Prior to last week, the Swans had achieved only one win in their last 10 premiership games. For weeks they have hovered just above the relegation zone only to witness teams below them picking up points and inexorably closing the gap on them.
Sunderland were firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, but within four days earned a valuable point against Manchester City and unbelievably defeated Chelsea away.
The accepted total of points generally regarded as the safety net is 40, and with four games remaining the Swans travelled to Newcastle with 33 points. Newcastle are safe from the drop and really had nothing to play for save a win in front of their faithful and adoring fan base.
Initially it didn’t look too promising when Newcastle grabbed the lead in the 23rd minute. Fortunately the Swans equalized on the stroke of half time through a bullet header from their 12 million pound striker Wilfried Bony.
I nervously kept an eye on the score line throughout the second half and to be honest I would have been satisfied with a point. However fate invariably takes a hand and Newcastle conceded a penalty at the death. Bony duly stepped up and blasted the ball into the roof of the net claiming the much needed 3 points.
I guess there are several reasons the Swans have struggled this season. There were rumors in the summer that manager Michael Laudrup was dissatisfied with the limited amount of money available to buy new players. He remained in charge, but appeared to be disinterested. Following a series of indifferent results, a lethargic display against West Ham in February led to his dismissal. Swans veteran Gary Monk was appointed Head Coach for the remainder of the season which was a gutsy move by the Chairman considering Monk had no managerial experience.
On the player front, last season’s top goal scorer Michu has been injured for most of the season. Record signing Wilfried Bony missed pre-season and took several games to get into gear.
Big money signings Hernandez and Shelvey have been inconsistent, stalwarts Britton and Rangel have shown advancing years are catching up with them and they would probably be better off playing in MLS in America. Mysteriously Korean midfielder Ki signed from Celtic for 5 million pounds a little over 12 months ago was loaned to Sunderland for the season. I thought it was rather bizarre.
Ashley Williams the lynchpin of the defence is no longer the dominant presence he once was. His defensive partner Chico is a liability and clearly is not Premiership standard.
Dyer, Routledge and Davies are decent players, but if the Swans manage to escape relegation, the squad is obviously in need of an injection of new quality players. The question is whether Gary Monk will be appointed Head Coach/Manager on a permanent basis. The odds of that happening will be considerably shortened if he manages to retain Premiership status.
Tomorrow’s game against potential fellow relegation candidates Aston Villa is another vital step towards safety. It’s not necessarily a must win for the Swans but it would certainly make the remaining two games of the season a little less nerve racking.