 | Forum
Reply | The Covid Inquiry
at 14:28 22 Nov 2025
Covid was a mass killer but so was lockdown. I lost a family member to COVID and 2 dear friends to lockdown. My best mate diagnosed with cancer in January 2020, was told i ohh was treatable and started treatment immediately, from March 2020 every appointment was cancelled due to COVID. When at last he got to see someone in the October he was riddled with cancer and died in the November. A friend lost his business due to lockdown and committed suicide. My point is not that Covid was a killer but so was lockdown and you cannot deny that fact and it should never happen again |
| Forum
Reply | The Covid Inquiry
at 14:05 22 Nov 2025
There were roughly 160,000 excess deaths (ie more than average)from January 2020 to December 2022, the total COVID period. These were not all COVID deaths the would include suicide and cancer patients who weren’t treated due care to Covid, these are lockdown deaths not Covid deaths. Added to that are the thousands of lives ruined by lockdown, children with anxiety and mental health issues, bankruptcies from people who lost their businesses. Also the cost of lockdown and furlough etc to the UK is a big part of why the country is so skint and we are facing large tax rises this week. I would have liked the enquiry to look into what we can learn to ensure that the country never goes into lockdown again. My personal view is that lockdown was a disaster and should never have happened and certainly should never happen again |
| Forum
Reply | Here comes the summer transfer rumour thread
at 15:04 15 Aug 2025
Just a thought, is there any mileage in playing a diamond to get 4 of our 5 midfielders on the pitch. Have 2 up top playing Inoussa or Ronald as an inside forward (a la Henry, ridiculous comparison but you know what I mean) with either Wales or Vip alongside, Key & Tymon will provide the width with Stamenic providing cover from defensive midfield role.
The speed of Ronald & Inoussa might frighten opposing centrebacks giving more time & space to Wales/Vip. This is a bit of a throw back, system wise, but is a way to get our best players on the pitch.
Everyone assumes the only way to play is 4-3-3 but maybe its time for a rethink. I would argue that Brendan played a very unorthodox system heavily based around Leon as the defensive/midfield fulcrum. |
| Forum
Reply | WEALTH TAX
at 21:52 24 Jul 2025
Personally I feel that we all have to pay our share to help the country get out of this mess. Increases in property wealth is passive income and can be taxed pain free, you haven’t earned that profit so can’t see any problem with racing it, same as investment growth. We need to tax passive growth and if this dampens down the property market then so be it. It is not envy but if you buy a property for £100,000 and it goes up to £300,000 you have not earned this and should be taxed. We all have to suffer to get out of this mess. I split my time between Mumbles and London and own a property in both places so believe you me I would be a loser if this was brought in, but it’s the only way to catch the super wealthy. Property cannot be moved not like income so we need to go after it. |
| Forum
Reply | WEALTH TAX
at 19:27 24 Jul 2025
Didn’t watch it but basically the thought is that income can be hidden overseas etc and that taxing income massively hits the middle classes. The best way to try to reset the public finances would be a wealth tax. A simple tax on say, all property in the UK of 1% of its value would raise an extortionate amount. If your house is worth £150,000 you pay £1,500, if you don’t own a house you pay nothing, if you own a £3million pound house you pay £30,000. Very simple and cannot be dodged as HMRC will put a charge on the property including penalties and interest and recoup the tax when the property is sold or transferred. This could equally apply to savings, pensions etc. Income tax and corporation tax is far to easy to evade so this, coupled with an internet sales tax based on where the product is delivered are things that can be done to get big business and wealthy individuals to pay their share |
| Forum
Reply | Care Home Costs £££s
at 07:59 24 Jul 2025
I actually think that it is right for people to pay for their care. My mother is 84 and will at some point in the next few years she may well need to go into a home. She will have to sell her home to pay for this. The house is where me and my brother grew up but we do not feel that we have any right to it, it is hers. If we want to keep the house we could get her to come and live with us, which neither of us want and nor does she, so we will ask a professional care home to look after her. This needs to be paid for and we see no reason why the taxpayer should pay. We have no right to inherit anything. The argument that my mother has paid taxes all her life so should keep her home is a spurious one for 2 main reasons. One she already has had back from the state way more than she paid in, state pension, children educated, bins collected, police paid for to keep law and order all her life, army paid for to protect the country, hundreds of doctors appointments over the years etc, secondly we to do not pay tax to get money back out of the system, we pay tax to be part of a society which is civilized and helps others, we are not and should not ever be all about us, when the majority of people think like this it will be the end of community and God help us all. |
| Forum
Reply | Usyk v Dubois 2 ...
at 01:09 20 Jul 2025
Agreed, great atmosphere and Usyk was brilliant |
| Forum
Reply | Usyk v Dubois 2 ...
