Mutterings for the Minority

Hot on the heels of last Saturday’s 2 nil reverse at the stadium of light, the Swans were on their travels once again this week with a visit to Premier League rivals Bolton Wanderers in FA Cup 4th round.

With prices slashed for the tie to just £15 for adults, I took the opportunity to do a recce of the Reebok Stadium prior to the Swans league visit in April.

In order to add a bit of spice to yet another away day, Conker Jack and myself decided to have a Ford v Vauxhall, motorway v mid Wales race to Bolton.

With both parties departing at approximately 07:30 and allowed only one 15 minute refreshment/toilet stop each – it was sure to be an interesting duel.

Conker Jack (who’d give Jenson Button a run for his money) and his crew of NFL Jack, NFL Jack junior and Financial Adviser Jack – whom incidentally is the Jack formerely known as Porn Jack – were clear favourites with the bookies odds-on at 4/5.

However despite an extended stay in Chester services (due to toilet troubles) Hank the Jack and myself parked up at the Reebok stadium at 11:20 and were duly crowned the winners of the duel – beating the favourites by over 25 minutes.

I’ve always maintained that the pheasant run through mid Wales was the quickest way to away games ‘oop north’.

For any Jacks planning on doing the Bolton trip in April, it’s fair to say that you probably won’t find an easier premier league ground to get to or park at.  You can see the ground from a few miles away as you approach it on the M61 and it’s literally just 2 mins from junction 6.

There is ample parking at the ground (for £6) although you can also park in the nearby industrial estates for half that price.

If you intend taking the family/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/lover/friend or whatever, then the large Morfa x 4 style shopping area and on-site DeVere Whites hotel (complete with rooms overlooking the pitch) will prove exceptionally handy.  Similarly there’s also a Premier Inn just a goal kick away from the ground.

One word of warning for anyone wanting a drink on their visit though, all of the bouncers on each of the local drinking/eating establishments pointed us firmly in the direction of the Beehive pub as the ONLY drinking establishment for away fans.

My advice would be to simply head into the ground when the gates open at 13:30 and have a beer there, as the prices were – from what I was told – the going rate, i.e. £3.30 for a Magners, etc.

The professional drinkers amongst you might also want to take advantage of the ‘Queue buster token’ that is offered for £1.50 – which basically means you can go to the front of the queue to get your HT beer(s)!!

Despite the grandeur of the ground on the outside, it wasn’t as impressive on the inside – with the seats being cramped.  This was rather odd given the apparent size of the stadium and the wasted potential seat space in each of the 4 eliptical shaped upper tiers.

The news of Ashley Williams – making his his 31st consecutive appearance this season - being the sole survivor from the team that faced Sunderland, meant that this was essentially the Swansea reserve league team.  Although it did mean that Josh McEachran made his full Swans debut.

Come to think of it, this was the furthest I had ever travelled (to date) to see Swansea reserves play.  I think I’ll stick to going to Parc y Scarlets in future – it would be a darn site nearer (and warmer) than these far flung places in north west England that’s for sure!

And so onto the game and my take on proceedings.

• The 10 changes obviously impacted on the team’s balance and continuity in terms of our play and consequently, the opening 20 minutes were pretty much a full on aerial bombardment from Bolton – with David Ngog and David Wheater being the main targets;
• On the subject of Ngog he really is just a shit Aidan Newhouse and I suspect that he’s still in Ashley’s pocket (as he was in the game at the Liberty in October)!
• Tremmel made a couple of decent saves early doors, but he does appear to make his saves late – which isn’t good for one’s ticker.  He also showed glimpses of Dorus DeVries when it came to taking goal kicks;
• When the Bolton aerial assualt proved unsuccessful, they resorted to mid/long range shots – which usually ended up in Row Z or corner flag.  The Scott Sinclair haters from last week, will no doubt assume that the Bolton players had attended Scotty’s shooting camp course in mid-week;

• Whilst Fede Bessone did well at left back both he and Luke Moore offered very little down the left flank (unsurprisingly perhaps?) – meaning most of our attacks came via Routledge down the right… when he wasn’t infuriatingly getting caught offside!
• Ex-Swans Pratley and Ricketts were well up for the game and both showed an eagerness to get forward.  Pratley in particular was a busy bee and reminded me of his days in a Swans shirt during the Martinez era;
• After a rare attack we thought we’d taken the lead against the run of play when Routledge put the ball in the net – but our celebrations were short lived as he was flagged offside (again)!!
• This non-goal was (from memory) our first clear cut chance in an otherwise forgettable opening 43 minutes;

