Napoli given pathetic fine by UEFA for Swansea fan delays

Once again European football's governing body completely bottles punishing a big team

Unsurprising and disappointing. Those are words which could be used to describe most fines and bans given out by UEFA over the last decade or so, but even by their standards this seems particularly paltry. Napoli have just been fined £21,500 for not only causing up to seven hundred of Swansea's nine hundred travelling fans to miss the first half an hour of the match, but also because of illicit banners and fireworks being let off in the stadium. 

Given Arsenal fans had warned to expect this kind of behaviour from the Naples club (after experiencing it themselves in this season's Champions League), it seems hard to believe that deliberately stalling Swansea fans was anything other than pre-meditated. To put it in context, the amount paid in travel alone by the seven hundred visiting Swansea supporters will easily total thousands more than the fine handed to the Italian club - a fine which was likely to be met with smirks by whoever at Napoli is responsible for paying it. I can't imagine there's a single first-team player there who doesn't earn more than that in the week, so it's hard to see what the point is in even making them pay such a pathetic amount. Should we have expected any less though?

Here's a list of fines given out in the past by UEFA. As you can see, they really are a joke:

• October 2000 - Sinisa Mihajlovic given two match ban for racially abusing Patrick Vieira. 

• June 2007 - Serbian Football Federation fined £16,500 for "the racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players". after fans aim racist abuse at England's U21 international Nedum Onuoha. 

• June 2008 - Croatian Football Federation is fined nearly £10,000 for their fans displaying a racist banner and "improper conduct". 

• February 2012 - Porto fines £16,700 for their fans consistently racially abusing Mario Balotelli throughout their game against Manchester City in the Champions League. 

• February 2012 - Nicklas Bendtner fined £80,000 and banned for two games for revealing "sponsored underpants" promoting Paddy Power.  

• June 2012 - Croatian FA fined £80,000 after Poznan fans racially abused Mario Balotelli, throwing a banana onto the pitch.  

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jun/18/uefa-2012-bendtner-fine-racism

It seems Europe's governing body have no real desire to punish anything serious unless it potentially screws with some kind of advertising deal - I'd imagine whoever was paying to advertise during the game Bendtner dropped trousers was particularly miffed and given how money-orientated football is these days I can imagine UEFA responding to that with more earnest simply because they didn't want to upset their advertising partners, some of whom were/are undoubtedly rivals of Paddy Power.

As for the Napoli fine, no-one will have expected any different and it's just sad that you can predict a complete lack of action over things which should (and could) be stamped out by a firm ruling from European football's governing body. This current climate of pathetic token responses simply can't go on forever, and at some point UEFA will have a president free from corruption, coercion and shortsightedness. Until then, however, we'll continue to be disappointed by a corrupt and inept football association. 

Monk: "Michu great but it's teamwork that'll keep us up"

Swansea boss glad to reintroduce Spaniard, but acknowledges team effort is required to halt slide

There are various theories as to why we've fallen apart in the second half of the last two league games. I think against Palace there's only so much analysis to be done as we were at the tail end of a crazy run of games, but against WBA the manner in which we surrendered control of the game was alarming. 

Jon Trew did a very interesting piece yesterday (link) where he suggested that in order to regain possession the Swans should actually have dropped deeper, and opened the pitch up. In the first half, Ash spent a large amount of time in the deepest section of the pitch, but in the second half he was active much further forward. It was then pointed out on Twitter that after Michu came on for Jose Canas Ash didn't spend ANY time in the deepest section of the pitch for the remainder of the match. 

I'm not saying Michu was at fault - he's clearly not going to be match fit and it was the way the whole team was trying to operate. We lost our cohesion in midfield and our pass completion dropped ten percent compared to the first half - a dramatic dropoff and must unlike what we've come to expect from the Swans.

Given his prolonged absence, it's understandable that a large section of the support are hoping Michu can fire us to safety now that he's back in contention for a place in the lineup, but Garry Monk is a bit more pragmatic about things:

"A few of the other boys have been chipping in with goals while Michu has been out, and of course that has to continue. If he can come in and add his quality and get a few goals then great, but it's a team effort. 

"They were difficult circumstances — ideally it would have been nice to bring him on in a better situation. Maybe if we'd been controlling the game, Michu could have had more of an influence, but it's great to see him back fit and those minutes on the pitch will help him."  

http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-City-expect-Michu-says-Garry-Monk/story-20822351-detail/story.html#ixzz2wIu4LRom

It's totally understandable why Monk brought Michu on against the Baggies. With the Swans suffering from extreme opposition pressure, bringing Pablo on for Jose would have been a ballsy move, given West Brom had been harrying our central midfield all game. Michu offers a much more physical threat, but sadly he wasn't able to affect proceedings that greatly.

The problem we face now is that Bony & Michu haven't actually played together on the field that much. Bony was introduced slowly after missing a large portion of pre-season, and by the time he was regularly included Michu had succumbed to injury. I don't think we've got time for them to build a partnership, as using both in the starting eleven would drastically alter the dynamic of a typical Swansea team.

I think given Bony has shown over the last few months he's more than capable of leading the line for us, for now Michu should still be reintroduced slowly. I think since Monk's come in one of the big positives is how much more of the pitch we're using, and by replacing Bony with Michu - or even putting Michu behind the Ivorian - I think it would result in our possession game being played more towards our own goal. With Bony (despite a couple of iffy performances) being able to hold up possession that much further up the field it stretches the game in Swansea's favour, and that gives our midfielders room to run into.

For now we should stick with three proper central midfielders and Bony up top, and if you're looking for an impact player off the bench to replace Bony I don't think you could do much better than Miguel Perez Cuesta. He could do with building up his match fitness slowly (much has recently been made of shortened recovery periods leading to recurring injuries) and I think by taking Bony off on sixty-five/seventy minutes you could arguably get the best out of what both strikers can offer you at the moment.

Firstly, Bony can run that much harder knowing he doesn't have to make the full ninety minutes. Considering how much of a handful he is for centre-halves anyway, that really is an intriguing concept. Secondly, the same can be said of Michu - if he's only got a shorter time period to play then he can charge around like a bull in a china shop (I tried to think of a toreador pun for ages but sadly failed) and cause chaos in the ranks of tiring opposition defences.

This idea is probably going to be met with dismay from a large section of the support who'd favour Michu returning to the starting lineup as soon as he's physically up to it, but I do think we've looked a more balanced team in the last few months. Ok, results haven't improved but we're just a lucky break away from a good result. Against Palace & WBA Bony had chances which on any other day could well have gone in, and those goals would probably have seen us pick up an extra five points - which would be absolutely massive right about now.