at 11:27 19 Jul 2025
Best heavyweight fight out there but I expect Usyk to be just too good. Looking forward to it and on my way to Wembley to watch it. Love big boxing nights, great atmosphere but they still can’t beat small venue championship bouts in York Hall or the old days of the Afan Lido. |
| Forum
Reply | Reform Policies
at 19:25 14 Jul 2025
Just a thought on in work benefits because it really annoys me. If the assessed wage to live is say £16 per hour then that should be the living wage. The minimum wage can stay at £12.50. If a company doesn’t pay the living wage of £16 then it cannot pay dividends to its shareholders. This will stop the likes of Tesco etc paying low wages which are supplemented by Government benefits to the employee thereby increasing their profits and therefore dividends. In most cases working tax credits are not a benefit to the employee but a direct grant to big business. Small employers are protected as they don’t have profits to pay dividends so will pay the minimum wage of £12.50 without penalty. Obviously employees will move to the employers paying £16 an hour but that’s always happened. This will remove working tax benefits completely.
Make big business pay their share. |
| Forum
Reply | Fifa Club World Cup
at 09:14 14 Jul 2025
I haven’t watched any of it and it doesn’t interest me at all, however I think if they persevere with it I can see a future where the Saudi League and World club championship will be the 2 biggest competitions. Money talks . What they don’t have is history but from what I see youngsters are more interested in celebrities than history and if the Saudi league signs all the World stars I can see the premier league being weakened. Nothing lasts forever and the Premier league has been the richest (and best?) league for 20 years but I can see a near future where that dominance reduces. The big clubs are owned by Americans or other billionaires and they want to play the other big clubs (possible European league ??) the Saudis want to be the number 1league (unlimited resources so could happen) The world club championship becomes the biggest tournament. It’s a future I don’t personally like but I feel that this is the way sport is going. |
| Forum
Reply | Welsh rugby have always wanted to play the Saeson
at 19:35 8 Jul 2025
Think the devil is in the detail here. If it is, as it says, going down the franchise route then that is a high risk/ high reward strategy to pursue. If Realistically these investors into the franchises are not going to be Welsh (like football or the 100 cricket teams), this means there’s no direct emotional attachment to an area. If a franchise opens in Wales then it must be supported by the local fans who must turn up in their thousands to ensure the investor didn’t look to move to a wealthier region. If it comes off could be the saviour of Welsh Rugby, if franchises move out then it is the end of professional rugby in Wales.
We need to do something drastic to save rugby in Wales and this is drastic. Whether it’ll work I do not know.
Like I said high risks/high rewards |
| Forum
Reply | 20 Greatest sportsmen you've seen in the flesh and those you wish you had
at 23:25 11 Jun 2025
In no particular order
Botham
Viv Richards
Richard Hadlee
Sunil Gavaskar
Joe Calzaghe
Usyk
Best
Frank Worthington
Gareth Bale
Cristiano Ronaldo
Chris Evert
Martina Navratilova
Phil Taylor
Eric Bristow
Steve Davis
Phil Bennet
Jonathan Davies
Wayne Shelford
Gareth Edwards
Mal Malinga |
| Forum
Reply | Oli McBurnie : Swans very much aware of a potential free transfer
at 12:33 23 May 2025
I'm not normally a fan of getting old players back just because we know them. We have taken players back in the past and it has been brilliant for us, namely Curts & Leon, but we've also had disasters, Bony. The fact that it now looks like Oli is a free agent makes me edge towards being in favour of this move, if (and it's a big if) he fits into our pay scales. A front 3/4 of Ronald, Eom, Inoussa & Oli on paper looks exciting, we'll have back ups of Cullen, Vip, Bianchini, Ollie Cooper, Cameron Congreve, Wales & Ginnelly. This assumes we can get rid of Yates & Myko.
As I'm writing this I'm convincing myself that this move makes sense and I'm trying not to get excited about having Oli back. The emotional rollercoaster of Summer transfers is already underway...and it's only May |
| Forum
Reply | Lewis O'Brien
at 11:15 1 May 2025
Latest estimate is that Lewis O'Brien is on £45,000 a week, that's £2.3 million a year. With on costs that's about 10% of our entire turnover spent on one player. as much as I would love to see this happen I am not comfortable with this. It would appear to be a reckless role of the dice, or as some people call it....ambition |
| Forum
Reply | Who is for the boot this summer ?
at 11:30 30 Apr 2025
Personally i would definitely move on the following:
Perderson
Christie
Kuk
Tjoe-A-On
Possibly move on
Yates (Let Sheehan look at him as there could be a player there as hopefully we will not be so religious about playing only 1 way so might have a role to play)
Ginnelly (purely down to fitness)
Either Fisher/McLoughlin (Happy to get rid of both if youngsters are ready to step up but would not want to spend any of our transfer budget on a back up keeper)
O'Brien will also leave, do not see any way we can (or should) pay him what he'll want. Delcroix will also leave at the end of his loan.
