Swansea secure top flight status for another season

Swansea saw cemented their status in the Premier League this weekend. Paul Clement’s men did their job by seeing off a lacklustre Sunderland side 2-0 away home from and were duly rewarded with safety as Crystal Palace thrashed Hull 4-0 to condemn the Tigers to the Championship.

It was a spirited display from the Swans but even by Sunderland’s standards this season, their display was poor. Still, nothing can be taken away from Clement and his side, the former Derby County manager has done a remarkable job in turning around their fortunes and deserves some credit. Swansea wanted it more than Sunderland, chased every loose ball, every pass, every cross, the fight they put up at the Stadium of Light was truly commendable.

Fernando Llorente opened the scoring inside ten minutes, heading home Gylfi Sigurdsson’s free-kick to score his 14th of the season whilst making it Sigurdsson’s 13th assist. The Spaniard has been crucial to his side’s survival, particularly their current four game unbeaten run in which has scored in all three of Swansea’s victories. The link-up play between the striker and midfielder called the Wearsiders problems all afternoon, though David Moyes men did not look too keen to do something about it and Swansea continued to dominate.

The visitors’ efforts were rewarded on the stroke of half-time as Kyle Naughton wrapped up the victory with a superb goal. The full-back piled a brilliant angled drive into the far top scorer past a hapless Jordan Pickford to worsen the Black Cats’ misery. The goal sent the brilliant travelling support into raptures as this spurred their team to the finish line, knowing another season in the top flight beckoned. What could have been a nervy encounter proved to be a stroll in the park for Swansea and now all eyes were on Crystal Palace v Hull.

Following Hull’s disappointing defeat to Sunderland last weekend, a lash back from Marco Silva’s men may have been on the cards. Fortunately for Swansea and Big Sam, Hull delivered a performance that would make even Sunderland blush and Palace were allowed to run riot. Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aanholt each scored in the four goal rout to secure both theirs and Swansea’s Premier League status.

Whilst it’s by no means the greatest of escapes for Paul Clement and his men, it’s a hell of an achievement. The Swansea have had three managers this season and found themselves at the bottom of the table at the midway point of the season, boasting a mere 12 points. It’s a great turn around for Swansea and Clement can now look to the future and begin to build a squad that is ready to compete in the top flight.

Preview: Swansea v Everton

Swansea host Everton tomorrow in a crunch tie that will help decide the Swans’ Premier League fate. Paul Clement’s men currently reside in 18th place, two points adrift of safety and desperately need a win if they are going to survive. Everton will be a tough test with the Toffees flying high in 7th place.

Clement will be buoyed by news that Fernando Llorente has recovered from a stomach bug in time, however, Jefferson Montero’s season looks to be over due to a niggling hamstring injury. The game comes too soon from Angel Rangel who will return to training next week after missing two months through injury.

Everton will be looking to comeback from their 3-0 drubbing at home to leader’s Chelsea whilst Swansea will be keen to extend their unbeaten run to three games. Clement’s side picked up a respectable 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last week, off the back of a promising 2-0 home win over Stoke. If the hosts do go unbeaten, it will be the first time they have done so for three league games this season and if they win, it will be their first back-to-back home wins since May 2016.

Undoubtedly, Swansea will be wary of Everton’s good form and should not be fooled by Ronald Koeman’s six away games without a win, though they should look to exploit the Toffees’ away day misery. Everton have never lost a league match away to the Swans, winning eight and drawing three of the last eleven fixtures and that is something Clement must change tomorrow as time is running out, and fast.

Swansea are unbeaten in their last five games against the Toffees and if they wish to take that to six games, they must be at the top of their game defensively. They may not be bottom but Clement’s men hold the accolade for the worst defensive record in the league, conceding a total of 69. And with players like Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley headed to the Liberty, they can’t afford any mistakes as they could prove fatal.

If the Swans are to get one over on Koeman’s side then it’s highly like Gylfi Sigurdsson will be involved, out of Swansea’s 20 league goals, the Icelandic man has been directly involved in 21 with creating 12 and scoring nine. In addition to this, the midfielder has seven assists from set-pieces, something which no other player in the league is close to matching.

With Hull at home to Sunderland, it’s looking to be a certain three points for Marco Silva’s men thanks to their impeccable home form and Sunderland’s doomed fate. Clement and his side will know the outcome of that game before the kick-off against Everton and they must cope well under the added pressure. But if they manage to keep their form of the last few games up, they are more than in with a chance.

Paul Clement set to remain as Swan's boss even if the club are relegated

Reports from the Liberty Stadium today suggest that Paul Clement will remain as the club’s manager even if Swansea are condemned to the Premier League.

