With some seriously successful businessmen now holding a vested financial interest in Swansea City it seems there is a more reliable and well thought out approach to the clubs immediate future. Joel Piroe is a classic example.
We regularly speak with well informed people to add clarity to the information that forever circles around the Swans day to day, and these are highly regarded in the game. Why ? Most of our support comes from people directly affected by family or friends with brain tumour diagnosis, or who just feel the overall cause of this website is worthy of support. Of course there are those contacts and people who I have retained friendships with over thirty five years of writing on Welsh football and the Swans. Some are agents and many are football supporters in general, journalists, or fans of Swansea City who move in certain circles.
We have talked about this before.
During a conversation last night something certainly rang true with me. In any business sometimes it’s good to play a long game, but also to manufacture circumstances that set certain entities against each other. Even if they are known to each other. Something that most certainly has paid dividends for some in the past. And continues to do so today.
It’s a classic business or even personal strategy. Then stand back and see the flames get higher.
With regards to football transfers the vast majority of contact a football club gets is from known entities. That could be agents working for players, the clubs themselves or just those with an interim interest, normally financially. In Joel Piroe’s case that’s working well. Unfortunately for him Everton now seems a lost cause, but bigger clubs than Swansea now feature in the championship. Leeds United are one, Leicester City another. We say that with reference to their history when compared to Swansea. Last seasons champions Burnley are in no way in Leeds or Leicester City’s league ( scuse the pun ), but as a smaller club they managed last season perfectly.
What Swansea City are doing with new Chairman Andrew Coleman is swimming alongside these bigger clubs and utilising their adept business past to manage a better financial future outcome. Everton merely made an inquiry for Piroe but the media massaged that to all sorts of speculation, we remained tight on that, the figures were just not matching up, especially the news on it. However, with Leicester, Leeds and possibly Southampton in the championship you can bet your bottom dollar - money will be swishing around in their pockets ready to encourage Piroe away from the Swans.
As Coleman (below) has stated, "I understand that talk is cheap, and I have learned that through my background. My father would always say to me, ‘Andy, don’t tell me what you are going to do, show me what you’ve done. I think the key for me now is not to talk too much, but to do things, and the first thing I can do to show my commitment to this football club and this community”
The thing there is actions are now talking for him after a pretty poor start. Now he is learning, and he most certainly sounds like a person who doesn’t see learning as an issue, those of us who reflect back on experiences to make the next ones more positive will agree. No matter your age the learning experience should always be with us.
Put that in to context, Swansea City employ agents to do their bidding ( sometimes ) agents are a well connected small cadre of the football business, like it or not. They influence, cajole and encourage the media, other clubs and players to dance a little bit to their tune.
Remember this –> âš½ï¸ The agent and the journalist
We have run features on agents before, but it’s not just that particular job that encourages news interest. Clubs do it as well. In fact that’s why journalists like to have an in with the clubs they cover, and they assist each other when needed. People talk for many reasons, the Swans are clearly now employing a system that could well expose those that do that whilst working for the club. If a website or media site don’t protect their sources properly then their whole world can collapse.
When at the Reading away game last season in the press area, a member of the Swans backroom staff asked me how we knew about Hannes Wolf. He wanted to know where the information came from. Well, there’s no way we would ever disclose our sources, that’s for starters. And secondly, the fact we knew clearly annoyed the club. Russell Martin and his assistant Matt Gill also engaged me on our website sources. The accuracy on some features I explained would never hinder their pathway to new signings, but as they won’t tell me things, I’m not telling them. And no way am I disclosing names to anyone. They can chip away by throwing names at me, but you will never get a response in the affirmative or otherwise. That’s how it works. Unfortunately the unable to understand things gang ( not everyone of course ) on Twitter didn’t get it. Even when we put a French flag next to a tweet some ‘wag’ said later Wolf isn’t French. Next day he stated in his first Swans interview he had been held up in France due to paperwork. You can only indicate to people so much - then the horse can has to choose whether to drink the water or not.
Why on earth would we give up those very important long term friends, contacts and allies for some eye squinter on Twitter ? Callous ? If you like. It’s a secretive business and that’s why the Swans currently are playing a classic game with how news is ‘leaked’ or allowed to be known. For me in very recent days they are also testing their leaks within the club, and rightly so, if a piece of news is allowed out and it’s inaccurate, but then say ‘we’ report it, they have their leak. We always clarify our information through numerous other sources, and then in most cases don’t write about it, even if it sounds okay. We wouldn’t hamper any future plans for the club that’s for sure.
And never expose anyone who talks to us.
For me the club are now utilising their news sources and that’s why we hear of clubs like Leeds United interested in Piroe. I can’t vouch for the news source that reported that, but I’ll guarantee it isn’t better protected than our firewall. But that news is out in the open now, and alerts championship clubs to the fact Piroe is ‘possibly’ not ruling out a championship move. Especially to a bigger club. However, have a guess what ? No bids as yet have been made.
Now, let’s talk about Nottingham Forest.
Next time.