a dog in midfield!

Guess who’s in the doghouse again? Yeah, ol’ Put Upon Paws here had a telling off for pointing out to the Editor how long it’s been since the last issue. I know the bloke’s been ill with a cough that’s sounded like a St Bernard being forcibly made to bark out a rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero but come on…shit’s been happening and I’ve been confined to the kennel and told to ‘Sit, Stay’!

Whilst the Editor has been skiving…err I mean near death’s door…we’ve seen the end of Michael, the Duffest manager we’ve had since Bob Bradley, watched Alan Sheehan hold the lead for what seemed an eternity and finally we got the appointment of Luke Williams, but only after lifting our tail and waggling our bumhole at Tottenham’s Chris Davies.

As usual, the people running the club made a right dog’s dinner of things!

Hopefully the right man is now in charge and we can start to climb the table like a Yorkshire Terrier climbing on to a pedigree poodle [right that’s enough of that sort of filth – Ed.]

So here’s what’s giving me paws for thought in this issue:-

Why can’t Kuharevich get a kick?

Apparently purchased as a future prospect, the Big Ukrainian has mostly been ignored by all three managers in situ this season.

Worse still, he’s been totally written off by a large section of the fanbase eager to label the young striker a flop.

Well, this dog remembers the same thing happening to a loan striker called Viktor Gyokeres. 

Borrowed from Brighton but barely used by Steve Cooper, Gyokeres was recalled and then sent to Coventry…where he blossomed.

After helping himself to more than 20 goals last season he won a £20m move to Sporting, and another 23 goals and 11 assists already this season has him on the radar of the biggest clubs in Europe. 

Sporting have slapped a staggering ¢100m buy out clause on Big Vik to try and ward off the inevitable interest this summer.

But he wasn’t good enough for the Swans apparently!

And do I need to remind everyone of Morgan Whittaker?

Treated like dog shit by the club, the talented young forward was farmed out on loan to Plymouth where he excelled, only to be dragged back to the Swans last January – where he was promptly ignored by Russell Martin for the rest of the season.

A £1m transfer back to Plymouth at the start of last summer might have seemed good business for a player that clearly didn’t want to be here – but his subsequent form has seen him slam in 18 goals, including the winner at the Dot Com a few weeks ago and that’s propelled him to the attention of a number of clubs including  Lazio.

The Rome based side are reported to have bid for Whittaker in the January window but Argyle rebuffed the offer and the player made it clear he was happy to stay at the Championship club that has given him the opportunity to develop.

That £1m fee doesn’t look quite as much good business now, not only because the player has filled his boots with goals when our strikers simply fill their pants with the goal in sight, but because he’s now valued somewhere around the £10m mark. Let’s hope we negotiated a decent sell on clause, eh?

But he wasn’t good enough for the Swans apparently!

Are we starting to see a trend here? Young and inexperienced strikers with plenty of potential, starved of consistent opportunity and written off when they don’t perform miracles in that 1 minute sub appearance every four or five games.

Now I’m not saying that Kuharevich is a £100m player in waiting or even that he will grow into a decent Championship player, but I am saying he deserves a chance.

He’s got physical presence and a nice enough touch, offering something different in the top end of the pitch. 

His thumping header against Millwall suggests he could thrive in a Swans side with the pace and service of two wingers.

Or he may continue to misfire and find himself shipped out of the club at the end of the season.

What I am saying is…

…stop taking the Myk cos every dog has his day!