[themaclad]

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE 8 SWANSEA 11

Manager
Russell Martin

Milton Keynes Dons
On 3 November 2019, following the departure of manager Paul Tisdale, Martin was announced as the new permanent first-team manager of League One club Milton Keynes Dons – the club he had joined as a player earlier in the year.[44] Following his appointment, the club finished 19th in League One, with the season finishing prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[45]

Martin, alongside assistant Luke Williams, installed a possession-based style of play at the club which received widespread plaudits.[46] On 2 March 2021, Martin's side scored after a 56-pass move, a new British record at the time.[47] At the culmination of the 2020–21 season, only Manchester City and Barcelona had a higher average possession percentage in Europe than Martin's MK Dons.[47][48] His team also had the most touches in the opposition box in League One,[49] despite mixed results throughout the season which saw the club finishing 13th in the league.[50]

On 31 July 2021, MK Dons confirmed that Championship club Swansea City had requested to speak to Martin about him becoming their new manager.[51]

Swansea City
On 1 August 2021, Martin was named head coach of Swansea City, signing a three-year contract.[52] He was appointed six days before the first game of the 2021–22 Championship season.[52] He was joined by his assistants Luke Williams, Matthew Gill, and Dean Thornton.[52]

His first game in charge was a 2–1 away loss to Blackburn Rovers, which was followed by a 3–0 away win against Reading in the EFL Cup.[53][54] Martin's first home game was a 0–0 draw with Sheffield United at the Swansea.com Stadium.[55] On 20 August, Martin won his first league game as Swansea beat Bristol City 1–0.[56] In October, Martin led Swansea to a 3–0 win against rivals Cardiff City in the South Wales derby.[57] Later in the season, Swansea beat Cardiff 4–0 in the reverse fixture; Swansea became the first side to complete the league double in the derby's 110-year history.[58] Martin said, "I have not felt as emotional as this after a game... to watch the backroom staff and the players enjoy that with the supporters was the best moment I've had as a manager I'd say."[59]

In his first season at the club, Swansea finished 15th in the league.[60]

FAMOUS SWANSEA PERSON WHO WON'T BE AT THE GAME

Catherine Zeta-Jones CBE (/ˈziːtə/; born 25 September 1969)[a] is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her film and humanitarian work.

Born and raised in Swansea, Zeta-Jones aspired to be an actress from a young age. As a child, she played roles in the West End productions of the musicals Annie and Bugsy Malone. She studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools, London and made her stage breakthrough with a leading role in a 1987 production of 42nd Street. Her screen debut came in the unsuccessful French-Italian film 1001 Nights (1990), and she went on to find greater success as a regular in the British television series The Darling Buds of May (1991–1993). Dismayed at being typecast as the token pretty girl in British films, Zeta-Jones relocated to Los Angeles. She established herself in Hollywood with roles that highlighted her sex appeal, such as in the action film The Mask of Zorro (1998) and the heist film Entrapment (1999).

Zeta-Jones received critical acclaim for her performances as a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic (2000) and a murderous singer in the musical Chicago (2002), winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter. She starred in high-profile films for much of the decade, including the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003), the heist film Ocean's Twelve (2004), the comedy The Terminal (2004), and the romantic comedy No Reservations (2007). Parts in smaller-scale features were followed by a decrease in workload, during which she returned to the stage and played an ageing actress in a Broadway production of A Little Night Music (2009), winning a Tony Award. Zeta-Jones continued to work intermittently in the 2010s, starring in the films Side Effects (2013), Red 2 (2013) and Dad's Army (2016), as well as the television miniseries Feud: Bette & Joan (2017), in which she portrayed actress Olivia de Havilland.

Aside from acting, Zeta-Jones is a brand endorser and supports various charitable causes. Her struggle with depression and bipolar II disorder has been well documented by the media. She is married to actor Michael Douglas, with whom she has two children.

To think John Blue Peter Leslie went out with her

In The Dressing Room

There should be no fresh injury concerns for manager Ryan Lowe to worry about, with all of his players seemingly coming through the weekend’s victory over Middlesbrough unscathed.

Andrew Hughes made his return from injury in that fixture, while Alan Browne was also in the starting XI to make his 350th appearance for the club.

Long-term absentee Troy Parrott will miss out, while Patrick Bauer will also be unavailable as he continues to build his fitness following a return to training.

A Look At Our Visitors


After finishing 15th last season during Russell Martin’s first year at the club, Swansea City are now looking to push for a place in the top six come the end of the campaign.

They’re well-placed as things stand going into Tuesday night, currently occupying that final Play-Off spot, and they’ve won seven times in their past ten league games.