So, Michu super-sub then? For now, at least...

Garry Monk shows why midfield width is king at Swansea City

Comprehensive win over Cardiff shows new Swansea boss Monk understands what is needed in SA1

There was a time not so long ago when Swansea fans went into every game confident in their team's ability to boss the centre of the park. Ever since Roberto Martinez came in and transformed the club's playing style we've had a succession of managers who use midfield dominance to control matches, but of late it's been painfully obvious that we simply weren't building anything constructive through the middle and teams had figured out how to nullify the threat posed by Michael Laudrup's Swansea City. I've ruminated often when it was I thought we last properly controlled a midfield, and before Saturday's win over Cardiff I'd have to say it was probably Newcastle at home almost a year ago. Worrying? Not any more.

What has been excruciatingly frustrating to most Swansea fans is that the changes to the style which were necessary were just so bleeding obvious. We've built our success on our ability to retain the ball, and key to this is having two central midfielders who work as a unit in front of the back four. Ok, one can wander forward occasionally but for a possession system to work properly your midfielders have to rely on each other and play their way out of trouble. 

In the past Mark Gower sat alongside Leon before Joey Allen broke into the team and made that spot his own, but since Joey's departure (and Laudrup's arrival) we've steadily gone away from a midfield with two deep midfielders, instead operating with one holding midfielder, one attacking midfielder and the third seemingly floating between the two. It might sound like I'm splitting hairs here but the difference is massive - especially when on occasion Leon hasn't been selected. Without the tika-taka protection offered by a midfield duo our defence has become more exposed, but the answer was staring us right in the face. Play Leon with a midfielder who has been explicitly told to hang around the Swansea number seven, and the rest will sort itself out!

De Guzman vs West Ham

De Guzman vs Cardiff

A good example of the immediate difference made by Garry Monk can be seen in Jonathan De Guzman's heatmap (heatmaps from the Daily Mail Matchzone). In Laudrup's last game in charge against West Ham, De Guzman had his usual wandery free role in the centre of the park and guess what? We lost. You can clearly see though that against Cardiff the Dutchman had been told to stick deeper and operate alongside Leon, and the difference was massive. Instantly, we'd returned to the football we hadn't seen since Brendan Rodgers. And not before time. 

Aside from the use of two holding midfielders, there was only really two other things Monk had to change in order to restore order in SA1. Well, three if you include geeing his team up but I suspect that was a foregone conclusion, so back to tactics for now. Under Laudrup. our wingers had become inside forwards and given the area they were running into often contained our centre forward, attacking midfielder, one of our central midfielders as well as possibly the "winger" on the other side it's no wonder they found the going tough - and that's before you factor in all the defenders marking the aforementioned players, or the fact that they only had to defend the central 60% of the pitch because we weren't using the touchlines effectively that far up the field.

So, what did Monk do? Easy - tell the wingers to play like wingers and get them hugging the touchline. Not only does this mean the opposition defence has to split itself wider from the outset, in doing so it creates space in the centre of the field - space we've long craved and put to good use against Cardiff. Look at the first Swans goal - Pablo had space in the centre as our wingers had stretched Cardiff, and that allowed the Spaniard to play a delicious ball inside the Cardiff full-back with Routledge careering around him on the outside. There is absolutely no way Routledge would have been in that position had Laudrup still been in charge, and it goes further than that. Our second goal? A cross from the wing from Routledge. The third? A free kick from out wide after Dyer had found space on the right flank. Width is key.

Ok, it's possible that given our recent style of play the impact these changes had has been exaggerated slightly given Cardiff may have been expecting us to set up differently, but if Monk continues in this vein we will be just fine. More than fine, in fact. The other noticeable difference in Saturday's performance when compared with any recent showing under Laudrup was how high we pressed the opposition. Cardiff didn't have time to play their way out and if I'm honest there were several occasions when I thought to myself "this is like watching Brendan Rodgers' Swansea team". 

To label Monk's success as such would however be a disservice. There were changes needed to how we were playing, and in my opinion Garry Monk got every single one of them spot on. He clearly knew what needed doing, and now he's got the opportunity to go and do it. If we play like we did against Cardiff at Stoke on Wednesday night, I'm very confident of a result, and I'm very, very interested to see how Garry Monk does for the remainder of the season. I've been saying for a while that perhaps what the Swans need is a head coach instead of a manager, given the unique way the club is set up and how heavily involved Huw is in the footballing side of things, and perhaps we've just stumbled upon the winning lottery ticket.

With Garry Monk in charge "for the foreseeable future", and on the evidence of Saturday's heroic win, I'm now more confident in the Swans' ability to produce results than I have been in about a year. Long live Garry Monk.

Swansea waiting on Tom Ince deadline

Protracted transfer saga seems to be drawing to a close

Tom Ince likes a road trip eh? Since speaking to the Swans he's been in talks with Stoke, Hull, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, which for a player whose main priority must surely be putting himself in the shop window,seems a strange way of going about it. OK, his name has been in the press a lot of late as a result (indeed I'm writing about it now), however this drawn-out affair is getting dangerously close to the point where it's damaging his reputation. A proportion of the Blackpool fanbase have been questioning his attitude and work-rate of late, and it's also affected Swansea fan's opinions too.

Yesterday I thought it would be interesting to see what the general consensus was, so on Twitter I asked the following question:

Seems a fair proportion of the Jack army don't really want Tom Ince now. Would you like him to join on loan? RT for yes, favourite for no!
— The Swansea Way (@TheSwanseaWay) January 29, 2014

As you can see, it's split almost perfectly down the middle (albeit from a fairly small sample of the Jack Army), but personally I still think he'd be a good addition on loan. What's confusing me though is that it seems all of the clubs he's been to visit already have their maximum allocation of domestic loans - ok, Steve Bruce & Mark Hughes are both old mates of Tom's father Paul from his Man Utd days, but Sunderland and Stoke? Surely if you're looking to put yourself in the media spotlight you're better off doing it at a club still contesting European football than clubs who seem set for a relegation battle? I'm not saying we're completely clear of that potential obstacle ourselves, but still.

Rumour has it there's a 3pm deadline, but even though I do want him to come in he is stretching his luck now. With all details apparently agreed between Ince and the Swans a few days ago, he's surely testing the club's patience to the limit.

Either way, it should be a fairly interesting next 24 hours.

Birmingham 1 - 2 Swansea - The Wilfried Bony show!

Ivorian predator again shows his worth with two-goal rescue mission at St Andrews

Another rainy day, and by all accounts another outing which threatened to be another damp squib of an afternoon for Swansea fans. Thankfully, we seem able (for the time being at least) to rely on the goalscoring prowess of one Wilfried Bony, who's now got six in his last five games. Not bad for a player who "doesn't run enough".

