Mutterings for the Minority

Swans v Watford

A typical winter’s day welcomed the first of the two meetings this week between against the Hornets, with the Swans drawing first blood with a 3-1 win.

As per Southampton the other week, Watford didn’t look like a ‘bottom 3′ team and their pace and trickiness in attack was evident - unlike lofty QPR a few weeks back! People say the table doesn’t lie and I suppose it’s hard to judge teams on just seeing them once, but on the evidence of today I doubt Watford will struggle all season long.

The game itself was literally a game of two halves (aren’t they always!?) with the first half being instantly forgettable bar the 1 goal apiece - some tricky passing, movement and finish (coupled with a sloppy clearance) giving Watford the lead before a Ferrie Bodde thunderbolt squaring things up less than a minute later.

The 2nd period was a more entertaining - if niggly - affair with the Swans taking control of the game and applying lots of pressure, with a fine Jason Scotland finish and injury time goal from Guillem Bauza making sure the Swans ran out comfortable winners in the end.  

Watford faded badly in the 2nd half which meant the 800 odd travelling fans turned their attention back to singing about “sacking the board” - spurred on by a large banner carrying the same message. I guess they were in no doubt as to what they felt about Ady Boothroyd’s departure earlier in the week.

On the subject of singing, our very own Dieters Bar Jacks tried their damndest to stir the Asbo East Stand into voice with a 8 minute plus rendition of “Martinez Barmy Army” - much to the amusement of those sitting near us!  Look out Norwich that’s all I can say

So another 3 points in the bag, which see’s us climb up to 9th in the Championship table and the perfect tonic before Tuesday night’s Worthington Cup game against the same opponents.  Quarter finals anyone?

Swansea v Derby County

Feeling somewhat down, fed up, disillusioned with life in general and being miffed at the Swans following the Palace showing, it was with great reluctance that I went to the game tonight.

With the beauty of hindsight I’m now actually glad that I did go along - for several reasons.  Perhaps most importantly it gave me the opportunity to see most of the Dieters Bar Jacks and ‘deal’ with the obvious and well intentioned condolences about my Dad.

The other reason was that it was another step forward in terms of returning to some kind of normal routine in my life - not that it can be rushed given the circumstances - but it was a step in the right direction all the same.

As for the football well I’m glad to say that the Swans returned to at least some kind of the form they started the season in and despite the end result being a disappointing draw, it was an improvement on Saturday - which was the main thing.

Personally I felt Derby offered very little even after going a goal up and if the Swans had shown more quality in the final 3rd then there’s no doubt the result would have been radically different!  As a result we had to settle for the Swans coming from behind and equalising thanks to a well taken goal from Ashely Williams.  Oh what we’d given for a reaction like that last Saturday!

Charlton ticket

With the football season just weeks away, I gleefully took possession today of my ticket for the Swans opening game in the Championship - Charlton away. The £30 price tag is certainly a rip-off, but I wasn’t going to miss the Swans first game at this level for over 24 years.

With over 2,500 of our 3,300 allocation sold already it’s looking increasingly likely that a small part of the London borough of Greenwich will be turned into a sea of black and white come August 9th. The excitement is now starting to build and no doubt come the day the pit of my stomach will be churning with excitement, nerves and a touch of emotion.

After setting my sights on another goal yesterday (i.e. my weight) it was back to pounding the pavements again this lunchtime. My time of 29 minutes 5 seconds was longer that I’d anticipated doing, but I must say I felt quite refreshed and comfortable afterwards - unlike last week. Now that’s got to be a good sign.

Swans DVD review

Contrary to some of the b*ll*cks spouted on Planet Swans about the Swans League One Review DVD and its quality, I was impressed. It had all the Swans league goals, Roberto giving his review throughout the seasons and finished off with some interviews with the players.

I’d gone for the t’internet order option (£19.95 all in) - so got the Swans v Leeds DVD chucked in for free - rather than visit the club shop. Granted the Leeds dvd wasn’t the best, but the season review dvd was fine and showed that at least the club had listened to the fans in light of previous video/dvd productions.

Was it worth the money? Well for me yes it was and it will be a nice dvd to play when wanting to recollect a great Swans season. If you’re not a big Swans fan then I’d recommend you spend your money elsewhere.

After enjoying reliving the Swans championship winning season, I put up DDWT Junior’s new La Redoute ‘toy box’ furniture. Well he’s got to store his mammouth collection of dinosaurs somewhere!

Exclusive Discount Code

Now this is a first for me - my very own wonderfully exclusive and very special discount code, courtesy of PowerplayDirect.com (thanks Paul).

