The Swansea Way 🦢🦢🦢

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The Swansea Way

At face value, the "Swansea Way" is often simply viewed as a style of play.

There is no doubt that on-field philosophy is a major part of the picture.

The ability to dominate possession, to play at tempo with short, intricate passing. To have all 11 players comfortable with the ball at their feet. Playing progressive, positive football.

But it ran deeper than that. It factored into managerial appointments. New managers were brought in to fit the club and not the other way around."

However, in recent times this has faltered season by season, The club now languishing in 21st in the Championship holding on simply by goal difference.

The Aim - Bring Swansea back from the dead & re-install the belief in the fans & players & to resurrect Swansea, it was not long ago the club was competing in Europe & Winning the League Cup.

The Goal - Save the club & stabilise the position & finances.

The Dream - Bring The Swansea Way back to Swansea and the rest who knows.....

More to follow - COYJB

 

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The Gaffer Arrives!

The Gaffers first day at Fairwood includes meeting staff, players & his coaching team, which will be added to over the next few days..

TACTICS:
Gaffer plans on bringing back the "Swansea City" way, a high possession fluid 5 at the back with full backs given freedom to bomb forward to create chances for the front 3 which Gaffer hopes will gel throughout pre-season.

Meet The Squad
A strong 23-man squad is at Gaffers disposal & with 10k in the wage budget 1or2 singings may be made to further strengthen the squad before the Championship Season kicks off.

Stand-Out Players:

Ethan Galbraith - Ethan is a new addition to the squad & the Northern Ireland international brings versatility & a look forward attitude, rumors are swirling he is being trained to play that wide fullback role, more to follow...

Cam Burgees
Burgess is another new addition Gaffer will be looking to get the best out of - with Premier League experience under his belt Burgees will be instrumental to Gaffer's philosophy moving forward.

Manuel Benson
Yes, that Manuel Benson - A third new addition to the squad however this one not a permeant like the previous two, Burley have sent Benson out on loan in the search for more minutes, a very rocks & diamonds player on his day, Gaffer will be hoping for rocks to get the best out of Benson.

 

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The "First" Fixtures

The Gaffer has created his own pre-season with 7 games planned of varying difficulty to test out the squad & see who fits where & standouts who could force their way into the starting XI come 08/08/2025 Away at Middlesborough.

 

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Signing News:

One staff signing & one player announcement to be made a note of:

Joe Allen:
Fan favorite Joe Allen has signed on as apart of Gaffers backroom, someone who knows the club inside & out & was thrilled to continue behind the scenes helping Gaffer with training. Allen was sent on a coaching course the first day he made it to training

Tom Lockyer:
Welsh international Tom Lockyer signs a 2-year deal at the Swans & becomes Gaffers 1st ever signing as head coach, currently out injured with torn ankle ligaments Lockyer has been given the full pre-season to get fit ready for the season to start...

 

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Pre-Season Report:

Game 1
2-0 W against Weston-super Mare

Comfortable 2-0 win against non-league opposition, over 25 shots & total control with possession a tick over 60% as well.

Game 2
5-0 W against Kidderminster

Very handy 5-0 win against non-league opposition again, however this time 5 goals go into the back of the net, 5 different goal scorers & over 30 shots with again possession 59% solid stuff indeed.

Game 3
4-4 against Motherwell

Wow! One for the neutrals as Swansea & Motherwell play out an exhilarating 4-4 with the lead changing hands multiple times with Motherwell scoring in the 89th minute to see both teams finish on 4, positives going forward, much to be improved at the back

Game 4
3-1 W against Girona

Now this is what we call improvement, a 3-1 convincing win against the La Liga side with Girona only mustering 3 shots all game, Swansea dominated from first whistle to the last & positive signs ahead.

Game 5
3-0 W against Young Boys

Swansea invited Swiss side Young Boys to the Swansea.com stadium for this matchup, and again Gaffer's men made light work of their Euorpa League qualifying opponents, excitement is starting to build in Swansea.

Game 6
4-1 W against Macclesfield

Back to usual business as Swansea dispatch of the non-league side 4-1 with Swansea not really moving out of 2nd gear whilst giving some young guys some handy minutes under their belts.

Game 7
4-1 W against OL 2

Final game of pre-season delivered another dozy as Swansea beat OL 2 in handy fashion. Over 35 shots & 68% possession for the Swans in this one, a few final tactic tweaks to finish the pre-season undefeated & chomping at the bit to get into match-week 1.

 

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Game Week 1: Starting X1 for match 1 away at Middlesbrough.

