Josh Kilmister on why this summer could be the best yet for Swans’ fans
After a string of poor results and disappointing performances, I thought I’d spend a while distancing myself from the present and look to the horizon, and I think this summer might see us push on from what we are now, to what we all hope to be.
Around three months without competitive football is never something I really look forward to – I’m a little lost with no Premier League games just this weekend – but the transfer window somewhat lightens the blow of not being down the Liberty every other week. I think whether we liked it or not Bony was going to leave us at some point, and perhaps him leaving earlier than some of us anticipated will make those summer months that little less agonising.
Last summer was definitely a good one for us, and that was unexpected to say the least. The days of Swansalona were over, and a new era of Swansea City football had begun. Everyone was behind Garry Monk, but one question fans like myself were asking was: “Is anybody really going to want to come and work with a rookie manager?”
Come September time we knew we would have an answer to that question, and boy was it a good one. Signings from London goliaths Arsenal and Spurs, Italian giants Napoli and even the capture of Bafetimbi Gomis (at the time) made a real statement; we wanted more than just mediocrity.
Five months on and most of said signings have been fantastic, while the squad has been developed even more with the signings of Cork, Naughton and loanee Nelson Oliveira, but the ghost of Wilfried Bony looks to be haunting our goal scorers and the significant dip in form of our two most consistent wingers means Huw has some work to do yet again this summer, and with Garry Monk having proven himself as a manager in the Premier League, can we expect some big bucks to be spent?
First of all, where do we need to improve? The club made a bold move by not bringing in a striker in January with our hopes left in the hands of a somewhat disgruntled Bafetimbi Gomis, so I think that’s something that will be set right as soon as physically possible. Even if Gomis finds some sort of form in the remaining months of the season, I can’t see him sticking around these parts for much longer. There’s no way that his change of heart was anything more than something his agent told him would help matters and, while I’ve made it clear that I think he’s a good player, it doesn’t look like it’s going to work for him down here.
Huw has already claimed to have a shortlist of targets to give us that cutting edge with eighteen year old Ajax starlet Richario Zivkovic rumoured to be interested in a move to South Wales. Ajax are known for having one of the best youth systems in world football, but with a rumoured £15m price tag on his head, I don’t know whether I’d be completely comfortable putting our faith in someone not much older than myself.
So there’s one place we need to improve, but where else can we expect to see improvements? Since their explosive start to the campaign, both Dyer and Routledge have been poor to say the least. Dyer has been a huge part of our rise to Premier League fame, while Routledge took his chance to replace Man City bound Scott Sinclair and hasn’t looked back since. But with the arrival of Jeff Montero it’s quite clear that, as a club, we have the stature to attract players of a higher quality.
Montero is twice the player that our two Englishmen have ever been; it kills me to say it but it’s true. In the Premier League there is no room for sentiment, and Monk has already proven that players won’t keep their position for what they’ve given us in the past by bringing in Kyle Naughton to replace the aging Rangel. Whether Dyer and Routledge are moved on at the end of the season or they’re kept to prove that they do still have something to offer I don’t know, but whatever happens we need backup, if not replacements.
Elsewhere, I’m sure Monk will have a few players on his radar. It’s no secret that he wants to bring in someone to push Neil Taylor for his place, while you can never really have too many midfielders as we’ve already struggled with injury and suspension this year. With Tremmel’s contract up this year, we may even want to bring in a new backup ‘keeper, though we have three ‘keepers in Oliver Davies, Gregor Zabret and Dai Cornell who would jump at the chance to make the bench for the first team.
As much as bringing in players from elsewhere can offer improvement, promoting through the youth system definitely has its benefits too. The likes of Mo Barrow, Adam King, Jay Fulton and Under 21 captain Josh Sheehan are all on the fringe of the first team, while Kenji Gorre and Matty Grimes will both be hoping to make the squad at some point before the end of the season. Harry Kane is perhaps an extreme example of what putting faith in your own players can offer, but until we give our boys a real chance we will never know what they can do.
Thanks to Josh as usual - give him a follow on Twitter @JoshKilmister