Rochdale
Banks
Evans
Jobson
Griffiths
McAuley
Ware
Flitcroft
Oliver
Doughty
Platt
Connor

There may be plenty of euphoria off the field at the moment, and quiet rightly; but make no mistake - on the park, we are in desperate trouble, and if anyone thought we were safe from relegation...think again.

It was quite ironic for the approximate 171 Jacks that endured this torrid affair at Spotland today, that having been campaigning for 3 months to ensure the players were paid, we were today calling for them not to be. This was a really dire effort all round, lacking in effort, commitment, application and, apparently, ability and game plan too.

It has been a long hard road focusing on the off field traumas, but in many ways this has deflected attention away from the players. Today there was no hiding place and certainly no excuse - we are not forgetting for one moment the problems the players have had, but sadly a swift kick up the backside is definitely the order of the day.

The team was the same one that flopped at Bristol on Tuesday, that time no doubt deflated by the shattering news that the Griffin takeover had failed. Today it appears that no-on bothered to tell them that Petty has gone...there was certainly no rousing welcome for Mel Nurse. The line-up, then, was Freestone in goal, with Sharp, O'Leary and Mumford as the back three, Evans and Howard the wing backs and Cusack, Coates and Brodie in midfield. Watkins and Williams made up the front two.

The first half, played on a decent surface but against a fierce and swirling wind, was mainly backs to the wall stuff for the Swans. Hollins' Rochdale team surged forward with a swagger which we rarely saw when he was in charge at the Vetch. For the first half hour we endured almost constant pressure, and only a superb goal line clearance from Mumford kept us on terms. Roger was also called into action saving a swirling shot from the left back. McAuley, and the ariel challenge of Platt and Oliver cause constant headaches for Sharp and O'Leary in particular. But it looked like we were going to hang on until half time, until we pressed the self destruct button with two late goals. Firstly, our back three stood and admired while Michael Oliver fired in an excellent volley from the edge of the box for the first. Then Neil Sharp managed to hook a low cross bizarrely into his own goal, with no Rochdale player in sight - a truly remarkable effort, as it seems that any park player could have successfully dealt with such an innocuous attack.

We had a few moments in front of goal in the first half. Two almost identical low crosses from Williams on the right side almost found Brodie making a well timed dash to the near post, but on each occasion the ex-Scarborough man (looking remarkably like Ricky from Eastenders) failed to get a clean contact on the ball, and the chances went. Some good battling from Watkin in the box also created a chance for Cusack but his crisp shot went just wide. And our best chance came when we had just gone two down...our only real moment of class in the game was a terrifically delivered right foot free kick from Mumford, which O'Leary met in the air - it seemed that his header was looping in, but he was foiled by a fine save from Edwards; this proved to be our last serious threat on goal.

The wind died down in the second half, so we didn't get quite the advantage that the home side had. This made little difference in reality, as we failed to maintain any real pressure on the home goal for the whole 90 minutes. Indeed for much of the second half the Dale continued to press forward, and we were kept in it by a couple of fine Freestone saves, one in particular an excellent save with his legs in a one on one situation. But even Rog was a little out of sorts today - he had dropped a couple of crosses in the first half, and in the second he almost presented the Dale with a third, when he fumbled the ball trying to prevent a corner - the ball was eventually scrambled clear. In the last quarter of an hour we threw caution to the wind and changed our formation. Mumford was sacrificed to create a back four, and Lacey came on to allow Cusack to push forward into a 4 - 2 - 4 formation. We pumped the ball forward to the front four in optimistic style, and this created a couple of flurries for us in front of goal. Brodie had a low shot which was comfortably saved, Coates fired an effort wide, and Williams curled one over the bar. Our best chance came when Watkin worked the ball to the feet of Williams who tried to round a defender who had fallen to the floor - the defender appeared to handle the ball in the area, but the ref didn't see it that way. At the end of the day we were a well beaten side, and could count ourselves fortunate that the deficit was only two goals.