• Shortly afterwards we did take the lead after a nice move between Lita and Luke Moore whom finished with a delicate scoop over the keeper – cue a dodgy goal celebration from the man himself and pandemonium in the away end;
• This brought a rousing rendition of ’1 nil to the sheepshaggers’ and the inevitable ‘Pratley what’s the score’ closely followed by ‘You only went for the money’.  Needless to say these sorts of chants usually come back to haunt you and bite you on the arse;
• We all know what happened next! My rose tinted spectacles detected a hint of offside (I’ve not seen the goal on telly) but regardless of that it was a very poorly defended free-kick anyway.  In fairness to Pratley he didn’t celebrate the goal and merely chose to offer a polite hand wave as if to say ‘sorry’.  Respect;
• The irony of the Bolton fans taunting us with ‘There’s only one Darren Pratley’ can’t have been lost on him (or us) given that they’ve been slagging him off all season!

• It’s fair to say that at half-time the fans were happy with the scoreline – as we really had been under a lot of pressure for 75% of the half.  I did feel however that if we played to our strengths and style – and got some width to our play – we would go on to win the game;
• We started off the 2nd half much brighter and the game (thankfully) started to feel more and more like an end to end cup tie, rather than an away team looking for a point on the road;
• After a slow start, McEachran was now starting to show his class and played several inch perfect slide rule passes through to our strikers, whilst splitting the Bolton defence;
• The game was there for the taking and you always felt that there were more goals in the game.  It was therefore extremely frustrating that we gifted Bolton the winner when Tremmel spilled the ball.  Grrrr;

• The introduction of Nathan Dyer and Danny Graham (replacing Routledge and Lita respectively) added more structure, balance and purpose to our play but we were continually thwarted by some last ditch defending and the woodwork.  Inevitably you had that feeling that it just wasn’t to be our day;
• On the subject of Lita, he didn’t have one of his better games – which I accept as everyone has an off day.  However, one thing that does grind my gears however is when a player leaving the field – regardless of their disappointment – doesn’t acknowledge the away fans, especially when they are chanting his name.  In my opinion, it shows a lack of appreciation and respect;
• Given the two starting line-ups and the overall pattern of play, I think I would be a little worried if I was a Bolton fan.  Despite the result, they were playing a Premier League reserve team for the best part of an hour and for all their dominance, they far from outclassed us.  Does that say something about them or our strength in depth? I suspect it’s the former;

• A word on the officials – or rather the linesman (Charles Breakspear or Andy Halliday?) running the line along the West stand – what a homer!  I don’t recall him giving us anything so he was never going to give Pratley’s goal as offside (even if he was offside!).  It’s little wonder that players, fans and pundits berate such individuals;
• The Bolton fans did at least make an effort to sing – albeit being the highly original ‘Sheep, Sheep, Sheepshaggers’ chant.  Although in fairness 80% of them looked like they were still going through puberty – which was probably testament to the £5 entry fee for kids than the usual demographic of Bolton fans?!
• The 1,300 or so Jacks in attendance weren’t their usual boisterous selves – which I sense had more to do with the occasion than anything else.  Personally for Premier League teams, the FA Cup doesn’t hold the magic it once did – which I feel is a sad indictment of how money has spoilt the game;
• Having said that, the reaction of the players – Kemy Agustien and Ashley Williams in particular – at the final whistle, illustrated that regardless of what some people might think, EVERY game is important and you play to win regardless of the opposition or competition;

So we left the ground disappointed about our exit from the FA Cup but far from despondent.  After all we’d scored for the 9th consecutive time in an away FA Cup tie, even if we don’t reach the 5th round very often!

On a brighter note personally, the Reebok stadium was the 55th (current) league ground I’ve visited following the Swans.  I’ve racked up almost 1,200 this week alone, so I’d best not calculate how many miles (or the cost!) I’ve covered doing the 55!!

By 17:30 we were back on the M61 and without a stop on the return journey, we duly arrived home by 21:30 and had just about thawed out.

Whilst it is always disappointing to be knocked out of any cup, I couldn’t help but think back to January 2007 when we stuffed Sheffield United 3 nil in the FA Cup 3rd round and Neil Warnock reminded everyone that the priority was to stay in the premier league.