It's been much commented that Ash had a bit of a tirade in the first half when he felt performance levels weren't good enough, apparently telling Alvaro (loudly) that they needed more from him, but Bony's introduction in the second half thankfully paved the way for two goals in two minutes, and all of a sudden we're in the next round of the FA Cup.

I think the less said the better about that match other than Bony's fantastic finishing, but I would like to give two players a mention. Firstly, Roland Lamah was involved in both of Bony's goals, but if you watch the first goal closely it appears to be Jordi Amat who took the ball on and drove at the defence. Given he's taken a somewhat reluctant bit of criticism for his midfield displays (with fans acknowledging it's not really his fault if he's not cut out for a midfield role), it was good to see him taking the ball on into a dangerous position, and retaining possession whilst creating an attacking opportunity which ultimately led to a goal.

I'll leave it at that for now, but keep your eyes peeled for a Fulham preview upcoming later today, and before that there'll be blogs looking at the latest transfer news as well as the all new Swansea City podcast - TheJackCast. Exciting times!

Michu wants Aspas to come in, but should he be saying such things to the press?

Swansea forward has followed up on "I dream of a move to a big club" quotes by stating publicly he (and others) want Aspas to move to SA1 on a loan deal

Last week, we had to deal with various articles published in the mainstream media based around comments made by Michu regarding how he "dreams of a move to a big club". These comments were tempered (although how much depends on what newspaper you read it in) by his assertion that he is happy for now at Swansea, and that he's not thinking of a move elsewhere. Despite that though, there does seem to be a bit of a consensus view that something's not quite right. His body language has been strange for a while and his form hasn't been amazing - even before the injury which kept him out for a few weeks.

The latest quotes to come from the floppy haired Spaniard came as something of a surprise, given that there hadn't been any talk about Aspas in recent weeks. Normally there'd be some smoke before the fire raged into full view, but it's hard to view the below comments as anything other than a "Please come join us" plea:

"We [Swansea's Spanish players] are hoping he can come here on loan. It would be a pleasure to play with him. Iago has had injuries, but he has quality. He deserves to play in the Premier League. He has been unlucky. 

"At Liverpool, they have Luis Suarez and Sturridge, who have scored a lot of goals. Suarez is, along with Diego Costa and others, one of the best strikers in Europe." Michu  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25452182?

Do we need Aspas? If I was Bony, I'd find it hard to look at those comments and not take them as some kind of snub, and considering Michu's hardly been setting the world alight this season (and he often plays in a similar position to the one coveted by Aspas) it seems a bit strange to come out with comments of this nature.

Obviously Aspas can play out wide as well as through the middle, though how effective he is in an "inside forward" position I can't say, having not seen him play all the much. All I know is I've seen a video of him headbutting someone on the floor, and that he has (understandably) struggled to break into Liverpool's team due to the good form of Sturridge & Suarez. I'm not going to use that as a way of judging him, but I do wonder what kind of wages he'd be on - we could do with a number of additions to the squad now, but I think centre-forward isn't necessarily an area we need bulking out in. With Bony, Michu & Vazquez already rotating in one position, do we need anyone else?

I asked fans on Twitter what they made of the comments, and whether Aspas would be a good signing, and it brought a mixed reaction:

@TheSwanseaWay yes it doesn't say much about his confidence in Bony does it!!
— Martin Jones (@TycochJack) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay i agree with him as he can also play on the wing and he offers something different to Bony and Michu
— Michael Fletcher (@MiniFletch14) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay Aspas has got pace & could arguably play wide, especially as our wingers play fairly narrow anyway. Cover for Dyer?
— Rhys Padarn (@lordpad) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay Aspas is a mate of his, hardly surprising he'd want him here. Nothing wrong with more strike options imo!
— Phil Bettany (@philbettany) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWaywe only got one loan and we need a keeper , and he turned us down in the summer
— geraint batetr (@gizz1988) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay He's getting a bit noisy is Michu. Head turned?
— colin lewis (@ligarius) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay aspas is on different level to vasquez mate, simple as that!
— julianmallows (@Napperjack18) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay makes sense to me more options and creativity is a good thing, bring back Ki and send J De Guz the other way too! #Swans
— Ryan Sturdy (@sturdy_3004) December 19, 2013

@TheSwanseaWay Very different player. I'd like to see him here.
— Gareth Baglow (@GarethBaglow) December 19, 2013

What do you think of Michu's comments? Would you like to see Aspas brought in? Get involved in the comment section below!

Ki's goal against Chelsea shows Swansea what they're missing

Cultured Korean is fast becoming a fan favourite on Wearside, but will he fancy returning to SA1?

In one of my least favourite pieces of transfer wheeling and dealing over the last few years, we let Korean international midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng join Sunderland on a season long loan. As various statistic based articles I put together towards the end of last season will attest to, I'm a massive fan of Ki and firmly believe he should be retained for next season - regardless of how much Sunderland may want to retain him.

Since Poyet took over from the tyrannical Paolo Di Canio at Sunderland, he's been effusive in his praise for the on-loan Swansea player and I'm sure I saw one quite describe him as "the best player at the club". Despite operating in a defensive role since moving south from Celtic, he's been moved forward in the last few matches with almost immediate results. He has the technique, vision and composure to be a massive success at attacking midfield, and Sunderland look set to reap the rewards of having the confidence to play him in a more advanced role.

I was bleating for all of last season that he should be played ahead of two defensive midfielders, but I seemed to be on my own with that one. Hopefully though, now that he's got a chance to make a name for himself further forward that'll see him return to SA1 both confident in, and noted for his prowess in the final third. As this video attests to, he's got a cannon with both feet and given the chance he can score goals.

One thing I am growing concerned about is whether Ki will want to stick around in SA1 come summertime. Rumours of a falling out with Laudrup remain unconfirmed, however it seems he fell dramatically out of favour last season, and with one year left on his contract (by the time his loan deal ends, anyway) a bid from Sunderland will no doubt tempt the Swansea powers that be. Huw indicated Ki would still be a Swansea player next season when questioned at a fans' event a few months ago, and I'm clinging to that as I feel that, long term, the man signed from Celtic could replace Leon Britton. In the meantime though, I'm quite happy to see him swanning forward and scoring from all over the shop.

Another factor will be the growing affection flowing between player and fans in the North East. Last night he went a LONG way in securing his status as a "fans favourite" by scoring the winner against Chelsea in the League Cup quarter final, in the 118th minute no less (see the video below - great finish). This came after another ex-Swan - Fabio Borini - had levelled things up in the 88th minute after Lee Cattermole's OG had put Chelsea in front. 

