Some would say the Wembley play off final when he was Barnsley manager was possibly the biggest game of Michael Duff’s career, others the day he got his first managerial club promoted at Cheltenham Town. However, that is all in the past and tonight he faces a huge game, and most certainly one which is an early crossroads for his time at Swansea City.
For some.
With no wins in six outings Duff’s Swans have huffed and puffed their way to two points from eighteen this season. Goals have been at a premium and overall the tactics and team management seem pretty dour. Swansea City followers are not happy with the clubs ‘ethos’ being stripped away especially as the alternative is offering very little of anything at all. The derby defeat illustrated the issues Duff faces, his determination to change the ‘extreme’ ( Duff’s words ) way Russell Martin set up his Swans side has been met with relative disdain.
It isn’t that the Russell Martin way was, or is the be all and end all for Swansea City, but many fans are saying that at least there was a clear identity and positivity in the style of play we all witnessed last season. Well, at least by comparison to what is on display this time around. The players look demoralised and couldn’t even get themselves up for the derby game on Saturday which the Swans lost 2-0. Comments made by Duff after that game and rumours of unrest within the club haven’t helped the head coach at all. We covered the latest issues facing Duff yesterday morning.
That’s here —> Duff under fire
There is some consolation though, Duff’s methods took quite a while to bed in at Barnsley and at Cheltenham Town. Albeit at a higher level it could be a game like Queens Park Rangers away is going to provide Duff with the respite he needs from the constant attention he is facing in Wales currently. At Barnsley he had over a fifty five percent win rate from fifty eight games and at Cheltenham over forty percent in two hundred and three games. These are impressive stats and the reason why he got the head coach job at the Swans.
Duff was known to Swansea Sporting Director, Paul Watson from his time at Luton Town, indeed Luton did several bits of business with the Tykes when Duff was at the club. Watson was very much a part of Duff’s appointment but it has to be said he wasn’t first choice. Far more recognisable names were approached before Duff got the job. However, he has been supported in signings with a complete overhaul of the Swans squad in ten weeks, those signings though are yet to click, especially the early arrivals in Harrison Ashby and Jerry Yates.
The other issue that is niggling away is the investment made by the majority ownership this summer. And not only that the seemingly complicated storage of the investments made by Chairmen Andrew Coleman and new ish Director Brett Cravatt. They are yet to be clarified. More noticeably is the player movement out and the money coming in. Joel Piroe money aside ( £12,000,000 ) there has been a decent level of funding in this summer. These are reported figures alongside the usual Swansea way of ‘undisclosed’ fees but Morgan Whittaker ( £1,000,000 ) Oliver Ntcham ( £950,000 ) Joel Latibeaudiere ( £550,000 ) Michael Obafemi ( £3,500,000 ) Steven Benda ( £880,000 ) is a starting point. Okay, there’s structured payments, incidentals paid out like add ons, agents, and a whole load more besides. But it’s a decent haul.
Duff has had to manage these players leaving the club along with injuries to Liam Walsh and Joe Allen. Plus his new recruits are relative strangers to each other, the more established players and indeed the area. He has complained of the issues surrounding Nathan Wood and Olivier Ntcham but these are general management duties faced by every head coach. What he needs to do now is focus and gain the respect he most certainly deserved from all around him. His track record as we have said is superb and his experience of over two hundred and fifty games as a head coach is one of the best in the football pyramid. That doesn’t just happen by chance, that’s testament to his hard work and diligence in his previous roles.
It really shouldn’t come to this so early on in the season, and we think he will get some flexibility given to him by Chairman Coleman, the finances for his removal now are pretty big. And this current ownership have never directly sacked a manager in their time at the club.
That’s the clue here. Yes there’s pressure on Michael Duff as much as there’s pressure on Andrew Coleman not to sack him. That’s the balancing act, and tonight’s result will reveal much in the current psych of the Swans manager. A catastrophic loss will possibly see a shift in Coleman’s thinking pending the home game on Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday. However, it’s highly probable come this time next Monday Duff will still be Swansea head coach irrespective of the Swans results this week.
That is of course if Duff doesn’t realise the severity of his current standing at the club and makes his own decision that both he and the Swans are incompatible.