What a great away performance. Carroll was instrumental in the equaliser, and a fantastic touch for his goal.

Southwood had a great game. Yiadom should've cleared their first goal, but other than that the defence did great.

Lovely to see Halilovic back and his back-heel nutmeg was gorgeous.

Swift, Drinkwater and Laurent all had good games.

And well done Paunovic for the changes. As much as he was to blame for the Sheff Utd defeat, he equally needs credit for today.

Well done guys x

Totally different performance to Tuesday. Still defending wide open far too much, but today we ran at Swansea and played with a high pace and tempo when going forward.

Few people getting a bit over excited, I doubt Carroll is going to score many goals from a ball over the top to breakaway. Swansea played a very high line, which we are not going to come across often and we took advantage well.

It was an excellent performance going forward, and Southwood had an excellent game, saving our blushes a few times.

Work to be done still, and need to carry it forward into games where we won't be as able to break on the opposition as easily.

Form is improving. Halilovic is so key.

Great game and a great win!! Moore and Ejaria haven't played well this season and both weren't missed at all. TDB played great on the left and showed what we've been missing, pace!! and despite the early error in defense they largely played well.

Carroll played well and gave us a target, and took his goal well and for me Southwood was immense.

Today proved we could easily lose Ejaria, Moore and Rafael and raise some cash and get a big slice off our wage bill.

Good performance, good support from us, it was really cold. Should be super happy but just got in to see the news and am now deflated af.

What news?

What news?
We’re still 21st

Not sure about that, I would say that the changes were forced on him, if Moore and Ejaria had been fit it’s probable they would have both played.

Not sure about that, I would say that the changes were forced on him, if Moore and Ejaria had been fit it’s probable they would have both played.
Assumed it was a tactical decision, didn't know they were injured.

I hate the Liberty Stadium and the journey. It’s not egregiously bad but the only good thing about it is the chippy over the road, which is better than anything I can find in London.

Love our spirit to twice score after conceding. Carroll looks a lot like the Wayne Bridge/Anton Ferdinand types who drop to this level in their early 30s after spending their careers near the top, just has a touch of class about him that would be easy to overlook given his reputation as a bruiser.

Remember when Akpan first joined us and he looked like he had reasonable technique, good mobility, and a tendency to make progressive passes even if he was no Danny Guthrie? Then we tried to play him as a defensive midfielder and he was awful? Well, TDB is the player we thought Akpan was going to be, just has this great knack for making things happen, he’s audacious but not in a showy way, very direct, chalk and cheese with Ejaria.

Holmes is in much better form than Moore and must continue to start at least until McIntyre is available, or until his own form drops. Don’t think he looks as good as Moore at his best, not getting carried away, but we need to select on current form rather than reputation.

Found out this week that Halilovic was once heralded as the Croatian Messi. Obviously there’s a huge talent gap, Halilovic isn’t even half as good at this level as Messi is at the highest level, but stylistically there’s an uncanny similarity, the way they run, their height, that scooped pass to the far post Halilovic plays.

Agree about Ejaria and Moore, they just seem to think they are far toooooo good to be struggling in the EFL. Time to cash in.

What news?

Just the shit-the-bed, knee-jerk, reactionary bull crap about the new covid variant and restrictions. Won’t go into it on here, I guess that’s for AE, but it took a huge shit on what was otherwise a really good day!

It was overall a much improved performance than we’ve seen recently, for a team where we are, how we’ve been playing, the results and performances we’ve had… I think that’s about the best we can hope for at the moment. Was it an amazing performance? No. Were there lots of things we could improve? Absolutely. On another day could the result have been different? Definitely.

Swansea we’re always going to have more of the ball so I think our game plan was definitely the right one, at times I thought we were wasteful in getting it forward, but it obviously worked as we got in on several occasions (difficult to see from in the ground but I’m not convinced as many were offside as they were flagged for).

TDB looked as good as he has done in that advanced role (on the left this time), literally polar opposite to Ejaria, Carroll brings that quality that we’ve lacked and I thought Rahman had his best game for us. I was anxious about him constantly playing his man onside but he was obviously weary about his pace and by and large dealt with him all afternoon.

I’d love to see some replays of those goal mouth scrambles, how much Southwood got to them - but regardless made some really smart saves, and was brave. Some people think some players are scapegoats, and others get away with certain things - Southwood being one of the latter. If I was to highlight something I don’t think he’s strong at is one on ones. When Moore sold him short at Birmingham, my first thought was Southwood’s made it easier for their lad. We got lucky against Forest and the same again today. His positioning and timing one on ones is not great, he needs to fully commit, or stay on his line for longer - at this level I would say the latter is probably better. No where near as clinical. In the end he ends up being in no mans land and it’s really easy to just knock it past him and have an open goal to aim at. I’m not saying this is a massive issue, on balance I still think he’s quality and much more trustworthy than Raphael, but it is something I’ve noticed. Not a oxf*rd clue what Yiadom was doing for the goal. I know he was off balance but I just feel he should be doing better.

Their second goal had a massive bit of luck about it. Yes we could have done better with the clearance, but come on. He’s hardly a goal scoring machine and week foot first time volley? You can’t legislate for that. That being said, on the balance of play no less than they deserve. Thought overall defences were naff on the whole - represented by the scoreline and an entertaining game. I felt last 20 minutes it died a bit but picked up just before the end.

Overall good day and a really rare win against Swansea, first away league win there for 20 years or something?

Oh and we’ve got a Big oxf*rd Geordie.

Watching the highlights and seeing how the first goal happened.

Paterson jogs past a walking Drinkwater who sees him, points to him and ignores him. Meanwhile Yiadom is covering the left back out wde, while Holmes is sucked across towards the ball, and Halilovoc is up the pitch trotting back.

