Reply With QuoteI think Martin has lost the plot down there.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64934137
I don’t think a City manager would say something like that in the same circumstances.
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Swansea City head coach Russell Martin raised the stakes for a key week by spelling out the need for a win ahead of this month's international break.
The Swans have just one win in their last nine Championship games following Saturday's defeat to Middlesbrough.
They travel to in-form Millwall on Tuesday night before hosting Bristol City on Sunday.
And Martin says his team must stop the rot before returning to action in the south Wales derby on 1 April.
"We've got two more games against form teams before the break but we need to get a win," he said.
"We need it for everyone to just feel positive, build confidence and build some momentum before the derby game."
Swansea have the chance to emulate last season's historic league double over arch rivals Cardiff City.
But since a 2-0 win over Cardiff at the Swansea.com Stadium in late October, Martin's side have won just three of 22 games in all competitions.
However Martin believes his side's most recent performances, against promotion-chasing Luton Town and Middlesbrough, have provided reason for optimism.
"Mentality-wise I've really liked what I've seen from the lads in the last two games," he said.
"There's a bit of zip back, some energy and confidence."
Martin remains frustrated by Swansea's lack of business in the January transfer market.
"There was a big difference between the teams in terms of physical capability," he said following Saturday's defeat.
"That's something we've highlighted but not been able to bring in to help us.
"So we have to find different ways to manage games, which we haven't quite done yet."
Millwall have lost just one of their last six games, and have taken points off the Championship's top two, Burnley and Sheffield United, during that run.
"We did brilliantly there last year (a 1-0 win) so we have to try and do it again," said Martin.
"We need to show the same attitude and willingness to fight for each other that we've shown in the last two games and we can get the win."
Swansea hope to have Ollie Cooper available after he was withdrawn at half-time at the weekend as a precaution following a knock.
I think Martin has lost the plot down there.
Agreed every other Manager in the Country talks about the next game, but at Swansea they are looking three games ahead and trying to plan through an international break, it wouldn't surprise me to see any internationals (if they have any?) withdraw to spend more time for their cup final planing against us.Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
I guess it depends on how the question was framed.
He literally talks about the next game.
And Martin says his team must stop the rot before returning to action in the south Wales derby on 1 April.
Yes after mentioning the derby, which sounds like their priority?
They are building it up already they've got no other team within 80 miles in either direction, other than Newport which they don't play or care about?
I think he will be sacked maybe before we play them, or if we beat them.
Good on him, I wish we were more focused on the derby instead of some of our fans aloof attitude.
I think this is just a case of a quote without a question to put the comments into context. It happens all the time.
However, so what if the derby is Swansea's priority? What's wrong with that? They're not going up, they're not going down, so the derby game is the obvious stand-out fixture between now and the end of what will have been mediocre season at best for them. So what's the problem?
Thanks to the hopeless mess the hierarchy have made of running the club in recent years, avoiding relegation is City's obvious priority. That said, the Championship season is apparently set to descend into farce once more with various points deductions in the coming weeks, so avoiding relegation may already be a relative formality. Perhaps the only real highlight of a dire campaign might be a derby victory over rivals who have beaten City on six of the last eight occasions the sides have met, and who have literally been laughing at us during the last three encounters.
I've got to admit, I've read and re-read the original post, and I can't see what the issue is. It all reads like standard interview-speak to me. Talking about the derby match, he says "We did brilliantly last year, so we need to try and do it again". Sounds like what you'd expect him to say, to be honest.
The game is three weeks away - I wouldn’t want Sabri Lamouchi talking like that when we’ve got two games to play this week and then there’s a fortnight before we face Swansea.
I think he realises he may well be sacked sooner rather than later and his comments are just a smoke screen.
I think you're over-reacting Bob.
I'm sure the jack's have got one eye on the derby, we probably have too.
It's not unusual.
They are talking about the next games in-between also though.
It''s not like we're the be all, and end all of their entire season.
If doing doubles over us is the epitome of their ambitions and existence, they need a whole new club and mentality.
I wouldn't be shocked if that IS their mental limitation mind you...
He was talking about the Millwall match! It actually says they won it 1-0 last year in brackets! Not sure if you can remember this, but the Jacks won 4-0 at City last year.
Has some sort of collective insanity descended over CCMB in recent weeks? It seems even sensible people can’t read plain English now.
Some city fans are obsessed with swansea's perceived obsession with us.
I took more an issue with calling brizzle a "form side". They are pretty inconsistent. Millwall are a bit better but are also a bit up and down.
Swansea's form is crap.
Imagine if we won. It would devastate them for a decade.
They'd be down for a few days, just like we are when we lose to them.
Then, life goes on.
I didn't want to post something long in this thread, but I think I'm going to have to if I'm to get across my somewhat contradictory feelings on the subject.
