Swansea: Over-achievers

First and foremost, I would like to clarify I am not spamming the site. My previous story with Swansea got corrupted because of a faulty Steam connection and I couldn't retrieve it. Determined to continue with the Welsh side, here I am with a slightly different story.

Season 2011/12

Season 2012/13

Here begins our journey, from newly promoted to world-beaters

The early part has already been posted, but bear with me as I get others into the story as well.




After Brendan Rogers decided he had done enough with Swansea, Chairman Huw Jenkins needed a new manager. This is the statement issued to the press and posted on the official website of the club.


Huw Jenkins: "Ladies and Gentlemen, Brendan Rogers took our clubs to heights we didn't imagine reaching so quickly, and we knew would have a tough time replacing such a talented manager. We were approached by a lot of experienced and established coaches, but the directors agreed unanimously that we needed a manager who provided something fresh and enigmatic, much like the team we have at our disposal.
The man who will be incharge of Swansea for the 2011/12 Premier League season is Akash Vidyasagar. He is gaining a growing reputation in the footballing world and we believe he is the right man for the job."


Huw Jenkins: "Come in and have a seat, Akash. We have some financial decisions to make."

Akash Vidyasagar: "I was hoping we would get to talk to you about our budget soon. I already have a couple of potential signings lined up."

Huw Jenkins: "Even with our promotion, we are unable to offer you with a substantial transfer budget. We have £5Million to spend and are pretty much on our limit when it comes to wages. It is a tough spot to be in, but with the promotion, a lot of the players had to be paid because of their clauses."

Akash Vidyasagar: "I need some flexibility in that department. We could distribute those £5Million into our weekly budget."

Huw Jenkins: "It is your money to spend - as you like. All we need from you is for our team to avoid relegation."

New manager, Akash Vidyasagar has been watching his team train and compete in friendlies for nearly a month now and sees his side capable enough to compete in England & Europe's toughest competitions. The club has still been active in the transfer market and we are proud to announce the signings of Odense youngsters, Bashkim Kadrii and Rasmus Falk. Also, he has strengthened up the defense with West Bromwich Albion youngster Craig Dawson. Both Odense attacking midfielders were signed for a combined fee of £2 Million and are on £5,500 per week deals. Dawson, on the other hand, was bought into the Swansea ranks for a bargain £1.4 Million.
Swansea's relationship with their manager has gotten to the best start possible, winning all the friendlies the team participated in.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00004.jpg

Looking forward to this and how it progresses, will definitely be following

The first quarter of the season

What a start! While the likes of Steve Kean, Roberto Di Matteo and even Sir Alex Ferguson doubted us and told the press it was just a purple patch for our team, we continued to move forward.

Surprise Leaders, Cup Win in Sight?
Although our season didn't get off to the best start, with a 1-0 loss to Bolton at home, Swansea moved from strength-to-strength, winning relegation six-pointers against West Brom and QPR. We have just entered November and Swansea leads the league - almost unbeaten; the most notable scalps being Tottenham and Newcastle.
Our League Cup dream is still alive, but the matches are getting tougher as the tournament goes on.

League Cup
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00013.jpg

Premier League
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00014.jpg

Fixtures So Far
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00009.jpg

Leading the league, being best friends with Arsene Wenger and job status 'untouchable' according to the owners. What could do go wrong? Apparently, an awful lot. It all began right after the Arsenal game, which was a bore 0-0 draw. The fans were very happy to see the likes of Robin Van Persie, Mikel Arteta and Gervinho throwing everything at their beloved team, but the defense remaining impenetrable.

After the match, however, I was approached by one of our substitutes for the match, Kemy Agustien. He demanded first-team football, which I just couldn't provide - with Routledge, Falk and McEachran, all on the bench and ahead of him in the pecking order. His request was granted, but it caused a little disruption within the team. These kids had come up to the Premier League together, and seeing one of them leave was obviously going to be difficult. This was followed by further bad news: my star striker Danny Graham had fractured his pelvis in some freak accident and was going to be out for the next three months.

Rather than continuing this good run of form, the team started to become complacent; the assistant manager complaining of over-confidence before matches. It had an adverse effect on our next two results. After being unbeaten for ten matches, we were beaten by Aston Villa, who won 3-1 and that was followed by being outclassed by Liverpool 3-1. From top, we are now fifth on the table.

Our boys needed to be a given the hair-dryer treatment, so before our League Cup Quarter Final against Arsenal, I posted the following note in the players' locker room:

"I had been approached by Newcastle and Aston Villa in the past couple of weeks about their job vacancy. I declined their offers because I believe we have something special here at Swansea. I have shown a great deal of commitment to this club, and I expect my players to do the same. Let's go out there and destroy Wenger and his boys.
P.S.: I have attached the offers I received especially for Gylfi, who always thinks I am bluffing.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00017.jpg

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-14_00018.jpg "

Don't take either job mate. You can go very far with Swansea. Enjoying the story and well written. Liked your script at the beginning with Huw Jenkins. Will be following this. :D

#57920 Glenn T : Looking forward to this and how it progresses, will definitely be following

Thank you for following. Hope I can provide something new and exciting.

