Swan Song

Loyal away Addicks will be going to Swansea tomorrow while others will head to the Valley to watch the fixture and then the crucial women's match.

One of my granddaughters recently discovered her inner Welsh woman and moved to Swansea (Abertawe) where she can buy a three bed with garden, workshop and parking for a low six figure sum.

She won't be going to the match tomorrow as like almost all my family she has no interest in football (performing arts are her thing).

Discounting myself and my three year old great-granddaughter no one in what is now a large immediate family supports Charlton which is perhaps a blessing after a century of suffering.  My wife is interested in football provided it is played in the Premier League, La Liga, the Champions League or the World Cup. She follows Manchester City.   I have one son-in-law who is a season ticket holder at Southampton.

Currently 11th, Swansea have won ten, drawn six and lost six at home.  Should the Addicks win, they could overtake Portsmouth and Stoke depending on their results.   Given that both Blackburn and West Brom could win, a defeat could see them 21st.  A draw would not necessarily save them from this fate

But Nathan Jones could give his instructions in Cymraeg for all that it matters, the focus now has to be on strengthening for next season.  As his latest interview with Richard Cawley makes clear, he recogbises the need to sign better quality players this summer.  Hopefully, the money will be available.

Swansea could move into the top 10 with a win at home:.

• Swansea have only lost one of their past 10 league games against Charlton (W6 D3), going down 2-0 on MD1 of the 2008-09 season.

• Charlton have lost four of their past five league visits to Swansea (D1); all four of those defeats have been by a one-goal margin.

• Swansea have only won their final league game in one of the past five seasons (D1 L3), beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in 2022-23.

• Charlton have lost their final game in each of their past three Championship seasons by an aggregate score of 0-10.

• Charlton Athletic have only scored 43 Championship goals this season – the last time they ended a season with fewer than 50 league goals scored was in 2015-16 (40).

On an old WILTY last night, reference was made to a pub in Swansea and it was suggested that it might be a gastro pub.  Cardiff boy Rob Brydon quipped, 'No, not in Swansea.'

Cyril the Swan may be on duty tomorrow, one of the few mascots to get a yellow card.

Swansea are eager to return to the Premier League and have some interesting investors, notably Snoop Dogg who attended the match against Preston.  Their manager noted that it was unusual to smell weed in the tunnel: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2026/02/snoop-dog-turns-up-in-abertawe-thats.html

Line up for Swansea

Youngsters Josh Davison and Ben Dempsey make their Championship debuts at Swansea tonight, while Lyle Taylor starts: Louis Mendez reports from the Liberty Stadium

Swansea fans appear to be in a discontented mood at the moment with the boo boys in evidence at the last home game, a drab 0-0 draw with Barnsley, although arguably they don't have that much to complain about: Just plain frustration

Wales Online has commented ahead of tonight's game: 'A win over a Charlton side that has won just one of their last 10 outings on the road, would be enough to take Swansea back into the top six, and would also go a long way to remedying the murmurs of discontent on the terraces.'

The Swansea chairman commented: 'we all must stick together and encourage this young team to give them the confidence as they develop under Steve Cooper and his coaching staff.' The earlier than expected recall of striker Sam Surridge to Bournemouth appears to have hit morale.

Charlton are making only their second visit to Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, having drawn 1-1 there in February 2009, when Nathan Dyer scored his first league goal for Swansea. Swansea have not lost their first league game of a new decade since 1960, when they lost 3-1 to Aston Villa.

Dinas Abertawe i ffwrdd

Over the past few weeks I have been chatting by e-mail to someone I knew a long time ago who then worked down Coventry fish market on a Saturday morning and was a keen Sky Blue. He now has his CBE, has retired to near Swansea and supports Dinas Abertawe. Mind you, my friend in Cardiff has both a CBE and was made a Dame Commander in very interesting circumstances.

I have to admit that I am envious of the half a dozen or so friends who made it to the Lords. When some of them have invited me for tea or lunch, I am aware that this is the plushest facility for the elderly in the UK.

I have been doing some consultancy work in Abertawe for a few years now, but found getting paid a bit of a struggle. The secret I found was to e-mail them in Welsh. Fortunately, I have two nephews from rural Ceredigion where the language spoken at home, school and work is 'the old language'. In football it doesn't seem to be used very much but, of course, the real Welsh sporting passion is egg chasing.

Nevertheless, Swansea City see tomorrow's fixture with troubled Charlton as a golden chance to secure three points. While admitting that the game will be a tough one, the mood at the Liberty Stadium is optimistic after a period when the Swans were not doing very well at home: Confident message from Swansea City man

Hope springs eternal. It has been a mixed bag of results in the Championship Relegation League today, but Wigan giving Birmingham City a blue start to the New Year today means that the Addicks are just five points off the drop zone. Even a point tomorrow would help, but Bowyer's stretched and injury ravaged squad face a tough challenge in Wales.

