Swansea City round-up at the end of silly season!

As we head towards the closing of the transfer window, most of us will be religiously checking Twitter, NewsNow and Sky Sports simultaneously, even though the rumour-mill is in overdrive and 80% of what we read will turn out to be nothing of any truth!

Example of the general bollocks we have to put up with!

I don't think there will be much more action for Swansea City in the next few hours. In reality, we've already been spoilt quite a bit this summer and anything we get now will surely be surplus.

So, overlooking the rumours, lets look at the confirmed (or 'most probable') comings and goings of South Wales' favourite football team!

Going, going... still going... probably going... GONE.

The first big mention goes to one of the most significant names Swansea have moulded over the past two seasons: Scott Sinclair. That first season was a dream for him and fans alike, punctuated by the hat-trick in the play-off final. However, since that mental day in London, Sinclair never looked happy at the club.

His departure to Man City is actually fine for Swansea - £8million (or £6.2million plus add-ons) for the winger is, yet again, superb business from Huw Jenkins. But I can't help feel that for Sinclair it's a stupid move. A youngster who spent most of his early career moving from one club to another, until he found his feet at Swansea, where he was the first name on the team sheet during that final Championship season.

Now he's off to Man City - clearly a club oozing with world-class talent and with no obvious need for him. Man City is a club where Sinclair will be lucky to make the bench for most games. So, why is he moving? Money? A whiny girlfriend? Probably a mixture of both. One thing I can guarantee: it's not to further his career. Good luck Sinclair. See you when you're loaned out to QPR a year down the line.

Elsewhere, we've recently said our goodbyes to Andrea Orlandi (to Brighton for an undisclosed fee). While it's refreshing to see a player like Orlandi leave with no long, drawn out negotiations, it seemed a little abrupt as there was some sentimental value with Orlandi.

He had been with the club for about five years, across four different managers. However, he's not done much in the grand scheme of things for Swansea City. I feel he had much more potential than some in midfield and showed sparks of brilliance at times (including his diving header which produced one of the fastest Premier League goal's ever!). Realistically though, he's not achieved that potential and is rightly gone.

Fede Bessone has left to Swindon to vast cries of “I didn't even realise he was still part of the squad!?”. Rodgers dived for ex-Swan Bessone in the 2011 summer transfer window as cover for injured Alan Tate. He wasn't used that much apart from one or two games and a substantial amount of bench-warming. He took wages, played a little for the reserves and ultimately did nothing much for the club. Best wishes Bessone, but please don't return a third time!

The ongoing debate of 'is Stephen Dobbie good enough for the Premier League?' has been solved: he's joining Orlandi at Brighton on a three-year contract. One of those players who never made the step-up to the current level. He'll do well at Brighton, I have no doubts about it!

Others likely to leave, but with no confirmations yet are Leroy Lita, who is rumoured to be loaned out to Crystal Palace, while Garry Monk is set to go to Bristol City on loan (though this is to be delayed for a few weeks after a back injury). Meanwhile, Curtis Obeng is likely to head to Fleetwood Town - again, on loan.

Welcome to Swansea City!

I'm not going to re-mention the likes of Michu, de Guzman and Chico Flores as there is plenty written on them and we've already seen them in action two or three times so far this season. All three are superb signings - let's leave it at that.

A player we will talk about is one of the biggest names of the summer and one who has finally signed - Pablo Hernandez. After much speculation and uncertainty, he's come from Valencia for £5.5million on a three-year deal, linking up again with Laudrup, who managed Hernandez during his time at Getafe. What a good replacement for Sinclair, especially with money left over from his sale!

Maybe having Hernandez is a little rough on Wayne Routledge who has been surprisingly brilliant over the first two games, but wing is one area where Swansea are pretty bare and needed beefing up. Anyway, I'm sure we'll see plenty of rotation and plenty of Routledge as the year goes on - we all know Dyer can tire himself out!

Record signing Ki Sung-Yueng has now played one game for the Swans after coming from Celtic for £5.5million, bringing with him big support from Korea. He'll probably immediately replace Jonathan de Guzman in the centre for now. There's a decent article on another Swans blog, summing up Sung-Yueng, including some words from a Celtic supporter, which is worth checking out.