For once, I actually agree with him.

The Swans headed to the north east in confident mood after a scintillating win over Arsenal last weekend, but faced a rejuvinated Sunderland team, whom were poles apart from the drab and dreary outfit we saw back in August at the Liberty.  What a difference a manager can make (sometimes).

Given the media plaudits that surrounded the discovery of the Swansea triangles the previous weekend, there was perhaps (in some quarters) a sense of added pressure and expectancy to deliver the goods at the Stadium of Light.  However anyone with a sense of perspective will readily accept that getting 3 points – especially away from home – isn’t quite as easy as that.

The irony of Brendan Rodger’s comments on “lazy journalism” from last Sunday can’t have escaped anyone, as those whom have watched the Swans – or indeed any other half decent footballing side(s) – over the last 3 to 4 seasons would have witnessed these “triangles” many times before.  Isn’t this what most good, well organised football teams do?

Anyway, back to the today and our 718 mile round trip to the home of the Black Cats.  Back in June when the fixtures were released, a debut trip (for myself and my 5 companions for the day) to Sunderland in January, seemed like a fab idea at the time.  However getting out of bed and having breakfast at 04:30am for a 05:30 departure really put our ‘fab idea’ to the test!

With Polka Dot Jack at the helm, Sports Writer Jack, Porn Jack, Bald Jack,  Wine Taster Jack and my good self eagerly awaited the 6 hour plus drive ahead – which would no doubt be filled with the usual banter that accompanies such outings (minus the alcohol and drugs in our case I hasten to add).

By the time we reached the world famous Stenchsham services (ha ha) on the M5 it was just about getting light and it was a sobering thought to see other weary eyed, half asleep Jacks there as well.  A quick pee, purchase of some Match Attax cards & coffee and we were off again on our travels.

We spent some considerable time debating (arguing?) the appointment of Chris Coleman as the Wales manager and then subsequently the Wales/Team GB  scenario.  I shall say no more on the subject and thankfully by the time we reached Woodall services on the M1, we’d moved on and were discussing how a shitzu had managed to bite Bald Jack on the buttocks.  Don’t ask.

There were plenty of other Jacks here to, not to mention some Charlton and Derby County fans.  Which made me ponder as to which motorway service station was the busiest – in terms of the number of different football teams fans that passed through – on a Saturday.  Anyone care to have a guess?

We reached our chosen lunch destination – Durham – by 11:15 and decided to give our legs a good stretch and have a wander around this historic city, which incidentally is home to one of the UK’s top 3 universities.

Durham is an ideal stop off point for anyone heading to Sunderland to watch a game, as it’s only 14 miles away.  A quick recce of the food establishments so us choose Hide Bar/Grill/Restaurant as the location for our pre-match meal.

For the first time ever I tried a ‘Calzone’ – which isn’t a brand new food range from Joe Calzaghe – it’s a folded pizza which looks like a giant cornish pastie, but tastes a lot better.  In fact it was so nice I forgot to take a picture of it!!

So with this small part of the travelling Jack Army now bearing full stomachs, it was time for us to march on to the Stadium of Light via the free park and ride service to the stadium.

Thankfully the P&R service for the stadium is well signposted and can be seen as soon as you get near Sunderland, so we quickly parked up and jumped on one of the old school style double decker buses that were being used.  The locals were friendly and helpful – which is in keeping with the rest of the people I’ve met from these parts.  Just a shame then that they don’t feel like that about one another I guess…. but hey ho, look at us and Cardiff.  Enough said.

One thing that stands out as you approach the stadium is the industrial heritage of the area.  You couldn’t help but notice the huge amount of waste ground that surrounded the stadium, which no doubt must have once been a home to a colliery or similar industry.  It made for a very bleak, almost unwelcoming feel – especially on such a windy and cold day.

A quick walk around the ground made me realise why some people compare the Liberty stadium to the SoL – apart from the obvious capacity difference of an extra 28,500 seats!  Its got the same bland exterior and even the overhanging roof supports look the same.

The Sunderland match day programme was an excellent read and was packed with interesting info and stats for both home and away fans.  I particularly liked the way you could flick the pages of the programme (from front to back) and in the top right hand corner of the page you’d see a picture by picture animation of their winning goal against Manchester City – a very clever idea.