It took some time for former MK Dons boss Martin to implement his possession-based style of football, but the Swans are now averaging over 60 per cent each game, and making good use of it too.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 67
PNE wins: 22
Draws: 18
Swansea City wins: 27
Last victory: PNE 3-1 Swansea City, 28th August 2021

One To Watch

After missing the past three games through suspension, Swansea’s top scorer Joël Piroe will be back available to Russell Martin on Tuesday night.

The Dutch striker – who netted 22 league goals in his debut campaign in England last term – has four goals to his name so far this season, but has missed the chance to build on that tally in recent weeks following his red card against Burnley earlier in the month.

Republic of Ireland international Michael Obafemi has been used as the sole striker in Piroe’s absence, but the 23-year-old will be hoping he can slot straight back into the starting XI.

Match Officials

John Busby will referee his second PNE game of the season on Tuesday evening.

Busby took charge of North End’s 1-0 victory away to Coventry City earlier in the campaign, and it was only last season that he first refereed PNE in the Championship.

Busby has shown 47 yellow cards and two reds in 12 matches so far this season, and he will be assisted by Rob Smith and Geoffrey Liddle on Tuesday, with Geoff Eltringham the fourth official.



MACS VIEW

The EFL have a great idea of having local derbies at night matches hopefully the Swans fans making the mammoth round trip will arrive home safely sometime on Wednesday morning pointless but that will depend on whether we get the ball from then and if we can do anything with it. A new found sense of optimism around Deepdale as we actually scored two and doubled our goal tally at home this season. Swans are doing decently this season oin the play off zone and given the nature of the league this season have every chance of going close
Going back years remember Toshack bringing his newly promoted side to Deepdale and spending the entire second half passing back to keeper from the half way line hopefully will not be like that tomorrow

[themaclad]

Preston North End 1 Potts Swansea City 0

PNE line-up: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, McCann, Whiteman (Ledson, 23), Browne, Brady; Evans (Maguire, 78), Riis (Woodburn, 86). Subs not used: Cornell, Fernández, Cunningham, Johnson.

Swansea City line-up: Benda; Cabango, Darling, Latibeaudiere; Naughton (Okoflex, 56), Grimes, Fulton (Cooper, 73), Manning; Cundle (Obafemi, 67), Ntcham (Paterson, 56); Piroe. Subs not used: Fisher, Wood, Sorinola.

Attendance: 13,631 (428 away fans)

Referee: Mr J Busby.

A good win last night against a more than decent Swansea side, who dominated the baall for vast periods of the game but were unable to get past Lindsay, Storey and Hughes who were outstanding and when they did find a way to goal were denied by Woodman who made two great saves. Only slight criticism is when we had the ball we did tend to waste it.
Two changes for us Hughes and Evans started and the latter every credit to him put in a mighty shift.
Lots of possession early on for the visitors but we looked dangerous on the break especially Potts got into some great positions however was let down by his final ball apart from the ball across the six yard box which Riis put wide when well placed.
Whiteman suffered an early injury which left us down to ten for a minute, almost cost us, Piroe centre of goal should have done better headed wide.
Took the lead on the half hour, hopeful ball into the box Darling cocks up, Evans effort blocked , ball runs to Potts left footed and in it goes.
Swansea instantly upped the tempo and forced us back up to half time, looked extremely dangerous but couldn't score. It was a sign of what would happen in the second half.
Apart from two efforts by Evans we saw little of Benda's area as a siege of our penalty area began, possibly the Swns overplayed at times but when it got to the business end they were not going to score, Fulton denied by Woodman, Darling shot across the face of the goal and right at the death Manning couldn't get it past Woodman. Statistics show they only had four efforts on target, 70% possession, just superb by the defence.
Another game on Friday will by interesting to see how much is left in the tank for some of them.
As for Swansea a bit like us not willing to have a shot from distance but they will go close that is why it was three excellent points last night.

Finally the official seemed to book people for breathing last night not the best

Preston manager Ryan Lowe:

"I thought we got it spot on tactically. I think the character shown from the group to see it through was fantastic.

"Listen, Swansea are a good team, let's make no mistake about it. For us to get the goal and have the opportunity to get one or two more, and to keep them to four [efforts] on target - the same as us - the character and desire was fantastic.

"The game-plan was set around triggers, when to go and when not to go, because if you go too early they can pop it round you.

"I thought tactically it was spot on from everyone."

Swansea head coach Russell Martin:

"We tried for 90-odd minutes. I thought we were brilliant. We had two scary moments in the first half, both from not marking in the box, and we concede a goal from a mistake.

"It's disappointing to concede like that. But Harry's been great recently - he will bounce back.

"It was attack after attack in the second half. We need to score. We didn't have that final bit of composure.

"I think nine times out of 10, playing like we did in the second half we come away with at least a point. I am really frustrated a the result but can't be too unhappy with the performance."