Feats like these endear players to local fanbases, and if we're not careful Ki might decide he doesn't fancy sticking around in South Wales after all. If that does indeed end up being the case, we'll have lost a very, very good football player indeed. 

Hull's off-field troubles should remind Swansea fans how lucky we are

Hull City's owner Assem Allam wants to change the name from "City" to "Tigers", but it could have been so much worse for Swansea fans

Once upon a time, there was a big bad Australian Cockney with a ridiculous moustache, who wanted to rip the heart out of Swansea City AFC. His excuse at the time was fiscal austerity, but he hadn't planned on the vociferous response his actions received from the Swansea support.

The North Bank at the old Vetch Field became a unified protest group, aiming endless chants towards the directors box after Petty sacked seven players (asking a further eight to accept reduced contracts), and that was just the start. Marches and protests outside the ground let the new chairman know that we simply weren't going to accept that kind of thing from someone who was supposed to have the club's best interests at heart, and that he'd massively misjudged the situation if he thought the fanbase would just roll over and accept whatever decisions he deemed fit to make.

Thankfully, the rest is history. A consortium of Swansea fans, plus the newly formed Supporters Trust, wrestled control of the club and we haven't looked back since. There's been a litany of successes since - the appointments of Flynn, Jackett, Martinez, Sousa, Rodgers & Laudrup have all brought varying degrees of success (but success nonetheless), as well as the continued recruitment of a higher calibre of player. The Swans have coloured in the picture of a well-run Premiership club without, seemingly, going outside the lines once.

That's why it rankles so much to see owners at other clubs operating in a manner which seemingly disregards the wishes of the fans. I doubt Assem Allem cares what the sizeable proportion of Hull fans who disagree with the potential name change think, much like I doubt Vincent Tan cares what colour fans prefer their team to play in, but the line has to be drawn somewhere or football stands at risk of becoming like the NFL, where clubs - or "brands" as I should probably refer to them given the context - are exportable commodities, with no real thought given to the history or tradition surrounding them.

Thankfully (for the Swans at least) we can rest easy knowing that those in charge always have the best interests of the club at heart. Hull's recent travails serve to remind us that getting to the Premier League isn't the be all and end all, and that not everyone gets so lucky. Hopefully their fans can exert some influence over proceedings (though I won't say that about tonight's game itself) and, if the majority view is that the name should remain "Hull City", then that's how it should stay.

There's a campaign being run by Hull fans called "City Till We Die" (link), which protests against Assem Allem's plans to change their name to Hull Tigers. They also plan on singing "City Till We Die" 19mins 04secs into tonight's match (Hull City were formed in 1904), and they (and I) heartily encourage all Swansea fans to join in. Solidarity, brothers & sisters!

Who should start up front against Hull?

With options limited at centre-forward, who should lead the line on Monday night?

When Michu was first ruled out through injury, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't, for me, a bittersweet aspect to the injury as it gave Wilfried Bony a guaranteed starting berth - which I thought he'd use to kick on and endear himself to Swansea fans. 

Sadly for Bony, he himself picked up an injury against Valencia - although fears that he'd torn his hamstring proved unfounded. While it's only a minor strain, it's still ruled him out for a couple of weeks - which gave Alvaro a chance to cement a more regular starting berth. After enjoying a fairly anonymous time of it against Man City, the Spaniard seemed to have the bit between his teeth against Newcastle before he himself succumbed to injury - a groin strain which looks set to keep him on the sidelines for a few weeks at least. 

This leaves us with Rory Donnelly the only recognised striker anywhere near the first team - though it seems highly unlikely he'll be selected to play up front against Hull, given that Laudrup has (so far this season) preferred him to ply his trade for the development side. 

So, who will/should play up front against Hull? There are a few candidates - Jonjo Shelvey, Roland Lamah, Alex Pozuelo... all operated in a kind of "rotating false nine" system against Newcastle, and if we're being honest it worked quite well - Newcastle struggled to pick up our runners from midfield and with the variety of passing, plus the pace of players like Nathan Dyer and Pablo Hernandez, most teams would surely struggle to deal with this approach.

After Bony tweaked his hamstring I made a tongue-in-cheek comment about whether Jonjo could operate in the "false nine" position, and I'm rapidly warming to the idea. He's clearly got an eye for goal and is rapidly winning over any doubters, and if he keeps going the way he is there's no reason why he can't turn into a player like Lampard or Gerrard - an attack minded midfielder who you can bank on to collect around ten goals a term.

I made a comment at half time against Newcastle regarding Shelvey (and numerous other players I've seen down the years), based around how when he's got too much time generally he panics and the result isn't that great. When given the ball under pressure however, he normally produces results. Evidence of this can be found both in his goal at Fulham - where he had to jink his way through before digging out a finish - and his goal against Newcastle. Earlier, he'd gone clean through but didn't manage to produce a finish, whereas when he was given the ball in a position where the first time shot made sense he found the back of the net. 

I feel lots of players perform better when under pressure, and that sometimes given too much time to think they end up fluffing their lines, and Jonjo could be the perfect example of that. He's still so young that his composure and decision making should improve dramatically in the next few years, but in terms of raw talent no-one can deny he has all the attributes to make an attacking midfield position his own. It could simply be a case of forcing him to occupy more advanced positions, and the goals will start to flow.

So, Jonjo Shelvey at false nine? It's got my vote. Much like Michu (who prefers a deeper role), I feel he could excel if made to play in a more advanced position. If he does indeed line up in the most advanced of the Swans' midfield positions, Steve Bruce won't know what hit him. 

Man City vs Swansea - Match preview, team news, statistics & analysis

The Match

Manchester City are some away form away from waltzing the league. At home (where we've got to play them), they've won six of six this season, scoring twenty-six goals in the process and conceding only two - including 7-0 and 6-0 wins in their last two home league outings. Away from the Etihad, however, they've conspired to lose four of six, and draw another meaning they've only won once on the road. They'll surely be expecting to roll over the Swans, despite Pellegrini's comments in the press this week about their defence still needing work.

Swansea again suffered a loss in front of their own fans on Thursday night against Valencia, and they'll be up against it at the Etihad given City's home form. A couple of injuries picked up in the Europa League game won't have helped Laudrup's preparation, and without star forwards Michu and Bony it'll surely be up to Alvaro Vazquez to lead the line - it's a massive opportunity for him and if he can produce something special it could give him the confidence boost he needs to kick on and show what he can do on a regular basis.