Desmond from Deal says: 'Mark my words! Defeat stares us in the face at Swansea and it will be down to Bowyer.'

One consolation of Leamington losing 2-1 to Gloucester City today in the A46 derby is that City was beset with moaners when they were 2-1 ahead. It's not just Charlton that has pessimists whose main pleasure is to criticise their own team.

The cupboard is bare

Macaulay Bonne will be out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury and stunned supremo Lee Bowyer faces a selection crisis for the trip to Dinas Abertawe (Swansea City): No injured players back for Swansea

Bowyer said: 'It’s good for the football club because the young lads get unbelievable experience. But it makes it more difficult for us to win games – that’s a fact.' ('Anodd i ni ennill gemau').

Moaners have been coming out from under the stones, with Ben Purrington, a new target. It was a poor display last night, but I wonder what they would do if they were managers.

Jonathan Acworth-Waldegrave has suggested 'get them in at 5am start doing a 10 mile run and sack Johnnie Jackson we need a experienced number 2 at this current time Jackson is clearly not doing it at this level we need an older head someone like a Lennie would do nicely or big Sam.' Kevin Crout points out that a 10 mile run would do knackered players at all. Any idea how I can stop Acworth sending me messages?

Thanks to our benefactor Roland we have a thin squad, much of it of League One standard or worse. Clearly there need to be signings in January, but it is often difficult to get value in that window. Even if the takeover is approved in time, I would expect the new owners to be prudent in their spending. The priority is in defence because we cannot get a clean sheet.

Unfortunately, it is not a truth universally acknowledged that to avoid relegation you need to have three teams worse than you. There are limits to what you can learn by Quest EFL but Stoke City fans fear they are another Sunderland. Wigan look poor to me, as do Luton, and Barnsley's recovery is faltering.

Shelvey comes of age

Today's Sunday Times has a feature on Jonjo Shelvey ahead of tomorrow's clash at the Liberty Stadium between Swansea City and Liverpol. The only mention of Charlton is at the beginning of the article where it is noted that 'when Shelvey swapped the homely charms of Charlton Athletic for the fluorescent glare of Anfield, he was barely 18.' Charlton were known as a selling club when I first watched them in the 1950s and it has been thus most of the time. Our best talents develop their careers elsewhere. At least we have made some money out of Shelvey which was not the case for 'Judas' Defoe.

The article notes that Shelvey was stagnating as a squad player at Liverpool. 'When we won the League Cup in 2012 and I wasn't on the bench. it hurt,' he says. 'Some people might see [the move to Swansea] as a step back but I couldn't sit on the bench and take the money.' It is a dilemma that faces many talented young players in the Premier League.

When he met Swansea manager Michael Laudrup, 'He didn't sell me the club, it wasn't about the area, it was just about playing football' and it was music to the ears of the 21-year old. He admits that he loved playing for Liverpool and that he loved the city. Abertawe is a very different place from Liverpool. When I was last there, I was interested by how many people were speaking Welsh. Everyone has to study it at school and teenagers often use it at home so that their English-speaking parents can't understand what they are talking about.

I have two nephews for whom Welsh is their first language, but I know only a few words and it is, I believe, one of the most difficult languages to learn. (Mind you, I am struggling with Portuguese which is an increasing necessity given the size of our local Portuguese-speaking community). I was joking with my now thirty something nephew recently about when he came to stay with us when he was young and blurted something out in Welsh in fear and astonishment. It was 'doggie in the house!' He was used to sheepdogs living outside.

Anyway, the people of Swansea appear to have taken Shelvey to their heart: 'In Liverpool, it was Liverpool, Everton and to some extent Tranmere, but here it's just Swansea. Everyone's a fan and they're always wanting a photo, an autograph and to wish you all the best. [Just like going to Bluewater really]. I don't mind that at all: it's something that comes with the job and it's lovely to be recognised. I love it here.'

Shelvey does his talking with his football, so he probably can do without the Welsh lessons.

Shelvey for Palace?

Crystal Palace are interested in taking Jonjo Shelvey on a twelve month loan deal from Liverpool according to a tweet from Richard Cawley of the South London Press. However, they may have some competition.

Swansea are also working on a deal for Shelvey, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder who made 32 appearances for Brendan Rodgers's Liverpool last season. West Ham and Norwich are also said to be interested in the former Charlton youngster, who could leave Anfield for around £5 million. Now that the deal has been done with Swansea, I was pleased that we landed a six figure cash windfall.

It looks as if Swansea City have got him for £6m, but at least one Swansea City fan is not impressed: Swans