Thousands and thousands of Swansea City followers were expecting positve action with so many players linked to the club on deadline day morning. In the end we saw no permanent signings and a desperate scramble to save face late on in the day.
What transpired was a litany of errors, poor judgement and very harsh lessons for Swansea City Chairman, Andrew Coleman. What we saw was an ineffective and totally unprofessional display from the club and players seeing right through the thin veil of alleged competence. What we experienced for some thirty four days was a complete and ineffective display of how not to run a football club.
Players came and went, we started with Joe Low (below) at Wycombe Wanderers, a player far too much time was spent on when his club it now turns out were never going to let him go. The issue as it has been all through this window was they way Andrew a Coleman wants to construct payments to the club in question. A late bid for Orient player Ethan Galbraith was knocked back, allegedly for a million pounds, but that was only half the story. A million pounds may have been quoted, but that wasn’t the deal. A payment and then a series of payments plus add ons isn’t a million pounds it constitutes a cheap way of calling it a million pounds. The same issues for Joe Low.
The fact that Swansea City can no longer go shopping and secure League One players has to be a major concern. The club’s poor league standing, extremely problematic bidding system which tells little of the actual money being offered is a sham. So, this morning we have a club on its heels, with nothing to show after pursuing Jacob Wright the Manchester City player for a whole week. He then shafted the Swans at the last minute leaving Coleman so exposed it was a sad sight to see. Wright joined Norwich City after the Swans had pushed the deal through with Manchester City. It was agreed but the player didn’t like what he saw at Swansea and at the first opportunity ran for Norwich.
We did warn people that players have been known to turn their backs on Swansea literally approaching the city, but that experience is lost on the new Swansea supporter. Well, in Jacob Wright here’s an example of a player coming to Swansea, all prepared to sign, albeit reluctantly, having put it off three times and then making a run for it. A late shout for Bobby Clark at RB Salzburg was just that. The German system already preparing to close down earlier wasn’t helping - and any bid on loan for him was going to get knocked back. How far the Swans got we will probably never know, if at all. Clark’s club had drawn down the shutters on any deal to any club by early evening yesterday.
On paper the Swans have signed Melker Widell from AaB, for us at first that was neither here nor there with him being loaned back after joining the Swans. After all we had numerous targets being thrust into our faces. The one player who did arrive yesterday, Lewis O’Brien from Nottingham Forest displayed a completely desperate club Chairman who had received so many blows he had to agree to all sorts of demands at the last minute. O’Brien, who Coleman knew from his time at DC United seemed reluctant (in fact on Sunday he knocked the Swans back) to sign, family circumstances being used as a way out. Coleman had no choice but to throw money at the loan deal, ensuring many extras to get Lewis to sign. And we don’t mean to Forest, Lewis doesn’t care who pays his salary as long as he gets it. We are talking other incentives to get him to sign. The Swans really did have to push the boat out to get a loan player for four months. We are not talking millions but the Swans had to come up with a package we still doubt is worth it for a player like Lewis O’Brien, but we will see.
All month were were hearing about the hard work Andrew Coleman was doing. At the start of all this he was hardly assisted by a head coach who couldn’t have made it any more obvious he wanted to leave. We are not taking the excuses from him at all. They are an insult. A manager who has taken the Swans to the brink of relegation who shouldn’t be anywhere near this football club. Andy’s man, Luke Williams possibly now one game away from the sack, and if there is club money available from an incompetent January window, then use it on ridding the club of this man.
We agree that Coleman has put in multiple hours controlling almost every aspect of the club, he has taken control in areas he really shouldn’t be involved in. Overseeing some of the areas he has deemed under his control are jobs for other employees. However, the reduction across the club in staff and available personnel is telling. Plus we have a Chairman in control mode over everything, who actually at the end of all this achieved nothing. Not one permanent signing who can pull a shirt on this Sunday at Bristol City, just one midfielder who was reluctant to come and a centre back in Hannes Delcroix. Neither player will join the Swans at the end of all this either, their market values to their clubs will ensure that Coleman is priced out.
You can put in all the work you like but if you have little experience and little help the outcome will always be the same. Nothing. You can’t turn up in any business and control everything without experience, And the Chairman has really messed all this up. There is nobody to turn to other than Andrew Coleman, a hard working Chairman applying business practices from another environment (and country) to an industry that is unique and specific.
It didn’t work, and hasn’t worked since May 8th, 2023 when Coleman first stepped into the Chairmans office and announced himself to the Swansea public. If we are talking on the field success, top recruitment and positive signs this morning for Swansea City Football Club we don’t see them. What we now have is a club looking downwards with a head coach who has displayed his incompetency all season, somehow still in a job. We’ve been working hard (not like Andy) on numerous stories for our readers during January. They will include Matt Grimes complaints to the Chairman, a new investor and a sort of ‘sporting director’ come whatever else they are required to do on the way.
That’s to come but today is one for reflection for us because it will all hit the fan as the day goes on, you can be sure of that.