Prior Form (Most recent at top)

Team News - provided by Physioroom.com's Ben Dinnery

Man City

The disappointing news for Swans supporters is that striker Sergio Aguero will be available after his planned withdrawal at half-time in the Champions League on Wednesday, manager Pellegrini confirmed post-match that his substitution was tactical & not because of any lingering injury problems. Jack Rodwell is back after more time in the treatment room but can only hope for a place on the bench while Nastasic (calf) has been ruled out for three weeks. Vincent Kompany returned to training & is fit, but the captain will not be risked. David Silva & Jovetic remain side-lined & hope to return for the UCL tie against Bayern Munich.

Swansea City

Swansea City have a mammoth task which after Thursday nights’ disappointing Europa League defeat to Valencia just got a little harder. Michael Laudrup will be without the services of Wilfried Bony (hamstring) who could be out for around a month, while this game will come too early for Michu. The Spanish star could be available for Newcastle United on Wednesday. Full-back Angel Rangel is expected to miss out with a recurrence of an ongoing calf problem but Wayne Routledge is close after recovering from a similar injury. Leon Britton (toe) should be available while captain Ashley Williams was rested midweek given his well-documented ankle troubles. Gary Monk (knee) the only long-term absentee. 

Completely guessed lineups

Statistics & Trivia

• Man City have won 14 and lost just one of their last 16 Barclays Premier League games at home (D1 L1).
• Swansea City have not won back to back Barclays Premier League matches since December 1st 2012.
• Swansea have scored just one goal in four Barclays Premier League games against Man City and none in their two meetings at the Etihad Stadium.
• All six of the goals in games between Man City and Swansea in the Premier League have been netted in the second half.
• Sergio Aguero has scored nine goals in his last seven Premier League appearances.
• Manchester City are the first side to score 26 goals in their opening six top-flight home games of a season since Sunderland (26) in 1935-36.
• Man City have conceded fewer goals in the first half of matches than any other team in the top flight this season (3).
• Man City have scored with 22% of their shots this season, the best conversion rate in the Premier League and also fired in the most shots on target (81). 
• Man City managed 15 shots on target in Swansea's first ever Premier League match in August 2011 which still remains the most shots on target the Swans have given up in a single game.
• City are the only team in any of the four English leagues to have a 100% home record.
• They have scored in 56 consecutive Premier League home games, 10 short of the record of 66 held by Manchester United.
• Among players with at least 40 Premier League goals, Sergio Aguero has the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the competition's history (119.5). 
• Swansea have won two, drawn two and lost two of their six league matches immediately following a midweek European match.

Straight from the horse's mouth

Neil Taylor acknowledges the scale of the task at hand, but insists the Swans are only concentrating on their own game:

"I think City away is the biggest challenge for anyone in this league with the way they play. They're expansive and they look like one of Pellegrini's teams so I think it's a difficult game for us.

"Spurs were under par against them last week, but with the players they've got like Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Negredo, they've got four or five front players who would get in any team in the Premier League.

"They're playing really well. Pellegrini's teams are all or nothing, and at the moment it's the former. They're getting goals and even if they concede a couple they're likely to outscore you, but we'll concentrate on ourselves."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9049842/?

Michael Laudrup has echoed Huw's recent comments about believing you can compete with the big sides:

"You can't play with fear in football. There is a lot of respect, you have respect for everybody, the ones on top and the bottom, but never fear. They are best home team in the league so we know it will be a tough afternoon, but we can only surprise there.

"Everybody expects City to win by some goals because they've done that against everybody, including Manchester United and Tottenham. I think we will go there to do the best we can to get something out of it, and whatever happens we will still present a competitive team."

http://uk.soccerway.com/news/2013/November/30/laudrup-positive-ahead-of-city-trip/?

Analysis

The more I think about this game, the more my head hurts. The wealth of talent available to Manuel Pellegrini makes it, on paper, a complete mismatch and a couple of comments I've seen in the week about how "we need to play to the best of our ability and hope City have an off day" are probably on the button.

Given some of the Swans recent performances, you could be forgiven for approaching this fixture with trepidation. I'm struggling to see how we can get anything out of this, but football is mad and you never know. Fingers crossed we'll defy the form book and pull off a famous victory.



I think "analysis" was a bit ambitious...

Swansea rumoured to be in for Tom Ince

If forum gossip is to believed, a deal which sees him join us in January may already have been agreed

Conflicting reports, people. If I'm honest, my head is telling me there's nothing in this but a few people seem to be of the belief that, contrary to reports in the Blackpool media, Tom Ince is willing to make the move to South Wales after all - a few months on from knocking back our beloved mates in blue and red up the road.

Whether or not you choose to believe this kind of thing depends on your glass-half-full attitude I'd imagine. It's all stemmed from forum chit-chat if truth be told, but that hardly disqualifies it from the realms of truth, as numerous stories have started out amongst fans before indeed being proven to be accurate. Personally, as much as I want this to be true I'm struggling to believe it.

The Swans have operated in a financially cautious way for so long now, that after our summer spending I simply cannot see us agreeing to pay £7million in January for anyone. When you couple that with the fact that Ince's contract is up this summer, it seems even more unlikely that Huw would stump up that kind of cash for a player who isn't yet proven at the top level. It's a lot of money to spend on a player who could, unless he sets the Premier League alight, end up being another squad rotation winger. 

Dyer cost £400k, Routledge £1.5million - ok, so Pablo cost £5million but if you look past his injury record the guy is a)class and b) has some serious pedigree. £7million for Ince shows the inflated nature of the British market perfectly, as well as highlighting how the current transfer window system can conspire to eke out a bit more cash from the buying club.

If it was a loan with a view to buy in the summer I'd understand it more, and who knows - it could well be. In the meantime, however, I'm off to look at his stats so far this season. Tom Ince - let's see your numbers...

Jon Walters wants Chico punished - that's quite rich for a Stoke player...

Quite how someone playing for the Potters feels he's in a position to call for reprimands is beyond me...

In the aftermath of fluking a point thanks to a horrific refereeing decision, Jonathan Walters decided to take to the press to say that he thought Chico should be punished by the FA for his playacting.

Now, I'm not defending Chico. His theatrics are embarrassing, and it's clear Swansea fans are growing tired of it as after he received a yellow card for throwing himself to the ground in the Stoke game the East Stand actually applauded. That's the first time I can remember Swansea fans applauding one of their own being punished, but to be honest it was deserved.

There is, however, an element of pot kettle black involved here. Walters spent quite a bit of time on the ground in the recent matchup if I remember correctly, as did a number of his teammates, and their goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was guilty of both consistent time-wasting as well as a couple of shoves which were only punished with a yellow card. When you couple that with the style of "football" Stoke have played over the last few years, and the injuries they've inflicted during the same period, it really is a bit cheeky.

