It’s Friday and it’s time for the 6th T.A.W.E blog where we look back at the week’s events, news and fans’ discussion.
Thankfully with the season all over and done with, there’s no match re-cap this week so we skip to the news and speculation as we patiently await the news of a new manager.
Fans Patiently Wait For Potter’s Arrival
Friday was expected to be the day of Potter’s appointment from Ostersund FK, but that’s not likely to happen until early next week now as it was confirmed that he will take charge of Saturday’s match before their long-term break during the World Cup – providing us with the perfect opportunity to complete the move, and Ostersund to find a replacement.
The latest news from Sweden is that the club has arranged an extended press conference after their game – due at around 7 pm U.K time to address the latest speculation. Other reports say that Potter has said his goodbyes, but we are still waiting for something concrete on the matter.
Östersund has called to a press conference tomorrow. Here is what they said;
"After the press conference for the game between Östersund – Häcken we want to say that Daniel Kindberg will announce some news and sort out some speculations."
— 🇸🇪 (@SwedeStats) May 25, 2018
Reports that in a meeting with their "biggest sponsors", Potter will announce that he will leave ahead of Saturday's match. https://t.co/JLwWH4iwZ0
— Vital Swansea (@VitalSwansea) May 25, 2018
Check below some of our recent articles on our possible future manager:
Olsson: Hopefully Potter Can Get Us Promoted At The First Attempt
How Potter’s Game Management and Use of 3 Systems In A Single Match Impressed a Former Celtic Legend
Tactics & Average Positions of Potter’s Last 3 Games at Ostersund
Potter The Clear Fans’ Favourite To Take Over At Swansea City
Swansea Sign Liverpool’s Yan Dhanda
In TAWE Blog #5 we mentioned that we were strongly linked with Liverpool’s out of contract 19-year-old attacking midfielder Yan Dhanda, and this week the move was completed – see more on the story here
Stats & Graphics
In the last blog, we also spoke about stats and analysis and how we were looking to publish more and more articles over the Summer – looking at stats and graphics throughout the season, as well as next season for each and every game in the Championship.
As an example of what’s to come, check out the tweet below:
The blue dots show the assists location (where the pass leading to the goal was made from) of all Premier League goals scored against Swansea City in the 2017/18 season.
Busy areas in central midfield and left attacking side of penalty area.
Data by @StrataBet pic.twitter.com/OwbfvE6QOw
— Vital Swansea (@VitalSwansea) May 21, 2018
If you have requests or comments on these graphics, let us know in the comments.
What The Fans Are Saying
Here’s an interesting comment from the forum that sparked a mini-debate on Twitter when we shared it:
“Imagine if we’d stayed up, Carvalhal still as manager probably, playing rubbish negative football losing almost every week, No thanks.“
That quote echoes my thoughts & makes relegation easier to deal with. Next season would have been another slog in the PL, joyless for the most part, struggling to score, grinding out the odd victory, parking the bus away (& still getting beaten). Where's the fun in watching that?
— Stuart James (@stujames75) May 24, 2018
It seems that fans are split on whether they’re content with life in the Championship, or whether they miss playing against the best in the Premer League. There are some things we just won’t miss surely, the big-club bias, the negative football and the lack of wins. While the Championship does give us the opportunity to rebuild and hopefully win more games, it is notoriously difficult to get out of a division that is littered with ex-Premier League clubs – many bigger than ourselves.
Latest Transfer Rumours and Speculation
You can follow all of the latest transfer rumours and speculation in our Message Forum thread here
Kyle Bartley is wanted by Leeds United but the Swans are adamant that their asking price must be met, while goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski has been linked with a £4m move to Premier League side Watford. That low fee hasn’t gone down well with some fans, but you do wonder how much money can we attract for a player who can be sold for nothing this time next year?
More recently, Graham Potter wants to bring Ken Sema and Saman Ghoddos with him to the Liberty Stadium – so say the rumours. (Click the links to read Josh Kilmister’s profiles on the Ostersund duo)
Looking ahead…
Saturday sees the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley between Aston Villa and Fulham and then the Champions League final as Liverpool take on Real Madrid. But in between those 2 games and more importantly(!), we await news from Sweden as Ostersund plan an extended press conference at around 7pm after their match. Might we finally have something confirmed on Graham Potter’s expected move to the Swans? For updates, visit the forum here
