[jjamez]

If ever there was a time to say that a game is a must win, then this is it. Lose and we are effectively down to the third tier for the first time in over a decade. Draw and that puts even more pressure on us in the game next week against Birmingham. Win and we are still alive and fighting, although it feels like we are on life support and the doctors are gathered around just waiting to pull the plug. We are however very dependent on the results of the teams around us, this weekend, Sheffield Wednesday face Blackburn, who's 1-0 victory at Elland Road all but secured their status for another season, but a win against the Owls would confirm that. Their other two games are against West Brom and Sunderland. Birmingham, well they travel to Rotherham, a side that have been down arguably since Christmas, but could an upset be on the cards now that they have sacked Leam Richardson and replaced him with a former manager in the rather rotund shape of Steve Evans. The Scot has decided to leave Stevenage, now that they are no longer in the race for the playoffs and made a brief step up in an effort to get his feet under the table ahead of a rebuild in the summer. He is notorious for getting his players fighting for every point, so hopefully he is able to pick up three to really put the cat among the pigeons. Birmingham's other two games are against us, which could be a very nervy affair and David Wagners Norwich City. Stoke are another side that are not out of the running for the drop, although they are slightly less likely than those down below them obviously. They face fellow basement dwellers Plymouth Argyle at the 365 Stadium, before finishing off with a trip to Southampton and a game against Bristol City. QPR looked to have saved themselves, but it seems like their bubble has burst, and with it they have a fairly difficult run in, with games against Preston, Leeds and Coventry, although as last weekend showed, anyone can beat anyone in this division. Plymouth, i reckon are the final team to be at risk, yes mathematically there are more, but i think the probability of the result swing is drastically unlikely. They finish with games against Stoke, Millwall and Hull. The big issue from my viewpoint here is that there could be a few teams like Bristol and Hull who treat the games as dead rubbers, whilst Norwich and West Brom could rest important players in preparation of the playoffs, it could be that only Leeds, Southampton and Ipswich are truly playing for anything at the top of the league.



Moving on to the Town game. The Terriers welcome Swansea to the John Smiths Stadium, with the Swans being safe and secure, with nothing to play for this season, they do however come into the game on the back of two wins, both at home to relegation threatened sides in Rotherham and Stoke. This is a game however, where i do feel that our physicality could work in our favour, their last two defeats have come against Middlesbrough and QPR, with QPR's goal coming from a set piece. In order to get those situations we are going to have to attack, to stay in the league, we will have to attack, so I do hope Andre realizes that and doesn't try to be too nitty gritty, but if it works and we finish one place outside of the relegation places, I wont be complaining!

It's fair to say that Swansea haven't had the season they were expecting, they had to replace Russell Martin during the summer after he walked out on them to take over at newly relegated Southampton. The club launched legal proceedings against the Scottish manager the other day. Naughty Martin in his place the Swans turned to Cheltenham based Barnsley manager Michael Duff, fresh from failing to beat Darren Moore's Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley. The Northern Irishman's style of play didn't fit in at the Swansea.com Stadium with the fans turning fairly quickly on the head coach, it wasn't long before the players instigated a mini dressing room revolt, demanding a change in playing style. Duff relented but was never likely to stay at the helm for much longer and was relieved of his duties in December. It would be January when his replacement was found, with Notts County manager Luke Williams being chosen to take the helm, his more attacking and passing football being regarded as a better fit for the side. He has presided over 19 games so far and has won 7 of those, drawing 3 and losing 9. Their overall record this season stands at 14 wins, 11 draws and 18 defeats, with goals seemingly difficult to come by at times, with Jamal Lowe and Jerry Yates leading the charts for them with 8 goals apiece, whilst former Town loanee Jamie Paterson and Liam Cullen both have 7, for assists Matt Grimes leads the way with 6, with Paterson and Josh Tymon both on 5.



The previous meeting between the two sides came back in November when a 94th minute equaliser from Charlie Patino denied Town all three points after they went ahead thanks to a Ben Cabango own goal. Moore's side defended for most of the match, mustering only 5 shots and 23% possession over the course of the game. This was just 1 of 63 meetings between the two sides, with Town having the upper hand since the first meeting way back on christmas day in 1952, Town have come out on top 26 times over the years with 19 draws and 18 defeats to complete the record. Its always felt like Swansea have been a bogey side for us, especially in our lower league days, but it appears I was mistaken and it is more a case that Lee Trundle just enjoyed scoring against us but we more than held our own. The meetings between the two sides since the we reached the Premier League have been slightly more even, with 3 defeats, 3 draws and 2 wins, which can only mean one thing for Saturday right? right? The first Premier League meeting was down in Wales where Town lost 2-0 thanks to a Tammy Abraham brace, if memory serves, there could have been a defensive boo boo that led to one of the goals, the return fixture was a 0-0 draw, Andre Ayew was sent off after only 11 minutes but Town were unable to break through for the rest of the game, it was the first goalless meeting between the sides since the 1970's.



