Young Welsh international heads to Yorkshire on emergency loan deal in search of regular minutes
It's not every day that you find out one of your club's players has joined another team via an email from the BBC, but that's what happened today. "Ping" went my Blackberry, and after the usual couple of minutes' loading time I discovered BBC Radio Leeds had got in touch and wanted my opinion about Jazz Richards' loan deal with the Terriers.
Needless to say, I pretended I already knew about this and agreed readily! It's not like it was a complete surprise - I mentioned the other day there were a number of Championship clubs interested in his signature and one of those, Huddersfield, appear to have won the race to sign him. The Swans have only said that they expect a deal to be ironed out by the end of the week, but in reality it appears as good as done.
The BBC learned of the impending move from the man himself, when Jazz tweeted earlier today saying he'd sealed a move to the Yorkshire club:
While I'm happy to see him getting game-time, I do still think he's a player we should be looking to retain as I think with a little improvement he'll be a very handy player to have in the squad. For me, he's shown enough so far for us to hope that with an extra 10% to his game he'll be a very tidy right-back, as it's only really his positioning that let's him down - his touch, engine and passing are all pretty decent and seeing as he started life as a defensive midfielder it's no surprise he's still not mastered the fullback role - positionally it's as difficult as any, especially when you're expected to bomb forward like you are at the Swans.
Either way, this should be good for him and with the deal due to expire in January it gives both clubs time to assess whether they want the deal to be extended. All the best Jazz - do us proud.
Spaniard shows his grasp of English is coming on with interview on official site
In what is surely his longest interview in English so far, our floppy haired maestro spoke to SwansTV.com about his form, new signings and the team's performance so far this season.
The headline of the blog today shouldn't be taken too seriously as the video attests - Michu is clearly joking when he refers to the players "speaking Spanish in the changing room" and while that is obviously the case, I think it's also true that in the past Spanish players have made an effort to acclimatise quickly, and I imagine that'll also be the case with our newer signings too.
It raises an interesting point that was discussed on yesterday's EPL Roundtable Podcast - are there too many foreign players in the Premier League/UK Football? Personally, I think while it would be nice to see a continued stream of young talent making their way from the youth teams to the first team at present it's very much a case of building for the future. I think the Swans are putting measures, and facilities, in place to rival those of all but the biggest clubs, and if we're patient and allow the club time to develop their academy it will ultimately pay dividends. The signatures of Jernade Meade, Kristian Scott, Gregor Zabret, Kenji Gorre & Alex Gogic show the club is serious about youth, and I'm hopeful that over the next year or two we'll see some local talent emerge through the ranks too.
The impact Ben Davies' meteoric rise to fame will have had on other youngsters at the club won't have gone amiss either. He's shown that firstly if you're good enough you'll get your chance in the first team, and secondly that if you impress you aren't necessarily going to go straight back into the development squad.. Players like Henry Jones, Daniel Alfei & Kyle Copp will be watching developments with keen interest as they hope to make their own breakthroughs.
Back to Michu, and it seems he's set to see a lot of game time in his preferred attacking midfield position. I've got everything crossed that Jose Canas finds someone with whom he can successfully control the midfield, because despite everything we gain by having Michu behind the striker we're still struggling to retain possession as we've become accustomed to. It's early days, and Canas has looked very good, so hopefully I'm worrying over nothing.
The bookies clearly fancy Michu to score goals - he's only 5-1 to score 16 and given his performances so far this season you wouldn't bet against him matching last season's tally. I just hope it doesn't come at the expense of midfield domination. If nothing else it's going to be interesting to see how our midfield develops over the course of the season, as Laudrup gets to know his new signings and which players work well together. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
In what's proving to be an increasingly popular feature, last night I was a guest on the EPLIndex Roundtable Podcast, hosted by Kevin De Vries. It's a good format with lots of different fans guesting every week, and it's a nice way to share views with like-minded supporters.
This week we discuss, amongst other things, the impact the increasing number of foreign players has had on the Premier League. Do you think it's improved or detracted from the quality of young British footballers? You can listen to the podcast in it's entirety here: LINK
Myself and Chris from Swansblog are also involved in their prediction league, and with a combined effort (we've been alternating who appears on the podcast week by week) we're currently sitting in third place. Given my atrocious record when it comes to predicting outcomes, I'm going to give Chris the credit there...
If you'd like to follow me any of the other guests on Twitter, go to; @TheSwanseaWay, @HughWizzy, @WestHamFootball, @TheEaglesBeak, @ChelseaRumours, @AnfieldIndex or @KevRov, while Chris is available at @SwansBlog
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
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.
How did our boys get on in their respective matches?
With the Swans accruing more and more current internationals, it seems we're going to have to get used to our players featuring in international friendlies, qualifiers and competitions, and while the latter is generally of no concern (as they usually fall in the summer months) extra games can sometimes take their toll on a squad. It's important players' game-time is managed well and that they don't "burn out" as the season goes on, but to the players themselves it must be a great honour to represent their country, and I doubt they'd ever want to be substituted in order to "save their legs" ahead of a club fixture. With Europa League football now guaranteed for a while to come, Laudrup will be forced into rotating his squad as the games pile up.
