Belgian winger told he'll have opportunities to claim a first-team berth
Since joining on an 18-month loan deal (incidentally, has anyone else ever heard of an 18-month loan before? The Swans do things their own way...) Roland Lamah has struggled to make a first-team impact and could be forgiven if he's been considering a move away from the Liberty, and it appeared the club were open to offers for the man signed from Osasuna last January.
Now though, it seems with the closing of the transfer window he'll have plenty of opportunity to stake his claim for a place in the team, and Swans' supremo Huw Jenkins has been in the press talking about the nippy winger's situation:
“Nothing developed. We had one or two brief conversations and there was a club in Spain involved as well, but with the games we have got ahead of us, he will have ample opportunity with us in the squad with not only the Premier League games, but also Europe. There’s a good opportunity for him between now and Christmas.” Huw Jenkins
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/swansea-city-stars-set-loan-5851772?
Possibly a bit of mind-games there from Huw. By stating the Swans were talking to other clubs about him it throws down an open challenge to Lamah - he's got to prove a point and evidently the club think he needs to up his level of performance if we're to make the loan deal permanent.
For what it's worth, I actually quite like Lamah and I think I'm one of the only people who's been impressed with him on occasion. The West Brom game last year where he had a goal wrongly disallowed was possibly his best in a Swans shirt (granted, he came off the bench), but he did well early on in pre-season this year and I'm a big fan of how direct he is with his running. He reminds me of Scott Sinclair a little bit, except with the obvious difference of being left-footed. As such, he offers something different, and his pace allows him to easily beat defenders around the outside when deployed, sensibly, as a left-winger. That being said, I can't remember him putting many crosses in.
With increased pressure on the depth of the squad, Jenkins has made it clear he expects Lamah to get his chance to shine in SA1. Let's hope he takes it.