Swansea City: Jack to a King

haguey94 - Thank you! Appreciate you reading it The bank is quite empty yet so might add one or two more before the window closes but feeling optimistic ahead of the new season!

Swansea started pre-season with an uninspiring goalless draw in Belgium against Lokeren. New signings Geronimo Rulli, Danny wings and Neven Subotic made their first starts in pre-season for their new club.

Trundle's men faced Premier League rivals Stoke City in the first warm-up of their Hong Kong training camp. In front of a measly 5,000 supporters Swansea conceded late on as striker Joselu ('83) gave his side the victory. The Swans manager has said he isn't worried about the fact his side failed to score in their first two warm ups and has reiterated the fact that fitness is the most important thing during this period.

The Jacks finished their visit of Hong Kong with a first pre-season win against Kitchee. Swansea scored both their goals in the second half with Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring a free-kick and Danny Ings ('85) grabbing a late second to earn the Swans a victory.

Swansea produced an impressive display at the Kyocera Stadion against ADO Den Haag as they won 4-0 in Holland. Lightening-fast winger Jefferson Montero grabbed a hat-trick with last seasons top scorer Charlie Austin adding a fourth as Swansea scored all their goals in a thrilling first half.

Lee Trundle finished his summer preparations by visiting the United States for a three match tour. Swansea were based in Florida for the first week and began their tour with a narrow 1-0 defeat against Kaka's Orlando City. The home side scored after 51 minutes through Adrian Winter to earn a victory against the Premier League side in front of 16,500 supporters.

Danny Ings' 90th minuted goal from close range secured a 1-0 win for Swansea in the second match of their American tour against Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The Jacks finished their pre-season preparations in Kansas against Sporting Kansas City from the MLS. The American side took a shock lead through ex-Liverpool forward Krisztian Nemeth but it was Swansea that left the field with a lead at half time. Midfielder Andres Cubas scored a worldie after 27 minutes to make it 1-1 and six minutes late Danny Ings gave his side the lead. [Danny] Ings grabbed a hat-trick before the game was over with a late second half brace ('80 and '89) to give the Swans a 4-1 win.

Manager Lee Trundle said after the game in Kansas that fans could expect one or two more additions before the window closes and stated he was feeling confident ahead of the new campaign.

In Other News:

Swansea have signed England under-19 international Andre Dozzell from Ipswich Town for £1m. The defensive midfielder is one for the future but Trundle will be pleased his side have secured the signature of a young talent.

Swansea Head of Youth Development, David Adams, has also been busy this month securing the signing of 16-year-old Moroccan winger Youssef Rami for £100k from Catanzaro. The youngster will join the Swansea Under-18 team for the season ahead.

Swansea City have agreed a fee for France international Morgan Schneiderlin on the eve of the new season from Manchester United having been transfer listed earlier this week.

United's signing of Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse meant the Frenchman was then deemed surplus to requirements and told to find a new club. He only made 10 league appearances for United during their 2015/16 campaign having joined the club that summer for £24m. United have allowed the player to leave a year later for less than half the fee paid 12 months earlier, with Swansea paying £9.25m for the industrious midfielder who becomes the most expensive signing since Lee Trundle took over the club last season.

The Swans beat Atletico Madrid and Everton to secure Schneiderlin on a 5 year contract.

In Other News:

Swansea have signed 17 year old Swedish striker Isac Lidberg from Hammarby Fotboll for £450k. The youngster will return immediately to the Swedish club on loan for the season.


Manager Lee Trundle has confirmed the club will not be adding anymore players as he prepares to put all his time and energy into the upcoming campaign. If Swansea's transfer business is compete it means Swansea have made a net spend of £4.5m this summer - spending £43.5m on players and making £39.05m on player sales.

The opening game of the season saw Swansea comfortably win 2-0 against Sunderland. Winger Andre Ayew scored an early goal after 14 minutes from the edge of the box to make it 1-0 and it didn't take new signing Danny Ings long to end his Premier League goal drought. 35 minutes into the strikers debut he volleyed an Andre Ayew cross past the statuesque Costel Pantilimon to double his sides lead. The second half was less entertaining but manager Lee Trundle would be pleased to kick off the campaign with a 2-0 win. Goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli also looked elated at the full time whistle having kept a clean sheet in his first game between the sticks since his move to the Premier League.

Swansea secured a hard-earned win at Elland Road in their second fixture of the new season. New signing Jonathan Calleri came off the bench and made an immediate impact for his new club scoring a four minute brace to give his side a 2-0 lead in the second half. It wasn't a comfortable finish though after Leeds' Lee Erwin scored after 77 minutes to give Leeds a lifeline. Swansea did hold on to win 2-1 though in a game they dominated from start to finish. Swansea had 19 shots, 12 on target and Trundle praised his new striker Calleri on his man of the match performance.

