We look back six months when Steve Cooper was still Swansea City manager. It was the first of June and swans fans were asked to vote on the managers future on this website.

Short memories for some ? Here is the article as we build up to Swansea City v Nottingham Forest on Saturday. A few weeks after this poll Cooper was gone, and Marsh just disappeared without a mention.

Here it is -
The poll has been running for a month. Through the good results and the bad results, through the excellent performances and the bad. So here is Swansea Independent’s fans vote on Steve Cooper and Mike Marsh. Of course not everyone voted, we get around 25,000 views a day with over a thousand active members, and eight thousand registered. But it’s a damming verdict. Maybe some of us should pause for reflection, or just wish for a more positive change this summer ?

We asked our readership to comment and vote on the future of Steve Cooper and Mike Marsh, when we got to one hundred votes we stopped the poll. That was last Friday, one day before the play off final. We even asked voters to change their opinion right up until the last minute. The results were pretty much as expected judging by the performances of the team and responses from the faithful this season. Irrespective of Swansea City reaching the play off final at Wembley.

There were four choices, all obvious from a basic multi choice selection.

It’s fairly simple to break down, it basically asked a yes or no question, and obviously gave a yes or no answer. Two questions in one if you like. Excuse us for being pragmatic.

32% of the vote wanted Cooper and Marsh to stay. 68% wanted them to leave, irrespective of the seasons outcome. That’s a huge negative against them staying bearing in mind the swans have reached a play off final- and with a bare bones squad. Let’s be realistic with limited expenditure too, the club still have had a successful season. If the poll reflects a thousand fans then 680 would want them to leave. Talking to other swans fans and other website owners that’s pretty much reflective of the overall Swansea City support.

Yet here’s the rub with all this, many swans fans think the side will struggle next season despite Coopers reliance on numerous old boys from the England under 17 World Cup winning squad this time around. He isn’t daft, he and Andy Scott will have a plan. In fact that was the position at the start of this season for many. Loads of questions like who are we going to sign ? Where’s the money coming from ? And how can we afford it ? were on the minds of many. However, still Swansea City somehow made it to a play off final.

Steve Cooper and Mike Marsh have a certain style and mindset when it comes to managing young players, it most certainly works. However the implementation ( we’ve said this many times ) can be extremely different on the pitch. When it comes to the crunch, as at Wembley, it didn’t work, and sometimes it can be awful. The desire to pass the ball backwards has been with us for years, that IS the Swansea Way, but the quick recycling of the ball was the key. This season it hasn’t happened that often and the players brought in like Conor Hourihane just weren’t up to it. The side Cooper selected seemed to get bogged down in midfield and lose its way.

So, where do Swansea City go from here ?

Steve Cooper has many admirers, this poll means nothing at the end of the day, because as we know the supporters are low down on the list of club priorities when it comes to finances for the new season. And rightly so. There will be interest In Cooper, and with that interest comes a compensation for the club if he and a Marsh leave. That’s the numbers, and that’s the truth. If a club comes in then he should leave is the general opinion, but think for just one minute, if he and Marsh did stay and had the support they deserve from the majority share holders, just where would the swans actually finish next season ?

My vote says in the premier league, but many will disagree, that’s our prerogative, it may be boring and frustrating, but with numerous people wanting the current management to leave AND stating they think the swans could get relegated regardless, what sense does that actually make ?

We can’t argue with the stats, but we can argue with the opinions, especially when those opinions centre around Cooper and Marsh leaving and still the club could be relegated.

Does that make any sense to you ?

Talk it out below or join us on our forums

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Photographs licensed from Reuters

tredwyn added 23:06 - Jun 2 Some performances have been really dire and that has influenced the fans. But they over-estimate the squad, It's fairly thin with honest journeymen but very few quality players. They also seem to think too that Cooper will be easy to replace. But who wants to manage a club that sells £50 million's worth of players and spends £1 million? The owners want to take out not put in so getting a better manager than Cooper will be very difficult. Truth is he's still learning. The best outcome would be if he said to the owners he's ready to commit if they are. He needs £20 million to improve the squad plus the proceeds of any sales. Unfortunately I think they bought the club under false pretences. I don't think they've got any spare money and Cooper will go.

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