Taking Flight Once Again: Swansea City

Unbeaten month = Great month
Also, not too far off from 1st place!

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Swansea City have expressed an interest in Preston North End full-back Josh Earl, following Martin Olsson's lengthy injury absence.

Leon Britton's side are said to be interested in the Preston defender after Martin Olsson was ruled out for the majority of the season, at least, with a leg injury in his sides victory over Hull last month.

The 20-year-old has made six appearances for North End this season, as they sit in sixth position in the Sky Bet Championship, currently. He broke into the first-team last season after a loan spell to Northern Premier League side Lancaster City the following season.

Earl went on to make nineteen appearances last season after making his first-team debut in a 1-0 win over Reading in mid-August, following Greg Cunningham's injury prior to the game.

It is believed the estimated figure is around £6,000,000 but Preston are likely to want more for the young defender, who has been a part of their youth system since the age of nine.

Talks broke down between Swansea and Burnley defender Charlie Taylor over a loan move earlier this week. The Swans were keen to bring him in until the end of the season and included a future fee, however Italian side Genoa hijacked the deal and the 25-year-old is close to agreeing a deal with the club.

Britton said earlier this week: "We are working hard to find a suitable replacement for Martin [Olsson] and expect to have one soon. We're working tirelessly to do so and this is not just in one area of the pitch. There are several targets I have in mind to improve the squad."

Replies

Justice: Indeed. Another solid month for us and you've hit the nail on the head. We seem to be decent enough at the back, but lack that consistent strikers; as McBurnie can be very hit and miss. Fingers crossed he can sort himself out in the remaining months, but reinforcements may be needed.

Griffin: Definitely! The pressure is certainly on us to keep performing now.

Jim: I can't complain at all in terms of results, truthfully!

Still Earl-y days since Olsson has been signed but it is positive to see Swansea linked with good players to replace him

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Swansea City have completed the signing of Liverpool forward Dominic Solanke on a season-long-loan.

The Swans have completed their first piece of business in the January transfer window by bringing in the 21-year-old, who has been limited to just one substitute appearance this season by the Reds.

Solanke joined Liverpool last season from Premier League rivals Chelsea for £6,000,000. The striker had just returned from a season-long-loan with Chelsea's feeder club, Vitesse; where Solanke scored seven goals in 25 appearances for the Dutch side.

Since joining Liverpool, the Englishman has made 21 appearances for the club, scoring once and is relishing a bright future with the club, despite limited minutes this season. He also made his international debut in 2017, featuring in a 0-0 draw against Brazil.

Speaking on completion of the deal, Solanke told us: "I am looking forward to my time here with Swansea. It's a great football club, with a great history. I feel that this is right move to make for me at this time to allow me to continue to grow as a player and get constant minutes on the pitch."

"There's a great competition for places here. There are a lot of great options and I'm sure we'll get the best out of each other as a result. I cannot wait to get started, truthfully."

Solanke could make his debut in Swansea's trip to League Two side Mansfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup tomorrow afternoon.

Replies

Justice: Isn't it a bit Earl-y to be starting these jokes when he hasn't even agreed to join?

That is a filthy signing for the Championship. Solanke will absolutely run riot in this league, get him snapped up on permanent afterwards too

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Defender Josh Earl has completed his move to Swansea City from Preston North-End on a three-year-deal.

The full-back has been in talks for the past week with the club, after negotiations between the two clubs began towards the start of the window opening. The deal was said to have been agreed several days ago, however final creases had to be ironed over before any official confirmation could be made from either party.

A final fee of £8,000,000 was agreed between Swansea and Preston to allow the Swans to acquire the 20-year-old's services. However, it is believed that clauses are included in the deal that will allow Swansea to pay a large sum over the course of the next twelve months.

Earl was recently capped at U20 level and is "excited for the future." He said, "I'm delighted. Swansea are a great football club with a great set of supporters. There is a platform here for players like me and I'm looking forward to getting out onto the pitch, immediately."

"The manager has shown a lot of faith in me. I really want to prove myself and justify my pricetag, the pressure is on in that respect. I'm a young player, but one who has gained experience quickly and I'm ready for the next challenge here with the club."

"Promotion is on the cards and that really won me over, in truth. There is a strong chance of Premier League football next season if we play our cards right. From the brief time I've been here, I already feel comfortable with the other players and feel like this is the right choice."