I can honestly say that whenever we played Stoke under Pulis I grew worried for the safety of our players. It seemed officials had become used to their "committed tackles" and rough-house tactics, and that to me was inexcusable. A foul is a foul, regardless of the team it was committed by. Hopefully Mark Hughes can pull them away from that kind of thing, but with a squad full of players deeply saturated in the Pulis way, I doubt it. Nathan Dyer is someone I remember getting a particularly rough time of it, and he was regularly "tackled" with such a lack of consideration for his safety that I considered it a miracle if he got out of the game without suffering a serious injury.

It gets even more ludicrous when you consider the only reason they got anything out of the match was because of a ridiculous penalty decision. Stoke gained a point thanks to the officials, and should be counting their chickens - not lashing out at what they perceive (rightly or wrongly) to be cheating on Chico's behalf. Whether he was baited into talking about the incident I can't say, but in my opinion he should look closer to home before accusing an opponent of bending the rules. 

Jonathan Walters - sit down, and shut up.

The reason fans will take time to warm to Wilfried Bony

Most fans, myself included, simply don't know what to expect from a top-level striker over ninety minutes

So far this season, there has been a vocal minority (what other type of minority is there?) who have felt it prudent to lay into Wilfried Bony both during matches and at any other juncture they can get their point heard. What good people expect to achieve by screaming obscenities at him while he's trying to score goals for us I don't know, but it's still happening. Even after he scored twice against Stoke, some fans were still reportedly giving him grief, and that to me is simply mind-boggling.

I've been thinking for a while that maybe there's an underlying reason he's coming in for stick. The only other striker who has received this level of criticism from Swansea fans in recent times was Jason Scotland, and let's be honest, he did well for us. Frustrations about him "not running around enough" were in my eyes laughable, and similar accusations are now being levelled at Bony.

Here's my thinking. I'm 27, and spent my formative years watching the Swans battle it out at various levels of lower league football - however we spent most of the time playing poor football with little quality up front. Let's have a look at some of the strikers I grew up watching. Steve Torpey, Aiden Newhouse, Tony Bird, Walter Boyd, Tommy Mutton, John Williams, Steve Watkin, Mamady Sidibe, Kevin Nugent... the list goes on, but it goes on without really inspiring. Giovanni Savarese was a cut above the rest, and Lee Trundle was obviously...Lee Trundle, but if we're being honest apart from those two none of the strikers in the list above were particularly likely to wow fans with their goalscoring exploits, much less put on a masterful display of centre-forwardery. 

We can look back further. Since the Swans fall from grace in the early eighties, it's likely to have been much of the same. I can't speak from experience as I wasn't alive/in a position to witness many of these seasons, however it seems unlikely we had a top-level striker plying his trade in the number 9 or 10 shirt. This all leads me to the conclusion that for a good twenty years (or thereabouts), fans will have been used to watching their strikers spend more time chasing lost causes into the corner than pulling a rabbit out of a hat and stuffing one in from 30 yards.

This is exemplified by the criticisms of Bony and Scotland before him. "Run around more", "get into him", "move about some more" - these are all things I regularly hear shouted from the stands but I disagree completely. I've stated my tactical reasoning before - we have one striker and if he did spend 90 minutes chasing shadows we wouldn't have a focal point to build off when we do regain possession. I'm pretty sure we didn't spend £12million on a striker only for him to "run around a lot".

My point is though that, myself included, it's unlikely many Swansea fans know what a top level striker looks like in the flesh for ninety minutes. Do they charge around like a bull in a china shop for the entirety of every match? No doubt some do, but I'd wager more operate like Bony - cerebral, and capable of doing nothing for large swathes of the game before popping up with some important goals.

I don't know what Robin Van Persie does for ninety minutes. I never saw Ruud Van Nistelrooy in the flesh. I've no idea what fat Ronaldo used to for most of the match, but I'd wager all had a habit of simply biding their time before their opportunity arose. By playing in this manner, it also allows them to retain extra energy to deploy as and when needed. No point shooting your load too early. Ahem. 

Let's have a look at Bony's stats. He's started thirteen games and come off the bench five times, and he now has ten goals. Not bad eh? When you take into consideration that, in the Premier League, he's now got a goal every 133 minutes (8th best of any player) it appears criticism has been unfounded. He's clearly still gaining a degree of match fitness, and is still adjusting to his new team, but his performances so far give reason for us to believe we could have signed an absolute gem. Don't forget he missed most of our pre-season too - AND had to adjust from what is a bit of a joke league to arguably the best league in the world. For him to have racked up this many goals (albeit, four of his ten have come in the Europa League) deserves credit in my opinion - not abuse from the stands.

Much like Wilfried Bony is adapting to a new style of playing, we as fans are still adapting to top level football. It's not our fault if we're not used to seeing an actual quality centre-forward - but the least we can do is give him the time he needs to succeed.

(Highlights) Swansea 3 - 3 Stoke, plus what the players are saying about THAT penalty...

Selected quotes from the media regarding Robert Madley's mystifying and stupefying decision to award Stoke a penalty

I know I say that I don't like talking about this stuff a lot, and that's true, but if everyone else is...

Angel Rangel

“I am obviously disappointed by that decision but we can't talk much about the referees. We are always the ones who get fined but hopefully in this case it won't be the players who get punished but it will be the referee as we have done nothing wrong. When referees make mistakes they should be the ones to get punished.  

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_0_22744_-.html#.UoD3_vmpWQw

Michael Laudrup

“In every game there are talking points over decisions, but when I saw it again, or even out there, there are seven Stoke players in the box and none were asking for a penalty, apart from Peter Crouch who was appealing for a corner, so there was only one man in the stadium who thought it was a penalty, and unfortunately that was the referee."  

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_0_22744_-.html#.UoD3_vmpWQw

Ashley Williams

"It seemed like none of their players asked for a penalty, maybe one of them was appealing for a corner. It was a shock to everyone and I didn't see a handball from Wayne or Leon (Britton). I think both sides were surprised by the decision."  

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/swansea-city/news/williams-shocked-by-stoke-penalty_117249.html

Leon Britton

“I thought maybe he’d given the penalty against me on the line, even though I cleared it with my belly, then I saw the reaction of their players and I thought he had given a goal kick. Then I saw he had pointed to the spot even though not one player had appealed for a penalty. I haven’t seen the replay, but I honestly can’t see where it has come from to be honest. It is very frustrating, especially when a draw feels like a defeat even though we were 2-0 down.” 

 http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/lb-post-stoke-1166885.aspx?#m7P8BGBtVXfYFuRZ.99

To be honest, I could have gone on and on. There's little point though, other than to once again flag up that certain clubs just don't seem to get decisions going in their favour. I don't think you can use Swansea v Stoke as an example of big-club bias, however elsewhere there have been numerous recent incidents which seem to indicate that there is still a case to be made for this.

