Hartlepool
Williams A
Barron
Lee
Coppinger
Westwood
Watson
Robinson
Smith
Clarke
Humphreys
Williams E

Anyone reading this report looking for crumbs of comfort will be sorely disappointed. Despite an encouraging start, this game deteriorated into a truly lamentable second-half performance from what has now become a thoroughly weak outfit. Mainly as a result of some appalling defending, the Swans were comprehensively dismantled by a physical and motivated, but otherwise fairly ordinary, Hartlepool team. It was a grave disappointment for the surprisingly large turnout of 100 or so die-hard Jacks who made the long trip, and must have come as a shocking reality check for the newly appointed boss. And for those of us who witnessed the Vetch Field demolition of Hartlepool in 1978, in which messrs James and Curtis each claimed a hat trick in an 8 – 0 win, this was a salutary reminder of how far we have really dropped.

The Swans line-up was a partly experimental one, though some of the changes were enforced by injury. Sidibe started up front alongside Brodie, with a midfield four of Casey (left), Mumford, Romo and Phillips. At the back, Howard and DeVulgt occupied the full back berths, with O'Leary and Todd taking up the central positions in the now familiar 4 – 4- 2 obviously favoured by Cusack. Jason Jones was given another chance to prove himself in goal, whilst Roger paced the touchline uneasily.

It was actually bright start from the Swans, whose front players seemed well motivated. After 3 minutes some neat interplay between Brodie and Sidibe set up the overlapping Casey for a first-time strike on goal, which unfortunately flew wide of the post. This was Casey's only contribution before leaving the field on 9 minutes with an ankle injury. But the balance of the side remained the same, with Coates replacing him on the left. And Coates was soon in to the action, taking part in a fluent passing move on 16 minutes, which almost released Romo on goal. In these early stages the home side was struggling to get its game together, and 17 minutes elapsed before we had our first scare – Todd neatly intercepting a dangerous cross. And a minute later there was another shot across our bows, as Eiffion Williams struck a low shot just wide.

On 20 minutes this spell of pressure from the home team produced its first reward, and a fine goal it was, as Darrell Clarke worked a neat one-two with a colleague before firing past Jones from 12 yards.

To their credit, the Swans responded well, and should have equalised on 23 minutes: Brodie played a neat ball to Coates, who squared the ball to Romo, only to see the Frenchman slice his side footed effort wide of the goal when he really should have hit the target. But shortly afterwards we crafted a fine equaliser, showing that we are capable of at least a little attacking flair when we set our minds to it. It was scored by Andrew Mumford – a firm and accurate strike into the corner following a good nod down by Sidibe – and was no more than his industry had deserved.

The remainder of the half though was incessant Hartlepool pressure, crafted through their robust physical presence on the ball, their ability to get the ball wide quickly, and their excellent delivery from wide positions – a style of play very reminiscent of their play-off rivals Scunthorpe, and a useful lesson for Mr Cusack to have observed. Their penetration down our flanks, particularly our exposed left side, saw them create a series of chances – Clarke struck the bar from close range, defender Lee headed wide from close range, and O'Leary was forced into a late saving tackle to deny Williams. But when their goal came it was as a break-away from a poor Swans corner. Despite Todd's best efforts to clear the initial cross, the ball was cannoned back across our goal, and bravely headed in by Clarke. Despite our tenacious defending, it has to be said that this was no more than the Hartlepool pressure had deserved. We had repeatedly failed to clear our lines, our forward line and midfield could not retain possession, we had conceded too much ground and our centre halves were unable to get their heads on the ball. This did not bode well for the second half.

But at the start of the calamitous second half we were again the architects of our own downfall. Following some good work from Coates, the ball was fed to Romo just outside the Hartlepool area – but he was caught in possession, and from a long punt upfield, Eiffion Williams broke away from Todd (with O'Leary AWOL) and fired easily past Jones. A neat finish, but the opportunity should never have been given to him in the first place.

