing a game it always feels so much better having come from behind instead of being pegged back. We did this three times at Swansea and this was the first time we’d found the back of the net more than twice on our travels. Also the first time we’d let in more than two away in this calendar year. So although six goals equals being entertained I’d still rather have had a scruffy 1-0 win.

I wasn’t surprised to see changes to the starting line-up with only five that begun against Sunderland doing so again here. Shame for Jamie Cumming that he wasn’t included so fell one short of the full set. 

Ben Nelson was due to play but got injured in the warm up apparently. Would have liked to have had the chance to say a proper goodbye.

Of those that came in we know what we’re getting from Elliott Moore, Hidde ter Avest and Alex Matos. I’m expecting better things from Stan Mills next season and Ole Romeny didn’t really do anything good or bad. That’s not enough though. He is one who absolutely must produce more in the future. It didn’t go unnoticed that the player who replaced him on 77 minutes was Marselino Ferdinan who was making his debut. That’s one Indonesian international for another and the latter was actually born in the country. Ferdinan didn’t have time to do a lot and that’s what he did. Again neither good nor bad and no evidence whatsoever as to whether he’ll be an effective future first team footballer.

One player who I am pretty sure won’t be with us next season is Josh McEachran. He wasn’t on the bench and didn’t even travel.

Another who wasn’t there was Will Vaulks who needed an operation. He’d started 38 league games and had featured in all but one of the others prior to the finale. Given that his long throws have been our most potent weapon for a while now his absence was expected to be a major loss. It wasn’t. Although two of our three goals did come from set pieces.

We first went behind midway through the first half. It was the type of goal that is now quite common, a player attacking down the left coming inside and bending one in close to the top corner of the far post with his right foot. Eom Ji-Sung took it very well indeed. Both Stan Mills and Hidde ter Avest were facing him but neither accepted full responsibility for closing him down enough to prevent the shot. To be fair there was another white shirt close by who could have been passed to.

Just over a quarter of an hour later we drew level for the first time. This came from a fairly central Tyler Goodrham free-kick not far into the Swansea half. Time and again this season when we’ve had free kicks in similar positions we’ve not sent the big lads up, instead we’ve played it short and gone nowhere. That’s frustrated me.

This time it was played long. Two Swans defenders along with Michal Helik and Greg Leigh ran to get their heads on it. With such presence about even if it is the defenders who make contact with the ball it is very difficult for them to get it away from danger. It was a Swansea man who won it but Leigh, who had slipped, immediately sprang back up and on the volley placed a low left footer into the far corner. A quality finish. From a defender. That made him our joint leading league scorer for the season on six goals.

Mills went close to putting us ahead before the break when he hit the post.

Twelve minutes after the restart we were behind again. Ronald (a Brazilian of course with just the one name. Presumably not yet good enough to stick an “o” on the end) was left unmarked at the far post to slam the ball home. Leigh was guilty of ball watching and not being aware of where the Swansea no.23 was. Our man, much loved by the crowd that he is, is much better going forward than he is defensively. This has long been pointed out. The same was said about Trent Alexander-Arnold when he has operated as a full-back at Liverpool. I’m not the quickest at picking up on such things.

Our next equaliser, from a corner taken by Goodrham, came just five minutes later. It was headed back across the box and, with bodies everywhere, Lawrence Vigouroux couldn’t get a punch on the ball. It was Leigh’s head that won it and Helik rushed in at the opposite post to stud it over the line. It’s just chaotic with so many bodies bouncing around. Anyway, another goal from a defender making Helik our 3^rd highest league scorer on five.

The hosts third came with eight minutes of the regulation 90 remaining.  An unmarked Liam Cullen diving header emphatically putting the ball past Ingram. Not the keeper’s fault in the least but I can’t help but think if we’d had Cumming and Nelson out there we wouldn’t have leaked so many.

Playing out from the back in the 93^rd minute the Swans must have thought the season was over. Goodrham gratefully collected the sloppiest of passes and fed Shemmy Placheta who took the ball on and thrashed it into the back of the net. A long overdue goal from a forward.

That was it. Season over. Another new ground ticked off. And it was still only 14:30.

Kick-off times have been a challenge but we all know fans, us souls who contribute so much to making football what it is, count for nothing. The money from Sky counts for everything. We of course love having that money to be able to buy players and pay them handsomely.

