I hope the title of this blog has done the trick and made you scream "what is he talking about!?" - those who haven't headbutted their computer screens in anger and disbelief will know I am joking.
While Christmas is the busiest time of year for many around the globe, it's not just over-priced gift boxes containing a cheap bar of soap and a Homer Simpson flannel (£15.99? Bargain!) and excessive drinking that will take up the majority of our free time. This year Swansea City FC will essentially be juggling eight games over the festive period, which is a lot of football-watching to cram in!
As it's been a few weeks since I've been regularly blogging (holiday and exams eating up a good chunk of that), I feel a little "recap" and look ahead to the upcoming month is in order.
Let's blitz through this:
Norwich
I was in America for this one and used a 'pay-per-view' television to watch the game on. I wish I hadn't, as Swansea fell apart against fellow promotion successfuls in a game they should have won on paper. 3-1 to Norwich.
Wolves
Again, still in the USA for this one (thankfully it was free on cable this time). Swansea had the chance to hammer Wolves and record a nice away win with two early goals, but buckled and ended up allowing Wolves to score two goals in two minutes and share the points. A big waste!
Bolton
Swansea welcomed back Darren Pratley with a 3-1 win over Bolton, in a game that saw Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham all score. Graham scored an own goal in the second half which seemed to give Bolton something to chase, but thankfully another 'Wolves' wasn't on the cards.
Liverpool
An enjoyable game to watch, but frustrating towards the end when Swansea should have won it - they were the better team on the day.
Man United
Another great game to watch, but Swansea seemed in awe of United in the first half and Rangel's silly mistake cost Swansea a draw and potentially (if Scott Sinclair hadn't boobed up his shot) a win over the champions.
So that's the past out of the way - what does Santa have in his sack for Swans fans?
December will be the busiest month in Swansea City's Premier League calendar, with six games, sandwiched between the Aston Villa game on Sunday and a game on 2nd January against... Aston Villa. It seems Villa will kick off and round up the festive period in Swansea then!
Aston Villa currently sit 8th in the table. Swansea are in 13th, but just two points separate the teams. With Danny Graham settled and the work-rate of the whole team one of the best in the Premier League, not to mention the home advantage, there is no reason why Swansea shouldn't win! Villa fans know this and confidence is apparently low among them. Yes, Michael Vorm will be dealing with one of football's most incredible strikers – Emile Heskey – but the three points are definitely up for grabs! My predication? A simple 1-0 home win to Swansea.
So how many points can we expect from the festive season?
I'm not going to get into score prediction, but roughly, this is how I see the win-draw-losses working out:
Aston Villa (home) - win
Blackburn (away) - win
Fulham (home) - win
Newcastle (away) - lose
Everton (away) - lose
QPR (home) - win
Tottenham (home) - draw
Aston Villa (away) - draw
14 points from 8 games.
Realistically speaking, Swansea, if they can keep up their good form, are looking at about 14 points. They could lose at home to Villa and win away at Newcastle, but around 14 points is what we're looking at achieving. This would set the team up for a great start to 2012.
The most important upcoming games are against the likes of Blackburn and Fulham who are below the club in the table and that's where we want to keep them! Same goes for Everton who are a place above the Swans in the table, so taking points off them is more important than the glamour ties.
This ends a relatively short and vague blog, but I'm going to leave you with this video I found. It pretty much sums up Emile Heskey's prowess on FIFA – not sure why I find it so amusing!
(NB: I didn't produce, edit or upload the video, and own no copyrights to anything - etc, etc, etc)
Saturday, 26 November 2011
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Swansea City: Man United tickets sell out... but why?
I wasn't planning to write a new post until my November exams had finished (towards the end of next week), but with my Twitter feed going mental over the Man United ticket problems I felt I had to write a small reflection.
Let's get the facts out first - as was reported by the club this afternoon:
Swansea City can confirm that all home tickets for the Premier League fixture with champions Manchester United on November 19 have sold out today.
Following a busy first day of sales on Monday, the remaining few tickets were snapped up this morning as the club sold out its home allocation for the sixth consecutive match.
It seems to be the season-ticket holders with over a certain amount of points on the Jack Army membership scheme who got hold of the majority of tickets yesterday, before the final few were purchased today (I believe these were also season-ticket holders, albeit with less points).
