THAT IS SWAN TO SAVOUR!
FA CUP: THE LAST EIGHT
WATFORD, BRIGHTON, MILLWALL, MAN CITY, WOLVES, SWANSEA, CRYSTAL PALACE AND CHELSEA OR MAN UTD
IF Graham Potter had a hat, Swansea’s owners would likely find a way to sell it. And yet still he pulls out the rabbits, still he finds a way to sprinkle a little magic at a club otherwise smelling of neglect.
This resurrection act being a case in point. Swansea were going nowhere, a useless shell of a team in a first half that finished 1-0 to Brentford.
And then from nowhere came a baffling second half, four very good goals and a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Most of the attention will go to Daniel James and it would be ludicrous to mount a counterargument after a goal for 2-1 that is best described as absurd.
But good as that was, after results like this it is important to recognise the job done by Potter, the constant heartbeat at a club that, in too many other areas, seem willing to die.
The owners sell and sell and no one comes in, yet he has them punching above their circumstances in the Championship and somehow retaining enough belief and pride to transform matches like this.
To do it with a starting line-up of youngsters is all the more impressive — no fewer than seven of the starting XI here were 23 or younger — and you have to wonder what he might achieve if the club’s hierarchy gave him more to work with. That is fanciful, though.
Indeed, they are lucky to even have James given how close he came to joining Leeds on deadline day last month.
It looks daft now that he was set to leave for a £1.5 million loan fee, ahead of a £7.5m permanent deal in the summer, before the move collapsed at the 11th hour.
If he does go in the next window, you suspect it will be for a bigger fee and a Premier League club, and his goal in this game will be a big part of the reason.
The game was even at 1-1 when it came, with Ollie Watkins having put Brentford ahead in a one-sided first half, before Swansea levelled through Bersant Celina’s free-kick, which bounced in off Luke Daniels’ back. Then James had his moment.
He had blocked Neal Maupay’s pass on the edge of his area and then set off on an 84-yard run, in which he outsprinted three men before beating Daniels. It was stunning.
Potter was virtually speechless. ‘He was OK, wasn’t he?’ he said. ‘ The ability to sprint repeatedly, it’s as high a level as you’re going to see. He’s got a lot to work on but I thought he was sensational.’
On James’s value, he added: ‘These things happen in transfer windows where clubs don’t agree a price.
‘You can see why on that performance, though, the numbers are too low, that’s the reality in
my opinion. he’s been incredible for us and we’re looking forward to working with him for the future.’
Aside from the goal, James drew three yellow cards and a red owing to a challenge from ezri konsa.
not a bad contribution. Following konsa’s dismissal at 2-1, Celina got a nice third for Swansea and George Byers wrapped up it all up in stoppage time, completing the annihilation of a Brentford side who had lost only one of their previous 12 matches.
Brentford manager Thomas Frank said: ‘We were by far the better side in the first half and could maybe have been 2-0. We can only blame ourselves a bit. But I am convinced we will bounce back.’
Watkins added: ‘ We never would have pictured what was going to happen given how comfortable we were at halftime. We’re devastated.’