Nobody is as more pleased as me I can tell you. And why is that ? Well, the name Jay Fulton, a player who wasn’t going to feature for the swans this season seems he may stay. Okay, that’s possibly. This after Russell Martin admitted he had spoken to players who would not be featuring or not in his plans this season.
I was surprised as anyone that Jay Fulton was one of those players, that Russell Martin didn’t see as having a future at the club. A player who only nine months before that had signed a contract until 2024.
We reported the issue here in September âš½ï¸
Jay Fulton out of favour
And we again asked the question in November. This time more assertively. âš½ï¸
Why no Jay ?
As always the reporting of these type of issues is often steered away from by some, and although we never reported he would never play again for the swans it looked highly likely he wouldn’t.
So why has Jay Fulton continued to stay at Swansea City ?
The answer to this we think is a simple one.The two clubs he has had talks with couldn’t come close to matching his salary at Swansea City. Had they done so when talks occurred just after Christmas we wouldn’t have seen Jay again. Jay holds the keys here as we have said before, he is on around ten thousand a week, and not ether Blackpool or Barnsley could come close to matching that. Speculation around Nottingham Forest was rife, but anyone who reads our pages often will know we reported that they were not one of the clubs interested.
It’s here for you to recap. âš½ï¸
Who will pay for Jay ?
Sadly that initial optimism for Jay was dampened down when his agents couldn’t even get close to his demands. After all he had the security of a contract at Swansea for nearly two and a half years to come.
As a result, and possibly because Martin wanted him in the shop window we saw a small contribution in the FA Cup loss to Southampton. His contribution was minimal, he sat out the next game away at Huddersfield on the bench, but came on against Preston on Saturday to impress. Martin made some appreciative quotes about Fulton and especially so when again we saw him in the mix against QPR on Tuesday night. Another very decent swans performance, Jay’s qualities again mentioned by the manager were evident for all to see.
It raises the question why for so many months did Jay not even get close to a swans squad or at least appear on the pitch ? What was it over a six week period when Martin and his coaching team arrived at Swansea that happened to completely ignore him for so long ? Well, it’s not going to be nothing, a player of Jay’s influence, and quality in the prime of his career isn’t ignored for no reason. We will probably never get down to the bottom of it. But for us it was either a clear mismanagement of the player by Russell Martin, or was he yet another one who couldn’t grasp, understand or want to even try to adapt to change at the club ?
Martin has made it clear the style, approach, attitude, the way training is delivered and the process of evaluation being placed on the player is just a few areas that have changed. It could be that, because as has been said you don’t just ignore a player for weeks on end for no reason.
The bonus for Swansea City is Jay as much as Jamie Paterson ( possibly more so ) has to either play for his future at the swans or leave if a club who match his professional opinion come in for him. The fact he hasn’t left yet will be a surprise to most who evaluate these things more closely. It would have been a nailed on cert from the opening day of the month for sure. He remains at Swansea, and impressed during the second half at QPR, it could just be Russell Martin has seen a change of attitude from Jay, or has made the mistake of believing he just isn’t good enough for his system ?
Martin has stated today "Jay’s been really good when he’s got on the pitch. There’s never been a problem. This is football, this is life. We’ve had loads of chats about it. He’s never been in a rush to leave the football club. I’m sure he’ll have more opportunities on the pitch if he’s still here. He’s an excellent professional and an excellent trainer. He’s turned down opportunities to leave. I think that shows what he’s about. He’s a great pro and a great person. With the depth of the squad and the amount of games we have, he’ll have more opportunities if he’s still here."
Well, the boss is hardly going to say anything negative as he could well still leave the club.
Either way, and the key now is the next few days in the transfer window most swans watchers will be very happy if he stays. We all hope he gets more game time and becomes the player he was last season that contributed so much under Steve Cooper.
Swansea City can’t lose, unless of course they were relying on his salary being off the books and a fee for him ? But that’s football at this time of year. Nothing is certain, and most certainly nothing can be predicted.