The Calmest People On Earth? Buddhist Priests........And Now Swansea City Fans

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

The last time I chatted about Swansea City was when they knew they had got relegated from the Premier League. All these months later in their first season in the Championship I find myself chatting to a few people I know from work who are fans. And whilst I'm not saying it's scientific (I'm talking about three people here) they seem to say the same thing.

All three talk about this season being one of rebuilding from the decline that occurred before last one. Of consolidation. That in the previous few seasons Swansea City had lost it's way (which you could I'd suggest put on the moment they sacked Garry Monk as manager).

They are at time of writing seventh in the table. A few places outside of the play-off places. And yet they all say that it wouldn't bother them if Swansea were not promoted as long as the team spirit returns.

They are encouraged that the current manager, Graham Potter is bringing deserving younger players to the first team. The days when it was full of foreign players have now gone, presumably because in this level they're unaffordable.

And there is praise for Potter as well, who'd previously worked in Sweden. Because Swansea have regained the knack of picking talented but unusual managers. They'd lost that in their dog days in the Premiership also. The name "Bob Bradley" was the one time one of the three fans got animated (Let's say the air was bluer than  Cardiff City shirt).

Is this calm a good thing? Well they know their club more than I do. My gut instinct is in the short term yes. Because it would be pointless for Swansea if they went up and were not ready to face what the Premier League would bring.

But in the long term no it isn't. Swansea City fans shouldn't be a metaphor for most of the Welsh people as a whole. Being too nice and accepting bad things being imposed on them. If there's no success next season then they should bang their fists on the metaphorical table and demand better from the American owners.

Until the next time.

From A Jack To Still A King..Just A Sadder One. Swansea City Today

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

About two and a half months ago Swansea City fans I knew were not exactly gloating but were smiling to me, probably the only West Ham fan they knew at the fact that their team had won 4-1. At that time, the way the football mood was melding it appeared that the Swans were going, like last season, to escape relegation by the skin of their teeth whilst the hammers looked as if they were on the way down to the Championship.

Fast forward to today the thirteenth of May. West Ham play Everton knowing that they secured another Premiership season a week ago. Swansea City however were relegated. Their extremely slim chances were cut to non existence by losing 2-1 to already relegated Stoke City.

And with that relegation there's the example of how fairy stories don't always have a happy ending. Or if they do unexpected bumps occur. Their rise from Division Two and the brink of bankruptcy to the Premiership and their first ever cup competition win is the stuff of legend. They were the team people admired and yet now they are relegated. Of course to add insult to injury their bitter local rivals Cardiff City are taking their place amougst the elite.

(A quick aside here. I've not met that many Cardiff fans gloating about Swansea's fate. If only because they would have wanted to have seen the return of the South Wales derby)

So how has it come to this? Well their American owners have to take a vast amount of blame for their fate. But probably with hindsight their decline truly began in November 2015 when the Chief executive Huw Jenkins sacked club stalwart and then manager Garry Monk (I chatted about his autobiography (written whilst still with the club) in this blog. Read with hindsight it's probably the most bittersweet football book you will ever read. Just as the film about their rise to the Premiership, From A Jack To A King, will be probably the most bittersweet football film you'll see for a while.

Whether the firing of Garry Monk was justified or not is not the point here. The point is that by sacking him in an attempt to stay in the Premiership Swansea City lost their innocence. That certain somethng that made them different from other clubs was gone. They were like all the rest.

And then we come to the American owners. I suspect that they felt that the Swans were going to be a sort of Premiership cash cow. Because when Huw Jenkins and the previous group of businessmen took over the club from the brink of bankruptcy they seemed to have the knack for the most part of picking the right manager. People like Roberto Martinez or Brendon Rodgers seemed to be left of centre managers capable of finding inexpensive but talented players from across Europe (I chatted about the book Spanish Swans by Pablo Gomez which went into this).