Currently, the Swans reside in 18th on the league are two points adrift of safety and have just three games to save their top flight status. Clement’s men host Everton at the weekend and head into the game with two respectable performances behind them, following a hard fought 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and a 2-0 home win over Stoke.

Clement arrived at the club at the turn of the year with Claude Makelele joining him as assistant, with experience at Real Madrid and PSG on their CVs. The ex-Derby man recorded his first win as Swansea manager with a 3-2 victory over Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Anfield. Following a successful first month in charge, Clement received an accolade for the Premier League Manager of the Month.

Although the Swans remain in 18th place, 45-year-old undoubtedly has them playing better football. The Premier League table, if started in January, would see Clement’s side in an respectable 11th place whilst fellow stragglers Sunderland and Middlesbrough would still be cemented to the foot of the table. During his 16-game tenure at the Liberty, Clement boasts six wins, two draws and eight losses, compared to 13 losses, three draws and just three wins under Francesco Guidolin and Bob Bradley, both of whom were dismissed.

Chairman Huw Jenkins and American owners are keen to bring stability to the club with the Swans having had three managers in charge this season. Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan visited South Wales last month and held discussions with Clement regarding the club’s long term future, a future they want to be part of. The owners are said to be impressive with the way the former Madrid coach has developed talent at the Liberty and changed the team’s style of play.

If Swansea do take the plunge, there is no doubt that Clement can do a job in the Championship judging by his spell at Derby. Despite the fact Clement lost just one game in 19 from September to December, Clement was given his marching orders having won just one game in seven. He left Pride Park with a record of 14 wins, 12 draws and just seven losses accumulating to a win record of 42.4%. If afforded the funds, Clement is capable of constructing a strong squad that can fight to get back to the top as soon as possible. And if the Swans do survive the drop, he is able to rebuild in the summer to ensure this season’s relegation battle is the club’s last.

Bournemouth v Swans: Recovery Mode

After last weekend's iffy showing against Hull City; Paul Clement will no doubt have told the squad to buckle down and play to win, no matter what. The side looked as though there was too much consideration for the backline rather than pressing forwards and it proved to be Swansea's downfall against Hull - we can't afford this against Bournemouth.

With so many teams around us holding a game in hand advantage; we cannot afford to leave the Vitality Stadium with anything less than three points. Hull are easily the biggest threat to our position of safety but Middlesbrough have a game in hand to upset even the Tiger's party - it's all very complicated at present and the fixture list needs addressing urgently.

Focusing on the game in question; we are set to be without Kyle Naughton unless he passes a very late fitness test to secure his involvement in the game - his influence will be missed should he fail to regain full fitness. Perhaps worse than Naughton's potential absence; Fernando Llorente has been struggling with a dead leg he picked up in training and must shake it off before the game if Clement is to field his preferred line up.

I honestly don't know what went wrong last weekend but I do know that we cannot allow it to happen again. A win could take us above Leicester City where defeat could see us too close to the relegation places for comfort - it all depends on which version of our side turns up!

If it's the free flowing, attacking side that showed the rest of the league we are here to fight then we'll have no problems against Bournemouth. However, if we set up defensively and start to confuse one another again then it will be a long, long trip home from the English South coast.

Either way; I'm looking forward to this game more than most this season as I genuinely can't pick between the sides. Obviously my favour is towards Swansea but it's such a close run thing that I won't be betting on the game - that's for certain.

My hope is 2-0 Swansea but my head is suggesting Bournemouth will at least breach our backline.

Hull v Swansea: The KCOM Calling

If now isn’t the time to press on up the table, then I don’t know if there ever will be a time. Seeing Paul Clement running the entire area of the pitch last weekend has easily become my favourite moment of the season so far – it’s about time we had a manager who wears his heart on sleeve and shows the same passion for victory as the fans!

It was a tense affair last weekend against Burnley but from the moment Olsson levelled the game there was a real feeling that we could win the game around the Liberty – thankfully – Fernando Llorente pulled it off yet again but I didn’t have any nails left by the time he headed in the winner! A bit earlier next time Nando!?

Then again, early goals have proven to be an issue for us earlier in the season as we still struggle to keep clean sheets. That’s nothing against Fabianski nor the back four; we are in the Premier League and there are no easy games! Only Leicester have failed to breach us in the last six league games; winning games is vital but we must stop making it hard for ourselves.

Hull are in the midst of a sticky patch where injuries are concerned as Davies, Mbokani and Evandro look set to miss out. The latter might pass a fitness test but the Tigers are somewhat toothless since they allowed Robert Snodgrass to leave the club in favour of West Ham – great news for us!

