Russell Martin has made it clear that Swansea City’s majority owners have told him there’s no money available, and no respite from the clubs recent run of poor performances. Martin who made the club an immediate clear profit of six and a half million pounds from the sale of Flynn Downes to West Ham still finds funds extremely difficult to obtain. And yes, it was Russell Martin who made that profit because if it wasn’t for Martin Swansea wouldn’t have had Flynn to sell.
And we’ve counted in Harry Darling as well in to that profit.
A source has told us that twenty thousand pounds a week defender Ryan Bennett is nowhere to be seen at training or in the swans training facility at Fairwood despite agreeing to find another club this summer. And that has been the case for two months. As he picks up his eighty grand a month pay cheque from the swans the club itself is finding it extremely hard to keep up with his salary. If he was at least training and putting in some effort for his club there would be a degree of support for him, but he has no interest in playing for the swans or trying to find a solution to his situation. And the swans seem happy for him to do whatever it is he does each day and continue to fork out for his huge salary in the meantime.
Why is that being allowed to happen ? Is he working from home ?
The situation between Bennett and Swansea was approved by Steve Cooper when Bennett left Wolves and joined Swansea in October 2020. The same manager who then pushed for an improved contract for Jay Fulton adding a further forty two thousand pounds a month to the Swansea wage bill. Between them both players are earning nearly one and a half million pounds in wages for a years contract, and both players to be honest are not wanted by Russell Martin. The swans current manager neither endorsed nor did he ask for these players to hamstring Swansea City with such vast wages.
And currently Cooper is doing the same at Nottingham Forest.
We know these players, and there are others can’t find anywhere near the ridiculous money they are on at Swansea, so for the owners to stop Martin advancing the club because of Steve Cooper and their own decisions two years ago seems more than flawed. Martin has said "As it stands, unless we sell anyone, this is what we have got. You, the fans, myself, the players, we have two choices - you have a choice to get frustrated by it and let that frustration take over, or you have a choice to get behind everything that's going on and people that want to be here who are working so hard to bring the club the success they want. We came when not many others wanted to take on the challenge. We are spending less than we have for a very long time - people at the club might get upset with me saying that, but I am the only guy that ever talks to you and I will talk to you honestly. We are in a tricky moment. On Tuesday we could have been sitting fourth in the league”
Russell Martin wears his heart on his sleeve, he has turned around the careers of both Michael Obafemi and Joel Piroe, the latter at present looking like he wouldn’t get a game for 36-0 Bon Accord let alone the swans. If the current Swansea City owners are annoyed at Martin’s statements post match yesterday then they too have to be held accountable. Summing up his feelings Martin said "We have young men and at some point they are going to get there, we will help them get there and they want to get there, as they did last season. Everyone has a choice, to go with it or they can boo at me as much as they want, but it doesn't help the players. That is the situation."
Martin also again mentioned Joel Piroe who clearly doesn’t want to be at Swansea City. We will hold our counsel on Piroe and his current mindset, and those who are influencing him negatively for now. But the way he is being advised and managed away from Martin stinks of greed and it is affecting his Swansea City career. And Joel Piroe had better understand that one decent season doesn’t make a summer transfer, so maybe it’s time for him to take a back seat and take a good hard look in the mirror. As Martin said "He's unsure what's going to happen, the longer the window goes on. So the minute the window shuts, hopefully he'll be a bit clearer and hopefully we'll still have Joel, and I'm sure that'll help him."
To be honest he looks like he really isn’t bothered. So don’t pick him.
Joel Piroe needs to remove his head from whatever dark place it is in
This season isn’t going to plan at the moment, but things can change dramatically, however for us the swans haven’t really faced the more difficult teams yet, teams like Watford, WBA, Sheffield United or Sunderland. All of whom are better and far more ready than the sides we have seen so far this season.
We sympathise with Russell Martin, and agree the booing and negativity helps nobody. However we also believe he has a weak and ineffective squad as it stands today. And that’s down to him. He has players who clearly cannot play his system or are good enough to implement his strategy. We also may sound like a stuck record but it’s bare facts. And that’s now been proven five times this season.
Swansea City head to Middlesbrough next Saturday in what is now a bottom of the table clash, it wasn’t how things were meant to be, and it definitely wasn’t in the plan. However now everyone knows what we are up against with these owners who want more and more money every time a player is sold then the facts are clear.
Russell Martin isn’t going anywhere.
The majority owners won’t invest another penny.
And the swans are nineteenth in the championship with no chance of salvation other than what they have. So shout as loud as you want, but how about trying to shout a little bit more positively this week, because nothing will change but the wind no matter how loud you become.
And nobody cares who can make a difference anyway.