Swansea City head coach Michael Duff has given an insight in to his experiences as a football manager and coach with more comments in the heat of the moment post match against Cardiff City.

As a Swansea City supporting website we have a duty to be magnanimous in defeat and where possible retain some goodwill in victory. We also have a duty to research and examine all information that comes to us, from every source, and at the moment there’s many.

The issue is we have experienced more ‘Duffology’ ( in the nicest of ways ) in his latest interview which clearly points to some form of upheaval behind the scenes at the club. Now, one person saying something is neither here nor there, when it’s repeated and triplicated there becomes a duty for transparency purposes to look deeper into the information. When the manager starts chatting about it there’s clearly something more to a rumour than just idle gossip.

Why would Michael Duff reference this so early in his post match interview on Saturday night ?

Comments which have been glossed over by official sources have not been lost on this website. As Michael stated,“I don’t like getting beat, I’m not stupid, I’m not naive to know there will be a vent at me. This is where you see the true characters at the football club. The ones that stick together, the ones that don’t blame everyone else, the ones that don’t whisper in the corridor “

That really isn’t a favourable comment, and for that to be made there has to be something that is bugging the Swans head coach to say such an odd thing. Would he have said it if he had won the last two games as an example ? The other issue for us is that Duff hasn’t had any real issues at his two previous clubs, he has managed to instil a certain way of playing which to an extent has been successful. Not massively impressive, but successful. So why make this comment about whispering in corridors and players looking to blame others for their own failings ?

And of course Duff isn’t stupid, nobody has said he is. He has a dissertation in managing stress as part of his LMA ( League Managers Association ) diploma, and it really does look like a valuable asset to his armoury at this moment in time. He is aware of how he is perceived and how he can be seen as a coach to younger people. “It’s called the ‘evaluation of my personal effectiveness’, it’s really stress management and how you deal with it “ he told the Guardian in 2021.

It’s concerning coupled with numerous ‘leaks’ coming out of the club that all isn’t as rosey as it could be behind the scenes. Now, yes we take that with a pinch of salt, players are never happy. We had one player (who remains at the club) who was moaning about earning twenty eight grand a month eighteen months ago until he got what he wanted. However, there needs to be a wake up call within the fabric of Swansea City. When Andy Coleman ( Chairmen ) returns this week after attending his mothers funeral in the USA he really does need to get ahold of the ‘visible’ staff again.

Maybe now we can understand why the Chairman called a ‘whole’ staff meeting before he initially went back to the USA. Coleman isn’t stupid or naive either, and we are certain he did that because of potential issues surfacing, not despite them. You see people do talk, even those who are entrusted with Swansea City business remaining in house. It’s basic human nature. It’s not just the question you want answering, it’s how that question is asked.

And of course who you speak to.

Regardless of Duff’s situation at the club, and it isn’t looking favourable going in to tomorrow nights game against Queens Park Rangers he has to bring in to line his emotions when talking openly to the press. It’s crucial he manages his verbal reasoning. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been on a difficult run, I think we went through this last year when I wasn’t in the building, so it’s sticking to task. Lots of staff have left, lots of players have come in, I stick to my values, I won’t come off script in terms of that. We are trying to change the way we play because last year was an extreme in terms of the way they wanted to play“

The time for justification isn’t now, what needs to be evident is learning.

Personally I like Michael Duff’s attitude to his preferred way of playing and what he wants to implement and improve at Swansea. Cards on the table there is discontent, that’s obvious, but surely it’s easily remedied ? The only issue Duff is having is the playing transition from what he called ‘extreme’ under Martin to what he wants to see now as the current Swans manager. That’s the issue in a nutshell. There’s bound to be dissenters, Martin had it but managed his way through it extremely well. However, if what we are seeing now on the pitch is a reaction to the current sea change, that just isn’t okay. That has to be attended to by Duff and his staff, and the players need to understand this isn’t acceptable. In fact any form of whispering behind peoples backs is unacceptable.

That’s why we put our names to our features and reports. So everyone knows exactly who is saying what and why. And as the owner and editor of Swansea Independent I endorse everything we publish, and yes I’ve had to be held accountable at times, and have also had to explain or at least put some context on what we print and why.

That’s called being an adult, no matter how long your corridor is.

Artwork by Swansea Independent

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