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I saw Liam Cullen's debut versus Crystal Palace in the league cup early round 5 years ago. Potter threw in a number of youngsters Harries the centre back, Dan James, Reid the solid full back and one or two others. He looked lightweight
Reid put in a beautiful aerial cross to Cullen to head and score on his debut. He made a miserable contact and the bll dribbled away. It seemed to me he did not fancy it at all.
Two year later Bidwell put in another great cross that Ayew would have buried. Sadly it was Cullen on the end of it and missed everybody. He by then had beefed up quite a bit.
I have always backed the man as Swansea born Centre forwards are very rare indeed. I want to see development.
Versus Norwich Ronald did a beautiful pass fed in Key and put in a lovely cross head height. Perfect for a planted header giving the keeper no chance. The Centre forward declined to head it and leaned back and took it on his chest instead. This gave time for the Norwich defender to get a block in.
If you do not like that sort of contact then you cannot be Swansea city's number nine i my opinion. A lot of chances will slip away with two wingers and Key and Tymon putting in juicy crosses.
Swansea appears to have two forward one who cannot head the ball and another who can but is not good enough on the deck.
Cullen does not have lightning pace like Michael Owen type so needs an all around game. Cadogan also have an horrible headed effort for the u21.
TC seemed to be the WoL Swansea city man after the other fellow went to the BBC. WoL who I have defended the ave recently not been attending away games.
So what does he do instead? Well it seems he is focusing on the pseudo Hello celebrity section on "Reynolds and the Yank" watch.
WoL cannot cover Wrexham and Swansea so Reynolds it is.
It makes no sense . Their readership is in the south. Bring back Abandonatto.
Sam Parker has had his head turned it seems. Govea signed a long term deal but not Parker. He is the future and it seems to me the club should push hard to tie him up instead of wasting money on old geezers well past their best (eg Pedersen). Parker has two more years on his deal.
I suspect Pedesen is paid way more than Parker wants,. Ift is a dumb way to operate. Iwan Morgan has already slipped the nest. Cardiff city have lost 5 or 6. Swansea needs to work harder to tie these guys down. Dan James burst the scene with only two year on hi deal and had to go. mcBurney was out of contract. Roberts ran down his deal and went for pennies.
"Ken Gude is about corporate culture" Andy Coleman 2023
"We will endeavour to be best in class in everything we do " Jason Levien 2016
Well if I was in charge there would be big changes in Swans TV,
Their little skits with the lovely lady are great as are everything involving Cyril the Swan and Trundle preferably together.
But please get rid of Anthony O'Connell and Wyndham. Somebody in Swans TV thinks the fans want dumbing down and less. I want information and more not less.
HTFC TV commentary is vastly superior to O'Connell who has n been on the 'easy oasy' for some time. Nicholls becomes "the keeper" and other HT players remain nameless.
Compare this with the HT guy. Quality on one hand and second rate on the other. He did not namecheck Azeem but apart from that was great.
Cullen needs specialist heading r training as does the u21 Cadogan (v BC) . Both missed i open goal headers in the 6 year box and never looked confident. It seem to be a matter of attitude and positioning.
It may be pure fantasy but Trump seems to have unblocked Ukraine aid in recent days. It coincides with Cameron s visit to him. Perhaps he gave him some "old country wisdom" or used some leverage I am not aware of. UK paid off it's WW2 debts only in 2006 from the UK "lend lease". It saw the end of the British Empire.
Jets flying on the weekend over Israel came from UK s base in southern Cyprus I would imagine. Smoother operator Cameron. Brexit was his error of course.
Jamal Lowe s stats shows he plays his best football at Swansea. Another good season from him. He left when Martin came as Martin did not like runners with tricks like he showed v Stoke. Millwall see him as a replacement for a £15m player they want to sell Fleming. I do not see why SCFC should be outbid by tiddlers like Millwall.
