The Revolving Door
by sandman slim
Despite the many challenges of both Covid-19 and Brexit it was a pretty busy January transfer window for the Swans with a number of players coming in to balance those going out. The Editor persuaded our old friend Sandman Slim to stop sipping his lockdown stock of tequila long enough to run his sarcastic rule over the most significant comings and goings…….
winging in
Position: Midfield
Deal: Loan deal from Aston Villa
In a Nutshell: Borrowed Villain brought in to be a Swans promotion hero
The Skinny: Wolves’ recall of Morgan Gibbs-White at the start of January was a blow but Steve Cooper moved quickly to plug the creativity gap by snapping up Irish international Hourihane on loan from Villa. The Villa fans spoke with one voice to lament Hourihane’s departure but wish him well – always a good sign!
The vastly experienced player has quickly made his mark too with goals, set piece delivery and all round streetwise know-how taking the Swans up another level. The lad’s channeling his inner Gylfi Sigurdsson as he dominates the midfield area and whips in those vicious deliveries.
Oh, and not only is he a candidate for signing of the transfer window, he also has the best ever unveiling video to his name with this hilarious effort from the club’s social media team >> “Conor!! No, not you…”
Position: Forward
Deal: Loan deal from Seattle Sounders
In a Nutshell: Watter capture the free American alternative to Max is
The Skinny: A portion of Swans Twitter went into meltdown when Max Watters signed for Cardiff and not Swansea City, refusing to accept the blindingly obvious truth that we were simply not prepared to meet the extravagant price for lower league “potential”.
Whilst some fans continued to gnash their teeth in angst the dynamic duo of Cooper and Scott went about capturing their far cheaper and far more experienced alternative in the chunky shape of Jordan Morris.
The 26 year old has been starring for Seattle Sounders for the last few years and is an experienced American international, making him a more seasoned bet to make an impact than Watters – and Morris comes without the heavy investment at this point as it’s a loan deal with an option to buy.
We’ve only had glimpses of the skilful winger or striker, but he clearly has something about him with pace and trickery to go with the physique that, to me, is reminiscent of the Legendary Robbie James.
Position: Goalkeeper
Deal: Undisclosed fee from Huddersfield
In a Nutshell: Experienced stopper snapped up as cover
The Skinny: With the Clean Sheet King Freddie Woodman as undisputed No.1 and the talented youngster Steven Benda as his backup, everything was looking rosey in the goalkeeping department. That is until an ankle injury in training put Benda out for the season. Does that qualify as a “fender Benda”??
With Josh Gould on loan at Barry Town for the campaign that just left fresh faced Under-23 Lewis Webb for first team bench duty.
With no Alan Tate or Angel Rangel to call upon in an emergency (ah, those were the days!) the Swans were forced to add a goalie to their January shopping list.
Enter the hugely experienced Hamer who’d lost his place at Huddersfield and was looking at his contract expiring in the summer. The Swans paid a small fee, handed Hamer an 18 month deal and this was enough to convince the experienced campaigner to wait for Woodman to get injured in order to add to his 350 or so career appearances.
Hamer’s a solid pro and a safe pair of hands and it will be good to have him not only on the bench for emergencies but also in the dressing room. He can also swap goalkeeping tips with Tate on the sidelines!!
Position: Winger/Striker
Deal: £700k from Derby County
In a Nutshell: England U-20 prospect plucked from Pride Park
The Skinny: With Steve Cooper citing his desire to sign a No.9 as Transfer Deadline Day loomed it was a bit of a surprise to see a move for Morgan Whittaker for a decent sized chunk of money.
Whittaker’s yet another capture that likes to play out wide but can play up top, and he has a decent scoring record in age group football. However his breakthrough at Derby hasn’t been spectacular and he registered just one goal in his 32 appearances for the Rams.
Opinion seems to be split between Derby fans with many thinking they’ve seen us coming and an equal amount bemoaning the opposite, stating the rumoured £700k is an absolute bargain.
The verdict on him seems to be that he has bags of talent but lacks strength, confidence and a defensive appetite.
Cooper’s made it clear that this is “one for the future” and whereas it was felt the outlay was too much for Watters’ potential, it’s deemed a decent gamble on Whittaker – no doubt on Assistant Manager Mike Marsh’s recommendation having worked with the lad in the England age group set up.
If Cooper can get a few decent hot meals inside him, build his confidence and get him to buy into his defensive responsibilities then the consensus is we could have a star on our hands this time next year.
Position: Winger/Midfielder/Defender!!
Deal: Loan deal from DC United
In a Nutshell: Versatile and exciting import from the States
The Skinny: Hot on the heels of capturing Jordan Morris from Seattle the Swans sealed a deal for his American international teammate Paul Arriola on Deadline Day.
It took some doing but a deal with DC United was struck just in time for the 26 year old to join on loan until the end of the season.
Arriola will provide something different up top, able to slot in as a winger or attacking midfielder, but he’ll also bring some much needed cover for Connor Roberts at right wing back or as an orthodox full back.
He’ll need a bit of nursing though as he’s barely played after suffering an ACL injury just over a year ago. But if we can get him fit and firing he could be the best American import we’ve seen since Michael Douglas moved into Mumbles With Catherine Zeta…however that wouldn’t be particularly difficult given the other imports Swans fans will be painfully aware of are Messrs Kaplan, Levien and Brad Bobbley!
Position: Right Back
Deal: Undisclosed fee from Swindon
In a Nutshell: Bizarre bit of last minute shopping
The Skinny: This one falls right into the category of strange Deadline Days deals – it’s the sort of thing Harry Redknapp would pull off whilst hanging out of his Range Rover window!
Despite bagging Paul Arriola who can cover the right side of defence, Cooper swooped for Welsh international right back Keiron Freeman, stealing him from Swindon just three weeks after the player had arrived at the the County Ground!
The experienced defender, who won Premier League promotion with Sheffield United a couple of years ago, had been without a club for six months after the Blades released him.
A contract until the end of the season with Swindon got him back into the game and after regaining some fitness Freeman made two appearances before swapping the Robins for the Swans.
Freeman’s signed on a similar short term contract and to sweeten the deal Swindon have been loaned Jordon Garrick until the end of the campaign.
It all does beg the question why we didn’t sign the player for free at the beginning of January rather than forking out an “undisclosed fee” three weeks later but that’s Deadline Day for ya, folks!