#57957 edam22 : Don't take either job mate. You can go very far with Swansea. Enjoying the story and well written. Liked your script at the beginning with Huw Jenkins. Will be following this. :D

I wasn't planning to accept any offer. Won't be leaving Swansea till they sack me. Thank you for reading.

With our top scorer out, it was time for attacking midfielders and teenagers, Falk and Kadrii to lead the line. While Kadrii had featured in the team on numerous occasions and is a favourite with the fans, Falk hasn't broken into the first-team yet. The match looked pretty straight-forward, but the outcome was unexpected. A 2-1 loss to Wigan at the DW; both strikers not even close to scoring.
An occasional loss wouldn't dampen our team spirits, however, because we were punching above our weight in the league, but our team was starting to fall apart.

As I wait for the post-match press conference, I am approached by team striker, Leroy Lita, looking for a way out of the club. I couldn't completely blame him, having only two starts so far, but I believe players should work for their spots, rather than hold the club ransom. Looks like he had already decided he wanted to leave and didn't let me convince him to stay. Naturally, I had to accept his transfer request in the middle of the season, and my squad grew thinner.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00004.jpg

This didn't affect our team morale as Lita kept his decision private and Swansea marched on to two more victories against teams lower down on the table.

Wolves 1-3 Swansea
Swansea 1-0 Stoke

Our new strike partnership was working, and Falk would interchange positions with Sigurdsson, confusing the defenders. Of course, there was more disrupting to follow. Andrea Orlandi, a regular for the reserves, suddenly starts demanding to star in the starting line-up. Along with him, fringe striker Luke Moore demanding the same thing. They just needed to be shown who is boss and everything worked fine. They dropped their demands and went back to training.

Our next match against Fulham was pretty uneventful. The fans and the players didn't mind a 0-0 draw against a team that was fresh off beating Manchester United and Chelsea in a space of seven days.

But this is the match that could potentially ruin our season - Scott Sinclair out for 4 months with a torn calf muscle, Alan Tate out for 3 weeks with a groin strain.

Our next opponents, Manchester City. We lost the match 3-1. This is when I was called into our Chairman's office, for the first time in 3 months.

Huw Jenkins:

---

"Akash, there are a couple of reasons I have summoned you to my office today, and befor you get worried, it has nothing to do with your performance as a manager. What I do want to talk about is the lack of financial support we can provide you in the January transfer window."

Akash Vidyasagar:

---

"I don't understand. I thought the club released their earnings and talked about a £1 Million over the last 5 months. I was hoping to get an experienced striker into the club for a bare minimum fee and help the team out since Danny is out."

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00005.jpg

Huw Jenkins:

---

"I'm sorry, Akash, but it just is not possible. The profit will only be available after the season. Right now, our directors believe our fringe and reserve players can take care of the team during the injury crisis."

Akash Vidyasagar:

---

"I understand, but this would mean changing our formation and playing without wingers, since three of them are acting like strikers."

Huw Jenkins:

---

"I'll leave the specifics down to you, and I think this meeting has run its course. You will have a better transfer budget at the start of next season, if are finances are still up."

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/Boardtalk.jpg

The new formation

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/Form.jpg

The players reacted well to the new change of formation and beat Sunderland 5-0, with Gylfi Sigurdsson scoring a hat-trick as a striker. This was followed by a 3-1 victory over Bolton, seen as revenge for our loss on the first day of the season by most players in the team.
The team was fatigued, needed a break, and this was the best opportunity to give it to them. The FA Cup 3rd round against Sunderland and League Cup Semi-Final against Hull City, saw second-stringers Moore, Dobbie, Agustein and Ashley Williams got a look in.

Sunderland put up a wall in front of the goal, as the match ended in a 0-0 draw, resulting in a replay. The boys came good in the Hull match, winning 3-2 in the first leg.

This is it. I am proud of the boys; the rest must've really paid off - we just did the double of 4th placed Tottenham.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00008.jpg

Also, a 1-0 victory in the return leg at the Liberty means we are in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

How is it possible to do this well with swansea??

#58077 mcfc1328 : How is it possible to do this well with swansea??

I want to say it is because of me, but I'm guessing it has much more to do with my signings, and the fact that Swansea starts out very balanced. Thanks for commenting, hope you follow the story.

I hoped to post my next league win, and that is why it took so long. The matches became more and more difficult to win because I kept applying the wrong personal instructions. I have, however, rectified my mistake. Can't go back and change the scores though, but I am still in a healthy league position.

Before going into the negatives, let us talk about the positives: Swansea are League Cup Winners

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00015.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00016.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00017.jpg

Those three photos say it all, don't they? But here's how the season has progressed.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-16_00002.jpg
http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-16_00001.jpg

Youth Candidates Arrive

While the senior team got a well-deserved break from training, youngsters from around the region came down to have a trail with the coaches. Almost all of them were very talented, but one player stood out. Ben Lewis, a right winger, ran past defenders, crossed the ball in and showed the aggression you need for a footballer. A lot of the kids were given youth contracts, but that is one young footballer the coaches and I have an eye on.

http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww98/akashrv/2012-07-15_00018.jpg