Swansea in the focus after being promoted to English Premier League top flight – EPL debate
Swansea have set a new record in being the first Welsh side to play in the English top flight. The moment of glory came with their 4-2 thrashing of Reading in the Championship playoffs.
It is a moment that Swansea manager, Brendan Rodgers, truly relishes. He took responsibility of the club after quitting from his previous http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 in the last month of 2009. He was previously with Berkshire club. A series of bad performances by his team had compelled
him to call it a day with Berkshire.
Swansea narrowly missed an automatic promotion in to the English Premier League top tier by finishing third in the Championship. They held the number two spot for a brief time in February this year as they had four consecutive wins. But by the middle of
April they had slipped down to fifth behind Reading. They were quick to work their way back up after winning all of their remaining three matches and finished behind Norwich City and league winning Queens Park http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rangers-c40314.
Swansea ignited their fans with an excellent home win ratio; they won 15 of their 23 home fixtures. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Scott-Sinclair-c32675 certainly outshone his teammates by scoring 24 goals in the Championship.
Swansea were consistent, played with passion and carried a lot of will to make it through. They last played at the top level in the old First Division but that was way back in 1983. Their debut season in 1978 saw them beat Manchester United, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809
and Tottenham Hotspur.
Their fans do not expect miracles this time around. All they will come to see is a show of character from their home team. Swansea have to carry on from where they left when they finished being the third best team in the Championship. They want to see Swansea
maintain their promotion and play in the 2012/13 edition of the English Premier League as well.
Swansea can take confidence by seeing last season’s qualifiers finish in a respectable middle of the table position. Harry Redknapp from Tottenham Hotspur believes it can happen for Swansea as well. He has been impressed with the football that all the newly
promoted teams have displayed.
“Swansea have played some fantastic football."
“I'm sure they will be a decent side again and it will be interesting to see how they shape up in the Premier League,” Redknapp said. "All three teams have got a chance of staying up.”
Redknapp is also ready to lend his young defender, Steven Caulker, to the Swans. It will definitely bolster the side that is already equipped with good solid forward players.
Swansea boss Rodgers understands that the job ahead is not an easy one. He does not want himself, or his men, to get carried away and be emotional about the jump to glory. He knows that the last eleven of play-off winners were relegated back to the Division
2. He wants to prove his critics wrong. The bookmakers have already highlighted the Swans as the team to be relegated to the second pedigree next season.
The promotion also has brought its capital gains to the club. They are now worth approximately £90 million. The big pay cheque stands for an opportunity for bigger spending to buy players.
Sinclair has been their biggest buy, standing at £1 million, in the last season. His performance proved why they need to follow the trend and spend some more to strengthen their squad.
Swansea were hailed to have the finest style of football play during the Championship. That is something Rodgers will look to continue with. He calls it ‘style with steel’ and ‘possession with penetration’.
That is exactly what Swansea need to do. The passion needs to be reignited as they set foot back on the field this season. They will not want to be an ‘also ran’ team. They feel they are much better than that and they will be all ready to prove it to the
fans and their critics alike.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are the writer’s own and in no way represent bettor.com’s official editorial policy
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