As you all know I’ve been dabbling about in the world of affiliate marketing for a good few months now, so today was indeed a breakthrough in terms taking the ‘Money Off Shop‘ another step forward - albeit a little one.

Anyway, the code will give you a 2% discount off any purchase from PowerplayDirect.com

Poor old DDWT Junior is under the weather again unfortunately. He just can’t seem to get out of the little rut he appears to be in at the moment. He’s got a temperature, is very tired and consequently is right off his food.

Perhaps it’s little wonder though really, as there is forever someone in his class off school with one illness or another. I do hope he gets back to his normal self before DDWT Junior no. 2 comes along though as it’s going to be mighty tough going with everything otherwise.

Here we are just a few days into June and I’ve now got my hands on my Swans season ticket book! The excitement is already starting to build and I’m eagerly anticipating the fixtures being released on June 16th.

Gillingham v Swansea City

The Swans finally sealed promotion to the Coca Cola Championship with a 2-1 win at Gillingham and I was there!

Full details of the my day on tour with the Dieters Bar Jacks to follow soon!

Carlisle United v Swansea

We’re now on our way home after watching the Swans earn a point with a dominant performance at 2nd in the table Carlisle and in doing so take a step nearer the Championship.

Our 680 odd mile round trip started at 10:30 this morning and we quickly made time up the M4 before having a quick pop and crisps stop at Frankley services on the M5 (after deciding to give the Jack Army’s usual stop at Stensham a miss!). Nevertheless we still managed to bump into a few other Jacks making the long journey north! In fact we saw quite a few other Jacks on tour as we made our way along the M5 and M6 - all with flags or scarves fluttering in the wind as they motored towards Carlisle.

After a relatively brief but expected hold up on the M6 we arrived at Carlisle at 15:30 and headed off in search of the ground. Once we acquainted ourselves with the locality, we decided on setting up camp at a Toby Carvery some 1/2 mile away from Brunton Park.

The £5 buffet option was too good to miss and we proceed to devour a voluptuous beef dinner, washed down with lashings of cider (well I did anyway, not the driver!). Somewhat ironically, we were soon joined by the same Jacks we had bumped into at Frankley services and our numbers began to swell even more nearer kick-off. The locals were in a jovial mood and the banter flowed until we decided to ground at 18:30.

The ground itself was rather dated - with the exception of the stand we were in, which was modern. The place felt more like a rugby union/league ground to be honest, rather than a football one - mainly because of the old type terracing which went the length of the pitch (a la Whaddon Road, Cheltenham).

By kick-off the Jack Army totalled in excess of 580 - a commendable effort for a Tuesday night fixture - and we certainly made ourselves heard in the 10,000 plus crowd. In fact the only noise the home fans appeared to make was the rather predictable chant of ‘United, United’.

As for the game itself, well after an iffy opening 15 minutes we settled and began to play our crisp passing game and we were unlucky not to go in at half-time 1 or 2 up with Robbo hitting the post (the 1st of 3!) and Pratley having one ruled out for playing it before the ref’s whistle.

We got even stronger in the 2nd half and we very professional in the way we disciplined ourselves in the face of some very tasty Carlisle tackling - I’m still amazed someone didn’t get sent off. I counted at least 3 scything lunging tackles. Anyway, it remained goalless and we were more than happy with our point. I think this video clip which I took pretty much sums it up to be honest.

A brisk walk back to the car meant we were homeward bound by 22:05 and we making sound progress on the journey home until junction 16-17 on the M6, where a 35 minute jam (due to overnight roadworks!) held us up somewhat - even if it was 00:30 in the morning!!! A brief toilet stop and some dense fog on the M5 saw us finally reach home at 03:10 - knackered but more than happy with the result.

Next up it’s Gillingham away on Saturday and it’s sure to be another long but hopefully productive day. The Jacks ARE going up!

Swansea v Bournemouth

Hmm, so much for our promotion party at the liberty stadium today. I was gutted and annoyed, but am now (after a few hours thought) somewhat strangely positive again.

Losing 2-1 to Bournemouth wasn’t in the script and losing in the matter we did - two goals in two injury time minutes wasn’t either. I was left speechless to be quite honest and wondering quite how we managed (with the help of an iffy corner decision) to feck it all up having controlled the game for so long.

From my perspective, we didn’t play up to our usual standards but still showed enough to beat an average Bournemouth side whom only started to play after we went 1 up (which beggars belief as they need every point they can get to stay up?!?).