Swansea finished August top of the league and the only side with a 100% record going into September in the Premier League. The Swans won 2-1 in front of a packed Liberty Stadium with an impressive performance against the Saints. In-form winger Andre Ayew got his second of the season in the first half with a fantastic solo effort to put his side ahead. Calleri maintained his form with Swansea's second after 66 minutes to put the result securely in Swansea's hands. A late wonder-goal from Englishman Jay Rodriguez gave Soton a consolation but it was the home crowd that left victorious at the full time whistle.

Great finish last season and a great start to the next season

MaxLuxon - Thanks

Incredible start mate

Jack - Thank you! Appreciate you taking the time to read it

Swansea City returned from the international break without any sign of stopping their incredible form at the start of Lee Trundle's second year in charge. Last season's player of the month Andre Ayew scored a well timed volley to put his side one up at the Britannia after 26 minutes of football against the run of play which had seen Mark Hughes' men the more dominant side. Mame Diouf equaled the scores just after the half hour mark with a fantastic low finish but a second half winner from in-form Andre Ayew secured another win for the Swans on the road.

Swansea returned to European football with a perfect performance against Turkish side Besiktas. Manager Lee Trundle rotated his squad ahead of a Sunday night Premier League match where keeper Lukas Fabianski returned to the side and under-21 players Liam Shepard and Adam King were given the chance to impress. Last season's top scorer Charlie Austin opened his account for the new season with a screamer from outside the box, whizzing the ball past the Besiktas keeper before hitting the top corner!


A second half injury to Austin gave Danny Ings another chance to impress. The new signing scored with his first touch having been subbed on 7 minutes into the second half after getting on the end of Jordi Amat's long ball to double the Jacks lead over the opposition. With Inter Milan and Belgian side Gent to come this was an important win for Trundle's men to build momentum in the group stages.

An eventful first half saw Swansea ease to a fifth consecutive victory at home vs Leicester. Once again it proved to be an impossible task for the oppositions defence to keep Andre Ayew quiet. The star man opened his account for the afternoon within 16 minutes with a tidy finish from close ranged having dribbled past a few Leicester shirts. The Swans had doubled their lead less than ten minutes later with striker Jonathan Calleri finishing from the edge of Schmeichel's box. A high tackle from midfielder Gokhan Inler meant he received a second booking on 32 minutes and was off for an early bath. Up stepped Ghana winger Andre Ayew for a first half brace giving Swansea a 3-0 lead at half time. The second half passed with little goalmouth action to discuss but Lee Trundle looked delighted at full time as his side continued their epic start to the new campaign.

Swansea progressed to the next round of the cup without much hassle at Ewood Park. In a game of limited chances Trundle's task was made easier after blackburn went down to 10 men following Jonathan Walters' red card after 24 minutes. Anwar El Ghazi gave the manager something to consider in the second half with a brilliant solo effort before lobbing the keeper to give his side a comfortable 1-0 win.

Swansea's undefeated start to the season finally came to an abrupt end at Stamford Bridge. Despite holding Chelsea to a 0-0 draw at half time, the persistent attacking threat of Eden Hazard finally broke Swansea's defence after 57 minutes when the winger managed to plant a ball perfectly onto £33m-pound signing Romelu Lukaku's head to give the Blues a 1-0 win. Trundle claimed he was proud of his sides efforts, pointing to the stats which showed how even the contest was. He told the Sky interviewer after getting 15 points in 6 games he wasn't going to complain!

Sural 21

Sural 32

Sural 53

Swansea were completely outclassed on their first European away trip of the season. Showing tactical naivety in their performance, Gent striker Josef Sural exploited a shambolic Swansea defence to bag a hat-trick in front of the Belgian fans. Swansea did grab a late consolation when Charlie Austin scored a penalty late on but Swansea fans will be hoping for a quick fix having suffered back-to-back defeats at the end of the month.

English midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has today handed in a transfer request having been demoted to a fringe player since the arrival of Morgan Schneiderlin,

Jonjo has seen his game-time limited to a League Cup appearance and one league start so far this campaign, compared to last season where he made 23 league appearances.

Shelvey joined the Swans in 2013 for £5.75m from Liverpool and has been granted the chance to leave the Swans by manager Lee Trundle with the club putting a £10m price-tag on the cultured midfielder.