However when the American owners took over that knack was already eluding the Swans. They had just survived staying up last season. There was I remember a tweet by a Conservative Welsh councillor that mentioned that Swansea City like Theresa May was "strong and stable" (this was during the election) forgetting as I reminded him that last season they had three managers so not so strong and stable (he blocked me since).

So if the club were unable to find cheap bargains like Michu anymore they needed the owners to put up much more money to provide players that would keep them up. This they didn't do and despite the false dawn of  manager Carlos Carvalhal's early results (including the West Ham one) gradually the growing problems came to damn them to relegation.

The future? Who knows. But as club legend Leon Britton said. It would be better that they were out of the top flight for years if it meant that when they did return they were ready for life again in the Premiership.

As a West Ham fan I hope they do.

Until the next time.

The Most Bittersweet Football Book You Will Ever Read

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday I finished Loud, Proud and Positive an autobiography of Garry Monk. Who was at the time this book was published (2012) the captain of Swansea City.

Now for those of you who have forgotten that timeframe Brendan Rodgers was Swansea City manager and during this eight year period he was mainly captain of the team when he moved from (what is now) Division two to the Premier League. He played (and was mainly captain) for city during this period and then subsequently became manager, after Michael Laudrup,in 2014. So you see he had a long footballing career with this club and was iconic.

Unfortunately, and I'll be coming to this later, he was sacked almost a year ago when results were not going well and is now manager of Leeds United and must be doing a good job given that he's still there when the owner gives the impression sacking managers is a hobby.

So let's get back to the book. Although Garry Monk wasn't there when Swansea City was at it's lowest ebb as it was a match away from extinction he (with ghost writer Peter Read) is able to convey that remarkable rise up the divisions. Whilst calling it magic is probably overdoing the hyperbole there was something in the air in that period. Incidentally if you can catch the documentary of Swansea City at this time, Jack To A King, I can heartily recommend it.

It wasn't plain sailing either. The chapter when Paulo Sousa became manager is fascinating in itself.

And the point is that Garry Monk, born in Bedford England became for want of a better word, Swansea. You can tell by reading his accounts of their footballing confrontations with the hated enemy Cardiff City that his colours are tied to the Jack army mast.

As a book it's readable and races along at a good pace. For those who are interested in this sort of thing there is more information about his personal life in his photos than in the text, which personally I don't mind,

It's an good read and I think conveys the person Garry Monk seems to be on the TV. A committed but essentially decent man

But...

As I've said this library book was published in 2012. It does not show Swansea's Carling cup victory or his initially successful career as manager. However neither does it mention his sacking on 9th December last year due to a poor series of results. So when you read this book and it's optimistic tone it's with a feeling of sadness as you, the reader, know what's going to happen next.

Whether you think that the sacking was justified or not (and personally I think he was entitled to at least the remainder of the year to see whether he could have turned things around) I do think that Swansea changed as a club from that moment on. They were no longer different. They now seemed to be just like any other club. A feeling that has been consolidated by their takeover by an American consortium.

Because I'm a West Ham fan (and I know that analogies can be stretched) the person he reminds me of is John Lyall. Who spent many years in the club before being sacked as manager after the Hammers were relegated from what was then Division One. His autobiography Just Like My Dreams is a sad read for a West Ham fan. For again, the club seemed to change irrevocably. Should Garry Monk eventually write another autobiography It'll remind me of Lyall's book, but I would read it.

That all said I was pleased Swansea City won yesterday in their remarkable game vs Crystal Palace, for as I've said in the past my attitude to all the South Walian teams is akin to being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, Though that said my wife, West Ham, is now in a worse position in the league than it was in the beginning of the day.

They will need these victories, remarkable or not, to continue. When I spoke to a couple of Swansea City fans at work yesterday before the match they seemed to have a mindset of preparing for relegation. Such was their poor start to the season. One said to me that if the Swans had lost he was going to sell his season ticket in Ebay.

Until the next time