Bar one very important game, Swansea City's incredibly entertaining Championship season has ended! The date with Reading in the Wembley final is booked for 30th May, where Swansea can seal their next season in the Premier League.
Before that though, it's nice to take a moment and look back on the season just gone - to remind ourselves of the journey the Swans took to get to where they are now: the ups, the downs, the ins and the outs. We may say "Ah yeah, I remember that game!" or "I'd rather forget that one happened..."
So enjoy the forzaswansea.com brief revisit of Swansea City's 2010/11 Season!
- July 2010 (Pre-season) -
After Paulo Sousa scuttles off to Leicester, Swansea City hunt for a new man in charge. Despite nobody knowing much about this chubby little Irishman, Brendan Rodgers is appointed manager.
- August -
Chelsea youngster Scott Sinclair signs for the Swans on a three-year deal.
The 2010/11 season begins and Brendan Rodgers sees his first league game in charge as a 2-0 loss away to Hull. Swans fans panic. The next two games deliver a 3-0 win and a 4-0 win. Panic over, Rodgers is a hero! Swans fans haven't seen this kind of score for too long, after the goal drought the previous season. The next game is an away loss, followed by another two home wins. A pattern is emerging...
End of month position in the table : 12th
- September -
The pattern continues with an away loss to Leeds and another consecutive two home wins. However, the league away curse is broken after a crazy 3-2 win against Watford.
Frank Nouble joins the Swans from West Ham on a three-month loan deal.
End of month position in the table : 8th
- October -
Marvin Emnes joins the Swans on a month's loan from Middlesbrough. Frank Nouble's loan is cut short after an injury, so he returns to West Ham after making little impact in South Wales. Another new(ish) face at the club this month is Kemy Agustien, who finally signed a two-year deal after impressing on trial in the summer.
In the Carling Cup, Swansea lose 2-0 away to Wigan in front of some disgruntled travelling supporters, unhappy with the weakened team Brendan Rodgers chose to field against Roberto Martinez's team.
End of month position in the table : 3rd
- November -
Swansea win the South Wales derby, beating Cardiff 1-0 away from the Liberty thanks to a goal from Marvin Emnes, who left the club later in the month.
Elsewhere Darren Pratley is booed by some Swans fans after refusing to sign a new contract and taking a massive dip in form. Jermaine Easter is signed on loan from MK Dons and is, too, booed by some fans who dislike his Cardiff connection. As you can see, a lot of unnecessary booing took place this month.
End of month position in the table : 3rd
- December -
Swansea go through a rough patch, with many results not going their way, including their biggest defeat of the season (losing 4-0 away to QPR). The booing continues into December.
Christmas time (everyone gets fat and drunk – especially Michael Chopra).
End of month position in the table : 3rd
- January 2011 -
The January transfer window saw plenty ins and outs for the Swans.
Outs: The ever likeable, but not so goal capable, Shefki Kuqi ended his contract by mutual consent, while Gorka Pintado left the club on loan to AEK Larnaca FC (Cyprus). Jermaine Easter returns to MK Dons at their request.
Ins: The departure of three strikers sees Luke Moore join the club, signing on a two-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee (rumoured to be a free transfer). The biggest shock was the re-signing of Leon Britton, who returned to South Wales after leaving the club the previous year. Elsewhere attacking-midfielder Ryan Harley joined the club, though remained at Exeter (on loan) until the end of the season.
Swansea lose 2-1 at home to Leyton Orient, ending any hopes of further progression in the FA Cup.
Demolition on the Vetch field began in this month.
End of month position in the table : 3rd
- February -
David Edgar was apparently re-signed on-loan, though he never actually appeared at the club due to technicalities and little was mentioned of it again. Elsewhere, David Cotterill is sent on loan to Portsmouth, after a dip in form sees him struggle to make the starting line-up (the constant penalty misses didn't help his case).
Swansea were unable to do the league double over Cardiff for this first time, losing 1-0 at home after a late Craig Bellamy goal. February also saw the intense Middlesbrough game, where the Swans eventually came back from a 3-1 almost-certain loss by winning 4-3. Their away form peaked at this point, allowing four wins in a row (home and away) - the biggest winning run of their season.
End of month position in the table : 2nd
- March -
Brendan Rodgers swipes his Chelsea card again and claims Fabio Borini on loan for the remainder of the season. The Italian scores a brace on his debut, casting Luke Moore into the shadows. Tamas Priskin also joins the club on loan from Ipswich.
The international break halts play for a few weeks.
End of month position in the table : 3rd
- April -
A media ban on Swansea players is issued by Huw Jenkins, who wants to focus on winning games. However, Swansea continue with their bad away form, which begins to dent their hopes of automatic promotion – something that looked near certain earlier in the year. However the Swans go on to secure a place in the play-offs after beating Ipswich 4-1.
Tamas Priskin is injured and returns to Ipswich after scoring one goal for the club.
End of month position in the table : 4th
- May -
Swansea play their final league game at home: a routine 4-0 victory against Ipswich, ending the season in 3rd place in the Championship table.
Swansea face 6th place Nottingham Forest in the play-offs.
They draw the away leg 0-0, after Neil Taylor is sent off in the second minute.
The second leg sees a crazy game at the Liberty Stadium, full of entertainment. The Swans eventually beat Nottingham Forest 3-1, including a wonder strike from Leon Britton and a last-gasp goal from the halfway line by Darren Pratley.
Swansea go on to play Reading in the Championship play-off final in Wembley...
...(the Swans will write this next line on Monday 30th!)
I'd forgotten completely about Priskin, when you mentioned him I thought 'bloody hell, what happened to him?'... which you answered in the following month. Informative.
ReplyDeleteI have a question (technically... one question that leads to another) about Ryan Harley: as you mentioned, we signed him in January but loaned him back to Exeter for the rest of the season. I'm assuming that loan has expired given Exeter's season is over? So, my actual question is, is he eligible for the final? I'm not for one moment saying he should play, or that we need him - I'm just curious as to whether he's technically eligible, as I've not seen his name anywhere (by 'anywhere' I mean the Evening Post and the official site).
reading this recap reminds me of the fall when people were actually booing this team.
ReplyDeleteAfter what they had accomplished throughout the past few years...actually booing.
and we were third in the table!
incredible.
I know - it seems some wanted wins, and only wins, otherwise they would resort to booing! I bet these people were first in the queue for Wembley too, and will boo the team in London if they lose!
ReplyDeleteAnd Joe - as far as I know, Harley is eligible for the final, like Cotterill is, but as you said - they probably won't even be near the subs bench for the final.