Logically Swansea would need a lot of money to sign this player if he was not free. Tried and trusted and no fee. Watson blew £3-4m on duds last season. There is a good argument to give him a competitive wage.
Cullen has been with the club for 13-14 years perhaps and is still struggling to be an automatic pick. In my opinion he will never be a Premier league footballer unless he starts improving now. People will kiss the badge and promote the idea he needs a new 3 year deal because he is "one of our own". This is not good enough in my opinion.
Is he any better than his ex Wales u21 team mate Swansea born Mark Harris. "Sparky" has dropped a league and now progressing. Cullen is not progressing at all as far as I can see.
I think Harris is faster and more active in attacking areas and for me is probably a better all around player. Both are weak in the aerial duels . Harris seems to be be progressing at a lower level while Cullen has stagnated and not earned a new "lucrative" deal. A couple of thumping headers would have changed my perception.
Harris has been picked as a local lad but Watson should know many others with better all around games than Cullen.
Cullen could still be a star but he needs regular playing time to prove himself. A loan in league 1 or at Newport is where he should be able to score like Harris does. Cullen did very little at Lincoln but this could be related to playing style.
Ipswich struggled for seasons in the Championship and only really changed their trajectory after a rebuild in the league 1. They may, now, after "clearing the decks" get directly promoted to the PL over the parachute teams.
Moore, Broadhead, Lief Davis, Wes Burns, Morsey, Al Hammadi, Harness, Chaplin were all within SCFCs budget.
I am convinced there is a smell of decay amongst the first team squad that a strong manager would have stamped on. "We beat Cardiff" and apart from that 1 point out of four of the notionally easier games. Too many 'going through the motions' performances with 1 or 2 goal defeats seemingly satisfactory. The Martin mantra was dominate possession tire out the opposition then capitalise on their tiredness. It rarely worked.
The captain Grimes recently stated that the club is making 'good strides' and 'the signs are better times are ahead'. The players have been saying this for three years now.
I expect more from Cooper and Cullen. They are flat lining and are not going to get better. There are better players out there. The team need to economise on number and get one or two quality players with something to prove.
No more "sick notes" and lightweight players like Yates who cannot head the ball. Gyorkeres Whittaker, Kukarevych, Fletcher, Al Hammadi all rejected and seen as worse than Cullen. Something is badly wrong with the "culture" of the club.
Swansea is a nice lucrative home for boring 'ordinary joes' who will not take risks. Grimes Fulton, Cooper, Cullen, Yates Pedersen, Walsh. "0-1 that will do nicely. we are making progress" .
Drinking zambucas on Wind Street is only OK if your perform afterwards. If you lose the next three or four horrible blokes like me will ask questions about why the management allowed it.
Newport County accounts are out and they have lost £2m over two seasons, A good time to negotiate a new deal with the Dragons for the hovel that is Rodney Parade.
I take my hat of the the man who puts his money where his mouth is and does not need to worry about armchair critics. Start form -£2m and lets see what the laughable so called "failed roofer" can do.
If Swansea want a muscular strong and explosive athlete at WB or forward then WilL Evans would be available I would think. Get one or two of Congreve Cotterill Thomas and Loyd over there on loan full season including preseason.
I really do not like players like this. OK he won the penalty. Piroe was the regular penalty taker and bumped him off it. 90 % of penalties are scored. He then takes off his shirt. shows his name to the crowd and takes a booking. Swansea players hardly ever do this.
It is a brutal business. These guys have come through the process for 10 years or more. They in my opinion should be fully rounded prospects. Right physically and mentally with rock solid discipline and desire.
They have had their chances on loan and in the first team and have not cemented a first team place. It is Parker and Govea getting the minutes not them. It now they must kick on. I wish them well.Cooper and Cullen are slow burners still improving at 24. Lloyd is younger than the others. Cotterill is a steady player in the Fulton mould. If SCFC need to cut costs these players need to play if good enough. Uninspired loans is not necessarily indicative as seen with Dan James.