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Reply | Swansea City v Blackburn Rovers : Match day thread
at 10:59 21 Jan 2026
Shows how much of a priority a RB is - Galbreith has been good covering...but that's the limit of his ability there IMO "cover". He's made a few mistakes defensively and is often twice as far from the oppo attacker than Key was who got stick for it.
The main plus point him playing there is his relationship with Ronald seems so much better than with Key in a much shorter space of time.
Don't get me wrong, he is by far our best player but we need his influence in midfield. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Blackburn Rovers : Match day thread
at 09:13 21 Jan 2026
Echoing a few comments here, that it's the sign of an improving "team" when you can win tight games but not play at your best.
Two goals from corner plays - has that ever happened for the Swans??
Blackburn were poor but equally probably won the statistical midfield battle - they were stronger, won more duels and Baradji was by far their best player. Widell and Franco were poor tonight (I am still wondering what Widell brings other than graft), and Stamenic seems to be a bit lost to me with suspect positioning. Fulton was much better than them all when he came on.
A final word on Zan the Man - I almost feel for the guy because he has so many qualities but is one attribute short of having mid-to-lower Premier League potential and that is pace. He has the turning circle of HMS Belfast! But he is still only 23!
But his touch, hold-up play, some of the first time lay-offs (to Ronald and EOM) were sublime. And obviously he just seems to be in the right place at the right time currently. Long may it continue....or £25m please! |
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Reply | Millwall v Swansea City : Match Day Thread
at 12:53 5 Jan 2026
After some absolutely ridiculous saves he will probably disappointed to not have pushed the winner round the post - it was a very good firm header that bounced in front of him but still. |
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Reply | Oxford United v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 09:49 30 Dec 2025
As others have said, 3 points was all that mattered last night. We played well in spells and I thought Cabango and Burgess had an excellent night, not that they were particularly tested. The one mistake and Cabango was for once alert to it and hacked the ball clear of Mills just as he was clean through.
Vipotnik was excellent in the first half - he does the simple hold-up and link play very very well, hardly ever playing passes or one-touch to static feet, he always seems to weight it nicely in front of the player to run on to. Ran out of steam 2nd half.
Stamenic was a monster last night I thought, and Franco did really well as an impact sub where he thrives in the tighter battles. I think he has struggles recently in the quicker more open games which seem to pass him by at times.
Lastly, I can't believe I saw this, but did anyone notice the lesser-spotted Fulton receive-the-ball-facing-our-goal-half-turn-and-play-a-lovely-pass-down-the-wing??? |
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Reply | Idah , looks slow and clueless
at 09:43 10 Dec 2025
The difference this season is opposition analysts and defensive coaches have seen what he can do and that increases the jeopardy - last season was different as opposition defences would have felt more confident dealing with Vip who was seemingly a bit of dud / carthorse.
Now he attracts several markers at once because they know they can't sit off him and risk him getting in a half-turn and shot. This opens up spaces for others and generally causes more chaos.
Idah is last season's Vip - just so easy to mark out the game last night, |
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Reply | Swansea City v Portsmouth : Match day thread
at 09:37 10 Dec 2025
It was brilliant to scrape the win last night, firstly because it was a 6 pointer, secondly because Portsmouth deserved to lose - time-wasting from minute 1, getting in the ref's ear from minute 1 (and he clearly fell for the trap) and seemingly wanting the draw from minute 1.
It was low quality affair in general apart from a few good moves from the Swans and a couple of good chances for Pompey (Vigs was MOM again across most stats websites). Defence was great and seems Matos has prioritised to good effect plugging the holes in the leaky colander.
Good to see Widdell given his chance in central midfield but he needs to show more for me - just lacking a bit of something and has a slight "headless-chicken" quality about him.
Cullen did what subs should do - make an impact. If he can do that 1 game in 2 or 3 then he is worthy of his place in the squad. I have no personal love for the guy, but it never hurts to retain players who would bleed for the badge - arguably we would replace Cabango too as he's not a PL quality defender but the same applies. Those two (and Fulton ironically) are the last real legacy-DNA of the club. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Oxford United : Match day thread
at 11:53 2 Dec 2025
Whilst I am in total agreement Franco has not been the player he seemed to be last season, it's hard to drop him when he got two assists against WBA. (even if his play-acting probably resulted in the wide-open space for their 1st goal). |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 11:05 26 Nov 2025
Yes, if Eom's shot had nestled in the corner instead of being too close to the keeper (good save mind unsighted), it would have been a different game, different atmosphere. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 09:27 26 Nov 2025
I am going to go a little against the grain here and say that I thought there were some green shoots.
Up to their first goal I thought we were really good and trying to clearly execute "Matos-ball" which seemed to ask firstly to play with more urgency, secondly to not be afraid to play a forward pass! It was great to see us finally take throw-ins and free-kicks quickly, see LV release the ball quicker rather than wait for their 11 all to get back and set before pumping it long. I was nervous seeing Key and Tymon so high but again they were clearly instructed to get forward at pace and Tymon did this really well by dribbling long distances himself and getting crosses in (even if they didn't hit their mark).
I also noticed Burgess and Cabango taking more risks with passes through the middle channel into the feet of Vipotnik (who was invariably fouled in the process) or into Cullen (who then lost the ball on most occasions).
The first Derby goal was a sucker punch against the run of play (but everyone could see it coming with the gaps we were leaving) which really seemed to take the wind out of the Matos-ball sails. The energy really dropped and genuinely perhaps they were fatigued from the intensity (never really an issue with Sheehan when the play was so slow). The initial positivity was gone and heads clearly dropped.
Second half was stilted and you got the vibe no-one wanted to make a mistake so it went back to safe play again. Their second was what we needed but never seemed to get (until the 89th minute) - a defensive clearance that dropped straight to an unmarked attacker.
