CONFIDENCE IN SHORT SUPPLY AS SWANS CAVE IN AT BORO

THEY call the last Saturday shopping day before Christmas, ‘panic Saturday’ and it could easily apply to Swansea City, except the situation at the Liberty is beyond panic. It is one of resignation.

Because it is hard to make any case for this side staying in the Premier League, the only thing they managed to offer up at the Riverside being further evidence of their ineptitude.

Panic has long gone, anger being the obvious emotion being displayed by the away end.

It is understandable, especially given that in the space of a week they have seen things go from hopeful after that win over Sunderland to this feeling of it all being rather hopeless.

The daft thing is, there were early signs of Swansea being better, yet all that ended up being was a cruel tease that there was a significant result coming this side’s way when they so desperately needed it. Instead, it just got worse. Christmas will be spent in the bottom three with only Hull’s goal difference keeping them off festive rock bottom, a position where only three teams in 25 years have survived from.

Bob Bradley called it an ongoing challenge when he was asked if he was still confident he could turn this around, though never actually uttering the words that he was.

Regardless, it seems there is little confidence in him or his side from the stands right now and it remains to be seen what the opinion is of decisionmakers at the club, both at home and in the US. The chants were there to be heard, but there have been little whispers of any change.

Sacking the 58-year-old would ensure the Swans ticked another box on the relegation check-list in employing a third manager in one season.

But if the criticism before he took the job was harsh, criticism right now is hardly uncalled for. Failure to adapt, improve or eradicate the same undermining errors game after game is nothing to do with nationality. Work behind the scenes is not showing itself.

That said, what reared its frustrating head once more was the defending, the individual errors and the lack of basics. With Jordi Amat taking centre-stage, the idea that the club – the manager at the time, the chairman, anyone with a degree of responsibility – thought they would be able to manage with the centre-backs they had at their disposal is simply laughable.

And that’s what it’s boiling down to: too many of Swansea’s players are not good enough. The manager will take centre-stage, but the players – of whom, too few bothered to acknowledge the away support here – should not be absolved of blame. In fact, they should face up to the fact they deserve it.

If a centre-back decides he wants to mark thin air despite seeing the hosts’ main striker stroll towards space, as Amat did with Alvaro Negredo 18 minutes in, then what chance has any manager got. Granted, there was a poor touch from Gylfi Sigurdsson and a failure of Leon Britton to shut down the danger as Middlesbrough countered before the cross came, but Swansea seem unable to rely on any confidence of such danger is dealt with when it gets to the area. It just cannot happen, not if you want to survive.

There was an element of sympathy to the penalty for Negredo’s second, not because the attempt at a tackle from Amat was anything but the easiest of decisions and daftest of fouls, but because the quick-throw that led to it was wrongly awarded to Boro. But there wasn’t even a rage of injustice from Swansea, just more plodding where an extra touch is always needed.

They pushed but were done again by a ball into the box and players in white looking around to see who should have been marking Marten de Roon as he wandered into the box and turned home Gaston Ramirez’s cross. Lukasz Fabianski didn’t even have it in him to shout at those in front of him who had left him so exposed, throwing his hand up and turning away in disgust.

Again there was some decent stuff played by Swansea, but only when it was over. It would be tempting to call it spirit, but how brave is it to play when it’s irrelevant?

And it’s gone beyond asking for players to step up because you doubt too many are capable of doing so, not without making the same mistakes.

It wouldn’t be a shock if Swansea do manage to string out their recent impressive starts into home performances after Christmas, seemingly able to lift themselves when under pressure at the Liberty. Again you were left wondering what would have happened if it was Swansea with the first goal, not having to fight from behind once more. Start with a goal next week, and the momentum may just carry them into January where so much will be decided. And goodness knows they need to if they are to restore any of that hope that emerged last week but disappeared into the air above the Hawthorns and the Riverside.

Fail to get the home wins they need and it won’t be panic, just more painful realisation that this is a losing battle.