View from a Toffee
The sixth part in our series of interviews with fans of opposing teams, this installment sees Jack Clarke of Everton fan site Nil Satis Nisi Optimum answer our questions on the Swans
Q1. Who are you and what do you do? How did you become attached to your club?
My name is Jack Clarke and I write various news pieces for a popular Everton forum called NSNO, owned by Simon Paul. In regards to supporting Everton, I never had much of a choice in the matter as my dad ingrained Everton into me at an early age and I have never looked back. I started regularly going the match at the start of the David Moyes era, so about 12 years ago now.
Q2. What is your favourite memory of a match involving your team and the Swans?
We've had quite a lot of good results against Swansea, well I think we've won all but one since you were promoted and that other one was a 0-0 draw. I think last season's 2-1 win at the Liberty Stadium is probably my favourite of the lot considering how good the goals were from Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley as well as the the fact the Barkley freekick came quite late in the match.
However, the 2-0 and 3-0 wins at Swansea weren't too bad either.
Q3. Ahead of this season, what are your thoughts on the Swans? Do you think we'll be a better team than last season?
Definitely, I'm actually backing Swansea as my 'surprise of the season' for the upcoming campaign, however my surprise package for last season was Sunderland so I apologise in advance. I thought that after a slow start (3-0 derby win aside) that Monk grew into the role and Swansea were starting to play some good football and I was particularly impressed when Swansea came to Goodison Park in the league and were the better team but let down by some defensive frailties. I fully expect Swansea to finish in the top half of the table next season.
Q4. What do you make of our transfer activity thus far? Do you think we need to make any more signings?
It looks pretty likely that you're going to hold onto Bony which I think is the most important piece of business Swansea can do in this transfer window and Gomis coming in and taking Michu's place will probably be a good bit of business too.
Ben Davies was a good player for you but I don't think you need to spend any money replacing him as Neil Taylor had a great first season if memory serves correct, he just picked up a pretty bad injury and couldn't win his place back in the team. I don't Particularly rate Fabianski but Tremmel seemed to play a lot for you last season so Fabianski is certainly an improvement in that respect.
Sigurdsson will be a good signing, especially if you can't find a way of bringing De Guzman back to the club. I think you might need a new right back as Rangel and Tiendalli don't do it for me.
Q5. Have you visited the Liberty Stadium before? If so, what did you think? Are you planning on visiting this year?
Nope, I've never visited the stadium but I've always been impressed with the atmosphere there considering it's a fairly small ground by Premier League standards, I remember being particularly impressed in your 1-0 defeat to Chelsea last season.
Q6. If you had to pick, who would be your favourite Swansea player? And your least favourite?
Wilfried Bony! I really wanted Everton to sign him but I'm not upset that we spent the money on Lukaku instead. He seems to have a lot to his game and it showed once he settled in last season.
Least favourite would have to be Chico Flores, He's obviously renowned for his theatrics but I've always though he was quite rash as well when on the pitch, I think you can do better.
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?
David Brent obviously done pretty well for you and even made Danny Graham look like a half decent striker so I'd probably have to begrudgingly say him. I think most of what Swansea have done in the past ten years has been down to the owners rather than the managers. From Kenny Jackett to Garry Monk, you've always looked to improved bit by bit and I think Martinez started off the current philosophy but all have played a part in getting the club where it is now.
I didn't particularly like Laudrup, even though Swansea won the Cup under his tenure. I don't think he really connected to the Swansea fans very well and I think he was in the job to add to his own C.V. more than anything. He bought some decent players to club but left a lot of be desired for me.
I've been pleasantly surprised by Garry Monk. He is clearly one of your own and he comes across as a thoroughly nice guy. He has a big job on his hands and his lack of experience might be his undoing but I think the way you play will always bring results in the end.
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?
With respect, I think we'd be fairly comfortable and I don't think many players, if any would get into a joint XI from your side. However, football is a lot more than who has the best players and if football was played on paper then nobody would watch it.
I'm pretty certain that we will finish somewhere in the top 7 and I think apart from Chelsea and City then there's two Champions League positions up for grabs, though I think Arsenal probably will secure one of them. It'll be a contest between Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Manchester United for the final spot but I think Liverpool will probably get it. With the winner getting a CL place then I think we will put a lot of effort into trying to win the Europa League but will probably fail considering how hard it gets in the last 16. Hopefully we can add some silverware.
Thanks again to Jack for taking the time to answer these questions! You can follow him on Twitter @Jakka93