Avoiding The Drop: A Season With Swansea City

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Overwhelmingly chosen by the experts to be one of the unfortunate three to be relegated following the 2011-12 Premier League season, Brenden Rodgers' Swansea City club have instead become the story of the year, thanks to a very attractive pass and move style of play that has vaulted "The Jacks" into 11th place in the table while also giving them the nickname of "Swancelona." This is their story....


This dynasty will be played using FIFA 12 on legendary difficulty with a legendary board.

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August 11th, 2011

Swansea Season Preview
Chris Burton takes a look at what sort of shape Swansea are in as they prepare to take the Premier League plunge.

Whatever happens in 2011/12, Swansea will go down in history as the first Welsh side to grace the Premier League. Promotion through the Championship play-offs last term has taken the Swans onto the loftiest of perches and they will be desperate to ensure that their stay among English football's elite lasts longer than one season.
History does not bode well, with Wembley joy all too often followed by a campaign of struggle and ultimately relegation back into the second tier.
Swansea, though, will fancy that they are better prepared for a crack at the top flight than a number of their play-off predecessors and will enter the new season with nothing to fear and everything to gain.
Any success they do achieve is likely to be built on their home form, with the Liberty Stadium having become something of a fortress in recent times.

FACT BOX:

INS: Danny Graham (Watford), Leroy Lita (Middlesbrough), Jose Moreira (Benfica), Steven Caulker (Tottenham, loan), Wayne Routledge (Newcastle)

OUTS: Dorus de Vries (Wolves), Darren Pratley (Bolton), Albert Serran (AEK Larnac), Scott Donnelly (Wycombe, loan), Gorka Pintado, Cedriv van der Gun (released)

Sky Bet Title Odds: 5000/1

Likely top scorer: Scott Sinclair

Possible best XI: Moreira, Rangel, Williams, Caulker, Taylor, Agustien, Allen, Dobbie, Dyer, Sinclair, Graham.

Just three defeats were suffered on their own patch last season and should they be able to keep those defences up this time around, there is every chance they could steer a course to safety.
Brendan Rodgers will also be aware of how important it is to get off to a good start in the Premier League, with early momentum providing the foundation on which to build a successful campaign - as West Brom proved last season despite feeling the need to change their manager halfway through.
Rodgers would appear to be well set in his own managerial hot-seat, with the Swans having established a reputation for standing by promising young bosses and providing them with the tools required to get the job done.
They also look to have a squad capable of holding its own at the highest level, with a useful blend of youth and experience suggesting they have both the legs and mental strength for a Premier League tussle.
Among those expected to lead the top-flight charge will be a collection of tricky wingers that possess the technical flair required to unlock the tightest of defences.
Scott Sinclair is the ring leader, following his goalscoring heroics last season, and the former Chelsea man seems to have stumbled upon his spiritual home in the Welsh valleys following a lengthy spell as a footballing nomad.
He will be ably supported in 2011/12 by Nathan Dyer, his partner from last season, and new recruit Wayne Routledge - a man who can call upon prior Premier League experience from his time with Tottenham, Fulham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.
Rodgers has also sought to address a striking problem that has plagued the Swans for a while by drafting in Danny Graham from Watford and Leroy Lita from Middlesbrough.


"I read somewhere that there's a greater chance of seeing Elvis alive than seeing us staying in the Premier League and that was before the sweat had even dried on the shirts at Wembley. It made me chuckle but now we have a cause to fight for and I think people will be surprised."
Brendan Rodgers Quotes of the week

Graham may be relatively unproven in the top flight, but his strike rate in the Football League with Carlisle and Watford makes him deserving of another shot at the big time - and at 25 he is yet to reach his peak - while Lita is a hard-working frontman who will run all day while popping up with the odd goal here and there.
Throw into the mix the likes Wales international Ashley Williams, a man who has attracted plenty of Premier League interest in the past, Scottish playmaker Stephen Dobbie, promising full-back Neil Taylor and midfield dynamo Joe Allen and the argument for seeing Swansea preserve their Premier League status with something to spare starts to gather considerable weight.

Star man - Scott Sinclair
Former Chelsea youngster Sinclair flourished last season after securing a permanent move away from Stamford Bridge following a string of loan spells. He boasted an average of a goal every two games and was a constant threat from the left flank. He certainly looks capable of making his mark in the Premier League this season.

Best signing - Danny Graham
To date, Graham has made just 14 Premier League appearances and scored just one goal - with those outings coming during his early days at Middlesbrough. He has, however, come a long way since his time on Teesside and arrived at the Liberty Stadium this summer as a proven goalscorer in the Football League. He has plundered 74 goals in the last four seasons and should he be able to transfer that kind of form onto the top-flight stage, the Swans will have found the razor-sharp cutting edge that they have been crying out for.

One to watch - Ashley Williams
The centre-half has repeatedly been linked with moves to the Premier League after establishing himself as one of the best defenders in the Football League in recent seasons. He now has the chance to prove himself and he should be one of Swansea's most influential figures in the coming months.