There was also a pull out sheet of stickers inside the programme – some of the players and some general club stickers – which obviously were intended for adding to the club sticker album. A very clever marketing ploy – parents buy a programme for the stickers as little Jack wants to put them in his club sticker book.  Who needs Match Attax or Panini eh?

And so onto the main event and the small matter of 3 points.  Prior to the game, I’d have been happy with a point – as I am always when the Swans play away from home in the league.  However, news of ‘The Iceman’ (Gylfi Sigurdsson) starting filled me with greater confidence that we could take all the points on offer.

The Swans backed by a guestimated away following of 1,400 (in a crowd of 36,000 odd) were in fine voice as the game kicked off and we saw little evidence of the ‘Roker Roar’ at this stage.  There wasn’t a great deal of evidence of it throughout the game – which was disappointing.  Any noise they did generate was made by a section of about 3,000 or so Sunderland fans to our left in the south west corner stand but it didn’t last for very long even if it was loud in fairness.

Here is my take on the game (from what I remember!) in bullet points…

• The opening exchanges were fairly even with Sunderland looking the more threatening through the busy Bendtner and Sessegnon;
• From the outset Siggy was instrumental in most of the Swans attacking play and looks a class addition to the squad on the evidence of his performances thus far in a Swans shirt;
• Having carved up the Sunderland defence, Scotty skyed a chance from 6 yards out and 60 seconds later we were 1 nil down to a cracking – if somewhat fortunate finish – from Sessegnon.  Ruthlessly punished for not taking our chances – grrrrr;
• After the goal, we seemed to play the next 25 minutes camped in Sunderland’s half, passing and probing but without finding any real cutting edge bar a Danny Graham header and a couple of long range efforts.  This certainly silenced the home crowd if nothing else, despite them being 1 nil to the good.  Bizarre if you ask me;

• Whilst taking refuge from the biting wind at half time, the talk amongst the fans was extremely positive and we felt as though we could still get something from the game – such was our dominance;
• The 2nd half started pretty much as the first, but this time the Swans were pushing hard for the equaliser with Nathan Dyer getting into the game more and more;
• Unfortunately on the other wing, Scotty was having a torrid afternoon and on some occasions had 3 men marking him.  His performances aren’t what they were last year BUT we mustn’t forget that he is now a known quantity and is often marked out of games. He is also up against far more physical defenders – which for a lightweight winger is a big ask;
• A cracking free-kick by Siggy was the closest we came to an equaliser and shortly afterwards he was replaced by debutant Josh McEachran.  Some fans questioned this decision, but you’ve got to remember that Siggy is still building up his match fitness after only limited game time for his parent club Hoffenheim;
• From the brief glimpse we saw of Josh, he seems as accomplished on the ball as you’d expect of any BR signing. My only concern is that he may be too lightweight against some of the more physical teams – such as Stoke!
• We dominated once again for long periods but without really threatening to score.  It did however make the natives a wee bit restless and impatient. The patience of a premier league football fan is very limited obviously
• I suppose it was inevitable that pushing forward so much that we’d get caught on the break and so it was with a sublime finish from 25 yards by Craig Gardner to finish us off;

•  It sounds daft saying this after a 2 nil defeat, but defensively we were strong again and we beaten by two special goals in fairness.  However, Rangel is quickly developing into what seems to be the ‘norm’ for left/right backs in the Premier League nowadays – great going forward, but gets caught going of position when defending. A theme sadly which is prevalent for most of the away games I’ve seen;
• Referee Chris Foy gave a typical Foy performance – baffling decisions (yes it was a corner Chris – over 36,000 other people could see that!) and an annoying habit of getting in the way of the ball;
• I’m quickly coming to the conclusion that we might have to setup differently away from home. I’d have liked to see the marginally more physical Routledge start ahead of Scotty and maybe even Lita instead of Danny G.  Only time will tell if Brendan read’s this blog or not;
• Finally whilst we get criticised for just looking pretty and not having a cutting edge, I do think that over time we’ll overcome this deficiency (away from home) and for that reason alone I have faith in Brendan’s perseverance with our style and formation;

We trudged away from the stadium somewhat bewildered as to how we could dominate a game so much and yet threaten the goal so little.  But we were far from despondent as we joined the long queue for the short P&R bus back to the car.

