View from a Lilywhite
The tenth installment of our series of interviews with fans of opposing teams, today we have Kevin De Vries - Tottenham fan & host of the EPL Roundtable podcast, giving his answers to our questions
Q1. Who are you and what do you do? How did you become attached to your club?
Kevin DeVries, host of the EPL Round Table and writer for The Eagle's Beak. I'm a bit of a newbie as I only started following football during the 2010 World Cup - a friend's Dad offered to take me to a pub, buy me drinks, and teach me about football. I'm not sure if he had an ulterior motive but the bar in question was Floyd's, home of the New York Spurs Supporters Group. I went back to Floyd's when I visited again and saw Tottenham beat Young Boys in the Champions League - with some slight nudging from my friend and his family and the presence of a certain Rafael Van der Vaart I knew I'd be Tottenham 'Til I Die!
Q2. What is your favourite memory of a match involving your team and the Swans?
Two years ago, I believe it was at the Liberty. Jan Vertonghen played in Gareth Bale and without any backswing he lashed it into the top left corner. Made Vorm look absolutely silly. [Your problem now! - Ed]
Q3. Ahead of this season, what are your thoughts on the Swans? Do you think we'll be a better team than last season?
I'm not sure if you're a better team than you were, but I'm certain you'll have a better season than you had. Without European football I'm thinking you'll likely finish around, if not above, tenth. I do think De Guzman should've been a higher priority to re-sign, but with Gylfi "Thor" Sigurdsson coming in I can understand it at least. Gomis was a great get as well but your success greatly hinges on the ridiculously muscular shoulders of Wilfried Bony. If he stays and scores 20+ you'll have a great season!
Q4. What do you make of our transfer activity thus far? Do you think we need to make any more signings?
As I mentioned, I love the Sigurdsson and Gomis deals and feel Castaignos is a bit underrated, so I'm surprised you didn't follow that up. You do need help at the back with Chico and Davies gone - Amat and Taylor should be able to do a job but there's too little depth in the back line for my liking.
Q5. Have you visited the Liberty Staidum before? If so, what did you think? Are you planning on visiting this year?
Unfortunately not.
Q6. If you had to pick, who would be your favourite Swansea player? And your least favourite?
Siggy is a given, but I love that Routledge has come good for you and always find myself rooting for him. Least favorite is hard to say with Chico and Michu both out the door... Maybe Angel Rangel just because his name confuses announcers so frequently? Nothing bad to say about the Swans really.
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?
Considering the short period of time he was given I think Monk did an excellent job and I see no reason why it can't continue.
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?
Tottenham would definitely be the favorites to win although we haven't seen our "Best XI" play together in over a year now. I'm very excited to see how we utilise Lamela and Eriksen but Soldado must score 15+ for us to even consider saying the words "Top 4". I love what Pochettino brings to the club and would honestly be pleased finishing anywhere from 4th to 8th with a decent cup run.
Thanks to Kev for answering our questions! I feature regularly on the podcast he hosts, The EPL Roundtable, so check that out for my views on the Swans along with those of fans of other teams, and you can follow him on Twitter @Kevrov