mid table obscurity wrote:From the games I’ve seen this season when Swan has come off the bench, he has committed too many fouls. I guess he is there to put himself about and try to get a winner, but when he is too physical and keeps fouling his opponent, it breaks any momentum we may have as well as handing possession back to the opposition. In that case I can understand Clough not wanting to use him in that situation.
However, at the other end of the scale, when he has started games he hasn’t been effective enough over the course of the game, which is likely down to match sharpness and confidence.
I do not necessarily agree that he should be sent out on loan at this stage of the season. The way I see it, even if he has a promising spell, come the end of the season it will be a two month break before he plays games again, therefore any momentum he has gained could be lost. If he didn’t have a good spell, it could screw up his confidence even more.
When we have a player like Flint in our squad who has been instrumental in our defence this season and has a vast wealth of experience, as well as others like McLaughlin and Quinn and the like, I can’t help feeling that he’d be better off working with them in training when it comes to controlling his physical game. He knows them and they know his game and what he’s about, and we need to start getting him back onto the pitch for those 10 to 15 minutes spells to build his confidence back.
He has commited a lot of fouls this year, which is why it's ridiculous when a few say that he's not bothered or no longer has a contract to play for, players that aren't bothered wouldnt be doing that.
I think a lot of his fouls are due to him trying to press more. His pressing stats and all round stats (I know some don't like stats but they do give a bit of evidence) are far higher than they were last season, that increased aggression causes fouls, as we see with Oates, and he's far more experienced at it than Swan.