The Mackems we spoke to were more than forthcoming with advice on how to avoid the traffic by taking x and y road, whilst others were more intent on suggesting that we take it easy and enjoy ourselves whilst in the north east - “why don’t yows spend the night in Newcastle like and smash the fooking place up good and proper like?”.  It could have been worse I guess, they could have wanted to have rumble with six 37+ year old Jacks

Before you could say Adebayo Akinfenwa we were back in the car and looking forward to our 6 and a half hour journey home – surprisingly upbeat considering the defeat but buoyed somewhat by the performance.  I’d hate to have thought how we’d have felt if we’d got mullered though!

After only one brief stop at Woolley Edge services and a detour via Abergavenny due to the M4 being closed and I was home by 23:15 – still full of beans and in time to watch the Swans on Match of the Day!!

The journey home simply flew by and I can’t believe we spent the best part of 3 hours playing the football players and then pop group names word association game!  I’d recommend it to anyone on a long away trip (even if some people cheat – Wine Taster Jack/Porn Jack!).

All in all it was a good day – apart from the result – and I remain as optimistic as ever.  After all we’re “Premier League and we’re having a laugh”

Hopefully one of these will run in front of me on the way to Bolton for the FA Cup tie on Saturday…

Come on you Swans!

 

Football fans of a certain age and era (i.e. 40 plus and late 1970′s) will be familiar with the name of Alan Brazil.

Famed for his bushy blonde hair, the former free-scoring striker of Ipswich Town, graced the field for a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Some of you might even remember him as being part of the Ipswich Town team that won the 1981 UEFA Cup Final by beating AZ Alkamar 5-4 over two legs.

He also represented his beloved Scotland on 13 occasions – the highlight being an appearance in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

On a more personal note I remember him more from my days as a kid, watching him line-up for Ipswich against the Swans in the old First Division (1981-1983)  at the now non-existent Vetch Field.

He was also a stand out figure in my Panini football sticker book.  Do you remember collecting them?  If not, this image should bring back a few memories – especially at 12p a packet!

 

Nowadays, the likeable Glaswegian can be found presenting the ‘Sunday Exclusive’ and ‘Sports Breakfast’ shows on the radio station TalkSport.

So to quote a well known Brazilism “why” blog about him I hear you ask.

Well apart from the fact that he has always – when I’ve been listening anyway – been highly complimentary about my beloved Swansea City, he’s actually gone to great effort and sent me his nuts!!

Now before you all think that I’ve gone a little bit bonkers, let me explain.

As someone whom uses Twitter quite a lot, I was intrigued to see several retweets (RTs) on Monday this week about winning Alan Brazil’s nuts – not because I’ve decided to bat for the other side, but because I remember him as a football icon.

Basically the 300th Twitter follower of Brazil’s Nuts would win just that – Alan Brazil’s nuts.  There are no prizes here for guessing who won this accolade, yep that’s right me

And here’s the prize – 10 packets of his salted and dry-roasted peanuts. Thanks Alan!

But all nut jokes aside, there is a serious and worthy reason behind the Brazil’s Nuts story – money will be donated to charity for every packet sold.

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation cancer charity will benefit from each sale of the snack and it is hoped that between £70,000 and £100,000 will be raised for the charity this year alone.

As Brazil’s Nuts are a new snacks range, they are currently only available as original salted and dry-roasted peanuts, but plans are being made to release chilli peanut and cashew nut versions later this year.

They’ll be available to buy in all good supermarkets and some rubbish ones too.

If the incentive of helping charity isn’t enough to get you to buy a packet, then maybe the fact that each packet of the nuts feature a QR code enabling you to access Talksport competitions, videos and exclusive content on the Talksport website is perhaps?

So whether you decide to buy the snacks or not is up to you, but at least get following @brazilsnuts on Twitter and help spread the word about Alan’s nutty fundraising efforts

Blwyddyn newydd dda i chi!  A new year usually heralds a new start and that’s exactly what the 3,000 Swans fans heading to Villa Park were hoping for today.

History and recent form weren’t exactly on our side… the Swans had lost all of the previous 7 league meetings at Villa Park – the last one in September 1982 – and hadn’t scored in any of those games.  And we all didn’t need reminding of our Premier League travel sickness problems.

That said the old cliché of football being a funny old game is indeed spot on and does forever give this old Swans fan hope – no matter the situation or opposition.

Given the Swans sterling efforts (and comeback) against top 4 chasing Spurs on New Years Eve, confidence was very high amongst the majority of fans – if a little tempered due to Villa’s surprising 3-1 spanking of Chelski at the bridge.

