Current and ex-Swan hoping Crystal Palace gain promotion to Premiership
This is, of course, the Championship playoff final, to be played out this afternoon between Crystal Palace and Watford. Ian Holloway is looking to guide Palace past Gianfranco Zola's Watford team in what will no doubt be a frenetic display of committed football. Crystal Palace will sadly be unable to call on a man who is starting to become somewhat of a Playoff legend - Stephen Dobbie. The Scottish attacker is ineligible due to being on loan from one-time playoff rivals Brighton. Remarkably, he's played in three consecutive Championship Playoff Finals - winning two before losing to West Ham with Blackpool last year, and he'll be disappointed he can't add to his four goals at Wembley. With both teams favouring attack to defence we could be in for a great game.
Jazz started out well at Palace, enjoying a good run of form which was no doubt aided by the fact that regular right-back Joel Ward was out injured. Once Ward returned to fitness, it was only a matter of time before he reclaimed his first team berth from Richards and of late Jazz has had to watch from the bench as his team-mates have put together a six-game unbeaten run which has led to the Championship showpiece in London. He's spoken to the Swans official site about what it's like to be involved in such a big game at Wembley:
“I was part of the squad when we got to the Play-Off final two years ago and to have been part of winning that game – for my hometown club – was a dream come true,” said the Wales international. Even though I didn’t get off the bench, just being involved in the warm-ups and looking up at the 80,000 or so in the stadium was a memory that will live with me forever. It’s a really special occasion.
“It’s a mad day, too. You are trying to be as focused as possible, while the manager is trying to keep the tension and emotions under control, but as soon as you turn the corner and head into the stadium, you get this rush of adrenaline and it hits you – this is for a spot in the Premier League.
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| Jazz in action for Crystal Palace |
“It was massive for us at Swansea when we beat Reading. The club hadn’t been in the Premier League before and it was new territory for us, but it means just as much to everyone here at Palace. The club should be in the Premier League, and we are just one game away from it., and when I look around at the squad, we have a great mix of players.
"The gaffer can call on the experience of Mile Jedinak, Damian Delaney, Danny Gabbidon, Peter Ramage and Kevin Phillips while we have youngsters like Wilf Zaha, Yannick Bolasie and Jonny Williams who can spice the game up and express themselves on a pitch like Wembley.
“It’s going to be a fantastic match for the neutral, and I hope everyone back in Swansea will be rooting for Palace today because it’s a fantastic club. I’ve had a great time at Palace. I’m very grateful to the club for the opportunity they have given me. I’ve been away from home for the first time, played with a different group of players, and I’ve got 11 games under my belt so far. “I got a regular run of games under my belt, then I found myself out of the team -but I’ve still learned from that, and those experiences will help me progress as a footballer, but hopefully I will finish my loan spell with a win. To help Palace to the Premier League would be a great achievement for me.” Jazz Richards
It was recently announced that Stephen Dobbie is joining Palace on a permanent basis once the transfer window opens. Good luck to him at his new club, but more importantly good luck to both Jazz and Palace today as they look to secure a win in a match worth, apparently, £120million. Remarkable that when we went up just two seasons ago it was worth "only" £90million. Football is bonkers. On to another ex-Swan who has gained promotion then...
Shaun MacDonald helps AFC Bournemouth gain promotion to Championship
Swansea youth product MacDonald came through the ranks and was highly rated as a youngster. Alan Curtis revealed a few years ago that the young midfielder had earned the nickname "Zidane" in training, due to his excellent close control and ball retention in possession based exercises. Sadly, it never really worked out for Shaun during his time in South Wales - fourty first team appearances (with a large proportion coming off the bench) and five loan spells at Yeovil later he joined Bournemouth for around £80k (although the Swans have a large sell-on clause in place) and happily things have worked out a little better on the south coast.
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| MacDonald in action for AFC Bournemouth |
At first it must have all seemed a bit familiar for Shaun, as he saw two managers depart in quick succession before Eddie Howe was brought in, but times are better now and the midfielder was rewarded with a new three year contract in January. MacDonald, once capped by Wales, has helped his team to the unlikeliest of promotions this year - and they came within a whisker of winning the League One title - being held 0-0 at Andy Robinson's Tranmere Rovers on the final day of the season. That was enough for Brian Flynn's Doncaster Rovers to snatch the top spot (although it wasn't enough to keep Flynn in the job), but Bournemouth had, up until that point, been on a club record run of eight consecutive league wins, so it seems they came good at just the right time.
MacDonald is clearly enjoying his time at Bournemouth, and sees no reason why the team can't push on:
'I don`t think any other club suited me the way it did the first day I came here. I look back and have no regrets. We got promoted, we have a special manager and a special team and it`s worked out well. I feel now that coming to Bournemouth was the best decision of my career so far.
"I am gutted that Cardiff got promoted, Not only are they Swansea`s rivals but now there are no Welsh teams for us to play against in the Championship. Getting to the Premier League is now the next step for us to look forward to, so then I can face them.
"Being successful in the Championship is the goal and if we carry on like we did this season, there is no reason why we won`t be." Shaun MacDonald
Assuming Bournemouth retain their Championship status for at least one year, and that Cardiff don't make a load of clever signings, he may not have that long to wait to play against the team from the capital.
Swansea linked with Alejandro Pozuelo, in what is starting to look like a raid on Real Betis
This is, as yet, an unsubstantiated rumour however it's a bit of an exciting one. Pozuelo is a creative attacking midfielder, and as seems to be the norm for Real Betis players he has excellent hair. There's scant information online, but it seems a number of clubs have been keeping tabs on a player who excelled for Real Betis B before his promotion to the first team in October 2011. It seems his progress has been somewhat stunted by an incident following a game against Espanyol a year later, where Pozuelo came in to the changing room after the game mouthing off regarding negative team tactics costing Betis the game (source: LINK). Apparently he was at fault for a crucial goal, so his outburst was possibly a little misguided, but it shows he's passionate and if there's one thing you can't say about the Swans this year it's "that we played with negative tactics".
Meanwhile, Jose Canas has, through his agent, refuted allegations that he's been taking it easy since agreeing a move to the Swans.
“Jose has done very well this season, even though he is leaving. He wanted the club to receive money for him but that was not possible.
"Jose has given Real Betis everything but maybe the fans don’t understand that.” Canas' agent Alvaro Torres
I'd say given the amount of talk regarding this particular transfer, and these latest quotes from his agent, it seems Canas is now surely a done deal. Hopefully there'll be an official announcement soon, but until then we will just have to sit patiently in anticipation of imminent transfer dealings.
If anyone would like to read a profile of Jose Canas which I put together a while back (nb: the stats will no longer be up to date), click here.