Materazzi, Christmas trees and West Brom

By now you'll be well aware that Swansea are losing defenders left, right and centre (well, mainly just centre...)

Rumours that Steven Caulker had picked up a knee injury that was likely to keep him out for two months was verified on Wednesday evening, shortly followed by the announcement that Rafik Halliche and Darnel Situ are unlikely to play for the club at any time soon, thanks to FIFA blocking the transfer. Thus, Swansea's defensive struggles finally peaked. Things can't get any worse! (Ashley Williams; move away from that golf cart...)

As Halliche, Situ and Caulker join Alan Tate on the unavailable list, just four realistic Premier League defenders remain in the squad: Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, Angel Rangel and Garry Monk (assuming he plays on Saturday – reports circulating that he is likely to). Of course Fede Bessone and Jazz Richards are also available, as are those in the youth squad, though these aren't exactly mouthwatering prospects.

Kemy Agustien is also a factor in this, as he would have been available to simply slot into Caulker's place had he not picked up a hamstring injury against Arsenal.

Swansea are in dire need of a replacement – not one for the future, but one who can step in immediately. As they are permitted to sign free-agents, eyes turn to the list of misfits and has-beens who are ready to blow the dust from their boots. Names likes Sol Campbell have done the rounds with the fans. The 36-year-old clearly has the experience and, wages permitted, would be a fine replacement for Caulker. Certainly not a long term solution, but some type of pay-as-you-play deal might be worth looking at.

Another name cropped up: Marco Materazzi. The former Inter Milan and World Cup winner would add some sun-bleached glamour to the squad, with heaps of big game, big name experience, though wages again might be a problem. Personally I'd love to see this guy at Swansea!

Maybe Swansea are fine with what they have at the moment? Yes, its not an ideal situation, but a formation change could be the answer. Something like a 3-2-4-1 formation (inverted Christmas tree?):

Vorm
Rangel Williams Taylor
Allen Britton
Dyer Gower Routledge Sinclair
Graham

With Allen and Britton as holding defenders, and Taylor and Rangel making less attacking runs, there is no reason why this formation shouldn't temporarily work. I'd select Wayne Routledge over Stephan Dobbie. More than likely, this won't happen as Monk is expected to return, but the option is there.

West Brom are another team Swansea are expect to win against, in fan's and pundit's eyes alike (currently 8/5 favourites with PaddyPower). For essential confidence and points, Swansea must: a) get a goal and b) win. It's in front of another sell-out home crowd who deserve to finally see a goal.

Danny Graham must start – he needs another opportunity to score. However, should he fail to score this time, Leroy Lita should start for the next game. I know that may dent his confidence, but surely not scoring is already doing that? I'm aware some can't fathom Lita starting, but as he hasn't started a game yet nobody knows if it'll work or not.

Anyway, I might be jumping ahead too far – Graham may well score a hat-trick (80/1) and Swans will crush West Brom 3-0 (a more realistic 25/1)!

But what do we know about the opposition? Well the Baggies finished 11th in the Premier League last season and are currently 13th in the table, just a point above Swansea (lost their first three, but beat fellow newcomers Norwich 1-0 last week).

They certainly have key players that will cause Swansea's defence (or lack of it) some trouble. Peter Odemwingie is very bright up front, as is their new singing Shane Long, who was excellent for Reading last season (including against Swansea in the play-off final). At the back they're not so strong and have struggled to keep a clean-sheet under Roy Hodgson, so this may well be the game that Graham breaks his goal-scoring duck and Swansea put away all the chances they create – here's hoping.

My prediction: West Brom will score one by taking advantage of a weakened Swans back four, though everything will finally click for Swansea and they'll, once again, create plenty of opportunities and score least three! Swansea 3 – 1 West Brom (20/1).

… or it could be 0-0 again.

Swansea 0 – 1 Arsenal: Take two magnets...

You don't have to be scientifically gifted to follow Swansea (as some of the regulars in the East Stand will confirm), but a basic experiment to carry out is this: take two magnets and try to place the opposite poles together. Feel the strong force that pushes the magnets apart? Well, scientists have discovered that that is the same force which pushes the ball away from any goal that Swansea try to score in!

Questionable physics aside and we are left with another game where Swansea are unable to score, despite many chances.

The positives were clearly there once again – the game against Arsenal showed that Swansea can be consistently solid against a strong Premier League opponent (apart from the occasional blip) and can push forward with relative ease at times. The fact is, Swansea should have taken at least a point away from the Emirates. They deserved it – if not, all three.

