Swansea City goalkeeper Andy Fisher once again came out as man of the match making crucial saves in the 1-0 defeat of Blackpool on Saturday. One of those saves was a penalty but we also saw two extraordinary saves in both halves. Yes, he is definitely the new Billy the fish.
We revealed his transfer from MK Dons a few weeks before it was confirmed here via Swansea Independent last December, you can read that story here –> Fisher signs for Swansea City
The comparison has been made, and you heard it here first, a lot of that credit goes to Fisher’s consistent hard work and determination to improve all the time. Traits that brought him to the club in the first place. His ability on the ball under pressure usually plays out okay but settling in hasn’t been a breeze for the Wigan born keeper. You wouldn’t expect it to be either, the demands that Russell Martin places on his goalkeepers are pretty much unheard of in the football league.
Playing at a higher level than at MK Dons in front of far bigger crowds is enough to get used to but fitting in again to the style Fisher enjoyed under Martin at MK Dons hasn’t been plain sailing. He credits goalkeeping coach Dean Thornton for his improvement this season. Talking to the official site he said. "I’ll give Deano [Thornton] all the credit. He told me that [Yates] goes left, right, left, right, left, right (alternating sides when taking penalties) so naturally I need to go left to follow his routine. I actually think he went down the middle, so I don’t know if he [Thornton] gets the credit or not - but I did go left and I saved it.”
On respect and support that players get from fans when they are putting in their very best for their club Fish definitely got that. All fans want to see is one hundred percent effort, and they get that back in bucket loads. "I want to say the fans were unreal, too. After the penalty when they were singing my name, it just makes you want to go and win the game for them. They’ve travelled so far and they deserve it. The fans are massive for us, when they’re cheering us on, we all just want to win for them.”
It’s been a rocky road for Andy Fisher, but he’s working hard to be as good a player as he can be, and that’s all any Swansea City follower asks. That’s the agreement, always has been, always will be.