Dyer is set to be absent for the Swans once again as he continues his injury struggles; we wish him a speedy recovery but Montero and Ki are both available for selection – will Clement change the winning formula to accommodate the pace and fearlessness of the duo?

Given our clean sheet issues; we will no doubt find ourselves breached at the back but we look imperious moving forwards. The space the midfield are finding to play the ball between themselves is exceptional and strings are being pulled up top to offer avenues towards goal – I can wholly see us outscoring Hull in this one rather than romping to victory.

If you’re a betting character; I’d be backing both teams to score and Swansea to win this one – we need the points to get away from the relegation zone, despite a five point cushion, and Hull are on a rotten run of form.

We’ve got this in the bag, I hope!

Swans v Burnley Preview: Up the Table?

So how do we all feel about the idea of taking an enormous step away from the issues that are plaguing the clubs around us? Three points at home against Burnley will no doubt see us above Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth and beyond the struggling Leicester City – we’re well on the way to safety and it could be a path less travelled looking at the competition.

The last time it was so close at the bottom at this time in the season; allegations were thrown at Sir Alex Ferguson for fielding a weakened side to allow Hull City their Premier League survival. However; things might not be so crass this season as it becomes ever more apparent that Sunderland and Hull have run their course in the top flight so only one place is up for grabs in the drop zone – realistically.

Thankfully, that has nothing to do with us and Sean Dyche’s Burnley turning up on our doorstep is a welcome reminder that we’re off the pace in the Premier League. Winning at Leicester, Liverpool and at home to Southampton proves very little – beating opponents we ought to overtake before the end of the season is a very different.

Annoyingly, Jefferson Montero is back in training but is very, VERY unlikely to feature as the lack of pace in the squad continues overall. Narsingh and Ayew are set to start but at the expense of whom? Wayne Routledge is a key candidate for the chop despite his acceptable performances.

The most likely outcome, according to the BBC, is 1-1 but I can’t see it going to a draw – especially not a low scoring draw. I’ve a feeling that Jeff Stelling will be asking for updates from the Liberty all afternoon – high scoring draw or big scoring victory for the home side.

Burnley lost at Turf Moor in August and are seven points ahead of us – this all means utterly nothing as we’ve lost two managers; bought and sold in January and resurrected our season since then. We’re on for a win here and a decent win at that – I can’t wait for Dyche’s excuses in that 20 a day Marlboro voice. 

Contract Talk: Who Should Get a New Deal?

It’s getting to that time of the season where the first teamers find out if they are to be offered a new deal at the club or if they still have work to do to impress the hierarchy. With January’s transfer window long shut; players are having to stay put whether they want to or not but who should get a new deal with the Swans?

Federico Fernandez

Big Fed might not have been my first choice for a new deal given our defensive issues under Bradders and Guidolin but Paul Clement seems to be a big fan of the Argentine. So much a fan, that Fernandez has signed a new deal today that will keep him at the club until 2020 and up until he is 31 years old – what happens then remains to be seen.

Fernando Llorente

He might not be the super star striker we all believed he would be when he rocked up at the Liberty but he has found his shooting boots and looks comfortable in the team at last. The rumoured interest from Chelsea in January will no doubt force the club’s hand into offering Llorente a new deal that features a fairly large buy-out clause along with a wage increase that would see him level with the team’s top earners: Britts and Gylfi.

Tom Carroll

I don’t care if he’s only just signed his three and a half year deal; this lad needs tying down for five years at least. At 24 Carroll has yet to peak in the traditional sense but he has played a lot of football for a young lad and most of it has been outside of the Premier League. His work ethic is beyond any player I’ve seen in a Swans shirt since Ashley Williams first pulled his jersey on.

We might’ve lost Williams but we cannot lose Carroll if his early performances are anything to go by – an early extension is essential.

Alfie Mawson

Easily a future Swansea City captain, Mawson hasn’t had the easiest career of all our first teamers. A lot of wasted time on loan and a short spell at Barnsley has led him to us and he’s going to be a mainstay in the team for some time.

He is growing in confidence with every game he plays and there’s shades of brilliance in his play – one year into a four year deal will no doubt see an improved contract come the summer to ward off interest from other clubs.

Paul Clement

An odd choice, some might say, but Clement is the future of the club. I have heard rumours that Clement was brought in as a short term option initially given his lack of formal managing experience but we may as well give him a lengthy deal now – it might stop the board from swinging the axe if a run of poor results comes our way; stability is needed. 

