Yesterday afternoons game may well have been thrilling for the neutral, and let’s be honest over the ninety minutes of football a win for the swans wouldn’t have been a surprise. Unless of course you refer to the three blinding saves in the first half from Steven Benda, the poor selection choices at the start from Russell Martin or indeed the sleepiness we again witnessed at the turnaround which put the swans 2-0 down.

Apparently Swansea had learned from last weeks nonsense of a start against Norwich City, but clearly not enough to make the very same mistake at the start of the second half. Coupled with more misery to put Coventry 3-0 up it took three substitutions to get anything from this game. If set pieces are something Swansea work on then a giant defender being marked by a not so giant midfielder isn’t the answer. Matt Grimes in a no contest tussle with Sky Blues defender Panzo was ridiculous as the big man easily headed home for his sides first goal. It was nip and tuck in the first twenty minutes but Coventry especially with Gyokeres up front looked the more likely to score. And they did so after Steven Benda in the swans goal pulled off some miraculous saves.

Joel Piroe scuffed two decent opportunities to shoot at goal, Ryan Manning failed on numerous occasions to deliver a concise ball, and the break away from the home side looked extremely dangerous. The swans it has to be said would have been happy going in at the break just one goal down. That soon changed within ninety seconds of the second half as the swans defence again went missing for Coventry’s second goal from Allen - and it was Gyokeres who made it three on fifty five minutes.

At that point swans fans would be forgiven for taking an early dart.

The 1,300 Swansea fans in the crowd were despondent, some boo’s were maybe appropriately heard but nobody could have guessed the outcome of the next half an hour. The introduction of Joe Allen and Ollie Cooper ensured some energy was at last injected in to the swans. Harry Darling also came on and looked far more competent than Kyle Naughton who was a mere passenger in the game. When Armstrong Oko-Flex was introduced for the ineffective Joel Latibeaudiere things certainly took a turn.

First Joel Piroe cleverly flicked in the first for Swansea, then Jay Fulton battled his way in to the penalty area to smash home a second, and despite his critics sub Liam Cullen was at hand to bury the third goal. It was all very Reading away from last season but reversed for the swans. A similar encounter occurred as well last term with a 3-3 draw at Luton from 3-0 down, but this performance displayed more guts and passion.

If the swans had scored a fourth nobody would have been surprised.

The take away from this performance though isn’t as promising as some would think. It’s been a long time coming for such a gutsy display but there was little need for the late scramble to earn a point, the Swansea defence is most certainly very weak. Nathan Wood and Kyle Naughton especially display only brief moments of promise. Joel Latibeaudiere is a player too consumed with his own personal contract talks to warrant a place in this Swansea side. Despite his attempts to be the first half playmaker his passing is negative and lacks the incisiveness a Russell Martin side requires to set up games for a victory.

This swans side is lacking in numerous areas, it wants to play with wing backs but really doesn’t have any to select from, that’s the first thing on January’s shopping list. Secondly the ability to look forwards and make a positive pass which unlocks the opponents defence is missing. We saw today too many chances to pass forwards disappear in to nothing, and players like Latibeaudiere and Ryan Manning unable to seize any opportunity presented to them. Jay Fulton to an extent falls in to that category as well, anyone watching that first half will see a player who is too ponderous in his passing - and far too willing to work the ball backwards when his optimum pass forwards has been missed.

Olivier Ntcham may well be a target come January for some clubs, but as ever when he starts a game there’s very little there to get excited about. He is slow and lacks pace, in fact this whole Swansea side lacks pace, and that’s why they lose games or go behind when they should be in front. Russell Martin has to take the blame for some of these faults. He has got his side playing decent football, but teams know if they bide their time they can take advantage. Mark Robins said it before the game yesterday and his side showed that during the game as well.

If anything needs fixing it’s the mindset of the Swansea manager who resists the obvious selections on a match day and goes with players who lack the quality to control a game and supply goals. We have said it before, everything is there, but the goals. It’s now just a case of how long will the supporters and the majority owners put up with the same mistakes from the same people, be that on the pitch or in the team selection.

It depends now how patient you are. The next two games before the new year are easily lost, or in the Jeckyl & Hyde game the swans play easily won. You don’t get promoted playing like Swansea City, but they will retain their championship status, so it really now does depend on what the people who control the club want. Being competitive in the championship is one thing, looking like you may get promoted is another. As it stands Russell Martin hasn’t got the players nor the experience to manage those players he has in to the side he wants. People will say he has done miracles with what he has, others will feel entitled enough to say the swans could be far better than they are. And he needs to move on.

Again, it isn’t time for those sorts of conversations, but yesterday maybe took it a percentage closer, especially when we look back a week to the Norwich City defeat. Martin is losing the support of the fans, albeit very slowly. But the support is diminishing week on week. Yet again yesterday we saw a huge pre Christmas away support for Swansea City, the weekend before the festivities is traditionally a time for very low attendances both home and away.

It will take until mid February to really gauge this Swansea City side, once the deals of January have settled and the focus of Martin’s staff has been realised. As it stands this swans side won’t disturb the automatics, but then nobody expected that, but equally they won’t go down either. What we have here at present is a manager battling to supply the football he desires with players that on the whole can’t deliver. The fact it does tick occasionally gives hope, but that hope is false. That’s nothing to do with what Russell Martin wants, it’s more about him understanding he can’t have it with what he has.

So, he needs to change.

We saw a wonderful recovery yesterday from a talented team who are finding it increasingly difficult to play in a way the coach desires. It’s nothing to do with anything other than a persistent determination to try the same thing game after game. In football management you only have so many games, and you only have so many chances. Nobody bar a few are saying he has run out of chances just yet, but those he has remaining will have to be decent shouts. It’s got not a lot to do with the next two games, but it has everything to do with the business the swans do in January.

And as we have already said this week. If the owners trust the manager to deliver then that’s what they have to do as well. Otherwise we may as well all well pack up and go home. And at least then we won’t be disappointed every week, and by the way that’s no wins in seven, but five draws in amongst all that. That’s how close it is, but how long is everyone willing to wait for that to change ?

Coventry City: Wilson; Rose, Doyle, Panzo; Burroughs (Kane 82), Hamer, Sheaf, Bidwell; O’Hare (Kelly 78), Allen (C); Gyokeres.

Subs not used: Moore, Waghorn, Palmer, Tavares, Dabo.

Goals: Panzo 30, Allen 48, Gyokeres 55

Swansea City: Benda; Wood, Naughton (Darling 56), Cabango; Latibeaudiere (Oko-Flex 51), Fulton (Cullen 82), Grimes (C), Manning; Paterson (Cooper 51), Ntcham (Allen 56); Piroe.

Subs not used: Fisher, Cundle.

Goals: Piroe 68, Fulton 76, Cullen 83

🟨 Yellow cards: Wood 20, Fulton 57

Referee: Robert Jones 7/10 : Managed the game very well.

Attendance: 17,985 Away 1,329

Photographs licensed from Reuters & ©Swansea City

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