TIMES ARE HARD, BUT BOSS NEEDS A CASH LIFT
SWANSEA 0 CITY BIRMINGHAM 0 CITY
SWANSEA City remain unbeaten in the Championship having been held to a goalless draw with Birmingham City. Steve Cooper’s men now have four points from six after their first two matches of the new campaign, although the Jack Army will hugely disappointed that they do not have the maximum amount.
After opening up with a fine win at Preston, Swansea were unable to break down a stubborn Birmingham side at the Liberty Stadium.
And the stalemate with Aitor Karanka’s men highlighted a significant plus, as well as a key concern.
The major positive was Swansea’s defensive showing.
Having stuck with the same starting XI from the triumph over Preston, Swansea kept another clean sheet, with Freddie Woodman having precious little to do while Joe Rodon, Marc Guehi and Ben Cabango did well to nullify the threat of Lukas Jutkiewicz and others.
Speaking after the match, Cooper said there were certain games of a similar manner that the Swans lost last term, including against Stoke City and Nottingham Forest.
The head coach is right to highlight those instances, with Swansea also dropping points from positive positions against the likes of Fulham, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers earlier this year.
Perhaps the tough experiences of last term are shining through, and it’s encouraging to see Swansea’s defence deal so comfortably with two physical Championship sides in Preston and Birmingham.
Cooper’s men still need to add a centre-back to their ranks though, as it’s unrealistic to expect the trio that started against the Blues to stay fit for the entirety of the season. Kyle Naughton can of course slot in, although he’s not a specialist central defender.
But the biggest concern for Swansea in the draw with Birmingham came further up the pitch.
The visitors were very well organised defensively and were drastically improved from the side who Swansea twice scored three goals against last season.
The Swans had 62 per cent of possession, although they lacked that killer instinct in the final third.
Neil Etheridge made decent saves to deny Matt Grimes and Morgan Gibbs-White before making the best stop of the afternoon to keep out Marc Guehi’s volley late on.
And how they could have done with the likes of Conor Gallagher and Rhian Brewster against Karanka’s men.
Gallagher regularly found a way to unlock defences during his loan stint at the club while Brewster’s onetouch finishing and ability to take his chances played an enormous role in getting Swansea into the play-offs last season.
Jamal Lowe is not an out-and-out striker while Andre Ayew played the majority of his football from a wide position last term.
Swansea are crying out for a man to make those killer passes, and, crucially, someone who can stick the ball in the net.
A clearly frustrated Cooper stated as much after the draw in South Wales.
“We haven’t got an out-and-out established number nine in the squad at the moment,” said Cooper.
“Liam Cullen is one that we hope will break through. We’re working
hard with him and we like him, but it’s a lot to expect of him.”
But the head coach’s response when asked if they were any closer to bringing in a forward was as concerning as it was typical for the Swansea faithful.
He said: “No. I’d love to say yes, but there’s not. It’s difficult to get the player we want when we haven’t got any money to spend. It’s a tight market.”
Swansea have already signed five players this summer, with only Lowe commanding a fee, and even then, it was a significantly reduced sum of £800,000 due to Wigan Athletic’s financial situation.
It means Swansea have only paid a transfer fee for two of the 14 players Cooper has signed since becoming Swansea boss little more than a year ago, with Kristoffer Peterson joining from Heracles for around £600,000.
Granted, the club’s financial situation is tough to say the least, but they’re not alone in that regard.
And you only have to look at the financial backing certain other clubs in the Championship have had to realise how little Cooper has had to work with in the market.
Cardiff City paid Wigan £2m to sign Wales international Kieffer Moore, who netted twice to secure the Bluebirds a 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground this weekend.
Scott Hogan, who didn’t even come off the bench against Swansea, joined Birmingham on a permanent deal from Aston Villa for a sum thought to be between £2m and £3m, while they also forked out around £1m to sign Jonathan Leko from West Brom.
Reading spent around £3.5m to sign Ovie Ejaria permanently from Liverpool and Lyndon Dykes joined Queens Park Rangers from Livingston for approximately £2m.
Brentford sold Ollie Watkins to Aston Villa for £27m plus add-ons, but Thomas Frank was still afforded the opportunity to reinvest around £5m of that fee to take Ivan Toney from Peterborough United to Griffin Park.
Wilfried Bony, Oli McBurnie, Borja Baston and Courtney Baker-Richardson have all left SA1 since the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.
In that same period, Swansea have not signed a striker on a permanent basis, with Liverpool’s Brewster being their only capture when it comes to an out-and-out centre-forward.
In recent weeks, Swansea have sold Bersant Celina for just shy of £3m plus add-ons while they will bank £1m from Manchester United following Daniel James’ 40th appearance for the Red Devils as part of a clause inserted in the Welshman’s deal when he moved to Old Trafford last year.
There’s also been the investment from Jake Silverstein.
So will Cooper ever get funds to spend? It remains to be seen.
But if the club’s American owners Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien are serious about seeing Swansea return to the Premier League, they have to give Cooper their backing in the transfer market.
There’s only so much he can do with loans and free transfers.