Luke Williams spent plenty of time in his pre match press interview ( Leicester City away tonight : KO 7:45pm ) on Sporting Director, Paul Watson who was instrumental in getting Ronald Pereira Martins to sign for the Swans. Quite clearly whilst a very poorly made ‘Watson out’ banner was held high at Coventry City last month, Watson was applying himself elsewhere. He probably was out a lot as well.
I have to say I’m still mystified as to why Watson was singled out.
On to Luke’s comments then. "Paul Watson is really trying to unearth talent. We are trying to find an edge, a different way to our competitors. I had a really good look at the player (Ronald) watched him play and had a good meeting with him on zoom” The official website failed to recognise the Swans head coach and his comments on Watson, in fact he mentioned him three times in his latest interview. However, nothing was reported. We find that a bit odd. That aside and regards the clubs current ability to source players like Ronald, Luke replied, "I think that really comes down to what Paul Watson is trying to do with the recruitment team, to find something different.They are really trying to find angles and trying to find something that no else has found”
It’s unlikely Ronald will be available this evening. We will have a full pre match build up and latest injury news later today. News then on players that the Swans have missed out on, and that seems to be with regard to the Swans position in the league and season to date. Luke clarified this, "I need to tell you all we already had some really good work being done that we got really close, honestly when things are going good you want to join a team that is flying and they’re going to go up Yeah, yeah, lets go there. But when you are in with more clubs in a similar place it’s tough, but I cannot fault the level of work that has gone in to trying to get the right players. And then the level of work that has gone in to trying to persuade these players that this is where their future lies. We’ve narrowly missed out on a couple of different players that we could be sitting here with three signings and whatever”
Luke Williams went on to say there is ‘possibly’ going to be more players in, potentially a ‘British’ league player that is known for his experience. Definitely a clue in there. "We know the window is coming to an end but we know there’s always more activity at the end, everyone is waiting, so let’s see, let’s see if we can make the right deals. That’s important. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a guy who like has played in the championship before or played in different divisions in British leagues”
There is also a likelihood of players leaving, Jerry Yates as an example, Luke was cautious on this (we know there’s been contact from Blackburn) Liam Cullen wasn’t mentioned. "The window gets complicated on deadline day, and things can change very quickly, it like a chain reaction. You bring in a player, then a different player feels like he has to go somewhere else” We get the feeling one from Jerry Yates or Mykola could well be the issue there, or even if there’s something behind Liam Cullen’s future, he will need replacing. Think back to the summer deadline day ( September 1st 2023 ) Blackburn were interested in Liam then but the Indian Govt were just about to come down hard on the clubs owners. That’s four out from the first team and one in. More later for sure, in fact we are positive.
The full interview is below.