Hopefully we won't be talking about disputed penalties again for a long time.

Skysports' schoolboy error ahead of South Wales Derby

Image purporting to show Swansea from above actually showed... Newport!

As anyone familiar with Skysports will attest to, they love a bit of glamour and glitz. The Murdoch empire has been built on sensationalising anything it's possible to sensationalise, and we've become used to aerial shots of stadiums and prolonged Rocky-esque montages in the build up to showpiece fixtures.

It's a bit of a surprise then, to see that this picture (below) was used in the build up to Sunday's game between Cardiff and Swansea:

Sky Sports' build-up to Cardiff City vs Swansea City was shocking. They seem to think Swansea City play in NEWPORT! pic.twitter.com/gHVeabgaoG
— Nawty (@NawtyTeam) November 4, 2013

Quite how that one managed to get past the powers that be at Sky I don't know. I mean, most UK residents who actually bother learning about their own country will be able to tell you Swansea has a massive sandy beach - something which is obvious in it's absence in the above photo. As mentioned, the picture in fact shows Newport, which really is quite hard to mistake for Swansea. It's not even the right bloody side of Cardiff!

Skysports? Must do better.

Huw Jenkins "League within a league talk not good enough"

Swansea chairman keen for Swans to show more ambition than has been evident in recent times

Some very interesting comments from Swans' supremo Huw Jenkins have emerged which don't seem to sit well with certain things Michael Laudrup has repeatedly stated during his tenure in SA1.

'We have to make sure whoever comes in to manage, coach and play for us in the future, they can't be talking about different levels of leagues within a league - to me, that is complete failure. 

'When I hear some of our players and staff talking [about aiming for fourty points] now it really upsets me that they can actually think like that, because you are more or less conceding a third of the games you play in before you start, and that's the biggest challenge I've got, to make sure that turns around and that everybody working with the club believes if we keep doing things differently, we can compete, irrespective of the size of the club or budgets.'

http://www.swansea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=337941#ixzz2jrGaQ1Ih

Over the last few years we've become used to talk of how there's a "league within a league" in the Premiership, and as recently as the buildup to the Southampton game Laudrup seemed keen to enforce the idea that, aside from the sides traditionally expected to finish in the top six or seven in the league, the rest of the Premiership are doing battle for the remaining thirteen places:

'I like the team [Saints] they have. They are a team who can be in the top ten. Those spots - eight, nine and ten — are the maximum we can go for. 

'There are the big sides, the Manchester clubs, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton. That's seven. In my opinion, the rest of us play for eighth position and down.' 

http://www.swansea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=337941#ixzz2jrHKt500

Up until recently it appeared that the club had no problem with this kind of talk, but it appears Huw has become frustrated and given our performances going back, well, a while, I can't really blame him. We've shown we can beat anyone on our day and surely that goes against the "league within a league" theory?

Southampton are a good example of how unbridled ambition can result in unheralded results. Their fixture list has been kind so far, but in the three "big games" they've had so far, they've managed a draw at United, a win at Liverpool while Spurs sneaked a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane. Given all three games were played away from St Mary's, that shows the level of confidence that's coursing through the players on the South coast, and there's no reason the Swans can't be playing with the same level of verve and gusto.

Personally, I do agree that there are certain teams who, on paper, we can't afford to compete with but the more I look at comments of that ilk the more I think they must be in some way undermining to the team's confidence. Sure, we can't expect to finish above certain teams, but we've got some very talented footballers in the squad and, as Huw has said, we can't afford to be writing off a proportion of our games before a ball is kicked.

It seems Huw and Laudrup could be set for a chat regarding the manager's comments to the media, if it hasn't happened already. With a struggling Stoke side up next in the league (Sunday - KO: 16:10PM, Liberty Stadium) we should hopefully get back to winning ways, and that should draw some attention away from comments of this nature. After all, no-one questions you when you're winning right?

It will be very interesting to see if the Dane comes out with the "league within a league" stuff again, though...

Improvement needed, but lay off the histrionics

Swansea need to improve, but we're still better than a good few teams in the Premiership

Over the last few weeks I've commented on an increasingly frustrating level of performance from the Swans. We know that the players who now pull on the coveted white shirt are capable of putting on spectacular displays of football, however so far this season we've flattered to deceive and I feel the 4-0 victory over Sunderland helped mask the underlying issue. 

We're simply not operating anywhere near the limits of our abilities. To me, we've been playing at around 60%, and of late it's almost started to resemble the football we were playing under Paolo Sousa, such is the lack of invention in the final third of the field. With the players we have at our disposal it's clearly not a case of lacking quality, and I believe it's entirely down to team selection.

This summer we signed Wilfried Bony for £12million. We also retained Michu, who'd been heavily linked with a move away from the Swans, and given his performances last season it would take a brave, brave man to bench him in favour of anyone - no matter if they were signed for a club record fee which doubled the previous figure. So it's been that Michu is, in my eyes, still regarded as the focal point of our attack, and I feel that's largely the reason we've been misfiring so far this season. I've likened trying to fit Bony & Michu into the team at the same time to trying to fit two round pegs into one square hole. Frustrating.

Towards the tail end of last season - in fact, since we won the Capital One Cup, we haven't played anywhere near as well as we did in the first half of last season. Thankfully, we'd managed to rack up a healthy points total which saw us retain a top-half finish, and despite some committed performances which gained decent results early on this season we still haven't reached the heights I, and most fans, feel we're capable of.

The main issue I see is we're drifting away from the team-focused football which has stood us in such good stead for such a long time now. I'm a massive fan of Laudrup and not for a minute do I want to see anyone else in charge in SA1, however I'm starting to feel his tactics seem more suited to Manchester United than Swansea City. It seems he expects his players to be able to replicate the individual feats of brilliance he himself was (and still is) capable of, which is all well and good. It's important though that these flicks, tricks and more come on top of our structured passing game - not instead of it.

Ok, we still retain possession at will. There's no doubting that, and we're adept at swinging the ball from left to right to evade opposition clutches, however the intricate passing which previously saw us undoing opposition defences simply isn't there, and I can't remember any of our midfielders presenting Wilfried Bony OR Michu with a clear-cut chance which it would then be up to them to mess up. Strikers at other clubs with far inferior players are given much better service, and it's something we need to improve on. 

