swansea this, swansea that i'm sick of hearing about them...

[im spartacus canary 0]

on the radio, in the papers, on the tv i''m sick to the back teeth of them i know its good to go under the radar but we are ahead of them in the table and beat them comfortably in october... even on match of the day we were doing well "just like swansea" its starting to get on my tits [:@]

[ZLF 276]

quite happy for the focus to be on them. we know how good we are - and its the final table that means the most

[Levi Stubbs 0]

Totally agree with that. They shouldn''t even be in the ENGLISH Premier League.Brendan Rogers is a tosser also...

[AJ 1,232]

A bit harsh, I respect Brendan Rogers. I think he''s done a fantastic job and has bought very wisely in both the summer and January windows.

I certainly hope us and Swansea are both in the Prem next year anyhow

[Trent Canary 0]

[quote user="AJ"]A bit harsh, I respect Brendan Rogers. I think he''s done a fantastic job and has bought very wisely in both the summer and January windows.

I certainly hope us and Swansea are both in the Prem next year anyhow[/quote]Yep would agree with all that. A similar club to us in terms of management and a real team philosophy. Have nothing against them at all. Also I couldnt give a stuff that they are Welsh. Them, Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham have been playing in the English leagues for the best part of a century.

[Mister Chops 7]

[quote user="im spartacus"]on the radio, in the papers, on the tv i''m sick to the back teeth of them i know its good to go under the radar but we are ahead of them in the table and beat them comfortably in october... even on match of the day we were doing well "just like swansea" its starting to get on my tits [:@][/quote]It''s the price you have to pay for going up via the playoffs and then not completely bottling it and ending the season on 8 points.  Everyone expected them to be prime cannon fodder, I''m glad they''ve demonstrated that good football and good tactics are a match for mediocre Prem teams and teams who take an easy game for granted.

[Largey24 0]

We are doing well just like Swansea. They are doing well just like Norwich. The only reason we are being compared as we are both newly promoted clubs operating on a small income and we have both well exceeded expectations!

[J.Warman 0]

i wouldn''t say we have gone under the radar at all, on MOTD they are always saying how good we are along with swansea, and to be fair swansea do play much nicer football than us.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Great to see Swans doing so well, why all the childish jealousy. I am pleased that promoted teams can come into the Prem and really make a mark, it makes for a much more exciting season and freshens up the League. So what if they are from Wales, their not seeking independance are they?[:D][:D]

[grantroederdisaster 0]

I''d rather they had all the attention and we (as usual!) went under the radar!

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Under the radar is the best place for us[:D]

[Howson is now! 0]

I genuinely want Swansea to do as well as us for the rest of the season and finish one place behind us and QPR go straight back down.

They are a brilliant footballing side and have gone about it in the right way. I think Brendan Rodgers has done a brilliant job and as long as they''re still that one place below I wish them all the best.

[mastoola 185]

You obviously dont listen to Stan Collymore on talk sport. He talks about us all the time with great enthusiasm.

[Lambo 0]

Probably because they arguably play the best football in the division and like us look like staying up comfortably.

[ABC (A Basingstoke Canary) 26]

If real football teams, like Norwich and Swansea, playing real football, like Norwich and Swansea, keep getting the plaudits, then hopefully that will inspire other teams to emulate our successes and commit to playing real football - as opposed to the other form of the game, often referred to as hoofball.

 

Anyway, by being compared with Swansea, means that we are being compared with the best team of the country (the Welsh country) [:D]

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

Disagree completely with the OP, I''m afraid.

 

Most years when we are in the Prem, WE get all the "look at this little insignificant club punching above their weight" patronising guff, especially from the London and Manc journalist caballe.

 

This year , it''s mainly Swansea who are getting it, and , in the main we are being left alone.

 

On the wider point, next Sat aside, I hope Swansea do well . Like us they are a well run club  who came close to financial meltdown, have a bright young manager and players who are not prima donnas, and play some attractive stuff. What''s not to like ?

[fellowyellow 0]

I recall it was Swansea''s post match antics after the 3-0 defeat that helped spur the lads on to automatic promotion. Thanks Brendan.

[Bovril 221]

Ask any football fan what they want to see their football team do and it will be the following:

1) Success

2) Success with Entertainment

Swansea are getting a lot of praise but rightly so. They play attractive passing football for the neutral to watch, they have no big-time charlies and having success without an oil-tycoon.

What they have lacked in the first half is that bit of steel, the 2 point difference between us. However Sigurdsson was a cracking loan signing for them and gives them that power in midfield they were lacking whilst keeping their passing game.

Should be a great game next Saturday, 9th vs. 10th..not many had that down.

[Rolf Harris 31]

I believe we annexed Wales in the 16th century, so shouldn''t they be allowed to play in the English leagues?

[Shaun Tilly Lace 0]

 

Spot on, OP. Why City are so universally ignored by the meejah, I know not. Still, it''s probably a good thing, as has been said before by various peeps.

[lake district canary 0]

We should b pleased that Swansea are getting recognition, as are Norwich.

It is also a sign that good honest teamwork can compete with the type of mercenary footballing teams consisting of individuals that in some cases can barely communicate with each other.    Good players, yes, but good teams? Not always.    The more we can get away from this type of football at the top of our game, the more we can return to what football should be  - a team game based on players working together.  Its working for us and Swansea.    More power to us and the Swans.   

             

[a1canary 0]

Hard to disagree with both viewpoints really. Good to stay under the radar, and good that both us and them are showing pretty much everyone outside of the top 6 how to make and build a TEAM. Actually, apart from maybe Ferguson and Wenger, we''re probably showing every club in this league how to do that.

