Is Russ Worth the Fuss?
By Sandman Slim
Swans fans endured a difficult summer waiting for Steve Cooper to leave the stage. Enter Russell Martin on the eve of the new season and the fans’ collective frown was turned upside down, excitement setting in. But is Martin worth the hype that came with him? Sandman Slim shares his <ahem> subtle views on the subject…….
Well what a summer it was, eh? What was Winter thinking? Cynics would answer that with “whatever the Americans tell him to” but that’s a whole different article right there, and the little fat bald bloke that calls himself The Editor doesn’t pay me nearly enough to add that to the shipping order he’s already handed me for this issue!
Anyway, back to the shambles over the summer where both the club and Cooper went for the “say nothing boys and nobody will even notice that the manager is on his way out” approach – despite the fact that the Grim Reaper could be seen actively poking Cooper’s Swans career with his scythe.
When the worst kept secret in the history of football finally broke and Cooper “parted company” with the club it came as a welcome relief for the fans…which lasted all of twenty seconds by which time Winter’s hunt for a replacement began.
The newspapers and the ‘in the know’ Twitter accounts terrified fans with stories of John Terry taking charge, which was downgraded to his mate Jodi Morris taking over – either side of QPR assistant John Eustace flashing his knickers at us before slamming the bedroom door in our faces.
Rising Excitement Over Russ
Enter Russell Martin from MK Dons (when we finally agreed the compo) and excitement levels amongst the Jack Army went from 0-60mph faster than Dan James running from Old Trafford to Elland Road on Deadline Day.
Suddenly every social media Swans fan was an expert on MK Dons – or Fake FC as I like to call the plastic franchise – style of play under the former Norwich defender.
“The Swansea Way is BACK!” Many declared triumphantly.
But is Russ worth the fuss that was made of him when he entered the DotCom?
The answer to that is…I haven’t got a clue, Boss.
(Hey, don’t blame me, The Editor told me to write this piece, I never said I had any of the answers!!).
The truth is that the first six games have been a mixed bag of more cultured football devoid of goals and lacking an Andre Ayew to buy us enough points to stay out of trouble.
Passing Vs Pragmatism
It’s meant that those with pre-conceived ideas get to make of it what they want to fit their own narrative.
Those that hated Cooper’s overly cautious game plan that treated the ball like an unexploded bomb (i.e. something to be got rid of as quickly as possible) will revel in the ultra-possession game now in place and will argue that it needs time to develop and click.
They’re not wrong.
Those that appreciated Cooper’s ability to overcome all the adversity that came with the cost cutting that relegation brought, as well as Covid, and still produce results to keep us not only competitive but secure successive play-off places will point out that it’s a results business and all the pretty football in the world won’t save you from relegation if you don’t deliver wins.
They’re not wrong either.
Those that were fed up of watching Cooper’s painfully unimaginative style, that had us spending all our energy stopping our opponents use of the football, will point to Martin’s MK side having more possession than anyone in European competition except the heaviest of heavyweights Barcelona and Manchester City.
Advocates of Cooper’s pragmatism will point out that all of that possession could only lead MK Dons to a modest 13th place in League One.
A few weeks and several games into Martin’s reign at Swansea City the same sort of ‘two sides of the same coin’ arguments can be made.
The manager has been handicapped in his efforts to totally transform the playing style to his possession based game, with little time to prepare before the season started and then the sheer carnage of the end of the transfer window. Having to completely rebuild the spine of the team too has been challenging and yet he’s got his side playing some very neat football and dominating possession less than two months into the job.
Flip the coin and Martin is overseeing a side that can’t score, is accused of implementing a passing for the sake of it approach and being more concerned with possession stats than points on the board. As a consequence his side sits just above the relegation zone and with a run of fixtures to come that includes promotion favourites Fulham, Bournemouth and West Brom along with the small matter of a South Wales Derby.
As ever the truth of the situation lies somewhere between those two polarised positions.
Style Vs Substance
There’s little doubt that Martin massively outguns Cooper in the “style” stakes – from the outside looking in, and as peddled by the highly superficial media, Martin’s a young and handsome coach (“nice to have some eye candy in the dugout” is, I believe, how one of The Editor’s more impressionable Twitter followers put it), brimming with charisma and playing a very pure style of football.
Compare that with his predecessor; he’s certainly not what you’d call “eye candy”, is more dour than charismatic and his style of football often made the spectator’s eyes bleed!
However, Cooper can point to the substance of a Youth World Cup win and two play off places.
Although Martin has achieved nothing particularly standout as a manager yet, he still radiates substance thanks to his five promotions as a player and he’s captained both Norwich and Peterborough.
He has leadership abilities without a doubt and is one of those marked out in a dressing room as a “deep thinker” or a “student of the game”.
We’ll find out over the next few months whether Martin has managerial substance to go with the charismatic style that got everyone so excited upon his appointment.
If he can get us playing his exciting brand of football AND pick up enough results to keep us out of relegation trouble then we’ll have the answer to the question…
...of whether Russ truly is worth the fuss.