In fact, Arsenal didn't particularly look like scoring that many. Yes they had some wonderful chances, stopped by Michel Vorm and the post, but they didn't threaten as much as I expected. It's a shame, then, that Swansea lost to one of the oddest goals we'll ever see!

Let's clear the white elephant from the room – Vorm's uncharacteristic mistake was stupid. There's no two ways around it. It took a few seconds for everyone to register what had happened, but soon it was apparent that Swansea City had secured their place on at least one 'bloopers' DVD this Christmas. 'Danny Dyer's semi-amusing football-related cock-ups' will not be on my Christmas list this year.

Vorm, like the rest of us, was clearly disappointed, though it's easily forgiveable – the amount of points he's already saved in his short career with the club means I'd let him do it again next game (…maybe not). Kudos to Andrey Arshavin and his fat tongue, whose reaction time was incredible and easily put the resulting mistake in the back of the net.

As well as a pretty solid team display there were stand-out individuals for Swansea. Stephen Caulker showed a lot of talent, and his goal saving, potentially testicle-destroying sliding save in the first half was enough for a Man of the Match award for me.

Nathan Dyer's work rate was top notch as usual. Scott Sinclair caused trouble to Sagna at times and he was unlucky not to score when his powerful free-kick slapped the crossbar in the second half.

Talking of unlucky, it's time to scrutinise Danny Graham. Again he showed plenty of enthusiasm and will to score, but again he failed in his efforts.

It's a tough decision now. It's only been four games (five including the Shrewsbury fiasco), but Graham hasn't scored. A selection of pundits believe he isn't cut out for the Premier League. I'm not sure – technically, he has looked like scoring plenty of times. It probably is just bad luck, but for the West Brom game should Graham start on the bench and be used as an impact sub? No doubt I'll look at this option further in my West Brom preview in the week. (Your opinions and thoughts are more than welcome - leave them in the comments box below)

Either way, Swansea must score in the Liberty Stadium on Saturday. West Brom are another of the 'easy' teams and, at home, Swansea will surely have chances to put them away. Things may start to get a little awkward if they don't score.

Brendan Rodgers was naturally not present in London due to the unfortunate death of his father on Saturday morning. It goes without saying that all fans' thoughts are with him and we hope he is able to return soon to guide the team to their first Premier League victory.

The Preview: Swansea vs Arsenal

While the international break is needed in the long run (trust me, you'd be annoyed if there was no Euro 2012 next summer!) it's always nice to get back to normal. If that's what you can call supporting Swansea City.

This Saturday sees another 'glamour tie', where the Swans will take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It's highly anticipated as both teams have a similar brand of football: fast and entertaining, with wonderful passing abilities, but sometimes struggle with the end product!

Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor return from international duty to join new defenders Darnel Situ, Rafik Halliche and Fede Bessone, though at the time of writing only Bessone was cleared to play - the club are still waiting on Situ and Halliche. With Rangel and Caulker also fit and ready there is finally a little competition in the back line, with all four spots theoretically up for grabs (though I can't see Bessone starting ahead of Rangel or Taylor). Garry Monk is still struggling with his foot injury, so it's unlikely he'll feature.

Mark Gower has spoken of his hopes of finally pushing for a place in the starting line-up, though probably won't be first on the list. Personally I'd use the Britton, Routledge and Agustien combo once again. It's been working at home: goal scoring opportunities have been created, and Agustien and Britton add defensive security.

Starting Stephen Dobbie instead of Routledge may also be an idea - his confidence doesn't seem to be that high currently, so a start may give him a boost. Then again, decisions should be for the best of the team, not the best of the individual. He needs to use the times he is subbed on as a platform to show how capable he is. So far in the Premier League he hasn't been able to show that.

As usual Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer are vital for creating chances on goal so they're in. That leaves the starting striker. Is it time for Lita? Many would argue no, and I may agree this time. Danny Graham should start, though if he fails to get a goal his confidence may take a further knock. Despite Arsenal going through a low, they will be harder to break down than the likes of Wigan and Sunderland, so any chances that are created must be put away!

Onto the opposition: the Gunners have recently hit a low point, with the 8-2 demolition by Man United surely rock-bottom.

The main area they've struggled with recently appears to have been transfers; both bringing players in and letting them slip, most notably Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Samir Nasri to Man City. However, they managed to rejuvenate the squad on transfer deadline day with German international Per Mertesacker and Brazil international Andres Santos - both add to a back four that were seriously lacking against Man United, and, with Bacary Sagna expected to be back from illness, Arsenal's defence is looking a lot healthier.