Swansea wouldn't survive that season, but Town would, meaning the next meeting between the two would come back in the Championship a season later when Town suffered the same fate. The first game back in the Championship between the two sides would be a 1-1 draw. Jay Fulton put the away side ahead, before Karlan Grant equalised shortly before half time, loan midfield/defender Trevoh Chalobah saw red just before full time. The away game resulted in a 3-1 win for the Swans, but it was arguably a harsh result, Ayew put them ahead in the first half, before Steve Mounie equalised in the 78th minute, however, only minutes later Fulton put the home side back ahead before Wakefield born Jordan Garrick sealed the deal in the 90th minute. COVID struck and football moved behind closed doors, but Town managed to do the double over the Swans that season. Away from home, Harry Toffolo and Josh Koroma scored either side of Ayew's penalty to give Town a 2-1 win, the home fixture was more of a one sided affair, a 4-1 win with goals coming from Fraizer Campbell, Lewis O'Brien and a brace from Duane Holmes, Connor Hourihane scored the only goal for Swansea. Joel Piroe scored the only goal of the game in what would be our playoff season as Swansea won 1-0, the game in Yorkshire finished 1-1, with a Danel Sinani goal being cancelled out by Flynn Downes. Last season Town drew 0-0 at home, whilst Neil Warnock was unable to inspire Town to a result as they lost 1-0 in Wales.



Swansea are set to be without Joe Allen, Premyslav Placheta and Kyle Naughton on Saturday, with the three set to miss the rest of the season, Josh Ginneley is also out, but returned to the grass this week. There is positive news regarding Nathan Wood as the former Middlesbrough defender is set to return to the squad for Saturday's game. Further news can be seen below;



As for Town, it appears to be a case of as you were, Rudoni and Lees managed to get through the Bristol game unscathed and have had another week with the squad, so will be undoubtedly selected for Saturdays match. It has also been another week on the grass for Rhys Healey, Bojan Radulovic and Danny Ward, meaning that one of the strikers should be able to get through at least 60 minutes. Unfortunately it seems that Radino Balker and Jonny Hogg will miss the game once again, Balker is probably now in a position where his season is over, with Hogg, you never know with him, there is every chance he will take an injection or play through it, much like when he broke his neck against Bristol City but was back in a week...

For Jj, I would probably try to line up as aggressive as possible and try to get in their faces, Swansea were down with us for a fair portion of the season, so whilst they may have a few more technical players than us, it is clear that there are quite a few deficiencies in their play, we have this too, ours is called scoring a goal... part of me is tempted to suggest being unchanged and have the strikers come on when the game is more stretched, but part of me feels that something like, Nicholls in goal, Kasumu rwb, helik, pearson, lees at cb and Spencer at lwb. Midfield duo of Matos and Rudoni, with Burgzorg and Thomas flanking Bojan or Ward (who will probably be ineffective as a starter as normal) use Koroma and Healey from the bench. If we are chasing Kasumu or Matos can come off for a forward and Thomas shift to the rwb role or go to a flat back 4. I think set pieces will be key for us at the weekend, so part of me wants to out number them for height, to the extent that 4-4-2 becomes an option with both Ward and Bojan starting from the off...

In other news the Specsavers home for blind officials have made contact with Town to state that the awarding of the penalty was wrong, however now apology was issued, to be fair it never is, we've done well to even get an acknowledgment, i can't remember the last time they have public acknowledged and apologised for a refereeing performance, probably the early 2000's when the standard of reffing in the premier league was slightly better than it is now. Rebecca Welch has been demoted to a 4th official this weekend whilst John Busby has been named as the official for our game. He has yet to even book a Town player this season, so maybe we might get some semblance of a competent performance?

For more team news and ref watch, Andre the Giants press conference can be seen below, he even brought star pupil for the week Rhys Healey to meet the nasty media people.



Who should we be looking out for I hear snoots ask?