Player ratings would be irrelevant as no-one really came out of this one with any credit. Our defence looked shaky throughout, with Mumford and O'Leary lacking the height to cope with the high ball, and Sharp lacking the physical presence. Williams and Watkin looked frustrated and generally impotent as a striking force - the former lacking sharpness, and the latter unable to impose himself. But the game was really lost in midfield. Coates and Cusack never got the ball under control and never managed to impose themselves on the game. Brodie operated in front of them, but this was largely a redundant role when we could never get hold of the ball. Too often the ball was just headed or flicked forward hopefully, and rarely were any passes strung together. This meant that the wing backs were never brought into play as an attacking force, but were still often found out of position as they retreated back from fruitless forays, in which the ball never even got close to them. Even worse, many of the basics were lacking today - composure, control, accurate passing, robust tackling, clean strikes on goal,accurate crossing - none of this was there today. Maybe it was just a seriously out of sorts day for everyone ... but four defeats in a row?!

Only the occasional industry of the ever improving Mumford was cause for optimism today. Some bite is needed in midfield, and this should come through the return of Gareth Phillips. Some guile is also needed in the middle of the park, and perhaps we should not be too quick to write off the passing skills of David Romo. Crucially, we need to get some real solidity at the heart of the back three, and I'm afraid that this cries out for the return of Smith (as soon as he is even half fit) in place of Sharp who is really struggling at the moment to cope with the transition from LOW. And up front, it is clear that Sidibe is desperately needed back - our attacking options are so limited at present that it is difficult to see where our next goal, let alone point, is coming from. But above all one thing is very clear - if we are to be absolutely certain of avoiding the drop and moving forward, the our new "reluctant owners" (God bless them!) are going to have to sanction a move back into the transfer market sooner rather than later. Good luck to them.

The start of what we hope will be a new era for Swansea City began today under the part ownership of the fans. After many years of saying 'we' or 'ours' when we talk about our team became true at Spotland. After a journey, which started in heavy rain with thoughts that the game could be in doubt, the match was played in dry but blustery conditions. The away fans are allocated the mid section of the new stand, which runs the length of the pitch, a far cry from the poor terracing of previous visits.

Watched by a 2800 crowd containing about 120 of us.

The team picks itself at the moment, the only absentee being Colin Addison who missed the game due to a stomach complaint.

In what was a swirling wind, the Swans played the first half into it and were under constant pressure for the first 15mins due mainly to being unable to clear their lines and keep possession for more than three passes. After seeing out this early pressure we did get more into the game, but until the half hour mark it was mostly played between the penalty areas although Brodie did cause some problems with late runs into the box.

Both teams had chances to score but in the Swans case lack of composure and confidence limited the chances on goal, whereas Rochdale seemed more lively up front and were the more likely to score.

With half time drawing near the chances of a 0-0 were blasted away by a volley by Oliver from the edge of the box passed Rog in a blink of an eye into the net. This came about from poor marking from a throw in and not attacking the second ball after an initial clearance.

With thoughts now of getting to half time and regrouping, we were dealt another blow when Sharp under no threat, sliced the ball into his own net while attemting to volley clear.

Peter Nicholas must have read the riot act as the players came out for the second half a good 5 mins early.

Our expected early onslaught was brief and Rochdale took control and without at least 3 good saves by Rog, 2 from 1 on 1 we would have been buried. The fact that we were still in the game allowed 2 substitutions, the first saw Todd replace O'Leary after he had been booked and later Lacey replacing Mumford who had by then been moved into midfield.

We did have a short rally but it was based mostly on hopeful flicks and lobs. With about 10mins to go and the game dying on its feet there was a slight commotion at the back of the home stand behind the goal, after being shouted at, a medical team did attend, we hope it was not serious.

We have said that the standard in this division is poor but we would have had no complaints if we had been on the end of a more convincing scoreline and although Rochdale were the better team our poor display did make life very easy for them.

Although some players put effort in, others have to look at their input and commitment as only Freestone Cusack and Brodie come away from this game with any credit. The performance today was played by 11 individuals with no support play or movement off the ball and a to make things worse Rog seemed to be hobbling for most of the second half, which makes the saves he made even more remarkable.

On the journey home Peter Nicholas was interviewed on Radio Wales and implied that they had taken the current squad as far as they could and an influx of new blood is needed, and that within the next few days will be talking with the new owners in the hope that the transfer embargo can be lifted. His thoughts were echoed by people sitting around us today, as many had come to show their support but left totally frustrated by what they had seen.

There was also an interview with John Hollins, who was his usual confused self, but reading between the lines he is very bitter over his sacking, lets hope that this is not the next financial problem to bring the club to its knees.

The roller coaster of emotion that is supporting the Swans continues, with both highs and lows over the last couple of days. Let's hope that the events over the next few days allows us to see the other side of the team against Kidderminster next Saturday.