This does beg the question: why does the ever-infuriating Jack Army scheme give priority to those who already have a ticket to the match? (I'm not having a go at season-ticket holders by the way - far from it - instead having a go at the logic of the scheme). Naturally season-ticket holders don't need another ticket as they already have one. I'm not arguing this case too much, because the answer is probably: they are buying them for friends/brothers/fathers who, say, can't afford a season ticket usually, which is a probable scenario. I have little qualms with that.
There is the option that they are buying tickets for 'plastic' fans or Man United fans living in Swansea who just want to watch Alex Ferguson’s men instead of their home team (and there will be quite a few in the stands by all accounts). This is irritating as it fills the seat of a true Swans fan who may not be able to afford a season ticket, or who lives away and can't get to every match. However, I can write this option off as a 'it was bound to happen because its the biggest game of the season'.
What I don't accept as fair is the rumours of those who have bought a spare ticket and are selling them for a large profit, either online or on the gates. Currently these are unconfirmed rumours – I'm going off a number of comments I've noted on Twitter and Facebook. There will always be those wanting to make a profit off other people, but the worst thing about these rumours is: it is Swans fans making a profit off Swans fans!
If you think about it, only those with the season-ticket AND Jack Army membership AND priority points (essentially fans who have already spent a lot of time and money following the club) were able to buy the tickets before they sold out. Therefore, if any are exchanging hands for well over the RRP, it's a loyal Swans fan ripping off another Swans fan. As I said: these may just be rumours and come to nothing, but if you are thinking of selling your ticket on to a genuine Swansea supporter, please don't do it extortionately!
Remember, if you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket but are still intent on watching the match, it is on ESPN and in the majority of Swansea pubs with that dodgy Armenian television channel on Saturday 19 November at 5:30pm .
That's it from me, I'll be back soon with my usual brand of sketchy, irreverent (and irrelevant) blogs.
Let's get the facts out first - as was reported by the club this afternoon:
Swansea City can confirm that all home tickets for the Premier League fixture with champions Manchester United on November 19 have sold out today.
Following a busy first day of sales on Monday, the remaining few tickets were snapped up this morning as the club sold out its home allocation for the sixth consecutive match.
It seems to be the season-ticket holders with over a certain amount of points on the Jack Army membership scheme who got hold of the majority of tickets yesterday, before the final few were purchased today (I believe these were also season-ticket holders, albeit with less points).
This does beg the question: why does the ever-infuriating Jack Army scheme give priority to those who already have a ticket to the match? (I'm not having a go at season-ticket holders by the way - far from it - instead having a go at the logic of the scheme). Naturally season-ticket holders don't need another ticket as they already have one. I'm not arguing this case too much, because the answer is probably: they are buying them for friends/brothers/fathers who, say, can't afford a season ticket usually, which is a probable scenario. I have little qualms with that.
There is the option that they are buying tickets for 'plastic' fans or Man United fans living in Swansea who just want to watch Alex Ferguson’s men instead of their home team (and there will be quite a few in the stands by all accounts). This is irritating as it fills the seat of a true Swans fan who may not be able to afford a season ticket, or who lives away and can't get to every match. However, I can write this option off as a 'it was bound to happen because its the biggest game of the season'.
What I don't accept as fair is the rumours of those who have bought a spare ticket and are selling them for a large profit, either online or on the gates. Currently these are unconfirmed rumours – I'm going off a number of comments I've noted on Twitter and Facebook. There will always be those wanting to make a profit off other people, but the worst thing about these rumours is: it is Swans fans making a profit off Swans fans!
If you think about it, only those with the season-ticket AND Jack Army membership AND priority points (essentially fans who have already spent a lot of time and money following the club) were able to buy the tickets before they sold out. Therefore, if any are exchanging hands for well over the RRP, it's a loyal Swans fan ripping off another Swans fan. As I said: these may just be rumours and come to nothing, but if you are thinking of selling your ticket on to a genuine Swansea supporter, please don't do it extortionately!
Remember, if you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket but are still intent on watching the match, it is on ESPN and in the majority of Swansea pubs with that dodgy Armenian television channel on Saturday 19 November at 5:30pm .
That's it from me, I'll be back soon with my usual brand of sketchy, irreverent (and irrelevant) blogs.
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