Friday 25 May 2012

Swansea City: Hello Sigurdsson? Goodbye Tate? Stay there Dobbie?

It's been just under two weeks since Swansea City last took to the field. Brendan Rodgers has barely opened his bottle of SPF 30 and the summer rumours, links and signings are already in full flow.

Too many rumours begin and end on Twitter and, with no attribution, it's barely worth taking notice of most of them. However, some may have legs...

Let's briefly catch up with what's been going on:

Gylfi Sigurdsson
I began writing several posts on Sigurdsson, but as soon as I went to publish them we heard of another twist in the story. It seems Huw Jenkins is opening his wallet wide to grab the Icelandic midfielder, who played such a key role in the latter stages of the season. He filled the centre of the pitch nicely, netting many goals in style for the Swans, so it's no wonder everyone wants him to stay on.

The latest news seems to be that Swansea have agreed a £7.2million fee with Hoffenheim after Huw Jenkins flew to Germany. Sigurdsson must now agree personal terms and decide if he wants to make the switch permanently.

Let us hope it's all sorted soon and £7.2million is the limit. Though he is clearly a quality player, the whole budget shouldn't be spent on one man. You never know - he may have his own bout of 'second-season syndrome'! But I'm almost certain that won't happen. A decision is coming soon though; an announcement we all anticipate highly.

Tate and Monk Released?! 
No... at least I don't think so. But I bring this up as I recently overheard someone say 'I don't believe they've released Tate and Monk from their contracts!'. Thankfully a quick internet search proved it to be another nothing rumour, and rightly so.

While they are struggling in the Premier League they should never be forced out, for two reasons: one being Swansea are severely lacking defenders at the moment. If Taylor and Rangel take a knock, it's Tate who will step in. We don't even have the luxury of two fresh, young centre-backs at the moment with the departure of Caulker, so Monk is currently first choice along with Williams.

The other reason should be obvious - they are Swansea City. Despite being somewhat past their prime, both Monk and Tate are key figures to have on the bench, in the dressing room and, when it's called for, on the field. I'm sure they'd take pay cuts if needs be, but to be released just like that? No!

Stephen Dobbie
Still on the Swans books, but will he play again? Watching the play-off semi-finals it was clear to see why the Blackpool fans love him. His touch, his vision... he is the complete player. For the Championship. Yes, I fear Dobbie is a very good Championship player and that is his limit.

Is it worth keeping him? With the probable signing of Sigurdsson, Dobbie is even less likely to start for Swansea next season, so I think now is the time to let him go (for a nice lump sum of course - £1million is the current price tag). Naturally, he won't be forgotten easily, after what he did for the team in the promotion winning season, but I think most would be happier to see him make the switch to Blackpool permanently.

Marvin Emnes 
Swansea were linked with Marvin Emnes last week, but that little rumour did the rounds and died. Like Dobbie he seems to be a fantastic Championship player and will always be remembered for his goal against Cardiff, but I can't confidently say he'd make an impact on the Premier League.

Rodgers to Liverpool 
He wasn't first choice for the Liverpool job and didn't want to upset the Swans players and supporters, so his decision not to get involved with talks was clever and ultimately the correct choice.

And the rest...
Rodgers to Roma, Emile Heskey to Swansea, Allen to Liverpool for £3million - none of these are happening! I can't decide which one is the most absurd and which I dislike the sound of the most...

9 comments:

  1. Gylfi Sigurdsson would be a great move for The Swans in the close season. I think Monk and Tate would fit into the backroom staff as coaches which I think is definate for the team/squad. Brendon loves it at Swansea !. Dobbie and Emnes are still worth thinking about.
    But Swansea now is about signing younger players and I think they should keep hold of their best ones too !!.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not sure if we've heard the end of Brendan's link with Liverpool. I still believe they will and probably tempt him away. Hope not though!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the comments!

    For some reason it all seems to be about Martinez at Liverpool! He's had a decent end of season with Wigan, but they still ended in 15th... Not sure why he is so sought after!

    ReplyDelete
  4. No chance of br going to liverpool. Too much work for him to change the whole setup.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tate....... Swans legend, premier league standard....... not in a million years!!! Just saying like

    ReplyDelete
  6. you cant dismiss tate as not being able to play premiership football,What do you base that on??.I remember fans saying the same when we left div2 and the same in div 1 and yet again in the championship. he proved all the doubters wrong. Who is to say he wont prove fans wrong again and do quite well in the premiership as we cant assess his ability yet as he has hardly played due to injury. give me a team full of tates any day and you know you will get 100% effort and commitment everytime....dismiss tate at your peril...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I completely agree - hence my shock/disgust when I initially heard they were 'releasing them'.

      Truth be told, he has struggled a little, maybe because of the start of his season (golf buggy, etc), but I think he's too valuable an item to give away!

      Delete
  7. And let's not forget BR has mentioned several times the size of tateys old boy! You just can't let a man with a penis as thick as a coke can walk out of our club.

    ReplyDelete