With Michu at attacking midfield, the issue is exacerbated. The Swansea way is based on having three midfielders who can pass their way through any opposition midfield and while the players we're selecting in the three central positions are no doubt capable of that style of play Michu's natural game is to wander all over the park, which then leaves the other two midfielders short of an option to relieve pressure with a forward pass. Instead, we go backwards and sideways every time, and we're not able to build play in close enough proximity to our centre-forward to be able to provide him with any kind of meaningful service.

With Michu having picked up an injury against Cardiff, it seems we may finally see three "specialised" central midfielders playing behind a traditional centre-forward. I've argued for a long time that doing just that will bring a balance to the team which allows every player to play his natural game, and see a swift return to attractive, penetrative football - if not winning ways. Who knows, maybe we'll even see Leon & Jose Canas line up alongside each other.

For me, the problem is deeper-rooted than results. We need to start playing the Swansea way again, because as soon as we do, we'll start taking teams apart. If we were managing to outplay "Champions League level" midfields with Mark Gower, Leon Britton & Joey Allen in the middle, we should damn sure be able to do it with Leon, Jose Canas & Jonathan De Guzman in their place, and you can interchange Jonjo Shelvey & Alex Pozuelo with any of those three in my opinion. We have the players we need to succeed, it's just a case of figuring out which eleven players in which system is best suited to getting us results.

With Bony sure to get a few games up front without Michu behind him, this could be where Swansea's season turns around. Let's get back to what we know boys - pass, pass, and pass some more, and the rest will come. With Stoke visiting the Liberty in our next league fixture (after a cheeky Thursday-night jaunt to Russia for the Europa League), it's the perfect opportunity to put this theory to the test.

Come on boys, you're better than you've shown of late. Show everyone what you can do.

Derby day is upon us...

South Wales experiencing a Christmas-like fervour ahead of first top-flight derby

How did your derby day start? For me, there were literally seconds between my head leaving the pillow and a smile breaking out on my face. For anyone with a love of either club involved in today's historic match, today is simply massive. 

For the clubs too, the game is more than just a derby. Even though the season is only around a quarter of the way through, there's an argument that this is quite a big game in terms of league position. A win for the Swans tomorrow would see them five points clear of their rivals, who would remain only a point (and a place) clear of the relegation zone. Losing at home to your rivals would undoubtedly bring about a reaction from the squad - whether that would rally Cardiff or see their form slump further you can't say, however.

Conversely, a win for Cardiff would see them leapfrog the Swans and jump to 12th in the table. It shows how tight the league is at the moment, but I feel that in terms of the boost it would give to the teams involved, Cardiff would draw more satisfaction from sitting above the Swans than vice-versa. No doubt it would grate the Swans sitting below their rivals, but I think after two seasons in the Premiership they carry a bit more self-belief than those up the road.

Whatever happens today, I've no doubt I'm going to spend the entire match screaming at whatever TV I find myself in front of. I'm very envious of anyone who managed to nab themselves a ticket, and I'm sure the atmosphere will be something rarely (if ever?) seen in the Premier League. A proper derby with proper fans on television worldwide. Quality. 

As I was on about the other day, it's vitally important we behave ourselves. Back in the day we were just inch-fillers in national papers, but serious crowd violence today could have massive ramifications for both teams. It's still a bubble-trip, so any further restrictions would surely involve the banning of away fans. That's something no-one wants, and personally the idea of the whole world watching as we smash ten bells out of each other isn't something that fills me with pride. If you see someone doing something daft, don't encourage it. The more level heads, the better.

That's enough sense though. Today is the day. Derby day. One for the history books. For ninety minutes, I'm liable to be a seething, impassioned mess with absolutely no powers of rational thought, and only three points on my mind. 

Man I love football...

South Wales derby infographic - stats, history & more

Some interesting stat-type gubbins ahead of the weekend's much-awaited South Wales Derby

It's not very often I get the chance to put an interesting blog up without having to do any research, but today that's exactly what happened! 

I do wonder about the "league positions" stat given we've been in a higher league for the last two seasons, however other than that it's pretty handy information!

The infographic did made me think one other thing, however. Well, a few if we're being honest, but the only one worth mentioning is just who is Bradley Reynolds, and why am I only now becoming aware of him putting eight goals past our nearest and dearest? Good lord.

Hopefully someone can come close to repeating the trick this Sunday...

Mike Dean a completely ridiculous appointment for South Wales derby

Referee bowed to crowd pressure in the last fixture to be contested between Cardiff & Swansea, and shouldn't have been appointed

I'm sorry, I disagree with Mike Dean being appointed for this match as strongly as it's possible to disagree with a refereeing appointment. Why? Well, it's been much publicised that he completely bottled it the last time he took charge of this fixture, and given the ferocity of the rivalry it should never, ever have been possible that the refereeing appointment adds further fuel to an already raging fire.

Thanks to the power of the internet, if you want to know what I'm on about I managed to find some highlights of the game in question on Youtube. 

I was in attendance for this match, and I was actually front row in the away section. When Joe Allen scored what we thought would be the winner, he ran straight towards where we were standing and that rates as one of the great euphoric moments of my life so far. It will always, always disappoint me that Allen's strike didn't go down as the winner in the last ever derby at Ninian, more for Joey than for any significance I'd attach to such a feat. 

Anyway, that was in the 86th minute, and it seemed we were set to cruise to a 2-1 win. So, a bit of pretext before the point of the article. In the 42nd minute, referee Mike Dean was hit on the head by a coin, and had to receive treatment to a cut to his head. Whether it affected his performance you can't honestly say, however it seems massively coincidental that with only injury time remaining he gave Cardiff what can only be described as a ridiculously soft penalty. McCormack converted, and the game finished 2-2.

Now, whether the two incidents are connected only Mike Dean would be able to say, and no doubt he'd refute any allegations of pandering to a baying home crowd vociferously, but the perception (of Swansea fans at least) is that in response to a relentlessly intimidating Ninian Park atmosphere, he bottled it and gave Cardiff a penalty. 

The refereeing appointment in games of this nature should be carefully looked at, and only a fine, neutral official appointed. Cardiff fans could also argue that, given he was hit on the head by a coin thrown from their section of the stadium, he's possibly not a fan of them - but given the penalty he gifted them I doubt there's anything in that.

Hopefully this won't be an issue on matchday and he keeps a close reign on things at the Cardiff City Stadium. Fans won't need any encouragement to turn it into a boiling cauldron of noise, sweat and tears, and the man in charge needs to be up to the task. Over to you, Mr Dean. 

(PS. If you watch Joey celebrating, I'm wearing a cream hoodie with orange and brown gubbins on it. Happy hunting!)