The Swans travel to Southampton tomorrow for a fixture which really has come too soon for head coach, Alan Sheehan. The issues as we highlighted in the week are returning players to the squad after international duty, travel times and overall well-being after significant and insignificant fixtures for their country.
That’s here —> Club v Country
This international break has seen Sheehan give some days off to those not involved in international duty explaining that he believes time off and rest is as valuable as training. Some will disagree but as the decision maker, and he is now in a position where his decisions will impact on his future these may not seem big shots to call. We do know he is popular amongst the squad, Josh Tymon as an example, "There is real optimism, he has been the biggest influence on me in my career so far. He was a first-team coach when I joined and I did a lot of one-on-one work with him, and still do, and I had not really had that in my career to that point. From day one he improved me so much in different aspects of my game and I am delighted to continue working with him”
Josh Tymon rarely lets anyone down when in a Swans shirt, and he will be crucial to this weekends fixture. Not least that the squad travel tomorrow with some players only back in Swansea twenty four hours or so as our earlier report references. The kick off time impinges on this as well. A 12:30pm away fixture will most certainly affect performance. The reasoning Sheehan gives for players taking time off is, "The lads that are here, if they want to go home for a couple of days, I think that's definitely beneficial.Then when the team is back in it's bang, bang, bang because it is seven games in twenty one days, so it's quite mental."
And a nigh on eight hour round trip from Swansea for the squad and fans alike this weekend.
We understand at this early stage that there are no real issues with injuries going into this fixture at Southampton. However, players selected will have to be deemed not only physically fit but mentally too, that’s if Sheehan’s references to rest and recuperation are to be taken into consideration. Returning after an international break is never easy. It’s a huge leap from club to international then back to club football again. And that with completely different training patterns, strategies and game plans.
Looking forwards now the Swans have a number of fixtures ahead which many are thinking and in some cases saying could be the marker for the season. Come the next international break in November many will have made their minds up on the Alan Sheehan era. As it stands that isn’t the case. We carried out a poll of a hundred site members with the obvious checks carried out and the results were slightly unexpected.
⚽️ Results
Over 40% have decided he is not favoured in his head coach role.
37% stated he needed more time.
Just under 11% were ‘middle of the road’
And finally just under 12% liked what he is doing.
We will of course have our usual build up to this fixture with news as it happens.