An interesting article on Swansea City...and money!

[Stat Brother]

Granted it's from The Daily Mail, and not exactly weighed down with quotation marks.
But nevertheless it does raise the question:-

'How do you become a middling Premier League team while keeping the principles that got you there'?

There has been a growing feeling that as the club has grown and so have the salaries - from a top end of £25,000 a week four years ago to about £70,000 now - some of the personalities have lacked the hunger to punch upwards or any sense attachment to the club and its community. Nothing new in that, except Swansea, with its partial fan ownership, have always seen those as desirable in signings.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...nsea-joined-rest-cost-loyal-club-man-job.html

 

[knocky1]

Gylfi Sigurdsson the Icelandic midfielder said 3 weeks ago that Monk, his use of surname, never congratulated him or the Welsh internationals after Euro qualification. Went public. Suggests he lost the dressing room and that puts you on a downward path.

Put your money on Iceland to at least come through their group after the draw tomorrow due to Gylfi, I must add.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Gylfi Sigurdsson the Icelandic midfielder said 3 weeks ago that Monk, his use of surname, never congratulated him or the Welsh internationals after Euro qualification. Went public. Suggests he lost the dressing room and that puts you on a downward path

While there may be truth in that, Swansea have been playing really poorly in recent weeks, and it's hardly unusual for a player to criticise the manager when things are going badly, as it deflects the blame from his own performance on the pitch. If Swansea were winning, would he care about whether Monk bouught him a beer to celebrate Iceland's qualification?

 

[knocky1]

While there may be truth in that, Swansea have been playing really poorly in recent weeks, and it's hardly unusual for a player to criticise the manager when things are going badly, as it deflects the blame from his own performance on the pitch. If Swansea were winning, would he care about whether Monk bouught him a beer to celebrate Iceland's qualification?

I'm not sure that Icelanders have that mind set at the moment. What they have achieved is monumental. A beer is not enough.
I trust the Icelanders as I did their banks.............

 

[The Rattler]

Indeed a good article and gives an inevitable glimpse into our future. Great as it is to be as good as we are at the moment, we are in some ways in a no-win situation.

Get promoted this season (it really could happen [despite my confident prediction before a ball was kicked that we were guarenteed to finish bottom]) and we will end up having to throw silly money at bang-average players - new signings that is - and then just waiting for the inevitable "slump" resulting in a daft sacking of the Manager etc. etc.

Or alternatively, we slip up this year (could also happen people, lots of strong teams this year) and off trot the best of our squad (Stockdale, Stephens, Kayal, March), probably to Cr***a* P*****.

So frankly, whatever happens, we will at some point soon be back to normal - i.e. fed up.

Mind you, I'm blooming loving this season!!!