Ashley Williams & Ben Davies
Laudrup had previously bemoaned Ben Davies and Ashley Williams playing the full 90 minutes for Wales in their friendly against Ireland, which fell just prior to the season starting, but he can have few qualms about the boys featuring in competitive fixtures.
Both Ash & Ben played 90 minutes for Wales last night as they went down 2-1 to Macedonia. Yep. 2-1 to Macedonia. You have to love being from Wales - in the same week it was confirmed the most expensive footballer in the world now hails from God's country, and yet we manage to lose to a side who are 89th in the FIFA ranking system. Wales are joint 46th, if you were curious.
In a sign of things to come, Chris Coleman couldn't fly out with the squad as he'd lost his passport, and had to go to Newport (it's a bloody handy thing the passport office is in Wales, eh?) to sort it out before meeting up with the squad in Macedonia. Not the most auspicious start, and so it was that Wales fell behind to Trickovski's opener. Aaron Ramsey managed to earn and convert a penalty to restore parity to the tie but Trajkovski scored late on to seal the win for the home side.
I still don't know what to make of Chris Coleman. Sometimes I think I like the way he's trying to get the team playing football, but the main problem for me is the lack of an out and out striker. Let's hope someone produces a quality forward in the next few years, as Wales do seem particularly toothless at the moment.
Moving on...
Michel Vorm
Vorm was preferred in goal to Kenneth Vermeer, and considering Vermeer holds the Dutch record for the longest streak of international matches without conceding a goal (link) he's done well to get in ahead of the Ajax 'keeper.
The highlights seem to indicate that there was little Vorm could do about either of the goals - that Vassiljev looks a player eh? That second goal was outstanding! A great run, and a great finish - Vorm didn't do anything wrong there I think, 99 times out of 100 in that situation the player is going to shoot low(ish) and he was covering his angles well. You can't plan for that kind of finish!
Holland had Robin Van Persie to thank as he rescued a point for them late on from the penalty spot, but at the other end of the field it's good to see Vorm getting games. If he's getting picked at international level it's only going to increase his stock, and his confidence, and it's also something which could aid in the Dutchman sticking around for a long while to come. If he wasn't getting picked for Holland - perhaps because Swansea aren't yet viewed internationally as a "big team", he may look to move to a bigger club to help his international aspirations, but if he's being preferred to the Ajax keeper that's clearly not the case. Good on you, Michel, you've earned your chance.
Amat & Tancock in Under-21 action
Both these young defenders featured for their respective international sides this week, and they had very differing experiences. Tancock played 90 minutes for Wales U21's against San Marino, and they have clearly been taking after the first-team as they contrived to lose 1-0. To San Marino.
Amat however had a very different time of it. He enjoyed a 6-2 Spanish U21 victory over Austria U21's, and from all the match reports I've read not one mentions him. To be honest, as a centre-back if you play 90 minutes and no journalist mentions any mistakes you've made throughout the game you've done well, so I'd say it's a case of "if you don't notice him, he's doing well".
Possibly an optimistic take on a lack of information, but you need a bit of blind optimism in your life every now and again!
Young Swansea full-back being chased by Huddersfield, Millwall & Birmingham
You have to feel for Jazz. After, to me, performing quite well on numerous occasions he's been called upon he still finds himself down the pecking order at the Liberty, but in honesty you can't really argue given Dwight Tiendalli has signed back on and Angel Rangel continues to enjoy almost a guaranteed place in the first team. Both the aforementioned full-backs have done everything that's been asked of them in the Premiership and despite Swansea youth product Richards impressing in various cameos it seems he's going to have to go back out on loan to try and gain some first-team football this season.
While this could be considered harsh in that until a few weeks ago we were all expecting Jazz to be the regular backup to Rangel, now that Dwight Tiendalli has decided he wants to be here after all you'd struggle to convince anyone that at present Jazz is the more dependable option. That's not a slight on Jazz though - that's based purely on Tiendalli's performances last season.
With Kyle Bartley already on loan to Birmingham it could well be that Richards fancies linking up with his Swansea teammate, and with Lee Clark in charge he should at least get to play some decent football. Bartley was signed specifically because he can defend and pass the ball - put Jazz alongside him and you've got yourselves an efficient Swansalona right side of defence. Not a bad proposition for any team in the 2nd tier of British football.
I can't say I know too much about Huddersfield or Millwall other than ex-Swansea boss Kenny Jackett had done a sterling job at the latter club over the last few years, but now that he's departed ex-Man City/West Ham man Steve Lomas is in charge, while ex-Barnsley & Coventry boss Mark Robins is in charge at Huddersfield. Mark Robins always tries to get his sides playing decent football, so that's two of the three teams mentioned who play a good style which would probably benefit Jazz. I wonder what kind of football Lomas likes his sides to play...