Arsene Wenger also added Mikel Arteta from Everton and Chelsea's Yossi Benayoun to the midfield, and with Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie in the squad it won't be a simple task by any means. Luckily for the Swans the likes of Gervinho and Alex Song will miss the match, both still serving bans from recent red cards, while Jack Wilshire is out with an ankle injury.

My prediction is 2-1 to Arsenal (odds currently around 7/1). I see Swansea getting their first goal, though can see an exciting Arsenal attack finding a way past the defence and Vorm.

Ultimately it's Arsenal's game to lose. Swansea aren't expected to win (with 9/1 odds confirming this), so, with less pressure than the games against Wigan and Sunderland, maybe we'll see a goal? A loss isn't ideal for Swansea (obviously), though a draw would be seen as a wonderful success. Either way, with both teams out to play attractive football, it's bound to be an entertaining game!

Read more of my thoughts on the Arsenal match here – an interview carried out by an Arsenal blogger (towards the bottom of the page). Interesting reading about the opposition too!

Swansea City's Transfer Deadline Day: digested!

An exciting event in the football calendar, transfer deadline day sees men (and women of course) from across the globe fixated on Sky Sports News, Twitter and other news feeds to see if their club managed to sign the one over-paid primadonna they were after.

What's that you say? You didn't sit inside all day watching the television because you have better things to do? Well I don't, so here's what happened for Swansea City.

To start with, throughout the day, Swansea were linked with several players who, for one reason or another, didn't end up near the club, such as Romaric (Sevilla), Adrian Mariappa (Watford), Matthew Bates (Middlesbrough) and a last minute loan bid for Fabio Borini, among others (including several wind-up rumours such as Stockport's Ryan Fraughan and a last-gasp bid for Marcos Senna).

Eventually the window slammed shut and Swansea were left with:

Gerhard Tremmel (free from Red Bull Salzburg)
Completed earlier in the day, the signing of Gerhard Tremmel was unsurprising, yet welcome news. The trialist impressed more than Jose Moreira in pre-season friendlies and will add strength to the important area that is goalkeeping. We hope Michel Vorm will remain fit throughout the rest of his career with Swansea; if not, Tremmel is an adequate backup.

Darnel Situ (£250,000 from Lens)
The most exciting signing of the evening for Swansea, the France u19's captain was signed for £250,000 from French club Lens. The 19-year-old seems to be a “one for the future” signing, and isn't expected to make a direct impact on this Premier League campaign, but the centre back looks promising!

Rafik Halliche (on loan from Fulham)
On loan until the end of January 2010, the 24-year-old centre back will be cover for Ashley Williams and Steven Caulker, and another defender to temporarily add to the bench – an area Swansea have been lacking in for some time. I'm yet to see Halliche in action but, by all accounts, Fulham fans are glad to get rid of him, which is never a nice thing to hear about your new signing. He made just one appearance for Fulham, from the bench, but he has had 21 caps for the Algerian national team. Don't expect wonders, he's nothing more than cover it seems.

Fede Bessone (free from Leeds)
Earlier in the day, rumours were strong that an old face would be joining the Swans again. Scotland? Gomez? … Trundle? No, we were all wrong – it was Fede Bessone. The 27-year-old left Swansea for Leeds in 2010, making just six appearances, before being loaned to Charlton Athletic. Now he's back with the newest Premier League club on a two-year deal.

I know it's frowned upon to moan about players, but I know I am far from the only one who sees this as a backwards step. He was surplus to requirements at a Championship club, so I'm not sure what impact Rodgers believes he will make in the Premier League? I hope I'm wrong; I hope Bessone returns as a new, fast, Rangel-esque wing back, but will that really happen? I'm sure Ashley Richards would've provided as much cover. Still, it's an option on the bench. Mustn't grumble.

There were no players to leave the club on deadline day, though a rumour that Blackpool were interested in Stephen Dobbie circulated through much of the afternoon. Probably a feasible rumour, but not in Swansea's best interests. Dobbie has only had half an hour on the Premier League pitches – while he hasn't yet impressed, there is more to come from Dobbie this season I am sure.

Another end to a slightly underwhelming transfer deadline day for Swansea City – apart from loan signings the team is now ready to continue their Premier League campaign, barring any exclusions in the 25 man squad (announced shortly).

Swansea 0 – 0 Sunderland: Still no goals

A rammed Liberty Stadium once again witnessed a 0-0 draw that only told half the story.