Chelsea v Swans: First Game Back!

Apologies for the lack of activity folks but it won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that we’ve had the better part of 12 days off for training whilst the rest of the league has been messing around with the FA Cup and what-not – but we’re back and what a game to come back to: a trip to Stamford Bridge!

I’m not sure I need to point out that Chelsea are currently top of the Premier League and will be looking to tighten their grip on top spot at our expense on Saturday afternoon. However, I firmly believe we can cause them some serious problems courtesy of Paul Clement’s intelligent football styling the lads displayed against Leicester last time out.

Okay; I know there’s a major difference between the now managerless Leicester City and Conte’s Chelsea but we still romped to victory over the Premier League champions without giving them so much as a real chance on goal.

We also need to consider that Paul Clement is a former Chelsea assistant manager and we’re showing signs of that top level experience – I’d be concerned if I were Antonio Conte; especially given their iffy draw against Burnley in their last Premier League game!

Sadly, we’ll be heading for Stamford Bridge without Nathan Dyer (Achilles), Jefferson Montero (hamstring) and Ki Sung-Yeung (knee) which is a damn shame quite frankly. The pace of Dyer and fearlessness of Ki would’ve added another dimension to our play against Chelsea but there’s always a plan B.

Britts is back after injury and Luciano Narsingh and Jordan Ayew are both pushing to start the game against the league leaders. I’m eager to see what Ayew can bring from the start of a game and Narsingh could be ideal cover for Dyer – I just hope his delivery is on point because we’ll stand more chance in the air than we do on the deck.

Sideshow Bob lookalike, David Luiz, and Marcos Alonso are likely to start at the back for Chelsea meaning playing through their backline is unlikely to happen as both are competent ball playing defenders but Luiz in particular often gets caught out in the air as ref’s are wise to his nasty streak – Llorente could profit massively from his hesitance to get embroiled in midair scuffles.

I’m not saying we’ll romp to victory; that’s a bit much to ask if I’m honest but Chelsea look a side who are set to allow complacency into their game. A few passes falling short and the likes of Narsingh and Carroll can nick the ball away and expose the gaps in their three man defensive line.

Paul Clement needs to get it into the player’s heads that it’s just another game and they are no better than us – they just cost more and get paid ludicrous sums to do exactly what we do; play to win every game. 

Jordan Ayew - Why Swansea? Why Now?

Jordan Ayew could make his Swans debut against Leicester on Sunday but what exactly attracted Paul Clement and the club to the former Villa striker? What can he bring to the squad that wasn’t already available? Is there something special about the Ghanaian that we haven’t noticed? What is it that forced the club’s hand?

Ayew was born in France but is of Ghanaian descent making him eligible for the Ghana national side who he has recently represented up to the Semi Final stage of the Africa Cup of Nations – hence his delayed debut for the Swans. Starting his career at Marseille, Ayew was transferred to FC Lorient as he found his first team chances limited at Marseille – this is where he attracted some major attention.

Aston Villa made a move for Ayew just 12 months after he signed for Lorient paying £10.2 million for him – they were confident he’d be exactly what they needed to stay in the Premier League. Sadly, they were wrong but they deployed him in such a way that any striker would’ve struggled. Isolated up front, Ayew found it hard to hit the back of the net and Villa went down.

Now, Ayew has signed for Swansea (for an undisclosed fee and Neil Taylor going in the opposite direction) and it makes him the second Ayew to play for us. Andre Ayew has, of course, departed the club in a £20 million move to West Ham that laced our pockets and shifted on the more tempestuous Ayew sibling.

Jordan Ayew is without doubt a talented striker. He has good technique, plenty of pace but he does rely on the ball coming to his feet a lot of the time. If anything, Ayew reminds me of former Man Utd striker Javier Hernandez – very underrated, makes a lot of great runs and is always on hand to pick up a loose ball. Hopefully he can have a similar impact to the Mexican in the Premier League.

The big question is what he’s going to bring to the squad quite frankly. We’re starting to find the back of the net more regularly, we look more resolute at the back so where can Ayew help? There’s nothing more useful in a team than a player who can change the way the game is being played – Ayew adds more pace to the front line that has been lacking somewhat with the reliance on the classy Llorente and absence of Ki.

When a player of Ayew’s quality becomes available; Premier League clubs can’t ignore it and let him slip away to a rival – Paul Clement has clearly been aware of Ayew for some time and letting Taylor go after nearly seven years with Swansea is a big decision.

The most irritating thing about Ayew’s transfer is definitely the number he has been given. Despite being an out and out striker, Ayew has been handed the number 3 shirt usually reserved for the left full back – absolute madness.