Jamie Paterson- the attacking midfielder spent a season on loan here from Nottingham forest, a few between the two clubs was agreed to see him join David Wagners side permanently, but the then forest owner kept moving the goal posts in regards to the deal and town ended up going after Kasey Palmer instead. Paterson would leave the city ground and go to Bristol City for a few seasons, starting off well and then falling out of favour before moving to Swansea. Capable of unlocking defences he will need to be well marshaled to curb his creative tendencies.



Jamal Lowe - joint top scorer for the side, lowe was highly promising whilst at Portsmouth and earned a move to then championship side Wigan, but upon relegation and financial problems he left and joined swansea. After an impressive season there, he was courted by Bournemouth and made the move to the premier League chasing club, but struggled to flourish and saw himself sent out on loan to QPR before being sent out once again back to Swansea. There's a good chance that he will be joining permanently this summer, but in terms of playing style, quick and direct but in the words of Troy Deeney about Ollie Watkins, he's a winger trying to be a striker...we have a few of those.



Matt Grimes- another who has been mentioned in the thread, impressed at the start of his career at Exeter before moving to then premier league Swansea. Played a handful of games whilst they were there but went out on loan to Blackburn and Leeds but found the championship a touch too high, before going on loan to Northampton in league one. This set him up nicely and upon his return to Wales, he became a main stay in the middle of the park and is now their captain. Not really an attacking threat, but he will break play up and is usually on set piece duty for deliveries into the box.



Ben Cabango- the 23 year old Welsh international defender has played nearly every game for the swans this season, not a slouch over the ground and solid in the air, the upcoming defender will be a target for premier league clubs in the coming years and a lot of that will all be due to his loan at giants TNS at the start of his career. Cabango has scored for town before in his career and has notched 2 goals this season so far, but will be the main man in stopping towns attacks, especially when Mr darling his central partner is more prone to going on an adventure further upfield.



There has been a few that have played there trade in West Yorkshire and Wales, illustrious names such as David Edgar, the defender who had a very brief and nondescript loan at the John Smith's, his loan was even shorter, although he did manage to have some sort of career in England, playing quite a few games for the likes of Burnley. He's now playing and coaching over in his native Canada.



Another former town loanee in the form of Leon knight played for both clubs, the troubled forward was essentially the Nile ranger before Nile ranger, talent but not the attitude to make it count, favouring getting up to no good away from the pitch rather than doing the business on it. That wasn't to say he couldn't, his loan from Chelsea to town saw him almost fire town straight back to old division one, but suspension towards the end of the season effectively prevented that. Further loans to Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton didn't yield the same out put, but Brighton saw enough to sign him permanently. Three years on the south coast saw 32 goals, before a switch to Swansea. He scored 19 in 25 for the jacks, but his off field trouble saw them move him on. After that, he bounced around going to places like Greece, Ireland and the big brother house, before eventually retiring and continuing to cause controversy much like Joey Barton.



A defender we had on loan that also featured for swansea is Mr Richards, although he wasn't all that jazz for either of us. He began his career and Swansea and from there he came here on loan, featuring just the 9 times in his brief spell, that being said he only managed to play 39 games over 6 years for swansea before moving to Fulham and then back to Wales to play for Cardiff. Most recently he has been playing in the Welsh leagues for haverfordwest, where he still plays to this day to my knowledge . Surprising considering he could probably play league one or two in England.



Next on the list is one Kasey Palmer, the current Coventry city playmaker began his career at Chelsea but town gave him his first taste of senior football as he helped the club get promoted to the premier League. He would rejoin on loan, but a few behavioural issues off the pitch saw him frozen out by David Wagner and eventually his second loan was ended and he joined Derby county on loan. He couldn't help them get promoted and it seemed like his spark had gone, as he struggled on his next loan out, this time to blackburn. He would end up on loan at Bristol city, where he struggled a bit, but the chance was taken on him and he joined permanently. He lasted 3 years there, years where he was in and out often, partly down to injuries as well as including a loan to Swansea. Some thought he was coming back here, but eventually he plumped for Coventry city and has been a key member as they continue to be in and around the playoffs.



Now my quizzing brain isn't really braining. So there will only be a few Swansea anagrams for you to deal with.

1) hysteric lawn
2) we find miller
3) overt mirrors
4) a creep lyric
5) dean weary
6) devil fetch
7) a masker yelps
8) blew boat tap
9) we turn in jail
10) jet hacks