In terms of individual performances, the defensive unit as a whole was poor but not helped by LV who has been really bad the last couple of games - he still has significant credit in the bank, but his confidence is shot. How many crosses in the 6 yard box will he fail to deal with between now and the end of the season!!
JF did what JF does - nothing really wrong but nothing really right. LC was very ineffective but that is no surprise to us fans. EOM was very bright in those first 30 but again faded. Controversial opinion but I don't get the fuss over Inoussa - seems like a poorer version of Mo Barrow to me. Also don't get the criticism of Benson who has hardly had a look-in, is expected to conjure up some magic with his limited minutes (and to be fair he did tonight) and suffered in the same way Ronald did with slow passes into feet with the full-back breathing down his neck. Not once did he have the ball played into him facing the goal.
As stated by others, lots and lots to do to get us out of this mire. The good news is Matos was clearly not content with what he saw, whereas previous managers may well have praised the team for "giving it 100%"... |
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Reply | Swansea City : Behind the news on Kim Hellberg coming to Swansea
at 09:43 12 Nov 2025
I wonder if anyone in the hierarchy is thinking they wished instead of having to payout on Sheehan and his backroom team now, that they had used that money to secure Lewis O'Brien who was such a massive part of our positive performances end of last season... |
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Reply | Preston North End v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 10:17 6 Nov 2025
Apologies Union, "accused" was a strong word. I actually agree with you he did at times, but the reason was clear - when he had the ball deep on the left of midfield his main option was Burgess running forward calling fall the ball!
He clearly thought that was not the best way to build an attack...
We are lucky he is so good with his feet under pressure as he was desperately trying to run the show and so many times didn't have an option - Franco was a poor midfield partner again I thought. |
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Reply | Burgess
at 10:14 6 Nov 2025
Interesting. I know the "use-your-eyes" test is as relevant, but according to FotMob statistically he is our best player this season, followed by Cabango, Vigs then Galbreith.
He is an old-fashioned physical CB which works well in some situations and not so well in others. I quite like that he sometimes takes a more adventurous pass like he did last night - sometimes it doesn't pay off and he was inaccurate last night but I would rather players like him and Casey who try to probe through the middle sometimes, rather than the constant horse-shoe that Cabango and Key are experts at. |
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Reply | Idah , looks slow and clueless
at 09:56 6 Nov 2025
This seems a bit emotive. If you actually analyse his performance last night it wasn't that bad. His hold up play with feet was very good, his ability to win the ball in the air not so much - 33 touches and dispossessed only twice which is pretty impressive as a lone striker being pressed hard by a decent quality defence. He also did very well to get round his defender for that great chance that he annoyingly crossed low straight at the keeper with Widell completely free.
Definitely more involved and mobile than VIP, but without the killer instinct yet. |
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Reply | Preston North End v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 09:52 6 Nov 2025
A classis Swansea City of yore performance last night:
1. Only start playing like we can once we have gone behind
2. Dominate possession and momentum for the entire remaining match
3. Get sucker punched
4. Have zero cutting edge or decision making in the final third
That first goal, 99 times out of 100 it's going into row Z - it was a shame Casey didn't realise he had more time or just put his foot through it rather than the slightly tame headed clearance but I don't blame him too much.
Lots of positives for me. We actually played some nice football, plenty of triangles and running, Galbreith put in another Rolls Royce performance (I know another poster accused him of slowing things down at times), I like that Sheehan is persevering with the 5-4-1, Ronald and Samuels-Smith were very good off the bench and Eom obviously made a difference.
BUT, more evidence that Key (as likeable a guy as he is) must be replaced as soon as possible. He is such a poor mans Kyle Walker in that he can get away with stuff because of his pace and engine...but he doesn't actually get away with stuff now and his error count this season that have led to chances or goals must be creeping towards double figures.
I like Idah - he has a real burst of pace when he wants to and is strong on the ball, a very different type of player to VIP. Shame he had the same poor final pass decision making last night.
I stick with Roberto's mantra - with improved performances will eventually come good results. |
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Reply | Charlton Athletic v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 11:26 2 Nov 2025
It was actually refreshing to see him visibly annoyed we had not taken the 3 points in his post-match interview. I was fully expecting him to say he was happy with the point, tough place to come etc. |
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Reply | Eon
at 11:15 27 Oct 2025
He has one of the better levels of ball control in the squad and I like how his jinky-ness changes the angle of attack or defence, he is very agile.
But obviously has his down-sides like all in our squad (or they would be playing at a higher level). |
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Reply | Swansea City v Queens Park Rangers : Match day thread UPDATED
at 10:18 23 Oct 2025
The sending off was frustrating but seemingly not a huge turning point given a) we didn't concede again, and b) we seemed to match QPR for momentum in the second half, three times coming close to scoring in the last 5 minutes.
It was actually more alarming how turd we were in the 35 minutes leading up to the red. Franco and Malick miles up the pitch, Stamenic standing next to/jogging with two markers, meant Cabango and Burgess knocked it from side to side before launching it long and wide towards our two shortest and weakest players! Absolutely genius tactics!
Idah is not Ronaldo, he is not going to make something out of nothing, and he is suffering from the same issue that a procession of strikers at Swansea City have for a long time - zero service.[u/]
I thought he worked hard and had good hold up play last night. [Post edited 23 Oct 2025 10:19]
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Reply | Stamenic- is he another Fulton?
at 10:30 6 Oct 2025
In my view on what I have seen in the last few games, Stamenic is the answer to a problem that didn't seem to be there.
He is clearly a good player on his day, but as a team we seemed to function much better when Galbreith was playing the quarterback role.
Stamenic should be playing the Pratley role in my opinion as he seems to have those qualities. |
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