I’m expecting big things from Ayew and I think it’s safe to say the club are too – fingers crossed he can smash one in against Leicester on his debut.

Swans v Leicester: Relegation Battle Commence

Ties don’t get much more important for Swansea right now: Leicester City at home with both sides level on points and skirting dangerously close to the relegation zone – this is what Super Sundays were made for!

Three points will be enough for the Swans to at least leapfrog Leicester but it might also see us move above lacklustre Middlesbrough. Manager of the month Paul Clement has told the press he wants the team to make the home field advantage count – Leicester’s pitch is substantially wider than at the Liberty thanks to their Champion’s League endeavours this year.

Ideally, we can limit Leicester’s wide play to nullify the threat of Riyad Mahrez and Christian Fuchs from full back. It may not seem like much, but a pitch that’s a few yards narrower than a club is accustomed to can make it incredibly difficult to play their normal game – great news for us.

The news that seems to have kept Swansea in the print media this week comes courtesy of Jordan Ayew. The Ghana international agreed his deal on Deadline Day and is back from the Africa Cup of Nations ready to make his Swans debut. Ayew might not have made headlines for Aston Villa but I can see him turning a trick for us; we play his preferred game: keep the ball on the deck, pass and move.

Leicester are also off the back of the only FA Cup Fourth Round replay against Derby. The Foxes won the game in extra time but several first team players were included in the squad – three days rest might not be enough for them to fully recover and Ranieri will need to rotate once again.

It looks as though Ki, Montero and Britton will be absent for Swansea with a knee, hamstring and calf issue respectively. This isn’t too much of a concern thanks to Carroll’s emergence as a key player and Llorente remembering his shooting boots – we can field a side to worry Leicester here.

Schmeichel, Huth, Morgan, Drinkwater, Mahrez and Vardy are all expected to earn recalls to the team after the FA Cup tie and Demarai Gray is pushing hard for a starting place. Slimani and Ulloa are out with injury but Molla Wague could be involved after missing the Derby game for a ridiculous reason.

Apparently, and I didn’t know this, if a player signs after a domestic cup match is drawn and a replay is incurred – they cannot play in the replay as they weren’t available for the original game. Sounds daft to me but the FA do as they please I suppose.

Annoyingly, Mahrez netted a hat trick against us in this fixture last season so it’ll be down to Olsson to keep the Algerian as quiet as possible. I don’t care if he doesn’t go near another player; his threat needs to be quashed.

We can win this game, that’s painfully obvious, but I’m going to be conservative and back Swansea to win 2-1. I’ve just got a feeling about a late winner and can wholly see Ayew netting it on his debut.

Man City v Swans: On for the Hat Trick

I'll be the first to admit I wasn't certain when Paul Clement was announced as our new manager, akin to many of our fans, but he has done a fantastic job since his appointment securing victories over Liverpool and Southampton in a matter of weeks - next target is Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola has finally shown his true colours at City and dropped his chosen Goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, and his talismanic striker, Sergio Aguero, in favour of what he believes is a more balanced side with bags of experience and youthful exuberance.

Pull the other one Pep - even though the Etihad is hardly ever near capacity; the fans that do show up will be baying for blood if Aguero misses another game and it would just happen to the Swans who are the opponents for what many City fans believe to be judgement day.

Let's face it, we're on a great run at the moment despite conceding in both of our last two games. There's a real belief about the team that can't be ignored; we'll score more than our opponents and that's that. It reminds me of Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson's managerial style - keep attacking and you'll score more than you concede: Simple.

Only Jefferson Montero is missing for us against City but the winger might not be missed too much as Clement is inevitably going to field the same team that looked so comfortable in possession against Southampton - Sigurdsson from the left has breathed new life into his distribution which wasn't exactly lacking before the wide shift.

Do I honestly believe we can beat Man City? Yes. The Liverpool game proves we can compete with these so called 'bigger clubs' and money won't buy City an easy ride against an in form Swans team.

My biggest concern is the injury risk to the likes of Wayne Routledge and Ki who will no doubt come face to face with Fernandinho in City's midfield - a player who's been sent off three times in six games isn't someone I'd like to be trying to beat; he'll jab his studs right in at our quicker players and we all know full well he will.

I'm going to back a draw here - City are playing poorly and we're on a brilliant run but I have a feeling the Manchester side will peg us back eventually. I've been wrong several times before but I'm going for realism here.

If anyone is attending the game and has a spare seat; please let us know in the comments and we'll try and make sure everyone who wants to go gets there.