Elsewhere, Kyle Bartley from Arsenal for around £1million on a three-year deal helps beef up the defence, and Itay Shechter on a season-long loan from Kaiserslautern gives some much needed competition to Danny Graham.

All things considered, I'm sure you'll agree that this has probably been the best summer transfer movement for Swansea in a good while!

As we head into autumn (that's right, all that rain and thunder was actually summer in disguise), Swansea are really looking a solid team, almost unstoppable.

Check out my Swansea vs. Sunderland preview, posted earlier!

Swansea vs Chelsea: Another week, another glamour tie

Continuing the pattern of 'winnable game at home, tough game on the road', this Saturday the Swans take on Chelsea: last season's Premier League runners-up, consistent Champions League qualifiers and a starting eleven including a host of World Class international players, all dying to put a big score on the men in white (or bright orange).

Last week we finally saw a goal (make that three) in the Liberty Stadium, which did wonders in settling the nerves of players, management and fans alike. Had a goal not been scored, things may be looking a little bleak against Chelsea. Thankfully Leroy Lita stepped up well and put away his first chance, contributing to Nathan Dyer's goal and generally menacing West Brom's back four. But with Danny Graham fit again, this throws us straight onto the question: who to start up front?

While Graham does need a confidence-boosting goal, is Stamford Bridge the place he'll find it? If he starts and again fails to score, will his fifth goalless game mean another dent in his confidence? Having said that, maybe the pressure is off him now that the first goals have been scored and he is not expected to to score this week. All a little confusing this psychology business isn't it...?

Leroy Lita was a stand-out player against West Brom, so should he start again? His presence on the field against West Brom was reminiscent of a thug you may see strutting around Wind Street on a Friday night. Lita constantly looks like he's after a fight, so I say let him fight! His first attempt on goal was clinically put away, which was a breath of fresh air after the 'almost there mate' few games that Graham has had. Start Lita again – if he doesn't perform, bring Graham on towards the end of the game.

The midfield (bar Sinclair and Dyer) is the other area that poses selection problems. The first start for Joe Allen against West Brom was great to see – he worked hard (running 13.25 km in the West Brom game, a season high for a Swans player) and maybe deserves to take the field on Saturday. Who should line up next to him? With Leon Britton on top form, Wayne Routledge back in action and Mark Gower spraying a nice array of passes in the last game, as well as Stephen Dobbie still looking to make his mark, Brendan Rodgers is spoilt for choice.

A question mark remains over Neil Taylor's fitness after the Odemwingie clash, but Bessone may prove to be a decent temporary replacement. Hungarian defender Zoltan Liptak (I'm sure that's a brand of sunblock...) is on trial with the club after leaving Videoton (and I'm sure that's a DVD rental shop in Brynhyfryd...), but he probably won't feature. He adds enough height at the back (6ft 4in) so could be another decent one for the future

If Taylor remain questionable, my team to play Chelsea would be:

Vorm
Rangel Monk Williams Bessone
Dyer Britton Routledge Allen Sinclair
Lita

Scott Sinclair will want to show Chelsea what they missed out on, while Brendan Rodgers will also want to have a great game against the club he played a management role in. Frank Lampard will play against the team he scored his first professional goal against, during his stint with the Swans in 1995. Recent history lesson over.

We know Chelsea are a danger. Despite Torres being incredibly light on goals, he's a world class player, a Spanish national and has incredible skill at his disposal. Whether or not he will use any of it against Swansea remains to be answered, though he is a big threat for Ashley Williams and co., not forgetting the likes of Didier Drogba, Juan Mata and Nicholas Anelka.

They've already bagged a series of good results and currently sit 3rd in the table. Come on, you've seen them play plenty of times – you don't need me to tell you they are a quality side, if lacking that cutting edge recently.

