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Reply | Captain choice from the stands?
at 15:32 3 Dec 2025
It’s got to be someone who is virtually guaranteed to play when available.
In my opinion (and I guess most others) Galbraith, Franco and Stamenic are our best three midfielders. This doesn’t necessarily make them the best midfield trio though, there may not be enough creativity or attacking intent.
Galbraith is probably the only guaranteed starter in midfield, though that may change when Matos has time to assess everyone properly.
Where I do agree with you, is Matos is in a position to make a change if he sees fit. I do think it may be demotivating, but it’s a lot easier to swallow from a new manager with fresh ideas. |
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Reply | January Transfer Rumours
at 14:32 3 Dec 2025
The difference between Yalcouye and those three is he can win possession in the opponents half and go at them quickly while their defence isn’t set.
He’s not that great on the ball, but he’s fantastic at disrupting and winning it. He has his faults, but he’s much less reliant on being played in than our wingers. |
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Reply | January Transfer Rumours
at 10:58 3 Dec 2025
Despite me often criticising Whittaker and Obafemi, the ex player I dislike the most is Conor Hourihane, because he had a lot of ability, but played like he couldn’t care less.
I may be wrong, but Benson gives me similar vibes. |
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Reply | January Transfer Rumours
at 10:44 3 Dec 2025
We’re desperately lacking spark and intensity.
I’m not sure I’d be starting him, but I’d certainly be using him a lot from the bench. When most opponents bring subs on, they impact the game. Ours don’t usually make much difference. He’s the type that would. |
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Reply | January Transfer Rumours
at 10:23 3 Dec 2025
He’s got very little positional discipline and he plays with his head down, which means he often isn’t aware of where teammates and opponents are. Consequently, he loses the ball cheaply, sometimes deep in our half.
But he’s also got incredible desire and intensity. He’s quick, he’s aggressive and conversely to the point above, he’s very likely to win the ball in dangerous areas. He wins 30/70s, let alone 50/50s.
He’s literally just raw, but he has huge potential. Matos’ ideology will be perfect for him as long as he has the discipline to ‘hunt with the pack’. |
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Reply | January Transfer Rumours
at 09:59 3 Dec 2025
There’s a lot of upside and a lot of downside to his game. He could just as easily be a game changer or a liability.
I can understand not starting him, but he should at the very least be coming on in games when he’s fit, especially with the lacklustre way we’ve been playing lately.
If Matos is going to implement a high energy, aggressive press, he’l be perfect for it, as long as he manages to do it in synch with his teammates. |
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Reply | West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City ; Match day thread (Updated Thurs)
at 15:33 30 Nov 2025
It’s the sort of thing that comes over time. We were very slow paced under Sheehan. To be honest, we have been under all of the last four managers.
We did play well for maybe 25 minutes, but after that we were abysmal. As soon as one players intensity drops, gaps appear, we become easier to play through and the system falls apart.
You’re right about the subs. They rarely change games for us. |
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Reply | Captain choice from the stands?
at 14:51 30 Nov 2025
I’m not saying he’s a great captain, we just didn’t have a lot of choice when he was appointed.
I agree with the post above saying undermining him now may do more harm than good. If we had a Roy Keane type who was going to grab Ganes by the scruff of the neck, I may agree, but we don’t. |
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Reply | West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City ; Match day thread (Updated Thurs)
at 14:47 30 Nov 2025
That’s kind of what I expected. He doesn’t come across as a ranter, but that’s just based on the Derby game when he’d just been appointed and his interviews.
I appreciate there’s a time to sit off and hang on to a lead, but I can’t believe the change in intensity after half an hour was his instruction.
Are they just not yet conditioned enough to play like that for very long? |
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Reply | Captain choice from the stands?
at 14:28 30 Nov 2025
Not necessarily. Ashley Williams and Garry Monk were two of our best captains over the last twenty years or so.
The issue with Cabango having it was there wasn’t really any other option when Grimes left. It had to be someone who was going to play every week. I think Darling would have had it if he’d signed a new contract. |
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Reply | Our Defence
at 14:22 30 Nov 2025
I have no doubt the way we played in our promotion season would work today. The issue is we haven’t got close to it, bar a couple of spells under Potter, for over a decade.
