A Message from Matt Grimes

A MESSAGE FROM RUSSELL MARTIN

Good evening and welcome back to the Swansea.com Stadium for our Championship game against Luton Town.

It is great to be back on home soil after back-to-back away games and I would like to start my programme notes today by talking about our brilliant supporters.

You have travelled in excess of 1500 miles with recent trips to Huddersfield, QPR and Hull – which is nothing short of incredible – and has just reiterated the brilliant backing that you’ve given myself, my staff and the players since we came to the club just five days before the start of the season.

Your support certainly doesn’t go unnoticed and we are striving so hard to give you a team to be proud of, a team to identify with and a team that is worthy of your magnificent backing.

The opening 20 minutes ended up costing us and we didn’t react well to conceding the first goal. But the second half was the opposite and I thought the players were outstanding. We should have scored at least a couple of goals, but I really liked what I saw in the second half. There are positives to take but we need to get back to showing what we are about from the off and keep showing that courage and mentality to play the way we know we can and be the team we want to be.

Against QPR we showed tremendous bravery to play the way we did, on a difficult pitch, and on another day we take all three points from that game. To play that way – and how we always want to – takes great courage and I’m so proud of the players for their application every single day.

Yesterday saw the January transfer window close and we’ve been able to add five players to the squad as well as seeing others depart for pastures new.

Following the arrivals of Andy Fisher, Cyrus Christie and Hannes Wolf, we also brought in Finley Burns from Manchester City and Nathanael Ogbeta from Shrewsbury. Both are exciting young players and we are excited to work with them and help develop them, while it has allowed Brandon Cooper to go out on loan to Swindon for the rest of the season which is a great move for him.

The point in letting players go out on loan is that we don’t want to be selfish with people’s careers if they are not playing for us. Young players need to be out playing and the benefits can be huge. Hopefully those lads all get used to playing games every week and come back to us in a really good position.

Back we now turn our attention to league matters, starting with tonight’s game against Luton which kick starts the first of seven games in February.

They are doing well under Nathan Jones, who continues to do a fantastic job there in his second spell in charge.

We know it will be a tough test, but we are determined to get back on track and return to winning ways in front of the Jack Army once again.

Enjoy the game,

Russell

MATT GRIMES A MESSAGE FROM

Good evening and welcome to everyone joining us from around the world for this evening’s Championship fixture against Luton Town at the Swansea.com Stadium.

It’s a pretty hectic schedule at the moment, with this evening’s game being our fourth game in eleven days but we expected this after four postponements over the Christmas period.

There’s no getting away from the fact that that many games within a small timeframe is demanding and poses challenges but we manage it as best as we can.

It was frustrating not to get the three points at QPR on Tuesday evening but there were positives to take from the performance. We showed courage and dominated large parts of the game, showing the team we want to be.

QPR are high up the table for a reason and have been in fine form, but I felt we showed we are capable of competing with any team in the league on our day.

Saturday’s result and firsthalf performance at Hull was really disappointing. I thought we were much better in the second half than the first but overall it wasn’t good enough. We left ourselves with a mountain to climb conceding two goals in the first half and after a tough and busy week, it proved just too much to do. It’s not ideal for anyone to drive up such a way for that and we apologise for the performance.

The beauty of the Championship is that the next game is never far away and there is always the opportunity to put things right.

This evening’s game is going to be another tough test but we have to respond and we’ll be looking to get back to our regular ways.

Thank you for your support whether that’s on the road or at home, it’s appreciated more than you know.

Enjoy the game this evening!

Matt

A MESSAGE FR M ADAM LEWIS

Welcome back to the Swansea.com Stadium for tonight’s game against Luton.

It was fantastic to be back at the stadium 10 days ago for the visit of Preston and see the stands full. It felt like a long time coming and I think we all breathed a sigh of relief to see Ryan Manning’s rocket burst the net to bring us three much-needed points.

The performances have been more promising lately, and with a bit more cutting edge I’m sure wins will increase, and we will begin to ascend the table. Our game against Hull was disappointing but they have a new manager and we all know the positive impact that can have.

At the time of writing the transfer window is into the final hours, where many deals get done and the yellow banner on Sky Sports News is updated every minute. It’s certainly been a busy month for Swansea, with several incoming players and a few heading out as well. It was a shame to see Ethan Laird leave, but I’m sure most fans will have been buoyed by the performances of Cyrus Christie so far. The loan market is a difficult beast to manoeuvre, but credit to the club for what they have been able to do over the past few windows. Our other additions provide both long-term and immediate impact - Andy Fisher is our goalkeeper of the future, and Hannes Wolf will provide a short-term injection of pace and skill. Let’s hope Finley Burns can help shore up our defence as well. It’s good to see a couple of our younger players getting opportunities elsewhere, and if Ollie Cooper’s season so far at Newport is anything to go by, I’m sure they will all have great success as well.

Off the field for the Trust, we continue to work in earnest with the club and in the community. Our work to bring greater transparency on club and football matters to our members and the fan base continues, with our supporter director updates providing the latest of our discussions. An extract of the latest version is available here, and you can receive the full version by joining the Trust. Every month we ask for questions to take to the board, so please do continue to share them with us via info@swanstrust.co.uk. You can also ask them at our upcoming Annual General Meeting – scheduled for Tuesday 15th February.

In the community we have joined with the club on several new and exciting projects, which will progress throughout the spring. We will provide further updates on these in coming editions of our programme notes and members updates.

Our game at Kenilworth Road earlier this season is up there as one of our greatest ever comebacks – I almost turned it off at 3-0 down, but I’m certainly glad I stuck it out. Let’s hope we don’t have to repeat that effort tonight by starting well and dominating the ball.

Enjoy the game!

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The Swansea City AFC Foundation is excited to announce that sign up for the February half-term Soccer Camps is now open.

Our camps provide the perfect environment for Junior Jacks to develop and hone their skills.

Open to boys and girls of all abilities aged between five and 12, the camps are a great opportunity to keep your young Swans active during the halfterm break.

Children attending will enjoy fun technical activities, smallsided games, competitions and prizes – all delivered by our FAW qualified coaches in a safe and friendly environment, with some special guests set to make appearances. All sessions will run between 10am and 2.30pm, with all dates and locations of the camps detailed below:

Tuesday, February 22 Bishopston and Coleg Sir Gar

Wednesday, February 23 Bishopston and Coleg Sir Gar

Thursday, February 24 Pembroke and Llandarcy

Friday, February 25 Pembroke and Llandarcy

Sign up now at www.swanseacity. com/news/february-soccercamps-sign-now

Junior Jack members are entitled to two, £5 vouchers to be redeemed against the Soccer Camps. Today’s bucket collection is in aid of Llys Nini, a local charity that rescues and cares for approximately 3000 animals each year, 80% of which are from RSPCA inspectors.

Most of the animals that Llys Nini care for have been saved from life threatening situations, including tackling the recent increase in puppy farming and offering a second chance to these dogs.

Llys Nini also have a programme of helping lonely, isolated and vulnerable people. Working with animals and being outdoors promotes the well-being of these adults and children. They work with many local organisations such as Crisis, Shaw Trust and local colleges offering individuals with additional needs the opportunity to volunteer, up skill and learn essential social skills.