About fifteen years ago, Dave Jones told us that the Swansea/Cardiff derby was nothing compared to a Merseyside derby and, in public at least, his attitude seemed to be that it was just another game - I must say mind, comparing our performances against Swansea under the "surly scouser" with recent ones, we were much more successful in the fixture and our players were definitely more up for the game than they have been under recent managers (with one possible exception).
Nevertheless, Jones' attitude has been a bit of a template for most City managers since then. I can't find a link to it, but Sabri Lamouchi was asked in one of his recent pre match press conferences about the Swansea fixture and he listed the games we had to play before then while saying his mind was on them more.
That goes to the heart of what I think is a differing attitude between the two clubs towards the fixture, What Russell Martin said was perfectly reasonable in that he wanted a turn around in results before the international break, but to then bring the derby into it strikes me as something that a Cardiff manager, of the last decade or so at least, would not do.
Apart from a backs to the wall win at their place in 2021 and a non event home draw a year earlier, recent games with the jacks have tended to be humiliating experiences for City and, given those outcomes, the reasonable question has been asked, do Swansea get what the fixture is about more than Cardiff?
Downplaying the relevance of the derby has done City no good in recent years and, in the build up to the meeting between the teams earlier in the season, the signals from then manager Mark Hudson were that this time things were going to be different - they were, one of our players was so wound up that he got himself sent off in the first ten minutes and, although the game was another embarrassment, we at least had a partial excuse this time and could argue that things might have been different if it had remained eleven against eleven.
For a hundred years or so, Swansea v Cardiff was a fixture which neither side could dominate, but, in recent years, even before we suffered the first league double loss by the ridiculous aggregate score of 7-0, we'd been hanging on to that record - it was obvious that Swansea were going to beat us twice soon.
Is the dominance of one side over the other in the fixture down to one of them understanding what it entails better than the other or is it just that our recent long ball, physical approach just plays into Swansea's hands? I don't know the answer to that question, but I wouldn't like a City manager talking about a fixture that is three weeks, and a couple of games away, like Martin is doing - especially when there's going to be a fortnight's build up to the match. In saying that, perhaps my attitude offers a clue as to why we do so badly against Swansea lately? What we need is a game where we rise to the occasion and are competitive against the jacks in which we end up getting a positive result to be given a reminder as to what it was that we used to get right against the jacks.
I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. That BBC report is essentially clickbait. Martin only mentions the derby match once, briefly, and we don't know how the question he was responding to was framed.
I'm certain Martin is far more focused on the next two games rather than the derby, because if he loses them he might be out of a job by April.
Spot on Bob, it is strange that some posters have decided to take a different from the obvious position that Swansea cares about the fixture more and ignoring the obvious quotes from their recent press article, and just doubling down on it.
Maybe they don't know any Swansea fans or haven't worked further west in Bridgend, Neath, Port Talbot, and Swansea, maybe that's why they see things from a different perspective.
Even Wales online writers further west use the game for headlines weeks before.
Martin makes derby day admission
Russell Martin admits his side need a win before the international break to build up some much needed momentum ahead of next month's South Wales derby.
Swansea City have dominated the fixture in recent years. After claiming the first double in the history of the fixture, they once again humbled their rivals earlier in the season with a 2-0 win at the Swansea.com Stadium.
"We need a win," Martin said. "We need a win before the break to help us build a bit of momentum ahead of the derby game, and for everyone to feel positive and to build some confidence.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...artin-26453634
No mention in the Cardiff article, just focusing only on WBA and the fitness of key players.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...-left-26460685
Since Swansea rose from the depths to the under toshack they have , I think , had the best out of the derbies , since 1981 ?
That's my perception of things and certainly since we started playing them regularly again , in most people's memories , they have had the upper hand
Local derbies , all over the country , are often cagey affairs and I am sure if we look into the history of Derby Forest , Burnley Blackburn , Preston Blackpool , Southampton Portsmouth etc , fans of those respective clubs will be able to provide us with all sorts of ups and downs
Our problem is that despite our larger size and catchment area we havnt been able to get into the top flight and create clear distance football wise between us and them
Even if we did that there would still be times when we would lose because that's the way football is
I think personally that watching sabris reaction to the crowd and the players after wins suggests to me he's more than aware of the importance of these games
Im glad we are only focusing on WBA.
Exactly as it should be.
Absolutely
We need some points on the board before we play in a local Derby
I will be pissed off if we lose but even more pissed off if we are back in the relegation mire again after April 1st
I think my opinion of the general intensity of the derby reduced a fair bit after that 0-0 game at home in early 2020. The game and especially the atmosphere was dire. Since then Covid and the 0-4 game hasn't helped but I think it is a game that has lost some edge tbh
Oh no it hasn't
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