That would mean at least 7 and possibly 10 players leaving which is a lot for any squad. I would keep Allen & Naughton as their experience (and low cost) will be invaluable if we are going to try to integrate youngsters as and when we can into the matchday squads.
Whatever I think, Fulton will remain here purely down to no one else picking up his contract.
If we can keep Darling then I would, but I wouldn't break our wage structure to get him.
I'm hoping Widdel will be a direct replacement for O'Brien which then means we need as a minimum
Centre Forward
Attacking Midfielder
Winger
Centre Back
Full back |
| Forum
Reply | 🔴 Likely candidates for the Swans job
at 09:01 18 Feb 2025
Absolutely no bloody idea who is going to get the job but my priorities would be someone who can work with youngsters, plays attractive football and doesn't want or need loads of money. The club is trying to live within it's means and whether we agree with this or not, we have to get a manager who understands and is happy to work within these constraints. Someone who puts an entertaining team on the pitch and that can keep us in the Championship for a few years whilst we get our house in order, off the pitch. I just want to see lively, exciting, fast paced, enjoyable football with hungry footballers who give their all for the cause, led by a manager with passion and tactical nous. Simples [Post edited 18 Feb 9:02]
|
| Forum
Reply | Swans target expensive midfielder.
at 12:30 28 Jan 2025
This is exactly the profile we should be looking at. His estimated wage according to salary sport is £1,900 a week. He fits the age profile, salary profile etc. Never seem him play and frankly I've never heard of him but, assuming proper scouting and due diligence has been done (big assumption I know) then this feels sensible and a step in the right direction from a financial and, hopefully, a football point of view. |
| Forum
Thread | Finances around sale of Matt Grimes
at 10:29 28 Jan 2025
This is my take on the finances surrounding this sale and also the Swans as a whole. Matt Grimes is reportedly on £20,000 a week, a staggering £1,040,000 a year. When employers NI and pension contributions are taken into account this could easily cost the club £1.2 million a year. The total turnover of the club in the last accounts was £21.5 million. This means that Matt Grimes accounts for 5.5% of the total income of the club. That is an amazing £1.80 of every general Category A ticket sale goes to Matt Grimes. or £3.10 of every replica shirt sold goes to Matt Grimes. These figures are just incredible and not sustainable for any business.
For the club to be truly sustainable and to survive long after my days, I have been a fan since the mid 70's (had a poster of Herbie Williams on my bedroom wall) the club needs to stop this madness. In reality wages should be no more than 75% of turnover (Premier League average is 66%). If we use this 75% as benchmark then total wages should be £16 million. Allowing for other staff, manager, coaches, marketing, U21 wages etc this would leave an estimate of £13 million to spend on players wages, if we take off employers NI and pensions say gross wage to the players are £12 million. If we assume a squad of 22 supported by the U21's then this means an average weekly wage of £10,500 a week.
This means that wages of £20,000 are really exceptional and the player has to be outstanding with a large sell on fee as a makeweight. I would respectfully suggest that Matt Grimes is neither exceptional nor going to attract a massive sell on price and therefore we should do everything in our power to push any price up but not ruin the deal. Matt Grimes needs to go for the long term benefit of our club.
On footballing matters we need to readjust our aims for the immediate future, these should be set at retaining our place in the Championship and changing the whole coaching set up to one that actually encourages our youngsters. Swansea City cannot compete with Birmingham, Stoke, Leeds etc on a financial basis so we need to change tack and get young, hungry overseas and local talent on the pitch playing the same way throughout all age groups.
Any investment from our owners goes directly to transfer fees, any transfer fees received is reinvested in the playing squad, this reinvestment will include young teenage prospects and not necessarily first team players.
This is a long term strategy but the only way I see for my team to be sure to continue providing professional football for my children and grandchildren to support.
|
| Forum
Reply | Darling, Cabango & Cullen : Contract Latest
at 10:49 16 Oct 2024
What I can't wrap my head around is why can't they seem to make a strategic decision, as painful as that may be. In this case the 'obvious' thing to do would be to accept Darling is going, Cullen can stay or go doesn't really matter, Cabango we need to stay. Therefore as a business surely you would accept this position and offer Cabango what we need to to get him to stay. We will have to fund this increase for 6/7 months until Darling (and probably Cullen) leaves which will free up cash to finance the Cabango deal going forward into next season.
It just appears that the current owners are not being proactive in making decisions just letting things happen and fire fighting when it all goes tits up. This is no way to run any business let alone a football club. |
| Forum
Thread | Pubs in London to watch Wales England
at 19:20 22 Nov 2022
I’m going to be in London next week and was wondering if anyone knew of a pub that would be mostly Welsh to watch the game. The Welsh Club is obviously sold out so any suggestions would be gratefully received. |
| | hectorshouse
|
Site Scores| Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 0 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.