"Being in the Premier League is extra special for the boys. It's a special time for the club and we are looking forward to it. There is a great competition for places and all the lads are working hard in the squad. As soon as that game finished at Wembley, everyone was buzzing and waiting for the new season to start."
Leon Britton Quotes of the week

Young gun - Neil Taylor
Though he will miss the opening game of the campaign against Manchester City through suspension, which also cost him an appearance in the play-off final, Taylor will be an integral performer at left-back for Swansea. Wanted by Newcastle before signing a new contract earlier in the summer, the Wales international is another who will be anxious to demonstrate he has what it takes to be a success in the Premier League.

Point to prove - Wayne Routledge
Routledge spent the second half of last season helping Queens Park Rangers to the Championship title before securing a move to the Liberty Stadium. Bombed out of Newcastle by Alan Pardew, the winger faces a fight to dislodge Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair from the team, but will be hungry to show he can mix it with the best Premier League wingers after leaving St James' Park.

Manager - Brendan Rodgers
After spells at Watford and Reading, former Chelsea coach Rodgers guided Swansea to promotion in his first season in charge at the Liberty Stadium. He has moulded together a squad of players hungry to prove they can perform in the Premier League and also ensures there is an attractive brand of football on show in South Wales. Rodgers' credentials will be seriously tested this season, but it is hard to envisage him abandoning his principles of playing football the right way.

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Man City Vs. Swansea City


Manchester- Playing in their first top flight football game since the 1982/83 season, Welsh side Swansea City stunned the footballing world on Monday by holding powerful Manchester City to a 0-0 draw at Manchester's Etihad Stadium. Playing without star players Sergio Aguero, who missed the game with a sore leg, and the recently aquired Samir Nasri who will miss the next four months following knee surgery, City looked out of sorts, as Swansea dominated the play with their quick passing style which earned them 61% of the possession. In the end however neither club could break the other down and the match ended nil - nil.

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Round One Results

Home - Visitor
Blackburn 0 Wolverhampton 2
Fulham 2 Aston Villa 0
Liverpool 1 Sunderland 0
Newcastle United 1 Arsenal 2
QPR 2 Bolton 1
Tottenham 2 Everton 2
Wigan 1 Norwich City 2
Stoke City 1 Chelsea 0
West Brom 2 Manchester United 1
Manchester City 0 Swansea City 0

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Swansea Vs. Wigan
The Liberty Stadium, Swansea City, Wales
Premier League Round Two

Swansea City- Dominant for long stretches, Brendan Rodgers' lads played well enough to win the match, but the inability to finish ultimately doomed the newly promoted Welsh side who fell to visiting Wigan Athletic 2-0. Goals from Franco di Santo off of a corner in the 37th minute and Hugo Rodallega in the 85th minute provided Wigan with all they would need to capture their first league win of the season.

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Round Two Results

Home - Visitor
Arsenal 2 Liverpool 2
Aston Villa 4 Blackburn 1
Chelsea 2 West Brom 0
Everton 1 QPR 1
Norwich City 1 Stoke City 0
Sunderland 0 Newcastle United 3
Swansea City 0 Wigan 2
Wolverhampton 0 Fulham 1
Bolton 2 Manchester City 1
Manchester United 4 Tottenham 1

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Swansea City 0-1 Sunderland
Barclays Premier League Round Three
The Liberty Stadium

Swansea City- Another match, another impressive showing, but again another loss. This time a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. Scoreless at the half, the Black Cats made the break through at the 52' minute mark when striker Niklas Bentner blasted one home from 20 yards out to make it 1-0 Sunderland. From there on, Swansea kept up the pressure but time and again were turned away by the much more physical Cats defense. Up next is a trip to The Emirates to face mighty Arsenal

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Round Three Results

Home - Visitors
Tottenham 1 Manchester City 1
Aston Villa 3 Wolverhampton 0
Blackburn 2 Everton 1
Chelsea 3 Norwich City 0
Liverpool 4 Bolton 0
Newcastle United 1 Fulham 1
Swansea City 0 Sunderland 1
West Brom 0 Stoke City 1
Wigan 0 QPR 0
Manchester United 2 Arsenal 0

League Table August 31, 2011

Barcleys Premier League
TEAM	GP	W	D	L	PTS
Liverpool	3	2	1	0	7
Fulham	3	2	1	0	7
Aston Villa	3	2	0	1	6
Manchester United	3	2	0	1	6
Chelsea	3	2	0	1	6
Stoke City	3	2	0	1	6
Norwich City	3	2	0	1	6
Queens Park Rangers	3	1	2	0	5
Newcastle United	3	1	1	1	4
Wigan Athletic	3	1	1	1	4
Arsenal	3	1	1	1	4
West Bromwich	3	1	0	2	3
Wolverhampton	3	1	0	2	3
Sunderland	3	1	0	2	3
Blackburn Rovers	3	1	0	2	3
Bolton	3	1	0	2	3
Everton	3	0	2	1	2
Manchester City	3	0	2	1	2
Tottenham	3	0	2	1	2
Swansea City	3	0	1	2	1