The Result:

A tale of two halves here as Swansea take a commanding 3-1 lead heading into the half, but Hackneys wondergoal being their only shot on target. Second half once the subs were made The Swans seem to lose their intensity allowing Boro in with a cheap goal leading to a nervy final 10 but The Swans hold on to take all 3 points in Gameweek 1. From here on out ill post monthly recaps but the first game of the season is always exciting & glad to get off to a winning start! COYJB

 

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August 2025:

A very, very mixed month for the Swans with The Gaffers resolve being tested early, after a handy 3-2 win on the opening day it then took until 3 weeks later for the next 3 points, a disappointing day sees the Swans dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Southampton then a dismal display against Sheffield United sees a 3-0 thumping, a bounce back (albeit lucky) 3-2 win against Watford with Eom Ji-Sung scoring a late winner & then finishing with a very disappointing 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday with Adam Idah scoring his first again very, very late to get the point.

Player Of The Month:

Player of the month was a hard one to pick with the such varied results however for August 2025 The Gaffer has selected the man mentioned above Eom Ji-Sung as the player of the month. 2 goals & 2 assists with the varying results screams consistency the Swans are looking for, slated as a fringe player Eom has really delivered thus far.

The Table After 4

 

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September 2025:

A very disappointing month with 2 points from 4 games. In all honesty should have beaten both Hull & Blackburn as Swans dominated both games but could not find that killer touch, Birmingham we took the lead but faltered & could not find a way back in, then Millwall simply played us off the park, Idah missing a penalty during.

Player Of The Month:

Player of the month for September was abit harder as it was a hard month overall, however since coming back from injury Manuel Benson has shown his quality albeit in short bursts as he's still getting to full fitness, 1 goal & 2 assists in 4 games sees him win POTM however there wasn't much competition.

The Table After 8

 

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October 2025:

In all honesty another poor, poor month of results with the only wins coming in a friendly to boost morale & home against a poor QPR, unlucky against Norwich with them scoring late to grab all three points, however Leicester & Southampton honestly have their way with us. Gaffer is looking to implement new tactis but how long will this take?

POTM October 2025:

Again, another rough month for a player of the month, a bit of a surprise is actually Josh Key, the fullback has actually replaced Galbraith as first choice full back after some impressive performances off the bench.

The Table:

 

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November 2025:

Another mixed month but more positive than negative, solid wins & a tough draw against a top six side then two narrow loses at months end.

Player Of The Month:

Player of the month goes to left fullback Josh Tymon for November, a solid month overall which yielded consistent 7.00+ ratings with a few assists & a nice goal to top it off.

The Table:

December 2025:

December came with a change of formation & at first a change in results, tough 1-1 with top of the table Oxford followed by a game which the Swans should of won, followed by 2 games in a row with 4+ goals but then 2 disappointing games in where The Swans are in games but cannot find the goal to move on.


Player Of The Month December 2025:

The player of the month for December goes to Brazilian winger Ronald, filling in on the right flank for Benson who is off on international duty, Ronald has contributed positively, goals & assists & general overall great play.

The Table:

 

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Update:

As we head into January The Swans have been getting results just not enough to propel them up the table.

Below is the tactic Gaffer has implemented, a simple 4-3-3, the 3 at the back Gaffer has come to the understanding that this squad just does not have the quality, in training sessions there is reports of a 3 back that may come back at some point

Youth Intake:

The youth intake preview has come in & it looks very positive, however that will be seen more once the reports come in with the players who will call Fairwood home.

 

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January 2026:

Finally, a month to be proud of, lots of games in a busy month resulted in quite a few points picked up - the only 2 real blemishes Gaffer would say is the 1-1 against Hull with Hull only managing 2 shots on target all game whilst Swansea have over 20 shots & the 3-1 loss to Derby just not The Swans Day.

Player Of The Month:

Player of the month is someone who has already won this award, Eom ji-Sung wins it for a second time, Eom has been fantastic now in a left midfielder role he is already in double digits for goals with 12, unfortunately he is now out for 6 weeks & is a HUGE hole to fill, Ronald is given first crack however there is a new singing who may find his way into the side.

Table:

Transfer Window Action:

First piece of action was club captain Ben Cabango left to join Premier League side Wolves for 8.75 million - Cabango leaves the club having made over 100 appearances but fell out of favor under Gaffer & the funds were used to improve the squad overall.
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Ayden Heaven was brought in as a like for like replacement for Cabango & joins from United until the end of the season, he got hurt in his first game but will feature throughout the rest of the campaign.

Former Newcastle left back Jamal Lewis was the second singing & comes in as a rotation option at left back & will also featuyre throughout the season when required.

Third & final singing is a free one but one that brings excitement with Lautaro Fedele, the versatile Argentinian signs on a 2 year deal & is eager to make his first Swans appearance & with Eom being injured he has a 6 week timeframe to make his mark.