Swansea's general possession was less dominating than previous games, but their chances in front of goal increased, which is a positive. However, like the game against Wigan, they were not able to put anything in the back of the net, taking the "games-without-scoring" tally to four.

Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer were typically the main routes to goal, both creating several chances - Sinclair saw his rocket of a strike slam off the crossbar in the first half, while Dyer showed his strengths in skill and agility, as well as his one weakness: shooting!

Sunderland will also feel it was two points dropped as they were not without their golden opportunities. These emphasise Vorm's importance once again, as he kept Swansea in the game with a number of top quality saves, including the one-on-one with Gyan in the 72nd minute. Interesting coincidence: the penalty that Vorm saved against Wigan also fell in the 72nd minute!

Mentioning Asamoah Gyan, the battles between him and Ashley Williams were enjoyable to watch, while Steven Caulker, apart from one little blip, had another comfortable game - very confident in the air.

The middle three were unchanged from the match against Wigan and rightly so. It's a combination that seems to be working well, with Agustien's strength, Routledge's speed and Britton's determination to get the ball when, technically, he shouldn't be anywhere near it!

This brings us to Danny Graham, who, once again didn't score. I mean, the rest of the team didn't score either, but Graham has to be singled out as he's the striker that promised so much. It may just be the case of adjusting from Championship to Premier League, and one goal will open the cat flap (listen to me chatting with Ian Wright below for that cliché!), but the opportunities were there; opportunities that a striker should be putting away. Let's put it down to nerves – the pressure for him to get a goal now is very high, so when he receives it in the box he probably thinks too much instead of actually putting his foot through it. They'll come. If not, at least he didn't cost £50 million.

The next game Swansea will play will be after the international break, against Arsenal in two weeks time – a game which the Swans won't be expected to win, or probably even score in. So, with that pressure off, expect to see Graham come out of his shell and grab a hat-trick!

Absolute Radio called me up earlier in the week, asking me to take part in Ian Wright's 'Rock n Roll Football' show after the Swans match. I agreed; here's how it went!

Absolute Radio - Chris Carra / Ian Wright - Swansea City chat by ChrisCarra

Swansea City Weekly Catch-up: Shrewsbury, Sunderland and two gingers

I'm aiming to sum up Shrewsbury, preview Sunderland and talk about transfers in this bumper post, so I've split it into three digestible sections:


Shrewsbury 3 – 1 Swansea: Opinion

Swansea crashed out of the Carling Cup in the least glamorous fashion on Tuesday, losing 3-1 away to League Two minnows Shrewsbury. I wasn't at the match, so am basing this part of the blog on my experience of the game from watching Tony Cottee's scrutiny live on Sky, reading match reports and speaking to fans who made the journey.

In a recent blog post I stated it would be in Swansea's best interest to fall out of any cup games as soon as possible, avoiding the risk of injury and fatigue for some first team players, but I almost regret typing that now. Swansea shouldn't have dropped out in the fashion they did, not against a team 65 places below them in the collated league table and certainly not when they took the initial lead!

The worrying element is, despite theoretically being a weakened side, on paper it wasn't that weak. Plenty of first team players started the match (Ashley Williams, Danny Graham, Joe Allen, Alan Tate) with more joining in the second half as subs (Scott Sinclair, Stephen Dobbie and Neil Taylor) – between them they should have been able to seal a comfortable win or, at the very least, a goal (remember, the one Swansea 'scored' was an own goal by Shrewsbury's Cansdell-Sherriff). The rest of the team was made up with the likes of Leroy Lita, Luke Moore, Mark Gower and Jose Moreira who, last season, wouldn't have been considered weak players.

Can we single anyone out? Lita and Graham both missed chances; I guess for £3.5 million, Danny Graham should have scored against a League Two side. Maybe he wasn't being fed the ball enough but, again, this would highlight the ongoing problem of plenty of possession and attractive passing, but no end product. Graham is not the only one to blame. By all accounts, Orlandi and Gower seemed to waste set pieces and Tate was out of position a little too often. Ashley Williams was also singled out for acting too big for the game (see this post from an angry fan on a Swansea City message board).

I don't think anyone has ever seen or heard Brendan Rodgers speak so angrily about his team before, but the stark truth needed to be voiced and he did so very well. Though I can't see many players telling their grandchildren they lost to Shrewsbury, like Rodgers suggested, the statement hopefully makes them think, even feel a little embarrassed.

A good performance, and possibly a goal, against Sunderland on Saturday and this will all be forgotten, but it's been a wake-up call to the players and fans alike.