"I want to thank Preston for the faith they have shown me. I have been there since a very young age and they've allowed me to get to where I am today. To make my senior debut there was a dream come true. I will forever be grateful to the staff, players and supporters who were all behind me. I wish them the best of luck for the season and I'm confident they'll carry on their strong season."

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Jack: Haha. He's a fantastic player and hopefully he'll have the consistency that we need for the rest of the season. If we can get him permanently, I would be surprised... but who knows.

I really hope Solanke can become something special for you, and really hope you get the chance to bring him in permanently if you get promoted! Earl looks like a solid addition too!

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"It was a rather poor month from ourselves, as we surrendered second-position in the league. We dropped too many silly points and the players lacked the heart and desire they had previously shown.

The first two games [Reading and Mansfield] optimised the issue of the month. A lack of quality and a lack of respect shown to our opponents. It was right, therefore, that we failed to win either of those games and as a result, some sterm words were voiced at the end of each game.

To then follow those results up with a humbling defeat to Preston frustrated me. I have been careful in the way I speak to my players, however I didn't hold back at the end of the game; questioning the motives of the players and demanding a response in the next game, a replay in the FA Cup.

A shake-up was needed in some areas of this pitch. This served us well as we defeated our League Two opposition to book a place into the fourth round against Grimsby Town.

From here, we improved as a side again. We were unlucky in our draw with Sheffield United, rattling the woodwork several times. I think the game could have gone on all day and we still wouldn't have scored; it just proved to be one of those days for us.

Our victory against Birmingham could prove to be one of the biggest results of the season, in terms of where we were at the time. We'd gone a few games without a win and needed to keep in touch with Sheffield Wednesday. Oliver [McBurnie] was a credit to himself and the club after he was given the opportunity to return to the starting XI and took his chance, bagging two.

We definitely have some of the best attackers in the division with Oliver, Dominic [Solanke] and Wilfried [Bony]. It's just a matter of getting the confidence from them. Each are very hard on themselves at times and just need to get that support from myself and the lads. When they have the confidence, they have the capabilities to be excellent.

To conclude the month we comfortably dispatched of Grimsby. It was important we didn't underestimate our opposition, like we did with Mansfield and I was pleased to see no such thing occurred. As a result, we now host Arsenal in the fifth round of the competition.

February will be a key month to our season. Six games, with five in the league. This includes finishing the month against Sheffield Wednesday. That game could prove to be the game that decides would goes up automatically and therefore we have to remain in touch with them and ensure we don't drop silly points, as we have far too often this season."

Replies

Griffin: As you can see, he hasn't really hit the ground running as of yet. However, I'm confident in his abilities to improve in February and beyond. Earl has been a useful player since joining and I'm looking forward to seeing his development, as he looks an exciting prospect.

You'll bounce straight back up! I know you will!

Not the best set of league results but you are still within a chance of winning the league, ad you have a good chance of promotion! Solanke is a massive coup, he'll be an important player for you!

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Leon Britton has enjoyed a fantastic season with his beloved Swansea City side this season since becoming manager, but has he brought back the good times to the Liberty Stadium? We believe so.

Britton was appointed as Swansea boss on a two-year-deal back in June, following the sacking of former boss Carlos Carvalhal - who led the club back to the Sky Bet Championship after a seven year stay in the Premier League.

Since, the 36-year-old has gone from strength-to-strength in his debut season as a manager. With an impressive record of 19 wins from 34 games, therefore totalling a win percentage of 56%, the Swans sit in third position in the league, just a point behind Sheffield Wednesday who occupy second.

It's fair to say that the appointment was one that pleased fans, however was viewed as a risk. Britton was appointed with no previous experience as a manager and is one of the youngest manager within the Football League. However, his commitment to the club and his passion has revolutionised the club this season.

With a number of managers coming and going in the last couple of seasons, it is important that the club looks to stabilise themselves. Britton promises to be an appointment for the future, as well as the present. He has delivered on his promises to challenge for promotion this season and has built a strong squad.

There are clear foundations for the future, with the likes of Daniel James, Joe Rodon and Connor Roberts all becoming prominent players within the system. The future looks bright with a conveyor-belt of players coming through the academy and being neutered well by the coaching staff at the club.

It has been a while since such positive words have been echoed by the players. Every individual speaks highly of Leon and this is shown in the freedom and confidence displayed by the players, on the whole, this season. Complacency hasn't been allowed by the manager and he has learnt the role of management quickly.