Hopefully Richards can get a good amount of gametime this season as it would no doubt aid his development. With opportunities likely to be in extremely short supply in SA1, it seems his best shout is a loan move, and I think it'll be good for him. Wherever you end up, good luck Jazz.
With young talent heading to SA1 in search of a more cultured footballing education, what do we know about our new youth players?
As mentioned in the last blog post, the Swans yesterday confirmed the acquisition of Kristian Scott, a USA Youth International, from Stoke. Scott is the latest in a line of youngsters to view Swansea as the ideal place to further their footballing education, so I thought I'd try and piece together some info on our new signings, and combine it with what I found out about Zabret & Gogic when they signed on.
Gregor Zabret Age: 17 Position: Goalkeeper
Zabret is a young Slovenian signed from NK Domzale, who finished third in the Slovenian League last season. He played 11 times last season (and three the season prior to that), keeping three clean sheets and attracted interest from several parties.
He apparently knocked back offers from West Brom and Sporting Lisbon to join the Swans after completing a trial period at the club in January. He's already playing for the Swans' development side and hopefully he'll go on to big things.
He's certainly got a physical presence at 6'2", but I can't say I've seen him play yet, and the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. From the match report of the development game against Millwall it doesn't sound like there was much he could do about either of the goals, so it must have been a fairly encouraging start to his Swans career.
Kenji Gorre Age: 18 Position: Winger/Forward
Gorre joined up with the Swans in March after previously being on the books at Manchester United. He's the son of Dean Gorre, who some fans may remember playing for Ajax, Feyenoord and Huddersfield. Yes, you read that right.
A tricky forward, he shot to fame at United after scoring this goal against the Wolves youth team. Apologies for the ghetto nature of the video.
He went on tour with the squad to Holland (as did Zabret and, I think Alex Gogic) and even managed to get himself on the scoresheet when the Swans beat Excelsior 5-1, and his involvement would indicate to me that the powers that be at the club hold him in high regard.
Alex Gogic Age: 19 Position: Midfielder
From what I can garner online, I think Gogic is a wide midfielder who operates in one of the positions either side of the striker in our formation. Signed from Olympiakos on what I think we can assume to be essentially a free transfer, he's a Cyprus U21 international and is another already in the fold of the development squad. There's not much info about the lad online so we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully I'll be able to get down to see the development team in action soon.
Kristian Scott Age: 18 Position: Central Midfield
USA international Scott signed this week from Stoke City after previously being on the books at Bristol City - where his dad Kevin (an ex-Newcastle defender) was an academy scout. When his dad moved east so did Kris and he's continued his development by moving to South Wales.
A talented individual, he's been selected for the United States U15 and U18 squad, and was recently called up to the Ireland U19 squad on account of qualifying through his grandmother. He couldn't feature due to injury, and when I briefly spoke to him on Twitter he said he's as yet undecided as to whether he'd play international football for Ireland, the US or England (his father is English, his mother American).
Hopefully now that he's swapped long ball for tika-taka he can kick on and become an important member of the squad.
Jernade Meade Age: 20 Position: Left Back
Meade signed from Arsenal earlier in the summer and is arguably the coup of the lot. After he signed, I did a bit of digging online and found quite a few Arsenal fans disgruntled at letting him go, as they viewed him as a very exciting prospect. He made his debut for the Gunners in their mental 7-5 win over Reading in the League Cup and impressed sufficiently to be handed his full debut as Arsenal took on Olympiakos away in the Champions League. We've got a player in the development side who's already played in the Champions League. Mental.
An attacking left-back who can also operate on the wing, he seemed set to break into the first-team when injury curtailed his progress, and he'll now be hoping that he can stay injury-free and get his career back on track in SA1. It seems strange he wasn't offered a new deal at Arsenal given his (granted, limited) first team involvement, but hopefully the Gunners' loss is our gain.
One thing to note is that at 5'3" he's nicked Leon's crown of "most diminutive player"...
Best of the rest
It would be rude not to mention a few other names now that I've mentioned the new guys. Scott Tancock (captain of the reserves) and Daniel Alfei both look tidy centre-backs, while Rory Donnelly got his full debut away at Petrolul the other night. Somewhat of a baptism of fire, but he's definitely shown enough to give us hope for the future.
Other names that are held in high regards behind the scenes in SA1 are those of James Loveridge, Henry Jones and Kyle Copp. Jones is a central midfielder (read an excellent article on him here) and has shown a great range of passing so far, while Copp is a forward who has long been touted as a serious prospect. Loveridge has been impressing of late and got the MOTM award in the FAW Youth Cup Final against West End after bagging himself a hat-trick. Check out the highlights here to see a couple of the guys in action:
With the training facilities looking very, very good indeed and a burgeoning youth system, hopefully we can start to produce more and more home-grown players, as well as bringing in other young players who look like they'll fit the way we do things around here. Another success story like Ben Davies' would go down very well indeed.
Jazz Richards 