Transfers

The two gingers I mention in the title are Ryan Harley and Shaun MacDonald, who have both left the club permanently. Harley left for Brighton for an undisclosed fee, while Shaun MacDonald made the move to Bournemouth for £150K.

MacDonald was never going to force his way into the first team, so the move was probably best for his own career. One thing: I am glad we never got to see him play in front of the Sky cameras – I don't think the world was ready for Shaun MacDonald in High Definition, let alone 3D! Best of luck to him anyway.

Ryan Harley's departure, however, was a little more disappointing. He seemed to be an interesting prospect for the central attacking midfielder role back in January, though his immediate return to Exeter on loan allowed Stephen Dobbie to claim the position as his. With Premier League promotion and another helping of new signings able to slot into the role, Harley was left fighting one too many for the position.

He played a wonderful game for Brighton in the Carling Cup by all accounts; a 1-0 win against Swansea's next opponents, Sunderland. He might not have had first team football on tap in Swansea, but games similar to the one against Shrewsbury might have seen Harley able to push his case forward. Again, good luck to him.


vs. Sunderland

So, onto Sunderland, who Swansea play this Saturday at 3:00pm in the Liberty Stadium. It's a game full of opportunities: to get a much needed first goal (especially for Danny Graham), to get another point or three on the board and to claw back a little respect from the fans after the woeful display in the Cup.

What do you need to know about Sunderland? They are currently 13th in the Premier League, with one point. They lost 1-0 to Newcastle at home last week, though pushed Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at Anfield in their opening game. They've recently lost players such as Welbeck and Bent, though still have one of World Cup 2010's stars, Asamoah Gyan who is quick, clever and very exciting.

Swansea are actually favourites against last season's top ten team, currently 7/5 (PaddyPower). If I was betting on this one (...who am I kidding, I am betting on this one), I'd put a few pound on Sunderland to win as they are priced at 2/1; seemingly generous odds, all things considered. However, I predict another draw, albeit a score draw – my money is on 1-1 (currently 5/1).

The irritating Jack Army membership scheme: revisited

Once again the severely flawed Jack Army membership scheme did nothing more than irritate Swans fans as they scrambled for Arsenal away tickets this morning.

Fans across social networking and message boards describe the system as “a shambles” “disgraceful” and “shit”. At the present moment this seems to describe the scheme perfectly!

Even those who managed to get tickets are unhappy with the way the club is running the scheme, and rightly so. It's embarrassing for a Premier League club to have to settle for Conference levels of organisation. There was ample time in the pre-season to iron out the wrinkles, so what's going wrong and leading to the backlash from loyal fans?

I was initially dubious as I signed up back in July - however the vague rules and benefits were not enough to put me off if it meant an edge when obtaining highly-sought after tickets.

My “making sense of the scheme” blog that I knocked up in July is here, but even to this day I'm still not 100% sure if it's accurate. I'm not sure anyone is.

Where is the information that states, in black and white (and orange), whether season-ticket holders have priority over those without a season-ticket but with membership to the Jack Army scheme? When do the priority points kick in and how many do you get? When are they awarded? If one person has 15 points but doesn't have a season-ticket does he have priority over the season-ticket holder with 13 points? Confused? Welcome to the club - 20,000 and growing.

These aren't hypothetical questions by the way. I may have missed a vital page or six on the official site, but I would actually like to know the answers!

A further slap in the face is the fact that so many fans have handed either £10 or £25 over for, essentially, nothing. I think I've somehow lost the initial email containing my membership number (which makes me wonder whether they actually sent an email out?). This leaves me without login details. For £25 it might have been nice to see a membership card, similar to the season-ticket card, to welcome you into the club. A certificate even. Just some evidence that you are involved.

Ultimately we are left with a club that, like it handled the season-tickets, Wembley tickets and various other events in the past few months, let itself down with poor organising.

I think it's time to either abolish the system and refund each member's money or sort it out properly – full list of who gets priority in what order, what the procedure is for buying tickets and what benefits we will actually receive for our money!

The media's focus should be on the attractive football Swansea produce, not the ugly organisation.

I'll end with some comments that I've lifted from Twitter and Facebook, from a range of Swansea supporters.


“Total shambles! Fixtures not there (online) to start, then showing members inactive!”

“I think having no physical proof of membership is wrong. My Girlfriend signed to a similar scheme with Cardiff Blues and has a card”

“They need a good kick in, due to the fact that b*****ds who don't even support the Swans have got tickets!”

“They had better get a real internet company in and sort the system out as its only gonna get worse”

“Its a disgrace, the way they are treating the fans, absolute disgrace”