With Conker Jack at the helm for this road trip, we left at the rather decent (as in not crack of dawn) time of 09:30 – what a refreshing change as a certain beer advert accurately proclaims.

Our little quintet of the travelling Jack army consisted of two new members, in the shape of NFL Jack and NFL Jack Junior.  Suitably named due to their love of rugby US style – american football.

In fact the early part of our journey was spent discussing the unfairness of teams with superior playing records having to play away to teams with poor playing records – due to the geographical make up of the wildcards/play-offs.  Oh and we touched on the Green Bay Packers business model or rather ownership – i.e. the fans, all 112,000 of them!

With the NFL debate finished we arrived at Cardiff Gate services to pick up Director Jack – whom in fairness looked like he’d been set upon by Cardiff’s notorious hooligan firm the ‘Starbucks Crew‘.  Thankfully this wasn’t the case and he was merely suffering from too many Jägerbombs.

The remainder of our journey was consumed by a toilet stop in Michael Wood services (whomever he may be) and a Swans football quiz – consisting of such gems as…

Q: Name the Swans player whom starred in the movie ‘Escape to Victory’?
Q: Name four former Swans players whom have managed a Premier League team?

Please leave a comment if you think you know the answer(s)

A couple of wrong turnings later and we eventually arrived ‘The Ruskin Hall Club’ (no it’s not THAT sort of club), which is just off the A38 and only a mile walk to Villa Park at around 12:30.

The match day parking was £5 and it cost a quid to get into the club.  For those who like high cholesterol food, the burger van situated outside would suit your needs comfortably.

The club had a real working mens club feel to it with lots of televisions (featuring sky sports) and friendly chatter between fans of both clubs.  We did find the single file queueing system for the bar rather bizarre even if it did appear to work!  No matter though, it’s still an ideal stop off for anyone heading for Villa Park.

The 10 minute walk to Villa Park takes you through the stunning Aston Park, which is ideal for a picnic for those of you with the family/Mrs in tow but not the lads perhaps!!  During the walk you’ll also come across ‘Aston Hall’ rumoured to be owned by Stan Collymore, probably due to its idyllic rural location given his love for the outdoors and all that stuff.

I was looking forward to my visit to Villa Park and had often dreamt as a kid of walking up the steps to the Holte End to watch the Swans in an FA Cup semi-final – in the days when those games were played there of course.

This desire was no doubt due in part to some of the stories my late Dad had told me of the day he went to see the Swans v Preston FA Cup semi-final there in 1964 – a game which some of you will remember no doubt.

As is customary nowadays for all the Premier League grounds we visit, I take a stroll around to get a feel for the place and take as many pictures as I can. Partly to ‘seize the moment’ but also as part of my quest of visiting all 92 grounds watching the Swans. I’ve still got 39 to go!!

Despite Villa Park being one of the older Premier League grounds, it was still an impressive sight outside and inside – which was in stark contrast to some of the other northern based clubs we’d visited whilst watching the Swans recently!

With kick-off fast approaching we took up our seats (well standing area would be more accurate) in the lower part of the Doug Ellis stand and were surprised at how close we were to the pitch and how good the views were considering the tickets were only £29 – cheap compared to some other premier league stadiums believe me!

Whilst awaiting the kick-off, I couldn’t help but think back to the reverse fixture and the tragic events of that day. I also remember how physical (dirty?) a side Villa were that day and wondered what team selection Brendan would make – given the 6 changes he made on New Years Eve for the Spurs game.

The news of Andrea Orlandi making his first full premier league start did little to impress those around me and I must confess to thinking myself that he was a little too ‘lightweight’ as a midfield option for a feisty, physical Villa side.

So onto the game and my take on proceedings, as seen after only 1 bottle of Magners as opposed to my usual none….

