Once again we saw the Swans lose their concentration in added time to throw away more points this season. From a promising first half we saw pretty much nothing from the away side in the second.
Not taking chances when they came along in the first forty five minutes, and what was a very dubious offside against Zân Vipotnik when he scored were the reasons for the Swans not taking a point from this game. The tactics during the second half being lost in a battling display by Birmingham City. Despite Inoussa receiving more attention in that period out on the Swans left from Blues players, and Ronald finding himself isolated it’s hard to really point to a real chance after the break.
In the first period the Blues deployed some nasty tactics on Swans players reaping the rewards in the way of yellow cards. In fact overall referee John Busby booked nine of the twenty outfield players.
With points being dropped at home, last week right at the death against Hull City and again at the very end of the first half against Nottingham Forest - this is the third game in a row where psychologically the Swans mindset is in sleep mode. That cannot continue and head coach Alan Sheehan along with assistant Darren O’Dea have to address this before Millwall at home next Saturday (12:30pm) Dykes headed goal in the ninety fourth minute was a gift with the defence ball watching as he guided a perfect header into Vigouroux’s net. Feelings do leap from negative to positive every week, but leaking goals when it happens continuously is poor preparation and reflects badly on Sheehan.
It’s unforgivable.
There were positives today, the inclusion of Marko Stamenic catching most off guard, he didn’t disappoint. Inoussa being played from the start was another positive and he really should have scored in the first half after such good work down the Swans left flank. Both Franco and Ethan Galbraith had fair games, the former finding his feet in a battling second half. Ethan running out of ideas and support after a tiring week. Ben Cabango cleared a lot of danger allied with Cameron Burgess who looks slightly unsteady with the ball at his feet, however they both diligently did their jobs. That is right up to that winning goal.
The packed stadium both home and away supporters were treated to a proper football match overall, but if you are a Swansea follower it’s more frustration. Seeing Sheehan waving his subs on when ninety five minutes had passed was baffling. His tactics failed in the second half but Blues head coach, Chris Davies has to take some plaudits. He set up to strangle the Swans attack and did well to do so in the second half which led to the home side being more threatening in midfield, retaining the ball rapidly to prompt dangerous attacks.
Overall you could say it was a slightly positive day for Swans fans, certain players shone at times, but the result and mindset that continuously throws points away cannot be allowed to continue. It will see Swansea City in mid table when really they shouldn’t be. And that needs fixing.
Quickly.
⚽️ Blues : Ryan Allsop, Christoph Klarer (C) Jack Robinson, Paik Seung-ho (Tommy Doyle 87), Demarai Gray, Alex Cochrane (Eiran Cashin 80), Tomoki Iwata, Bright Osayi-Samuel (Ethan Laird 66), Jay Stansfield (Lyndon Dykes 87), Lewis Koumas (Patrick Roberts 66), Marvin Ducksch (Kyogo Furuhashi 66).
Unused Substitutes: James Beadle, Phil Neumann, Marc Leonard.
⚽️ Swans : Lawrence Vigouroux 7Josh Key 6 Ben Cabango (C) 7 Cameron Burgess 6 Josh Tymon 5 Marko Stamenic 7 Gonçalo Franco 7 (Melker Widell 95) Ethan Galbraith 6 (Malick Yalcouye 89); Ronald 6 (Liam Cullen 95) Zeidane Inoussa 8 (Jisung Eom 74) 5 Žan Vipotnik 6 (Adam Idah 74) 5
Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Manuel Benson, Kaelan Casey.
⚽️ Referee: John Busby : A bizarre performance again from him. 9 yellow cards and failed to book Stansfield for constant infringements. Missed a blatant foul on Vigouroux. 4/10.