adminAlan Sheehan facing first ‘sticky patch’ as expectation shift clear at Swansea City
Rightly or wrongly, there’s a creeping sense of unease around Swansea City at the moment.
Having racked up just one league win in seven, Wednesday night’s defeat to Queens Park Rangers means the Jack Army haven’t seen a Championship victory at the Swansea.com Stadium since August, and there was certainly very little to cheer in this latest defeat.
Malick Yalcouye’s red card clearly made the task harder, but few will be pointing the finger of blame squarely in his direction. Indeed, they offered very little even before the midfielder was handed his marching orders. Indeed, Swansea’s xG at that point stood at an alarming 0.03.
Addressing the lack of cutting edge up front is now the top priority over the coming weeks, but the concern for boss Alan Sheehan is this isn’t a recent phenomenon.
Swansea have the second worst non-penalty xG in the league and second lowest number of shots per game. They also have the fewest touches of any side in the box this season.
The worry is Swansea’s attacking impotence is more deeply embedded than previously first thought, and the pressure on Sheehan to find a solution is starting to grow.
Swansea actually have exactly the same points tally as last season, but given the level of activity in the summer and the improved investment in the playing squad, the expectations for this campaign have clearly been elevated.
Navigating those expectations was always likely to make Sheehan’s job more difficult, with the margin for error far narrower than it perhaps was for some of his predecessors.
This is a squad many feel is strong enough to launch a meaningful top-six challenge, and with the Championship so open at the top, there’s a feeling Swansea are allowing a golden opportunity to pass them by.
Whether that assessment is fair or not is another debate, and does little to change the reality in any case.
Regardless, as Sheehan himself points out, the internal expectations are perhaps just as high.
“We put expectations on ourselves all the time,” he said. “I think the draws that we’ve had felt like losses, like Millwall and Hull, an conceding in the 94th minute against Birmingham.
“Tonight, to concede in that manner was disappointing, but if I said we have the formula and we’re not winning games then I would be lying. We need to be consistent on what we do and do it for longer periods of the game.”
The Swans boss freely admits he’s in first tight spot as a head coach, but insists there are signs his side can emerge out the other side from this recent tough run.
“It’s the first sticky patch [I’ve had],” Sheehan said. “I think if I was seeing nothing that I wanted I think that would be an issue, but I think in terms of players giving you absolutely everything to the final whistle tonight, maybe the quality at times letting us down, that’s what you can take from that.
“I’d be more worried if the players weren’t giving everything consistently. These lads are giving us everything. They’re an honest group. they’re a group that we are gelling.
“I think it was 11 different nationalities starting tonight. So we are looking to get that Championship formula, find that solidity how we do things.
“And of course, create more chances and become that free-flowing team.
“But in terms of that you need to do the basics of the game well and start games properly to give yourself that opportunity.”
Saturday’s clash with Norwich City, who have had a difficult start to the season themselves, now looks potentially pivotal in defining the direction of Sheehan’s reign.
Defeat to the Canaries, who’ve lost their last four and without a win in their last seven, would clearly make that sticky patch even stickier.
Then again, a couple of victories and Swansea may equally start to shoot back up the table.
“You see then the glass is half empty, it really is half empty,” Sheehan added.
“But this is my first time in that place in terms of not winning consistently, because we have [before]. I think it’s something like 30-something games and we are used to winning, and definitely not losing. I think that’s four games in 14 this year that we’ve lost now.
“Tonight’s obviously a disappointing night, even though I am proud of how we did with 10 [players]. But we have to get to a place where we’re aggressive in what we do and come out on the right side of the margins.”
