The Laughing Bluebird
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From today's Wales on Sunday:
KNIGHT BURNS BRIGHT
Andy Rose, Wales on Sunday, May 21 2006
Leon Knight has more reason than most to do everything he can to get Swansea City out of League One. Besides the prestige, the glory and the cash bonus on offer for propelling the club to the once-inconceivable heights of football's second tier, Knight knows he'll avoid a thoroughly unwelcome trip to one of his old haunts should the Swans go up.
To say Knight is persona non grata at his old club Brighton is to put it mildly. He left midway through the season for the Swans in a £125,000 deal, after a bust-up with Albion boss Mark McGhee.
The former Chelsea trainee then made himself even more unpopular on the South Coast by admitting he was delighted when Brighton were relegated back to League One last month. So it is hardly surprising that Knight doesn't intend to hang around in the same division as his former club next season.
"Hell no, I don't want to go back to that shoebox," said Knight on the prospect of returning to the Withdean Stadium should they miss out on promotion.
"I heard their captain Charlie Oatway saying it was bad that I was happy when they got relegated but when I left there I didn't hear anything from them saying good luck. In all honesty I think they will stone me if I went back to Brighton but if the fans had seen what I'd seen they would know why I left. Anyway hopefully we won't have to go there next season."
Brighton's loss is certainly Swansea's gain, even if Lee Trundle is the man to suffer among the substitutes while Knight is in such red hot form. Knight knows what it means to score a winning goal in a play-off final. During happier times at the South Coast club, the diminutive striker struck the play-off penalty which took Albion up to the Championship two years ago.
But he revealed despite the acclaim he received for securing Brighton's elevation, that moment at the Millennium doesn't shape up to recent times with the Swans. That's because, according to Knight, his most memorable episodes have all been conjured up while wearing a Swansea City shirt.
A hat-trick on his debut in January, another on the final day of the season to seal a place in the play-offs, two in the semi-final against Brentford and another back in March to send the Swans to Cardiff in the Football League Trophy, have instantly endeared the pint-sized poacher to Swansea fans.
"I felt numb when I scored that goal for Brighton," he said.
"I was overcome by the noise at the time and the realisation of what I had done didn't really kick in until a few days after. That moment would get into my top five....probably, but only just. Bearing in mind what happened between me and the club since then it can't be at the top.
"I don't think that is the biggest one yet, I couldn't say that, I've scored quite a few important ones for Swansea since I've been here. My most special moments have come here in the past few months. My hat-trick on my debut, the hat-trick at Chesterfield, the goal against Colchester to put us in the LDV final and the goals in the play-off semi-final are all up there as my best moments."
The 23-year-old Londoner is adamant though that no team can afford to become over reliant on one man. "I think we already have Championship players here even though not many of the squad have actually played there," he said.
"I have and there are a lot of players in this side who can hold their own at that level. In the Championship you cannot count on one man to carry the side. You need other players around them. I've been in the Championship with QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and then Brighton but I have never been in a team as good as Swansea."
Barnsley are the obstacle in front of Swansea and the dream of back-to-back promotions. But despite the prospect of a packed stadium Knight says he will treat the game as just a walk in the park.
"You have to be able to hold your nerve in a play-off final and not let the occasion get to you," he said. "It's about being mentally strong but I will play as if I am with my mates down the park. It is no disrespect to the opposition or the occasion but that is how I handle it.
"I'll just try things and hopefully they'll come off. They usually do."
KNIGHT BURNS BRIGHT
Andy Rose, Wales on Sunday, May 21 2006
Leon Knight has more reason than most to do everything he can to get Swansea City out of League One. Besides the prestige, the glory and the cash bonus on offer for propelling the club to the once-inconceivable heights of football's second tier, Knight knows he'll avoid a thoroughly unwelcome trip to one of his old haunts should the Swans go up.
To say Knight is persona non grata at his old club Brighton is to put it mildly. He left midway through the season for the Swans in a £125,000 deal, after a bust-up with Albion boss Mark McGhee.
The former Chelsea trainee then made himself even more unpopular on the South Coast by admitting he was delighted when Brighton were relegated back to League One last month. So it is hardly surprising that Knight doesn't intend to hang around in the same division as his former club next season.
"Hell no, I don't want to go back to that shoebox," said Knight on the prospect of returning to the Withdean Stadium should they miss out on promotion.
"I heard their captain Charlie Oatway saying it was bad that I was happy when they got relegated but when I left there I didn't hear anything from them saying good luck. In all honesty I think they will stone me if I went back to Brighton but if the fans had seen what I'd seen they would know why I left. Anyway hopefully we won't have to go there next season."
Brighton's loss is certainly Swansea's gain, even if Lee Trundle is the man to suffer among the substitutes while Knight is in such red hot form. Knight knows what it means to score a winning goal in a play-off final. During happier times at the South Coast club, the diminutive striker struck the play-off penalty which took Albion up to the Championship two years ago.
But he revealed despite the acclaim he received for securing Brighton's elevation, that moment at the Millennium doesn't shape up to recent times with the Swans. That's because, according to Knight, his most memorable episodes have all been conjured up while wearing a Swansea City shirt.
A hat-trick on his debut in January, another on the final day of the season to seal a place in the play-offs, two in the semi-final against Brentford and another back in March to send the Swans to Cardiff in the Football League Trophy, have instantly endeared the pint-sized poacher to Swansea fans.
"I felt numb when I scored that goal for Brighton," he said.
"I was overcome by the noise at the time and the realisation of what I had done didn't really kick in until a few days after. That moment would get into my top five....probably, but only just. Bearing in mind what happened between me and the club since then it can't be at the top.
"I don't think that is the biggest one yet, I couldn't say that, I've scored quite a few important ones for Swansea since I've been here. My most special moments have come here in the past few months. My hat-trick on my debut, the hat-trick at Chesterfield, the goal against Colchester to put us in the LDV final and the goals in the play-off semi-final are all up there as my best moments."
The 23-year-old Londoner is adamant though that no team can afford to become over reliant on one man. "I think we already have Championship players here even though not many of the squad have actually played there," he said.
"I have and there are a lot of players in this side who can hold their own at that level. In the Championship you cannot count on one man to carry the side. You need other players around them. I've been in the Championship with QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and then Brighton but I have never been in a team as good as Swansea."
Barnsley are the obstacle in front of Swansea and the dream of back-to-back promotions. But despite the prospect of a packed stadium Knight says he will treat the game as just a walk in the park.
"You have to be able to hold your nerve in a play-off final and not let the occasion get to you," he said. "It's about being mentally strong but I will play as if I am with my mates down the park. It is no disrespect to the opposition or the occasion but that is how I handle it.
"I'll just try things and hopefully they'll come off. They usually do."
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