• The early touches of Orlandi reminded me a lot of this year’s Dobbie – someone who was off the Premier League pace due to lack of game time not through lack of skill or ability;
• Regardless of the sublime pass by Stephen Warnock for Dyer’s goal, Dizzy took his chance superbly – something which I’m not sure the Dyer of old would have done.  But that’s confidence for you and for that Nathan I salute you sir
• In fact such was Dyer’s dominance of Warnock many pundits after the game were asking was Dyer worthy of an England call up.  A Talksport poll posing the question as to whether fans would want Theo Walcott or Nathan Dyer in their team, showed Dyer receiving a whopping 72% of the vote. Enough said;

• Villa’s rather boring tactic of lumping the ball into the box and looking for a knock-down for either Bent or Agbonlahor to convert proved fruitless with both Ashley Williams and Caulker dealing with everything that came their way;
• As the game progressed Orlandi played with increasing influence and could on the evidence of this game still have a first team role to play at the club – despite what a lot of fans think;
• In fact Agustien, Britton and Orlandi did a fine job in midfield and gave their so-called more illustrious opponents – Stephen Ireland, Charles N’Zogbia and Stiliyan Petrov – the run around for most of the time;
• The ever improving Wayne Routledge capped another fine performance with a well taken and historic goal – his first premier league goal in over 100 starts.  I really do think he’ll score more goals BUT he’ll have to show far more conviction on the pitch and in particular the final 3rd if that is to happen;

• Such was our creativity we could and probably should have scored more than the 2 goals – with Danny Graham going close on a couple of occasions.  What he lacks in goals though, he surely makes up for in work rate and he really does typify the Swans current never-say-die mentality;
• There was no requirement for Michel Vorm heroics this time around and the only time he was beaten – in inury time - N’Zogbia’s chance bounced back off the post;
• It’s hard to criticise any individual or the team after an all round terrific performance but I will! The one negative observation I’d make is that is that we have a tendency to overplay at the back sometimes, which sometimes creates unnecessary pressure, which often results in us giving the ball away in a dangerous part of the field. Rangel is often the culprit – he did it twice today – which is a shame as he is (in my opinion) a vital cog in the team;
• Villa did take us to the cleaners on one thing though…. corners but we dealt with them admirably. So much for our achilles heel being set-pieces eh;
• The travelling support was once again excellent and very vocal.  It was also good to hear a wide variety of Swans related songs and only one anti-Cardiff chant which I can recall – do us Jacks really give a toss about them anyway?!  The retort of “We love our manager” to the Villa fans chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” was a particular favourite;

• I thought referee Anthony Taylor had an excellent game – as did Phil Dowd for the Swans v Spurs game I hasten to add – and allowed the game to flow with the minimum of fuss or intervention.  Perhaps Lee Probert could learn a thing or two from these gentlemen?
• Never before have I been warned by a steward that taking pictures during a match isn’t allowed.  Well not since Scunthorpe away back in 2001 anyway and at least the Villa steward didn’t threaten to chuck me out!

So who’d have thought it eh.  Our very first Premier League game of 2012 and the Swans break their away day hoodoo with a comfortable 2 nil success at the home of former European champions Aston Villa.

Happy as the proverbial pig in poo, we marched off back to the car still drooling over the afternoon’s proceedings – if a little bemused by the local lady we passed whom was ‘hoovering’ the pavement with a toy Dyson.  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that “nothing sucks like an electrolux”.

Anyway we were soon on our way home and eagerly tuned into Talksport to see what Stan the Man would make of the Swans stuffing his beloved Villans.  In fairness he ate an extraordinary amount of humble pie and keen to get in on the act Director Jack phoned up to take part in the phone-in.

Now this had to potential to be rather amusing, as the eloquently spoken Director had been tasked with getting the word “Dogging” into his conversation with Stan.  For example, “The Swans were doggingly determined to win today”  would have sufficed.  Unfortunately, he got cut off twice during the programme (signal issues) and the only thing he managed to successfully do was run up a whopping mobile phone bill!

I was back home by 19:45 and full of excitement to see what messrs Hansen and Shearer would make of the Swans first away win.  Being home so early made me realise how lucky (in football travel terms!) teams from the midlands are when it comes to going to watch away games.  You can leave for the game and sensible o’clock and still be home for supper.

I guess that’ll explain why Villa fans were creaming themselves that they took a mammoth 994 fans to Chelsea on New Years Eve….

Anyway, as a Swans fan what a fab way to start 2012 and who knows what the next 5 months will have in store.  The only thing I’m sure of is that whatever happens there’s never a dull moment when it comes to watching the Swans that’s for sure.

I’ll finish off with a song for all us Jacks that were at Villa Park to witness history being made.  Sung to the tune of “She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes”….

“When Wayne Routledge scored his goal I was there, when Wayne Routledge scored his goal I was there…”