Michael Duff Sacked?????

Grass isn't always greener ---

 

For me it’s about entertainment ( well love as well if I’m honest but ignore that for now ). Last season I was entertained, we had a go, sometimes we came up short but we had a go and the games were good to watch. With the exception of Morecambe away last season I enjoyed the football we played. Enjoyed the defeats as well as the wins. This year I’m struggling, finding it difficult to stay positive. I’m not bonding to the style of play. So yep I accept the stats that we’ve accumulated more points than this stage last season but it’s boring and have any of those points been won against teams above us in the league? Anyway it’s not going to happen and Collins probably deserves a fair crack of the whip but for me at least the entertainment value needs to increase.

 

It’s a fair question mate.

I think Collins has done well to accumulate the points he has so far this season. However, I do not believe we will progress in the second half of the season with him in the same was as we did under Duff. I just don’t think the performances are there.

I can only judge on what I can see and I am not being obtuse or contrary, I just don’t really think we look particularly good under him. I don’t see a clear and effective game plan and I don’t see progress being made.

Under Duff I thought that I could see progression. I clearly remember the match at Hillsborough and thinking ‘we are onto something here’. We seemed to get better month on month, culminating in a strong play off campaign that should have seen us promoted.

I do accept he had a much better back 3 to work with. However, Roberts is a top class goalkeeper and I think Collins can thank him for quite a few of the points we have amassed.

I am pretty sure we will be mid table come the end of February. Feel free to bring this post back up then and mercilessly take the piss out of me when I am wrong and we are top 4…..

 

Schadenfreude

 

Going 2 0 up at home and then failing to hold on for a win is not going to win the hearts of fans. Think he came across as quite arrogant without the results or good football to back him up at Swanses.

 

How much is a taxi or the bus, from Swanny to Cheltenham ?.
Ohh well never mind, he can afford it and he might get the Watford job next month, when big Val gets the chop.

 

The comments on the Swansea Facebook post announcing the news is roughly about 100% in agreement it is the right decision.

Surely John Eustace is the number 1 choice.

 

Fair post. I think things will get better, but I respect your opinion, and can also see from your reply that if it does, you'll acknowledge that.

 

Don't you think that as well as missing the back 3 from last season, Connell has also been a huge loss? He's started the last 2 league games and we've taken 4 points (really, really should have been 6). That was Wycombe at home and Lincoln away. Wycombe beat us 3-0 at home last season, did you enjoy that? We played Lincoln 3 times last season, failed to score in any of them, lost 2, drew the other 0-0. Did you enjoy those and see progression?

I really don't think people are being fair and I think it started in preseason with some terrible comments from some sections of the fanbase which has negatively influenced a lot of supporters.

 

That sums up my feelings right now. I'd jump in the car now and drive Duff back up to Oakwell if he'd come. However, I fully acknowledge that however much I dislike the football being served up, Collins' last 8 matches have yielded 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat. Sacking any manager after that run would be somewhere on a scale of very harsh to utterly mental.

 

Over 300 replies on their official twitter feed announcement of Duff's departure. Basically a number of Swansea fans saying he was completely the wrong guy and they can't understand why their owners went for him.
Looks like the fans have really turned on Duff and even the owners the last couple of weeks. The owners now trying to save face by sacking him?

 

I didn't like the way Duff left and think he failed last season by not getting us promoted. However, I'd take him all day over the current incumbent.

 

Collins speaks well and should be given this season at least

 

Can't see this season being anything other than a slow burner under him.

 

Who. ? Never heard of him.

 

absolutely Connell has. He’s the best player in the league in my opinion.

the Wycombe match was very early on under Duff and I didn’t enjoy it but we played well in the first half under him and they scored from a pretty much world class finish on the stroke of half time if memory serves. In any event I will stick to my view that the trajectory under him was upwards and I was entertained. I am not entertained this season and I am not seeing improvement, progress and implementation of a clear plan.

I would love to be wrong, but I just don’t see us challenging for promotion. That would be pretty disappointing as the league seems quite poor.

 

So Swansea City's hierarchy have acted to atone for their very own mistake.

Almost from day one, Michael Duff appeared to be the wrong manager for the club.

The often mentioned 'Swansea Way' is not just a catchy phrase. There have been variations on the theme over the years since the days of Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers.

But there is now something in the DNA at Swansea City where style matters, and Duff never appeared to be the correct fit.

His words before the south Wales derby, coupled with the abject performance against Cardiff City in the 2-0 defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium in September, did him no favours. After the derby dominance in the Russell Martin era, that was always going to be a huge reverse to counter even for one so experienced as Duff.

A four-game winning run late in September and running into October appeared to suggest Duff could turn the tide.

But even through that time, he struggled to give the side any identity. It was as if he was trying to impose a more direct style on the team - with players who just did not suit that system.

He was also less than inspiring in the media - a facet not as important as results, but a key element these days.

Chairman Andy Coleman seems to have admitted the style factor was as much to blame as one win in the last eight league games.

You would have thought the Swans football management would have realised that in the summer.

Make no mistake, the Swans were heading for the crunch. Had Duff stayed, he would have rightly expected backing in the January transfer window.

But they have decided to act now - and look for someone who, in the words of Coleman, can help "reconnect the leadership of Swansea City Football Club with its supporters".

No team is ever too good to go down. And the Swans have some decent players, who together should not be part of a side heading in the wrong direction near the foot of the table.

The Swans must act quickly - especially with games at Rotherham and Stoke in the next week. They would do well to seek the advice of those within the club or in the area who are familiar with the 'Swansea Way'.

Judging by the jeers received from the fans at the final whistle last Saturday and the tone of the fans who spoke on my Radio Wales phone-in following the 1-1 home draw with Huddersfield, this decision will be generally welcomed by the Jack Army.

Club bosses have seen their error and - with this dismissal - have admitted they were wrong and will have paid for it given Duff's contract ran to 2026.

But in listening to the fans who were clearly at odds with Duff's style, acting this swiftly could prove invaluable and perhaps rescue the season.

It is difficult not to feel sympathy with Duff. At another club, his management ethos and method might work. But in so many ways, Swansea are different.

Now Swans fans will have their fingers crossed the hierarchy get the next appointment right.

 

Or as they say in South Wales .......... The green, green grass isn't always greener.

Sithi.

 

Me neither- but you have to give a man a fair crack of the whip.

 

agreed. He needs to be given the full season, perhaps 2