Possession isn’t a problem. Passing isn’t a problem. Doing it without penetration, whilst also leaving ourselves exposed to quick, direct counterattacks is a massive problem.
For that system to work, the whole team needs to be in synch and there needs to be a lot of clever off the ball runs to give the man in possession multiple passing options and drag opponents out of position.
Gradually inching our way up the pitch to the point where our back four are on halfway, but the opposition have ten men behind the ball and are ready to pounce is nothing like it, apart from we have a lot of the ball. |
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Reply | West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City ; Match day thread (Updated Thurs)
at 14:08 30 Nov 2025
Agree with this completely. From 2-0 we weren’t pressuring them into mistakes and we weren’t showing for the ball which often led to two or three passes then our fullbacks getting swarmed on and resorting to aimless balls down the line. Made it easy for a poor team who would also have been short of confidence.
Question for people who were there - How was Matos on the touchline after we went into our shell halfway through the first half? I’d like to think he was going mental, as it was obvious even on a stream that we abandoned our game plan. He doesn’t seem the screaming and shouting type though. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 13:00 26 Nov 2025
Yalcouye almost needs to be given a free role. He can nick possession anywhere and burst past defenders. He’s not going to cover teammates though and we need to be prepared for him losing possession anywhere.
Innousa would be perfect with someone like Naughton behind him. Less defensive responsibility and more freedom to go run at people. He’s not going to get that from Tymon.
Widdell, is the one who I think is unluckiest to have had the limited opportunity he’s had so far. There’s room for a player like that if he’s got Galbraith and Franco/Stamenic behind him. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 12:53 26 Nov 2025
Because I’ve seen them all play and they are all positionally very suspect. If I could only see what players do, in possession, going forward, then yes I’d want them all to start too.
I can almost guarantee that if we started the three of them, we’d get rinsed on the break and people would blame our fullbacks.
As for your second line, you couldn’t have read my whole post. Of course we need players like that, they are the players who make things happen. There has to be a sensible balance between the ultra negative set up we had last night and a 10 year old playing championship manager picking his favourite players.
All of those players have a strong case to be starting games IMO. Just not at the same time. |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 09:12 26 Nov 2025
A team with Widdell, Innousa and Yalcouye will get picked apart, they are all rash on the ball and positionally undisciplined.
At the same time, they all make things happen and we had next to none of that last night.
Joe and Leon went too conservative IMO. There has to be a reasonable balance between selecting all of those three and none of them. We need at least one game changer on the pitch at all times.
Yes, Vipotnik is with his shooting, but I mean someone to drive at defenders and cause them to lose shape |
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Reply | Swansea City v Derby County : Match day thread
at 06:37 26 Nov 2025
They just tried to stem the tide after two heavy defeats. Confidence is obviously on the floor.
We were the better team, albeit without creating a lot, until they scored. Then our heads noticeably dropped and we almost went through the motions.
People will inevitably come for Fulton and Cullen, but they were the players Leon and Joe trusted to try to grind out a result. In fairness, Stamenic was no better than Fulton and Franco had a nightmare.
The only good thing was Matos’ post match interview. He’s not very animated, but identified exactly what we all think is wrong and explained exactly what he is going to do about it.
These players need to know they haven’t lost at 1-0. |
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Reply | Get this for a laugh.
at 19:07 24 Nov 2025
Shooting by a million miles.
The other three are very much up for debate. Idah did start slowly, but I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. |
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Reply | 🔴 Four in at the Swans on the touchline
at 17:18 24 Nov 2025
This certainly sounds like it suits Vipotnik. Particularly if we can get players anticipating when he’s going to shoot on sight and charging in for rebounds.
Galbraith isn’t bad from distance either. Been unlucky a couple of times |
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Reply | Get this for a laugh.
at 14:04 24 Nov 2025
Yes, after a slow start, he’s definitely grown on me too.
He’s a better all round player than Vipotnik, but Vipotnik scores from distance and angles. It’s a difficult decision for a manager.
I’d say, if we play as we have been up until now, Vipotnik is the better bet as he can score out of nowhere. They’ll both get plenty of starts IMO |
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