View from an Eagle
In this, the fourth of a nineteen-part series, Jay Crame of Palace fan site The Eagles Beak gives his views on the Swans
Q1. Who are you and what do you do? How did you become attached to your club?
Jay – editor of The Eagles Beak which is a Crystal Palace fan site. Only natural for me to end up being a Palace fan in my youth after dubiously supporting more popular clubs in the 80s. After going to my first game in 1987 I was completely hooked.
Q2. What is your favourite memory of a match involving your team and the Swans?
We have had mixed fortunes of late against the Swans but I particularly recall a 3-1 win in South Wales in 2009. It was a Championship game and goals from Victor Moses, Jose Fonte and Shefki Kuqi won the game for us.
Q3. Ahead of this season, what are your thoughts on the Swans? Do you think we'll be a better team than last season?
It will be interesting to see how Monk does in what will be his first full season in charge. I admire the club for sticking to its principles by appointing a manager that knows the club and the way that it works. That goes a long way but it remains to be seen how his coaching stands up to the best. Last season was transition for the club looking in and it could still be a little of the same at the start of this but with Monk in charge of his first pre-season the foundations are there for the club to push on.
Q4. What do you make of our transfer activity thus far? Do you think we need to make any more signings?
You already had the basis of a very good squad that in my view underperformed last season. There is quality throughout and perhaps you can now move on from the first season impact Michu had to a more rounded team game without him. I am pleased that you have managed to keep hold of Bony with Gomis coming in to add to your fire power. Both look similar explosive kind of players so that will be very interesting to watch. I suspect that you are one or two signings away from a decent mid-table side this season particularly as you have lost the likes of Vorm and Davies as well as Michu.
Q5. Have you visited the Liberty Staidum before? If so, what did you think? Are you planning on visiting this year?
I have not been to the stadium before and it is one that I would like to make the trip to, whether that will be this season or another remains to be seen.
Q6. If you had to pick, who would be your favourite Swansea player? And your least favourite?
Both tough questions. I will not be obvious and say Bony as that is the player most will say. I have always admired Wayne Routledge even though he left us but seeing him perform consistently is pleasing seeing as he came through the ranks at Palace. But the player I admire the most is Ashley Williams. A little like our own Damien Delaney in that I wondered how they would fair in the top division but Williams has done exceptionally well and looked more than at home with star strikers in his pocket for a lot of games. As for least favourite, I will be predictable in this one and say Chico who is the one that fans love to hate. To me, while he does plenty of good, he always seems to be a liability and that ends up costing the team.
Q7. Which Swansea manager (in the Premier League era - Rodgers, Laudrup or Monk) have you been most impressed with? What do you think of Garry Monk's chances with a full pre-season behind him?
I think the club are reaping the rewards of the excellent stewardship of Brendan Rodgers and to a certain extent Laudrup existed on that for a while and was perhaps found out eventually. You can see the quality that Rodgers has when you look at what he has done with what was a team with perennial failings at Anfield. As for Monk, it is a tough one. He could quite easily have sunk without trace last season and steered Swansea to the Championship but that did not happen so he clearly has something about him. Rodgers got the chance at Swansea to show what he could do so there is no reason why Monk cannot follow in his footsteps.
Q8. Finally, at this moment in time how confident would you be if your "first eleven" went up against ours, and how do you think your team will do in general this season?
The Swans and Palace are fairly evenly matched I would say. You played a poor Palace side in our first meeting last season on an awful afternoon weather wise at Selhurst. The second game later in the season at the Liberty was a much better match up but you could well have won the game by half time with the chances you had. But that did not happen and we are quite a different team now. I would not put it past our two teams to win our home games against each other this season.
Massive thanks to Jay for answering these questions. I feature alongside Jay regularly on the EPLRoundTable podcast - check it out! You can follow The Eagles Beak on Twitter @TheEaglesBeak