This was the point of the game when we really needed to show some character – but the heads visibly dropped. Apart from one rasping drive from Coates, which flew just wide, the rest of the game was a complete shambles from the Swans perspective. On 65 minutes Clarke rose unchallenged at a corner to head easily past Jones to give the home team their fourth. A couple of minutes later, Pool broke forward once again from a Swans corner, and Adam Boyd snaffled a fifth. 9 minutes later some pinball-style ricochets in the area apparently resulted in a Swans player handling the ball, and a penalty was awarded to give the home team their sixth (Gordon Watson beating Jones with ease). And two minutes later our despair was complete when a routine free kick from the left was nodded home unchallenged by Kevin Henderson.

The last few minutes were played out in routine style, with home side seemingly happy to settle for the seven. We had a few forays forward, mainly through the buzzing runs of Brodie and wing play of Williams (now on for Romo), but all our efforts were easily repelled by the home defence which was playing well within itself. The Jack fans, not surprisingly, showed their frustration towards the players, but still managed to maintain a level of good humour amidst the embarrassment of it all. Many of us just sat stunned and silent, barely able to believe what we were witnessing.

The final whistle brought some relief, and it was difficult to predict what the reactions of the Swans players and crowd would be. In the event, it brought us our only moment of hope and inspiration. As the players began to troop off dejectedly, Cusack came on to the pitch and demanded that all of the players come over to salute the travelling fans. Most responded well, and came over to the supporters. Cusack himself walked along the entire line of Swans fans now gathered at the front, shook the hand of each, and apologised for what had just happened.

Player ratings:
Jones – 4 Ironically, not obviously to blame for any of the goals, but 11 conceded in two games tells its own story.
Howard – 5 Struggled badly to contain the delivery of crosses from the right
DeVulgt – 4 As above, but also showed little physical presence on or off the ball.
Todd – 4 Some good interventions in the first half, but completely swamped in the second; was replaced by Sharp in a bid to strengthen things at the back.
O'Leary – 3 Recently has been the subject of plaudits from the Swans fans; we cannot see why. Today his distribution was awful, his touch poor, and he lacks the height to operate in the centre of a back four. As for his captaincy – he was frequently castigated by his own colleagues, and got involved in three embarrassing shouting matches with Romo and DeVulgt. Does not command the respect of the players.
Casey – No rating as he left the field too early, but he missed one great chance.
Phillips – 4 Tried to put himself about, but he has lost the zest from his game.
Romo – 5 Some neat touches, but too ineffective all round
Mumford – 6 An industrious first half, but he too was overwhelmed in the second
Brodie – 5 Some neat touches to set up a couple of first half chances, but faded badly after that.
Sidibe – 5 Fitfully showed some class, but failed to fashion a chance for himself (though he had precious little service)

Coates (for Casey) – 5 Some decent moments here and there.
Sharp (for Todd) – 4 Just as ineffective as Todd
Williams (for Romo) – 4 A couple of overhit crosses was his sum contribution.

As the ratings above show, there are very few players who are currently showing the sort of form that would earn them another contract. Cusack is certainly a man of great spirit and enthusiasm, but what can he do with such poor raw material. There was plenty of spirit from the team today in the early stages, but when it came to the crunch far too many of the players were found wanting in terms of their basic skills and attributes.

This was a painful sting in the tail of what has already been a traumatic season. Nick's actions at the end of the game proved that he is a man of honour, integrity and commitment – but he is going to need all of that, and a lot more, if he is going to turn things round next season. An experienced "old head" to assist or direct him will be an essential, as will some major changes on the playing staff, if he is to have any kind of chance at all. Good luck to him.

Whoops. That's the last time I wake up to a lovely morning and think, "Oh yes, I can get another ground ticked off on my list, seeing as it's such a nice day..." A lesson learned for me there, I reckon.

There's been a distinct lack of match reports, and there's a good reason for that: nobody could ever write one frank enough. Truth is, we were abject. Pathetic. Utterly uncommitted. Passionless. (Add in an adjective of your choice here... you get the drift. An adverb would add weight. Actually, I'd like to see some alliterative suggestions.)

