Russell Martin is delighted with the impact the last two results have had on the Swansea City support and his squad of players. Despite the ever decreasing dissenting voices and the loudness of the few the Swans today have an opportunity to take on very decent opposition in front of what is close to becoming a sell out crowd at the Swansea.Com Stadium.
The togetherness has never been an issue for the squad, and despite attempts to disrupt that by the now departed Michael Obafemi this season, and he self indulgence of Jamie Paterson over his contract we now see a more happier and fulfilled Russell Martin. With those troublesome times hopefully behind him the Swans go in to this game with two wins behind them and ready to test themselves even more against Mark Robins side.
On introducing some youth in to his squad Martin responded "I don't think we're quite there yet, we want to win as many games as we possibly can, finish as strongly as we can and build some momentum ahead of next season. They've just got to keep training how they're training” That’s fair comment, there are still some out there clearly looking to criticise Russell Martin even if he wins games, ridiculous as that may seem. There is thought as you would also expect that the vast majority of the Jack Army are loving days out like last Saturday. A FOURTH win on the bounce against Cardiff City. It’s been a positive week but there’s always a few waiting to moan about everything.
The supporters in the main have a lot of faith still in what Martin is trying to achieve, and there’s no reason why not, his football when it is played well is far better than Graeme Potter or Steve Cooper’s efforts, despite higher league positions. This is a watershed season for next time around. We have to be positive.
Russell Martin is moving in to the last year of his contract, the run from now to the end of the season may well determine if he gets an early extension. Lets not forget he too will want to see positivity from the majority ownership on players coming in. The talk at the end of January was very negative and the falsehoods ( because that is what they were ) inexplicably defended some of the most obvious distractions. That must not happen again.
Back to positivity and as we saw in the two defeats of Hull City under 21 and 18’s in the week there is an identity now very clearly evident in the way the Swans play football. These things don’t happen overnight that’s for sure. And it’s not just about the end result, some Swans fans have to be a little more patient, there’s some really good things happening in the steps below the first team. Russell Martin mentioned this yesterday. "When you look at the teams now, they look really aligned which makes it easier for the transition for players as they move up the age groups and then into the first team squad which is ultimately the plan because we have to do that. The fact it can look so similar in so many ways as a concept is really brilliant."
Russell Martin speaks clearly and intelligently on where he is as a coach, and his honesty is refreshing, there simply isn’t another coach out there at this time who could take over the reigns after nearly two years of progression in the academy and Under 21’s. Again we say this, what is the point in dismissing a manager when he is so close to getting his methods across to his players ? Why would any club dismantle two years of hard graft just because a few people don’t like to wait for ‘potentially’ the good times to return ? It’s ridiculous to even consider it, this is a journey we all hope works, and the club are much better off for it.
Swansea City v Coventry City kicks off at the Swansea.Com Stadium at 3pm today, but check online or call the club first as not many tickets remain. The game is on the Sky Sports red button 🔴
Todays full fixture list in the championship