It was all going to plan with Huddersfield doing the business on Doncaster, us leading one nil and the majority of the 15,000 odd crowd thinking Championship here we come. But come 16:50 it all started to go out the window - starting with the news of a Doncaster equaliser. It went downhill fast after that as you now well know.

What went wrong? Well regardless of the finger of blame being pointed at the linesman for the 1st goal (the rub of the green flows both ways) our defending has to be criticised - especially in my opinion Dorus DeVries on today’s evidence and from what I’ve seen of recent away games (on TV highlights). Yes he’s a decent keeper, but I do feel that he could have done better today.

Messrs Lawrence, Tate and Austin are usually made the scapegoats - rightly on occasion - but I do feel a blind eye is turned to Mr DeVries inadequacies as well.

Pick of the bunch today for me were Britton and Kevin Austen - regardless of the flak he got/gets.

One other moment worth a mention was a terrific half time display by the Royal Marine Commandos, whom abseiled from the roof and then gave an unarmed combat display on the field. Excellent entertainment and a nice change from the usual half time fare. Well done lads!

I’ll finish off with a picture of Cyril the Swan just before he abseiled off the liberty stadium roof before the game…

… by the end of the game, I think quite a few fans wanted to jump off the roof! Keep the faith Jack Army, we’re nearly in the promised land.

Swansea Jacks

No this isn’t an explanation as to why people from Swansea are referred to as ‘Jacks‘, it’s about a book I’ve just finished reading.

The book was called ‘The Swansea Jacks - From Skinheads to Stone Island‘ and was as the title might suggest about football hooliganism or terrace culture as it is often referred to nowadays. Now you’re probably wondering why the hell I’d want to read a book of this nature.

Well there are several reasons to be quite frank… I’m a Swansea fan and am intrigued by our ‘hooligan element’ and their literary skills (LOL); I was curious if I knew/recognised any of the ‘faces’ (which I did); but most of all it was because I have an interest in the world of football hooliganism - purely from a psychology perspective I can assure you!

As an ex-semi professional rugby player who represented his country, I’m intrigued (and always have been) as to what makes these men/teenagers (and some women believe it or not) get out of being a football hooligan. Now I’m not referring to the people who walk around clad out in the latest Stone Island, Burberry, Aquasanctum gear for bravado - I’m on about the real hardcore element who purely want a scrap with the oppositions firm/dressers call them what you want and get one hell of a buzz out of doing so.

I just find it odd that you don’t get this sort of needle between rival sets of rugby fans - well none that I’ve witnessed anyway - but you do with football. Is it because the ‘aggro’ is on the field perhaps?

I suppose I always remember what a football playing mate of mine used to say - “The real hard lads in school played rugby, whereas the lads who thought they were hard played football” - now personally I don’t entirely agree with that statement, but I can see what he means to an extent.

Anyway, back to the book. It’s pretty much a warts and all story of the top Swansea ‘faces’ over the last 30 years or so broken down into sections by each hooligan. It was an ok read, but I felt the book was let down by a lack of consistency between each section - which could vary between 2 pages to 20+ pages.

From what my memory recalls of the media reporting about various bouts of trouble involving the Swansea Jacks, the book is a pretty accurate reproduction of the facts. It certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re a local and follow the Swans then it should hold enough interest for you to see it through to the end.

The next book on my reading list is ‘Killer Web Content’ by Gerry McGovern - which as the title suggests is the complete opposite end of the spectrum in terms of my book reading habits!

Stiff as a rake

You can tell I haven’t been running for ages, as I feel as stiff as a rake after the run yesterday. People usually say you feel it on the 2nd day after the exercise, seeing as I’m a day earlier, it says a lot doesn’t it!

With the Swans playing at Bristol Rovers tonight and me working on the PC, I decided to try following the game online for a change as opposed to tuning into the Swansea Sound match commentary. I opted for the Soccernet coverage in the end and I must say it was great with both text and graphical information about the game - even showing where the shots were taken from and by whom! Whilst obviosuly this wasn’t as good as the old radio, it made it more nailbiting

Whilst on the subject of the Swans, I got my Gillingham ticket today as this is the next Dieters Bar Jacks away game on April 12th. If my maths and crystal ball serve me right, it *should* be the game that the Swans clinch promotion to the Coca Cola Championship.

We decided to see how tall DDWT Junior was today and he now stands at 108cm tall. Somehow I think he’s following in my footsteps and won’t be far off my 6ft 4″ height when he’s finished growing, unless he ends up being even taller of course!