Drinkwater has to go with Paterson. Good job he got the winner

I watched the 15 minute extended highlights on sky this morning, I`m sure we tested Hamer more than just the 3 goals but you wouldn`t think it, obv showed all the goals and a few of the saves and scrambles in our box.
But doesn`t surprise me tbh.

Saved well from a good Swift free kick, and another good save where he scrambled down to his right.

Just a heads up for anyone who went to Swansea on the train yesterday- compensation is paid(by GWR in my case) if trains are 15 mins or more delayed- my train in the morning at 10.13 from Reading and the return at 18.22 both meet the refund criteria and i have today claimed.(12.5% of the return fare for each leg)

I only watched the 15 minute Sky highlights, but where the hell were the 2 CBS for the first goal , that area of the pitch that the ball is played into is their responsibility , neither of them where they should be. The second goal was a terrible defensive header .
Very good result .

Rahman goes forward to engage his man pulling him out the defensive line. TDB is too far off his man so there's an easy pass. Rahman is played around because Laurent doesn't go and hunt with him, he stays back screening the CBs too deep. Dann is sucked into covering the beaten RB, and Holmes is sucked in to cover the striker.

Meanwhile, Yiadom is staying wide covering the LB Halilovic isn't near. Which creates a huge hole where the RCB usually is.

Drinkwater literally just watches Paterson run past him into a gaping hole.

I'd say the two CBs are the least at fault in this case.

Take your pick from the next of his victims…

I thought about replying , but don’t think it’s worth it .

Shrug.

You guys don't find the cause of goals and defensive shape interesting you can always scroll on by.

We do

You need to see it on mobile.

Cracking away day that was.

I was worried we wouldn't have the legs or mental strength to see our way through, and when they equalised just after half time I thought they'd go on to beat us.

But we responded so well and held on very well. I thought the back five was superb in the last 20 minutes or so.

Southwood - 8. No chance really with the goals and some superb saves
Yids - 7. Played his part in a good defensive performance late on. Couldn't get forward quite as much as usual and he was unlucky with the first goal. Looked like he ran back in too quickly so couldn't get a good touch on it
Holmes - 7. Nervy start, thought he got dragged all over the place for the goal and looked a bit hesitant but recovered really well. Made some big clearances second half
Dann - 7. Same as above really. He looks so assured on the ball and is a great presence. Excellent signing
Baba - 6. I thought he was reasonable, if a bit suspect defensively at times. Looked like he was going to give away a penalty on a couple of occasions but his clearance late on was great
Laurent - 6. Quietly got on with the task at hand and made one great run into the corner late on to get us a bit of a breather. Was maybe a little passive defensively at times
Drinkwater - 7. Marked up by one for his goal. It was a very composed finish when I'm sure absolutely walloping it was tempting. He covered a lot of ground and got stuck in as well, committing a couple of good fouls to stop them breaking. Great ball for AC's goal
TDB - 7. Great goal and was always looking to get us forward quickly. Slightly neglectful defensively at times but got back to help out second half
Halilovic - 6. Needed to do more defensively but was threatening second half when he came more central. I thought he was a bit isolated first half when he was too wide but he showed some good interplay. Not bad for a first start in a while
Swift - 6. He's getting marked much closer these days and has to come a lot deeper to get the ball, which means he isn't as effective as he can be. But he did well to play TDB in for the goal, and had a decent free kick saved
Carroll - 9. Superb goal. Great holding and link-up play. Surprisingly fit and managed to last much longer than I thought he would. His defensive work was also impressive, winning headers from corners etc.. If we can keep him fit he could be an absolute revelation. He also gets an extra point for showing leadership and encouraging his team mates, including a nice pep talk for Puscas when he replaced him

Subs both get 6. Not a huge amount of time to impress but they both worked really hard and contributed to the result. Azeez was forced into a lot of defensive work but he played one great pass around the corner for (I think) TDB and was a willing runner. Puscas did some good shithousing and tried to create a bit of space with his runs

No real complaints with the officials which is always positive.

All in all, a very encouraging performance. We did seem to have a nasty streak at times as well, disrupting them on free kicks and leaving the boot in a bit here and there. I think you have to have a bit of that to succeed in this league. You can't be too nice. It's also good to see some resilience and reacting well to going a goal down. That has been missing for a while. Let's hope we can build on this.

You need to see it on mobile.
Ahhh. Was using a big screen. At the time.

Might fix if I can be arsed.

anyone got an angle on Carroll's initial run for the goal. Swansea up in arms its offside.

Oh, and forget the talk about fault, defensive shape etc etc - what a win, get in their boys. Great result. Find us 9 more of those performances and we can look forward to another season in this division.

Did anyone 3lse notice Carroll seemed very supportive in talking to Puscas?

When they subbed him off he seemed to try pump up Puscas and after the game went over to him to give him a boost.

Carroll seems to be a good guy who could uplift the squad a little off the pitch. Invited the whole team over to join his celebration too. I am interested to see how that develops.

Yes I noticed that. It seems like Carroll is taking his role as a senior player very seriously, which is refreshing.

Puscas just needs one in off his arse or something, just to get the scoring feeling back. I think if he and Carroll play together more, he will look more likely.

I've been very impressed with Carroll so far.

Yes I noticed that. It seems like Carroll is taking his role as a senior player very seriously, which is refreshing.

Puscas just needs one in off his arse or something, just to get the scoring feeling back. I think if he and Carroll play together more, he will look more likely.

I've been very impressed with Carroll so far.
Very refreshing. It's important to have a voice somewhere up there on the pitch right now given that all our leaders are defenders. Someone like Carroll pulling us through games could be very important when you consider our more skillfull attackers are quite quiet. Swift, Ejaria, Halilovic and even Meite are a bit more on the quiet side.