Entertainment has been brought back to the Liberty Stadium. As a result, the fans have continued to back the team this season and the attendances continue to rise. It is important we continue to back the revolution taking place again at Swansea City Association Football Club. Not many clubs have returned to the top flight immediately, however, the possibility to do so is very much possible...

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Jim: Hopefully! It would be terrible to miss out on automatic promotion so narrowly.

Justice: Definitely not the run of results we had in mind. But, the possibility to win promotion, and even the league, is still there. Solanke should be a massive boost to us and hopefully he finds his goalscoring boots soon enough.

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Leon Britton has spoke of his 'immense pride' following his sides 1-1 draw with Unai Emery's Arsenal in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round.

The result means that the two sides will meet again on Tuesday 26th February at the Emirates to decide who will host Burnley in the sixth round of the competition, following the draw on Monday evening.

Arsenal fielded a strong lineup to face Swansea, however struggled to deal with the attacking quality of the Swans in the early exchanges, as both Dominic Solanke and Daniel James came close to giving their side the lead.

However, it was Arsenal who broke the deadlock just before the half an hour mark. Defender Laurent Koscielny positioned himself just inside the box following a poor corner attempt, cushioned the ball down and powered the ball into the net to give the Premier League side the lead.

But the goal seemed to spur the hosts on, as Kosovan midfielder Bersant Celina equalised on the stroke of half-time. Josh Earl brought the ball inside for Jefferson Montero, who found Celina. His effort was carefully placed to the near-post, beating goalkeeper Bernard Leno.

From here, both sides had opportunities to win the game. However, it was a game of goalkeepers as both Kristoffer Nordfeldt and Bernard Leno enjoyed an excellent ninety minutes.

The chance of the game fell to Swansea when Daniel James took advantage of some sloppy defending, but couldn't adjust his balance in time to put the ball home. The Swans faithful were clearly delighted with the result, as an outburst of song rang around the Liberty Stadium come the full-time whistle.

Leon Britton said after the game that he was "delighted" with his sides efforts: "It was a fantastic game of football and one everyone enjoyed. It's a great result for us, but I think we can feel hard done by at the fact we haven't come out with a win. We thoroughly deserved a replay at the least and I'm delighted with the players."

"We worked very hard for this. The heart and desire I ask for from each of my players was on full display today. We look forward to travelling to the Emirates for the replay, however we have a few games before then that are very important in the league. Our full attention has to be on those games to ensure we keep the pressure on the top two."

Very impressive result, you have the mental edge on them now!

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I have to apologise here. I stupidly overwrote this month's league table, so will be unable to bring you it. However, it shall return next month. I suppose it adds to the tension?

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"What an important month to our season February could prove to be. An unbeaten month that marked some extremely important results. The lads are proving to be a real asset to themselves and the pressure is really on now, for all of us, however they're stepping up to the plate - which is pleasing.

The month began with a trip to Ashton Gate and we were looking for retribution following a 3-0 defeat last time out to our rivals. The lads showed the hunger they lacked in the previous affair to come out victorious.

This result was followed up by one of the most entertaining football games I have ever witnessed. It was a real ding-dong battle between ourselves and Millwall, who were playing some excellent football on the day. Tom Carroll is a player with great ability and he stepped up, in the dying embers of the game to rescue all three points to complete a rare hat-trick for himself.

Come back drama didn't stop there. Leeds came back from 2-0 down to snatch a point, which disappointed me. However, they are a top side and credit had to go out to them for their performance. Despite being two-nil down, they remained positive and thoroughly deserved a point.

The result to Arsenal was fantastic and it went down to the fans, I believe. The support they gave the lads on the day was fantastic and we hope that they enjoyed the occasion as much as we did. Ultimately, we would crash out in the replay as we were forced to shuffle our team around due to fitness issues; however we could be proud of our efforts.

We concluded the month with a victory over Brentford, followed by a massive victory over Sheffield Wednesday that lifted us above our nearest rivals, back into second position at the end of February.

I feel that victory could be one of the most important results of the season when we look back, if we do hold on and gain promotion back to the Premier League. It is my job to ensure we capitalise on our position in the league and look to make a push to overtake Middlesbrough at the top. I'm ambitious and won't settle for runners-up."

Replies

Justice: It was an excellent result, however, as you've read, we were forced to heavily rotate our team and it ultimately proved to be costly.

Unlucky to lose against Arsenal in the replay but you did well to push them. That win against Milwall must have been something else, did you put a hole in your roof when you scored that 96th minute winner?