By Gareth James
Matt Grimes has apologised to Swansea City fans for his side’s recent miserable away form and has promised an improvement at West Brom on Monday night.
The Swans skipper was the first to admit that the performances at Stoke and Sheffield United “were nowhere near it” in terms of what he wants to see from his team.
It was 3-0 at Stoke and 4-0 in a horror show at Sheffield last weekend. But after a full week of training under Russell Martin he is expecting a different outcome at the Hawthorns.
“It has been a severely disjointed season and Russell only arrived three days before we kicked-off. The one thing he hasn’t had is time to work with us on his style of play,” said Grimes.
“When we are good we can be outstanding, but when we are bad we have been really, really bad – especially away from home.
“I hope the fans can see the things we are doing and can feel positive about them. I know they have had some horrible away trips, for which I can only apologise, but I hope they are buying into what we are doing as much as we are.
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“In the future it is going to be really good and a joy to watch. I’ve always said that I want to play in the Premier League with Swansea and we came pretty close in the last two seasons.
“The old manager left and I truly believe that Russell Martin has got what it takes with his ideas to bring the players through to get there. You can’t put a time limit on it, but it is there for all to see this season that we have been on top in a lot of games.”
Swansea currently sit in 17th in the Championship and seem condemned to mid table mediocrity at best this season after reaching the play-off final last year. But Grimes is far from down and out.
“Our results recently haven’t been where we wanted them to be, but in the long run we are going to be successful,” added Grimes.
“I believe it, the players believe it and so does the manager. I wouldn’t have signed a new deal if I didn’t think we could do it.
“You can have short term success. It’s all well and good bringing in players just to win games in the short term, but when they go back to their parent clubs or are sold where do you go from there?
“At least here we have a clear identity and a way of playing. Any players who come in can fit into that system – those who leave either don’t fit the system or are sold for a big fee.
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“The identity stays the same no matter who is playing. Other teams change their personnel and change the way they play as a result.
“The people we are bringing in have to be suited to the way we are playing. It is a different way of doing things, but everyone can see we have been absolutely fantastic in some games and not so good in others.
“That’s the price you pay for the transition and a long term project. After a lot of our games players from the opposing team have come up to me and say they would love to play for us because we play such an exciting and appealing brand of football.
“That’s exactly what we want to build on. We want to be a team that dominates the ball and who, out of possession, is a high pressing side.”
