Andy Robinson, a legend of Swansea City believes that something needs to happen at his old team and that the present team is no longer playing for manager Luke Williams.
At the bet365 Stadium, the Swans’ miserable run of play this year continued with a shocking 3-1 loss to Stoke City over the weekend. The loss was caused by a breakdown in the second half after Josh Tymon’s first goal.
Due to Swansea’s poor performance, which has seen them lose eight of their previous ten games across all competitions, head coach Williams is under mounting criticism from the team’s supporters, many of whom are now beginning to fear that they may be drawn into a relegation fight.
Perhaps the only real positive from the weekend’s lacklustre defeat is that the Swans are still eight points away from the dropzone, but Robinson nevertheless believes something needs to change.
“The players have got to take responsibility yes, but I think there needs to be change,” he told the BBC.
“I don’t know where that change is. Is it the chairman needs changing? Is it the board? The sporting director has come in [this week]. It’s shambolic.
“Do I believe that Swansea need a change? They need to do something.
“You don’t want to see managers losing their jobs but that’s not acceptable for me, to see a team go out with a whimper – and that’s not the first time I’ve seen it.
The buck stops with the manager and he is not getting a tune out of these players.”
The clear and obvious deficiencies in this squad have perhaps offered Williams some protection from the ire of supporters, and was a point held up by the Swans boss after the defeat in the Potteries.
“I think we need a couple (of wins to be safe) but from having a very decent first half of the season we’ve completely wasted the second half so far,” he said. “We’re eight points away from the bottom but we need to get the job done so we can start building for next season quite honestly because this is nowhere near good enough a group now to be able to have a good season in the Championship. They’ve proven that.”
To an extent, there will be plenty who agree with that point. But rightly or wrongly, there’s a growing feeling that this squad is capable of producing more than it’s currently showing.
It’s a point that could well be highlighted to the current Swans boss first hand this week, with both he and chairman Andy Coleman, who himself is also culpable for this hugely disappointing season, set to face supporters at the upcoming fans’ forum.
Last time, Williams, having only been in the job a couple of months, was afforded the luxury of staying out of the crosshairs during what was a bruising evening for Coleman and sporting director Paul Watson. If he thinks he’s in for a similarly smooth ride this time, however, he might be in for a nasty shock.
Robinson believes Williams needs to start shouldering more responsibility for results and, in a somewhat damning assessment, says this squad has perhaps lost some faith in the current head coach’s methods.
As a player you have to have that desire and passion as a bare minimum, but sometimes it’s the man above that who can give you the spirit and energy, the belief and confidence in games,” he added.
He [Williams] is not giving that to the players at the moment.
“Look at the decisions this week. You get your first win of the calendar year [at Bristol City last weekend] and make three changes to three key players and lose to Sheffield Wednesday
“The signings haven’t come in [during the window],” Robinson continued
You shut that door as a manager and players and fight tooth and nail for what you believe in.
“I don’t think they are playing for Luke Williams at the moment. The concentration levels are poor and when they concede a goal, it looks like they are going to concede three or four.
“Luke Williams has been making small steps, baby steps, all season but it’s all been ripped apart in seven weeks.”
