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Swansea |
Didn’t I Hear Ian Atkins’ Name Linked With Swansea? |
| You may well have done. Atkins was one of a host of names linked with the vacant manager’s position at The Vetch after Brian Flynn left last March. Atkins was, of course, already on his protracted way to Rovers but that didn’t stop the rumours. In the end Swansea appointed former Watford boss Kenny Jackett, who had been Ian Holloway’s assistant at QPR before he took on the Swans’ role. |
Hasn’t Jackett Got A Few Gas Old Boys In His Charge? |
He certainly has. Kevin “Stone Cold” Austin joined Swansea in the summer and he was joined in September by Andy Gurney, the man who once described a glorious goal by saying he gave the shot “a bit of swaz”. James Thomas, a Rovers loanee a couple of seasons back, is also at the Vetch. |
Any From The Dark Side? |
Yes, there’s someone to abuse this week: former sheedhead Kevin Nugent is now at Swansea. |
That’s What I Like To Hear. Anyone Else To Look Out For |
They’ve got a player called Leon Britton, who you should take care not to mix up with the former Cabinet Minister who sounds rather similar and resigned over the Westland affair. However, these days, the name on most people’s lips when you mention Swansea is Lee Trundle. He’s acquired legendary status for his goalscoring exploits (22 last season for example), and while he’s only notched up five this season it becomes a bit more impressive when you find out that he missed the early part of the season with a knee injury. Bizarrely, there were rumours that gaffer Kenny Jackett was trying to offload him this summer, but he’s recently signed a new two-year deal that will keep him in south Wales until June 2007. |
So Why’s This Trundle In Division Two If He’s So Good? |
We found this review on www.allthingsfootie.co.uk. It says everything you need to know about the bloke. “If you know anything about football outside of the Premiership then you must know of Trundle—a legend in Rhyl, Wrexham and Swansea; and about a stone short of being a Premiership player. He has the same awkward style of running and effortless control of Robert Pires, the way he opens his body up and moves with the ball at his feet is fantastic. He’s that rare breed of footballer, like Jay Jay Okocha, that’s both an entertainer and an effective player on the pitch. The only thing holding Trundle back is his fitness and his age. To play at a higher level in modern football, particularly in the Premiership, you have to be in top physical condition. He’s got everything you can’t learn, so it’s a crying shame that he’ll never play at the highest level (never say never and all that, but I’m just being realistic)”. |
They’ve Got That Swan Too Haven’t They? |
Yes, Cyril – a bit of a “character” as they say. He was once voted Best Mascot by readers of the BBC's Match of the Day magazine and it may well have gone to his head. Over the years he’s appeared in pantomime at Swansea's Grand Theatre, released a single ("Nice Swan Cyril") and was even said at one time to be considering a political career following the success of Hartlepool’s H'Angus the Monkey. However, it’s for his regular brushes with the law that he’s most infamous for. Where do we start on his discipline problems? Well he got lobbed out of the Mem a couple of years back for what looked like trying to incite his fellow Jacks to invade the pitch when the ref gave us a penalty, but that was just one minor incident in the career of “the undisputed enfant terrible of the furry football farmyard”. The most notorious incident was when he ripped the head off of Millwall’s Zampa the Lion and drop-kicked it into the crowd (probably doing what thousands of football fans would secretly love to do to their Millwall counterparts). On top of this he has over the years been done for grabbing a referee, pushing a Norwich director, throwing a pork pie at West Ham fans and leading a one-bird pitch invasion during an FA Cup victory. The latter resulted in the first ever case of a nine-foot bird in full swan regalia being charged with bringing the game into disrepute by the Welsh FA. In spite of a “Cyril is Innocent” campaign by Swansea supporters, he was banned from the touchline and fined £1,000. Oh and best not forget the 2001 Mascot Grand National, which ended in injury and shame. Wendy the Wolf left via a stretcher, Harry the Hornet cracked two ribs, and police were left searching for a mysterious long-necked figure after a woman claimed she had been pushed over, damaging her wrist. |
So What Else Can You Tell Me About The Vetch Apart From Cyril? |
Vetch Field was literally named after just that: it was a patch of ground on which vetch (which is a cabbage like plant) was grown. But this will be Swansea’s final season there as in 2005/6 they are due to move to a spanking new 20,000 all-seater stadium together with The Ospreys regional rugby team. |
The New Vetch? |
| No
one really knows. The new ground is being built where “Morfa
Stadium” (an athletics track) used to be and so was known as
Morfa originally. The project was then given a working title of “White
Rock” by Swansea Council, a name which referred to the rocks
along the River Tawe nearby and has historical links back to the
eighteenth century. The fans weren’t sure about the name initially
but it grew on them and then, just as it had become largely accepted,
the Council took it away again in July of this year. The reason given
was that they wanted to attract sponsors without a label already
existing (presumably it had all been too popular) but the fans then
lobbied to get ‘White Rock’ back.
At the time of writing discussions are said to be going on with a number of “big name” sponsors, but the stadium formerly known as White Rock remains nameless. Local paper the Western Mail is asking for fans to send their ideas, but we wouldn’t want to publicise the e-mail address as it might lead to some less than serious suggestions from our side of the bridge (newsdesk@wme.co.uk). Oh, and there are some pictures of the new ground here if you want to see them. |
South Wales. It’ll Be A Bit Dodgy For A Pint Won’t It? |
Yep, best to watch your back down there, especially given that they’re near the top of the league and regularly getting capacity crowds. Definitely avoid many of the pubs very close to the ground (the Garibaldi, Pantygydor and Swansea Jack in particular) but The Fineleg and Firkin (formerly The Cricketers) on King Edward Road in Brynmill (right next to the county cricket ground) is within easy reach of the ground and was very aggro free (in fact it was pretty much empty) last time we were there. It’s also worth trying the marina area: The Queens Hotel on Gloucester Place offered really good value, tasty food last time we tried it and some good beers. It’s a pub which has retained its original character (rather than becoming a bland identikit type of boozer) and you still get the odd seadog in there. |
They’re A Bit Tasty On The Pitch As Well Aren’t They? |
Definitely. In fact, this will probably be Rovers’ toughest game of the season so far. The Jacks had a very slow start to the season which led to some fans calling for boss Kenny Jackett’s head on more than one occasion, but they’ve picked up well and their home form is daunting. Currently third in the table, they’ve only lost once at home in the league (2-0 to Northampton on the opening day of the season) and drawn once (1-1 with Cheltenham in their second home game of the season). Since then the Jacks have won five straight league games at the Vetch (plus an LDV win over Luton) and haven’t let in a goal. |
Should Be A Good Atmosphere Then… |
| “The atmosphere is likely to be terrific” according to Jacks boss Kenny Jackett and it’s hard to disagree. Swansea have managed to get the capacity of the North Bank increased by 1,000 for the game, meaning that they’re expecting a near 10,000 capacity crowd and we all know how excitable they can get when they’re doing alright. It’s a point not lost on Ian Atkins: “The last five times I've been to The Vetch has been a Tuesday night or a Friday night and it's particularly when you're playing under lights there that it can be a different kind of atmosphere. Swansea are a good side, but you hope you get strong officials when you play at their place because the home crowd can influence them big style”. It’ll certainly make our recent trips to Boston and Cambridge seem tame. |