Few will forget the first ten games of last season when Swansea generally played the type of football not seen at the Vetch for many a year and talk was early (and as it proved cheap) of promotion, record points, goals and the title of the league's entertainers. The injuries kicked in, the form dipped and the results, football and entertainment became distant memories as the Swans stumbled down to mid table and few can argue that had the season been a month or so longer, mid table would have been a good finish.
We don't know what the season ahead of us will hold. We hope promotion, the chairman hopes promotion and the manager hopes the same. The problems have started early with the list of fit players already seemingly shorter than that of the injured players and speculation as to who will take the field on Saturday against title favourites Northampton Town. Lee Trundle has been confirmed as out for at least the first two weeks of the season, possibly longer as Richie Evans promises not to bring him back too early - a criticism certainly aimed at the staff last season as we went from problem to problem.
We have an unanswered question as to which version of our captain will we see come Saturday. Will it be the March 2003 version or the March 2004 version - we have to hope the former. We wonder if Andy Robinson can sustain the fotm that saw him sweep all before him to the player of the year awards last season. Will Willie or Brian Murphy be good enough to live up to the legend that was Roger Freestone and was Mickey Howard really as bad as so many believed? These are all questions that will be answered over the coming weeks and months and we hope all answered in the positive - i.e. we are better off now than we have been before.
There is optimism in the fans with the majority believing that a play off position is the worst that we will achieve this coming season and 1 in 20 believes that we will have a championship trophy come next May although I believe that is probably beyond us. But I would have said the same in 1999/2000 as well. You just never know.
One thing we do know is that the next nine months will play with our emotions and there will be the highs and lows that we experience every single season. And add to that the tinge of sadness as we say goodbye to the Vetch Field and this promises to be one of the most emotional seasons the Vetch has ever seen. And let's not forget the possibility of experiencing another cup run like we did last season - the mind boggles at the possibilities.
I could write this same article at the beginning of August every year and let's remember folks, we do it because we love it and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Let the fun begin - football is back!
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