My prediction? I can't realistically see Chelsea losing this (Swansea are 13/1 to win). If Chelsea are planning to make anything of this Premier League season they must win against the less established teams. However, I do see Swansea putting up a similar fight like the game against Arsenal. I'll say 3-1 to Chelsea (9/1), though it wouldn't be impossible for Swansea to walk away with one point, which would be a massive success (only topped by a win!).

Swansea 3 - 0 West Brom: Told you so...

Much like Italy in the 2006 World Cup, off-the-field incidents seemed to spur the players to an on-the-field performance to be proud of as Swansea beat West Brom 3-0 on Saturday.

Local tragedies had been building through the last few weeks, so it seemed right that the Swans should banish their goal demons on a day where they were playing for more than just points - they played for the four Welsh miners, the local five-year-old and Brendan Rodgers' father, who all sadly died recently.

I don't particularly want to mention the moment's silence prior to kick-off, but I will: the first 30 seconds were a touching tribute, however a minority of West Brom fans (who were reported to be entering the stadium at the time) began a shouting battle which quickly ruined the moment. Very shameful, if it was a purposeful interruption.

Onto the match, where we finally saw Swansea score not one, but three goals! Fair enough, it was a penalty, but I think a penalty is what was needed. Surely a message from the Gods of football: “You've had so many bloody chances and keep missing - just have one on us”. Scott Sinclair put it away and, like many had predicted, the flood gates opened.

The amount of abuse I've recently received for asking “why not start Leroy Lita instead of Danny Graham” was large and consistent. Not one to gloat, let me just say “TOLD YOU SO!” and move on. Seriously though, it took an injury to the aforementioned Graham to see Lita claim his first Premier League start. Lita knew, like the majority of us, that he might not get regular chances to impress with Graham fully fit, so he had a lot to prove; and prove he did. He looked hungry for the ball from the off. The first chance that fell to him was put in the back of the net – very refreshing. He made a number of impressive off-the-ball runs and also contributed to Nathan Dyer's goal with a nice flick from Vorm's clearance. An enjoyable performance by the pitbullish Lita.

A note about Danny Graham: it's possible that, now goals have been scored, the pressure is off him personally. Therefore he may relax a little more in front of goal during his next game and put away his chances.

As I mentioned, it was nice to see Dyer score for a change – the amount he creates has always been overshadowed by his (lack of) ability in front of goal, but he managed to calmly slide one between the legs of Ben Foster early in the second half. It may well be the last goal of his for another year, but as long as he continues running and creating, he'll be the first name on the team sheet for some time to come.

Defensively, Swansea were solid once again. In a time where every feasible defensive option appeared to be unavailable, we saw Garry Monk return to the pitch slightly before he was 100% fit, though you wouldn't have guessed: he fell back into action like it was an extension of that play-off final.

The injury to Neil Taylor was very worrying, especially with the appearance of stretchers, paramedics, oxygen and Fede Bessone on the sidelines, but it doesn't seem to be as serious as it first appeared thankfully. He had a good game (apart from the occasional lapse of concentration) and it'll be good to see him back at Chelsea - we hope.

Fede Bessone did appear, as I said, and seemed to slot in fine. I doubt he was expecting to feature at any point against West Brom, though he didn't look too phased by the “big time”. Elsewhere, Joe Allen and Leon Britton had wonderful games, Mark Gower played some lovely long balls and Scott Sinclair troubled the Baggies defence a number of times. A convincing team display by Swansea.

Generally, the opposition were not terrible and had their chances (which gives even more credit to Swansea) – Shane Long and Peter Odemwingie looked sharp throughout (though I'd better curb any praise of Odemwingie due to his poor challenge on Taylor). It was good to see West Brom not completely give up towards the end, which ensured an enthralling finish, instead of everyone just counting down the seconds until the final whistle.

If you read my last blog, I hope you followed one of my tips and covered the 3-0 win (at 25/1) and are all collecting your winnings? I wish I'd put more than a pound on it now!

The Swans travel to Chelsea next Saturday with at least one win and, more importantly, a few goals under their belts. Will Taylor be back in time? Will Swansea lose another three to the injured list? Will Lita start again? Find out next time on, Swansea in the Premier League!