On the closing day all Championship games started at 12:30. I’d reasoned I wasn’t going to travel on the day. I left it quite late and booked a Premier Inn in Morriston for Friday night. Ridiculously expensive for what it was and where it was. Not a good area I was told. Then I got a call saying I had a lift on Saturday if I wanted it, all I had to do was get to Kirtlington for 6:30 a.m. I’m not a morning person but getting up at 5:15 and being driven over the border was preferable to a night in that part of Wales. I’d sensibly opted for the price where cancelation was allowable right up to 13:00 on the day.  

I knew many who did stay away for a day or two. They wisely went for Mumbles, the Gower Peninsula and Llanelli.

The journey was as smooth as could be and there’s plenty of street parking very close to the ground.

We walked past the Coopers Arms. “Doesn’t open until 11” said a bloke who was stood outside with a mate drinking from a can. A bit further up the street was the Commercial. That was open. The area, Plasmarl, is a real ale desert but Guinness does the trick. At £4.85 a pint I didn’t think it was too expensive but locals immediately engaged us in welcoming conversation and I was informed that with a loyalty card it was just three quid a pop.

The locals could not have been friendlier. It was never quite like this 20 years ago, even ten. It might have been different if there was something riding on the game to come for either or heaven forbid both teams. It does go without saying that if the game had been against Cardiff it would have been altogether different. That’s just the way it is. Think Oxford v Swindon only probably way more so. But I don’t want to dwell on that other than to say that one Swansea supporter told me that if on the day an Oxford win would have sent Cardiff down they would have turned up in Oxford shirts.

When football fans of a certain age get chatting it’s natural to go back to the old days. The Manor and the Vetch were obviously covered. We’d been there and they’d been to Headington. One of the guys we were chatting to knew Mick Moore, our old groundsman and at one time worked at the car factory in Cowley. Back in the day he’d used the Bullnose Morris and the Blackbird. Small world.

The only downside was that two guys turned up separately wearing identical t-shirts. A huge picture of Trump with “Donald” in large letters. Perhaps they were being ironic. I wasn’t going to engage them in conversation and potentially spoil the atmosphere.

On social media home supporters are saying that we were the best and loudest fans to have visited for years and what a great bunch we were. That is so good to hear. Presumably they’ve heard “Swansea is a shithole. I wanna go home” and “sheep shaggers, you know what you are” so many times it just washes over with no effect whatsoever. I had a young kid near me waving a blow up sheep about.

Personally I find all of this rather boorish, stereotypical and plain boring but I’m an old fart who has seen it all before. I’ve got nothing original to contribute so what do I know?

Compare this though to the applause we gave Joe Allen as he left the field of play, never to return again, in the 70^th minute. I was surprised to find that he is only 35 years old. I would have put him a little bit older than that as he seems to have been around forever. He started 91 league games for Liverpool between 2012 and 2016. I would have guessed at a lower figure than that.

There’s been talk for months on what we need next season. The general consensus seems to be that the defence is fine but then it gets mentioned that we could do to strengthen the full-back options. And we mustn’t forget that Nelson won’t be here.

“We need a goal scoring centre forward” has been said over and over. What about a really creative midfielder too?

I don’t think it’s quite as simple as we sometimes like to think. It is not only the defenders who defend. Good shape with midfielders, wide men and centre-forwards doing the tracking and covering is all part of it. Likewise does it matter where the goals are coming from as long as they come? So what if defenders were to contribute 75% of a healthy tally.

We’re never going to be able to afford this mythical 20 goal a season Championship striker. They don’t exist, well not at present they don’t. The leading Championship scorer this season is Joel Piroe of Leeds on 19 goals. He only took that accolade by getting four in their 6-0 win over Stoke on Easter Monday. Prior to that he’d gone nine games without scoring. Only 16 players managed more than eleven goals.

We were the 17^th highest scorers. Joint 13^th at home but only joint 21^st away.

Defensively we ranked 18^th. Broken down to 20^th at home and 15^th away. Based on this we’re a bit better at attacking than defending. Another surprise. Take Middlesbrough at home, which was a one off, out of the stats and it would look somewhat different.

Anyway as ever have a chilled out summer break one and all and thanks for all the feedback I’ve had when I churn out these FVs.

Next season? I always genuinely question whether I’ll continue with them. They do take up quite a lot of time and nothing is forever. There’s talk around at the moment that the club will no longer be producing a programme next season. It’s a quality publication but times change. Obsessive collectors will be tearing their hair out if it is indeed no more.

I really don’t know how I’ll feel come August. Perhaps I’ll stop. Perhaps I’ll just carry on as I’ve been doing. Perhaps I’ll restrict them to one or two a month.

The fixtures come out on 26 June.

The season starts on Friday 8 August with our first game likely to be the day after. All being well see you there.   

 [PB1]