View from the oppo – Swansea
A bit about you:
Name: Philip Roberts
Current home town: Nottingham
Birthplace: Swansea
How long have you supported your team? Since 3rd March 1978. My dad took me, as a 10 year old, to watch John Toshack¹s first home game in charge against Watford. The old Division 4. Graham Taylor was the Watford Manager and Elton John was still their Chairman and was at the game. It was a 3-3 draw and both teams were promoted that year and again the following year. Swansea were promoted the year after that too in a straight run to the old Division 1. We didn¹t stay there long though.
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: Always a good buzz on match day and you can get to see some real legends arriving if you hang around the VIP entrance before kick-off. Bobby Charlton was one of my best spots.
Favourite match played by your team & why: Our 2013 League Cup win will never be forgotten not least because Eden Hazard got sent off in the Semi’s for kicking our ball boy but a day out in Wembley is always for the archives.
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: John Toshack. He was my idol as a kid and was the reason I begun supporting Swansea. God forbid if it wasn¹t for him who knows I could have become a bluebird!
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Alfie Mawson, assuming he hasn’t left us for West Ham before the game kicks off on Saturday. He’s a future England international for sure. He really plays with his heart. (Editor note: he didn’t go!)
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? On current form I would say Jordan Ayew. His confidence seems to be high after his wonder FA Cup goal against Wolves.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? Vardy and Mahrez too assuming he isn’t gonna be sulking.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? Connor “He’s one of our own” Roberts has started to break into the first team squad. He plays right back and was man of the match at Notts County last weekend. Also Olly McBurnie whose just gone out on loan to Barnsley. He has been scoring for fun for the Under 23’s for quite some time now. He’s been on the first team fringes for most of the season but hasn’t really been given a chance yet. Let’s hope he develops at Barnsley.
Where do you think you’ll finish this season? Despite a turn in form under Carvalhal I am still very worried. We will need a miracle to survive but the only consolation is that there aren’t a huge number of points between 9th down to 20th so it could still be any three.
How do you think you’ll do against us? After the Liverpool and Arsenal wins I am hoping our confidence will carry us through. From a survival standpoint it’s still a must win game because we’re still not “out of hospital” yet. I’m going for a 1 – 2 win to the Swans.
General Questions:
What did you think of the transfer window activity both in and out of your club?
It’s nice to have Andre Ayew back and I’m sure it will only boost him having his brother in the team. I still think he will be a real asset because I felt he did fine at West Ham but wasn’t given much chance there. I’m not sure about Andy King. You guys will have more of an idea than me but my fear is that he wasn’t making your first team so can we expect him to make a big impact. I hope he does.
Which three teams do you think will go down? Huddersfield, Brighton and Bournemouth.
Who do you think will win the league? Manchester City. My tip from the beginning.
Any other comments? Our season has been shocking until recently. There are calls for our Chairman’s head, which I don’t agree with. We have been bottom at Christmas for two years in a row so if we do survive it’ll be a an amazing escape and hopefully the reality check we need to get back to the Swansea way. It’s great to see you are showing some more consistency now and some of the quality that brought you the title.