Manager Lee Trundle looked delighted at full time as his side battled hard to survive Man City’s attacking onslaught to earn a surprising point at home. The Swans were dominated from start to finish on their own pitch with Man City having the majority of chances (20 shots, 10 on target to Swansea’s 3 on target). Despite Swansea’s defensive efforts Man City found a way through on the hour with sub Domenico Berardi scoring a cool finish from inside the box. But Swansea evened the score after 74 minutes with a Gylfi Sigurdsson free kick from 30 years out (that eventually won goal of the month in October) to stun the travelling side in a one-sided game. Trundle praised his sides never-say-die attitude in the match and said he was delighted to go into the international break with a point against one of the favourites for the title.

Swansea bagged back-to-back 1-1 draws after an eventful match against title challengers Arsenal in front of a packed Liberty Stadium. Arsenal’s early dominance was rewarded as Alexis Sanchez curled his shot passed Rulli from 15 yards out to give his side the lead. The Swans snatched an equaliser just before half time through Charlie Austin who got on the end of a precisely timed cross from Demarai Grey. Swansea and Arsenal both squandered second half chances to win the match but Swansea looked the happier at full time with the point.

The Swans earned a shock win at the Giuseppe Meazza against group favourites Inter Milan to earn a first away win of their European campaign in front of 62,000 fans. A well timed through ball found winger Jefferson Montero after 37 minutes. Montero slotted the ball past Handanovic from close range to give the Swans a shock lead in front of a stunned arena. Trundle’s men showed defensive prowess throughout the match and restricted Inter to pot-shots and half-chances. Trundle’s side finished with a 1-0 win and the young manager described the match as “the biggest win of my career so far”. Having suffered defeat in Belgium on their last European outing Swansea will be more confident of progression after 3 games, with 6 points at the half way point and only one more away game to play.

Callum Wilson 38

Caicedo 90

Swansea were given a lesson in football at Goodison as ex-Swans manager Roberto Martinez got one over his old club. Aaron Lennon gave a man of the match performance and was rewarded for his efforts on the half hour mark as he grabbed the first of three for his side. It only took Swansea two minutes to equalise as Charlie Austin rounded the keeper from a well timed Morgan Schneiderlin through ball. Sadly that was Swansea’s only shot on target in a very one-sided match and Everton were back in the lead 6 minutes later courtesy of a Callum Wilson header. Everton rounded off their win with seconds to go as substitute Felipe Caicedo scored his first for the club. Disgruntled fans will blame the Europa League for this uncharacteristic performance but Trundle refused to blame their European adventure for the loss. “We didn’t turn up today and I apologise to the fans that have made the trip today. We’ll make it up to them at Newcastle by getting back on the training field and working hard” is all a disappointed Lee Trundle could muster before heading back to the changing rooms.

Swansea crashed out of the League Cup despite holding United to a 2-2 draw at home. Summer-signing Bernado Silva’s brace wasn’t enough despite giving the Red Devils the lead twice in the game. Goals from Jonathan Calleri and ex-United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (his first for the Swans) was enough to take the game to extra time and later penalties. United’s takers Young, Mata and Silva all scored their first three, and with Swansea’s takers, Ayew, Fernandez and Schneiderlin all missing, Swansea’s cup dream came to an early end.

A six-goal thriller ensured Trundle’s men finished October on a high. The young manager took a different tactical approach ahead of this match, changing to a standard 4-4-2 formation. This was the first time Trundle had started a game with two up front and many pundits were sceptical about the change ahead of a difficult away match. Newcastle were 2-0 up within 26 minutes with Tiote and Papiss Cisse both finishing from close range chances. But Swansea weren’t ready to give up on the result and Newcastle let a two-goal lead slip away in front of their own fans. The two man strike force of Jonathan Calleri and Charlie Austin began to click after a slow start and Charlie Austin slotted a Calleri through ball past the keeper to make it 2-1. Austin was at it again after the break and volleyed a Demarai Grey corner into the net to make it 2-2. Last season’s top scorer made it 3 for the day and 5 for the season after 56 minutes as he smashed Montego’s pass into the goal to give the Jack Army the lead for the first time. Austin still had time to add a fourth after 88 minutes tapping in a low cross from full-back Arana to give the Swans a massive 4-2 win away from home. It’s safe to say, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of a two-man attack at Swansea, and Trundle would have taken great pleasure in proving the doubters wrong.

Awesome story, wish my updates looked half as good as yours! Keep it up mate, can't wait for the next installment

MeanGreenKillingMachine - Thanks for reading and really appreciate the comments! Keep at it, mine were much worse when I first started