As someone posted, it could have been more, in fact it could have been about 15. A result like this has been coming for weeks, it could have happened at Rushden but somehow it didn't. I hope I'm not being overly optimistic but I believe that this particular cloud will prove to have a silver lining because it should serve to underline what we have been saying on-list and privately for weeks if not months: the squad as it stands is not up to the job, it is complacent and in some cases, players are in the wrong job!! It's a clichι, I know, but if I was as useless at my job as some players in this squad are, I'd get the boot pronto.

I am sure you will be able to read in excruciating detail about the events of the match in WoS and the SWEP, so I shall merely turn to the team today:

Jones - Hopeless, not fit to fill Freestone's boots. At fault for more than one goal. May have played his last game for Swansea and deservedly so.
de Vulgt - Out of his depth. A candidate for an early release. Seemed to be content to give the ball away at every opportunity.
O'Leary - As captain, struggled to keep hold of a demoralised team, probably a combination of his relative inexperience and youth. I would stick with him as captain, for the time being at least. Didn't disgrace himself with his playing performance.
Todd - Deservedly substituted, but then I could say that about virtually everyone. Presented the ball to the opposition too often.
Howard - Poor again. Too content to let opponents turn him.
Romo - Another who has most likely played his last game. Missed a sitter in the first half and should have been taken off earlier.
Phillips - Had brief flashes of adequacy, but again too willing to give the ball away and then give up on the chase.
Mumford - Took his goal well but struggled to make an impact on the game. Note to coaching staff: He's a big lad and should be able to impose himself a bit more.
Casey - Not on the pitch long enough to make a contribution to the dιbβcle.
Sidibe - Looked uninterested for long periods. His mind is clearly on other things, such as his next club. Thank you and goodnight.
Brodie - Appalling again. Hot favourite to leave in the summer. Running around for 90 minutes with no prospect of winning the ball does not a professional footballer make; I remain astonished that he gets paid for what he does. A candidate for the worst player ever to wear a Swansea shirt. (Again, others' thoughts welcomed as a new thread for the list.)
Freestone - Not even St Roger of the Onion Bag could have prevented today.
Cusack - So much to learn... it's enough to turn a man to drink.
Sharp - Was anything but. Another with little to offer the club.
Coates - Probably the best performance today but that is no honour. Set up a few moves and was largely tenacious and alert, but football is a game for 11 men, not one.
Williams - Ponderous and uncommitted. Needs a boot up his harris and occasional prodding with the knowledge that he is actually getting paid to play football.

Wo/Men of the Match: The 100 or so of us stupid enough to part with £12 after a hellishly long journey and not to leave early. Get your map out again and check it, but it took us 3 hours from Coventry (not wholly within the speed limit) and I doubt the supporters' coach got back to Morriston Cross much before 1am.

This was by far the most inept performance I have ever seen from a Swansea team - and I've seen a few since that first game back in May 1983 in the old First Division - but as I said earlier, I think this will convince the manager and Board that drastic changes are necessary if the club is to progress. If alarm bells are not ringing, they should be. It is not good enough to claim the "end of season, nothing to play for" defence.

Get ready for a clear-out in the summer, but in the meantime, here is a poser for the pessimists to mull over: who the hell is going to replace them? There are reasonable foundations for a decent team here, but there is a lot of rubbish with it. As at Rushden, the negative chanting from the Swansea end was unpleasant and maybe unnecessary - we were there to SUPPORT the team, not barrack it - but again, it was honest, heartfelt and deserved. In fairness to Cusack, at least he had the balls to come over to the away end to apologise after a truly pathetic performance, where the team capitulated as soon as the going got tough at 1-3 a minute into the second half.

No amount of moaning will change the fact that this is our heaviest defeat since the 1930s (note to Statto: check?) and that it was thoroughly deserved. As I said above, this result will force some hard choices on the management - and not before time - but its timing, so close to the end of the season, will allow time for mature reflection and reconstruction before the start of next season. (Imagine the panic measures we'd have taken if this had been the first away game next season, not this season's last...) There are only 17 weeks to go, but that should be enough time...

Keep the faith