But i do share the OP''s frustration, particularly after the Bolton game. Aside from maybe Arsenal''s win over Blackburn (which was predictable anyway), ours was surely the performance of the day by some distance. As it was, we''re on second last, and they just trot out the usual 2 sentences afterwards:

Linekar: "ooo, aren''t they good!"

Shearer: "aye, and they didn''t have any defenders this time."

Linekar: "Wow. Ok, shall we have a wank over Rooney''s penalties now?"

I was expecting some proper analysis showing just what an awesome display was put in by the like of Benno and Naughton.

[a1canary 0]

oops, i got censored there - that was meant to say;

w @ n k !!

[Jim Smith 2,349]

I agree both that:

1. The Swansea love in is extremely irritating; but

2. It does suit us for us to stay a bit more under the radar and its also beneficial that Rodgers is getting bigged up by the media. i think we are all worried about Lambo being linked with any big jobs that come up but presumably now Rodgers will also be linked with the same vacancies and with the  the Swansea/Barcelona hype bigger clubs may be more tempted to take a punt on Rodgers.

They do play more aesthitically pleasing football than us but i would dispute the fact it is necessarily that much "better" than ours. We certainly appear more adaptable whereas Swansea don''t really have a "plan B." We have at times played some ugly but effective stuff this season. We have also (Wednesday night) played just some ugly stuff as well. However, there have been other games where we''ve played some really good stuff and some of the football our front 6 played last saturday was up there with anything Swansea produce. In fact, I would prefer to watch that type of play as it was far more incisive then how they generally tend to play.

has all the hallmarks of a great game on Saturday. Lets hope we do ourselves justice there this season. Really, really tough place to go againts a very good team but then we are also a very good team and on our day are well capable of getting something down there.

[Reggie Strayshun 0]

[quote user="lake district canary"]We should b pleased that Swansea are getting recognition, as are Norwich.



It is also a sign that good honest teamwork can compete with the type of mercenary footballing teams consisting of individuals that in some cases can barely communicate with each other.    Good players, yes, but good teams? Not always.    The more we can get away from this type of football at the top of our game, the more we can return to what football should be  - a team game based on players working together.  Its working for us and Swansea.    More power to us and the Swans.   



             
[/quote]

 

Very good points LDC.  Of course recognition and scrutiny are very much double-edged swords . Being in the media spotlight has its advantages, but also has its drawbacks. What Swansea (and of course Norwich) have achieved this season has been without the constant glare of the cameras etc, and being relative, it''s every bit as impressive as what''s going on at OT, The Etihad, and White Hart Lane . By the same token it''s been far more impressive than what Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have done recently, but due to their high profile and money, the failings of Wenger, Vilas Boas and Dalglish will be magnified a lot more than anything that happens in Norfolk or S Wales.

 

So, yes, while it sticks in the throat that we do not get better coverage in the papers, MotD etc, sometimes , looking at the wider picture, it''s not necessarily a bad thing.

[Making Plans 942]

[quote user="J.Warman"]to be fair swansea do play much nicer football than us.[/quote]I think that''s a highly debatable statement but it depends on what you mean by "nicer".We''ve scored 8 more goals than them and whilst I don''t disagree that they do play attractive football I don''t think it''s any better than how we play.Furthermore, I think overall we''ve produced more exciting football than they have

[marvin the martian 0]

What the media seem to ignore, is that although Swansea have a lot of possession, a large part of it is either in the middle of the pitch or even in their own half. Motd analysis counted the amount of passes for one of their goals, and by the time the pass count had reached around 12 or 13 they were back where they started. Not necessarily a problem as they still had the ball, but it shows that possession isn''t everything, it''s what you do with it when you have it. Personally I''d go to 4-5-1, let them have the ball as much as they want until they''re 30-35 yards out and then try to get it off them.

[Jim Smith 2,349]

I''m sure we will let them have plenty of possession in the areas where it doesn''t hurt us again. Most teams have over 50% possesion against us anyway but it has been a real feature of our two home victories over them in recent seasons that we have let them have the ball in their own half of the pitch and kept our shape and then have picked them off when the opportunities have arisen. In both games they "bossed" long periods of the game without really creating any decent chances.

Despite my annoyance at the media swooning over Swansea (and personally I find their manager immensely irritating as well - but then i''m sure other sets of fans don''t all like Lambo!) as a club there is nothing really to dislike. Of the two Welsh sides they are clearly far, far less c**tish than their local rivals and of the two other newly promoted sides they are massivly preferable to QPha! I think both teams will stay up and to be honest I thought both of us would do alright before the season started but then, unlike the pundits swooning over them now, we knew how Swansea have played for the last 2 or 3 seasons so their style of football hasn''t really been a shock to us.

[Rudolph Hucker 0]

Swansea have certainly defied my predictions and they and their manager deserve considerable respect.

 

Norwich have gained results by attack mindedness and for most of the season have had defender injury problems whereas Swansea have built on defensive and ball retention principles. Both approaches are quite different hence when we played them at home they could only score one but our high chance creation allowed us to score three.

 

Saturday will certainly decide the bragging rights for now and it is important we remain above them if you don''t want to hear the media praising them even higher.

[JF 694]

They like us have been superb, We have both been the story of the season and long may it continue. On another note it''s also worth noting that because of how well they have done and the praise they are getting it will probably put Rodgers ahead of Lambert for the next big job that comes along, So good news all round.