Swansea, Monk & Olsson

[ABC (A Basingstoke Canary) 26]

An observation :

Swansea seem to be in freefall - since they were trounced by Liverpool at the end Dec, they have 2 points, scored 3 goals and conceded 11. Bony has left, their next game is at Southampton and looking at their fixture list, I reckon that they have possibly 2 wins & 3 draws left this season- total 39 points.

Garry Monk hardly seems to have sent the greatest motivating message in trying to woo Olsson - “I spoke in the summer about needing two players for each position and after Ben Davies left we have not had natural left-back who can really push Neil ...." So, you want a bench warmer then....

Martin Olsson - the options:

Part of a winning team on the cusp of promotion back to PL (good on CV), almost guaranteed start, new focused manager

or, Part of a team in freefall, could be part of the relegation mix (not good on CV), no guaranteed start and the dubious motivational skills of Garry Monk! (and not even endorsed by Iwan Roberts!)

So, decision time for Mr Olsson...........

[Row D Seat 7 0]

Olsson will leave and we will sign the left-back from Hamilton that West Ham wanted. For some reason the deal to take that player to West Ham was mysteriously messed up at the Hamilton end according to Allardyce. Maybe the player wants a reunion with Alex Neil.

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

I think Swansea are on the verge of selling Taylor to Palace, aren''t they? Naughton can play either full-back role, so I think Martin would have a decent chance of being a regular starter in the PL. No way Swansea will go down this season, so wouldn''t blame him if he left.

[mrs miggins 0]

He''ll want to go there i''m sure. The question is will we let him if they fail to meet or initial fee wanted for him?

[Row D Seat 7 0]

I read we wanted £5m for him. If we''re offered that, take it. He''s not that great.

[Nuff Said 5,963]

[quote user="Row D Seat 7"]I read we wanted £5m for him. If we''re offered that, take it. He''s not that great.[/quote]Didn''t Naughton cost £5m? Makes the same for Olsson unrealistic IMHO.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="Nuff Said"][quote user="Row D Seat 7"]I read we wanted £5m for him. If we''re offered that, take it. He''s not that great.[/quote]Didn''t Naughton cost £5m? Makes the same for Olsson unrealistic IMHO.[/quote]

I dont see why he''s not worth the same money, he''s Swedish defender of the year, has pace and is now comming into his prime at 26 has played premier league football and proved he can perform. What has Naughton done that''s so special who is also 26?.

[Horse Renoir 1]

5 Million all up front is enough for me. I''d be happy with that, just like I was the 8 Million for Snoddy. Those two are both a couple of million over-value and are not irreplaceable.

If we have a decent replacement lined up then take the 5 million if it''s offered. If we can''t find anyone, hold out until we get enough to afford a decent replacement or just stick with him. I''m not his biggest fan, I think he should be our LM, he''s just so poor at the technical and mental sides of defending for me, Garrido should get a go again after how easily Olsson was beaten at the far post last week

[mrs miggins 0]

Who can we get to replace him? There aren''t that many good left backs out there for this division.

[Horse Renoir 1]

True, no names jump out at me either from the FL or loans/reserves from the PL. I think promoting Garrido to first choice and having the highly rated Hendrie pushing him for a chance to impress would be the best bet. Garrido is more than good enough to play left back in this league, it''s not an important position in the grand schieme of things. That 5 million could go towards a proper goal scoring central attacking midfielder like Andreu or left winger like Dele Alli or Ibe on loan which I think would improve the team immensely

[yoda 0]

It''s about time we started giving players like Toffolo a chance and from what I''ve seen he wouldn''t let us down

[mrs miggins 0]

Every position is important if we want to be top of the league. Yes we could sell him for around £4m but how much is promotion worth? A hell of a lot more than that. However, we do also need the money for a winger which is the priority atm. Apparently Swansea have not made any further offers for Olsson and we are not after Hendrie from Hamilton, however, we are interested in a lot of players and have a lot of options we could try (apparently from the presser today). Hooiveld has also been told he''s not needed so is likely to go to Millwall.

[mrs miggins 0]

yoda wrote the following post at 23/01/2015 4:27 PM:It''s about time we started giving players like Toffolo a chance and from what I''ve seen he wouldn''t let us down

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Our brightest youth talent that we have at the club atm is Josh Murphy, last time he played someone did a threat saying how he''s not very good (although every level headed person knows thats not true, he''s only young and will most likely be a very good player). The point is, we need quality to get to the top of the league, and we have that within our squad so there''s no need to use the youth too much

[Yellowbeagle 0]

Is Olsson really the best left back in the championship? Attacking wise I''d agree probably comfortably, defensively i very much doubt it. In our own squad Garrido looked better defensively when he played earlier in the season. I guess the manager may have to decide what the team needs more, lose Olsson we will lose some attacking strength but might gain some defensive solidity. The shame in losing Olsson is he is a player we know can perform in the prem, strangely i dont think he''s suited to the directness of championship football.

[Branston Pickle 4,150]

IMO Olsson is a decent footballer, better going forward than defending - the thing is that we probably need someone the opposite of this: the number of truly soft goals we have let in this season is astonishing. Obviously you defend as a team and no one player is to blame for many goals, but we do need to sort out our defence if we are to go on the sort of run that we all want.

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

One name Garrido ... Much better defender ,, arguably a better crosser ,, maybe not as quick . I know what I would prefer to see.

[mrs miggins 0]

Barclay seats 48/49 the 3rd wrote the following post at 24/01/2015 11:12 AM:One name Garrido ... Much better defender ,, arguably a better crosser ,, maybe not as quick . I know what I would prefer to see.

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one word:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FabpPq4HqGs

[The Bristol Nest 597]

I would be happy to see Garrido step up anyway. Last season Olsson regularly seemed to crop up on the goal line to spectacularly head a ball away but this year he appears to lose concentration too often.

[mrs miggins 0]

But also if we do go up, we won''t get a much better LB in the PL

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Remembering of course Miggins ,, that once a player wants to go ,,, you might as well let them . Rarely do they ever perform with 100% commitment after .

[mrs miggins 0]

True, if a player is not committed to the cause he''s not going to give his all, but we don''t know how much Olsson wants to go. I''m sure he would like to get a move back to PL but it may be a case where the club have said something along the lines of; ''if they meet our £5m value then you''re free to go.'' If this is the case then hopefully he''ll respect that, however it''s all speculation, only the club and Olsson know that.

The only way the player will get a quick return to the PL is either a transfer to the swans this window, or through good performances after it, either helping us go up, or getting a move in the summer. If he doesn''t perform from now until the end of the season, will anyone want him? Perhaps for back up, maybe?

[Mr Angry 2,017]

Looks very determined today, 2 important interceptions already and a battling run down the wing.

[Mr Angry 2,017]

Don''t know where he was then though!