And that’s all from me. It’s been a blast. Bye!
Here’s your Big Paper match report:
Updated
Now Ashley Williams speaks!
It’s about time I scored one. I was giving up hope going up for corners. I was just delighted I could help the team get a vital three points today.
I think that’s the key against Watford, because their strikers are a real handful. It was going to be a tough game where we had to battle and fight, and I think the whole team did that.
We heard the news [about Guidolin] last night and obviously everyone got onto Google and tried to find out as much as they can about him. He’s got a good record.
I think Alan’s done brilliant, he’s worked hard and tried to do the best he can do. He’s steadied the ship, we’ve performed well, the new guy’s coming in now but he’ll still be massive at this place.
It’s not about celebrating this game or getting too excited. We’ve got work to do. We’re in a position we don’t want to be in and it’s about moving our attention to the next game.
Leon Britton speaks!
We were disappointed with the last game. Today probably wasn’t the prettiest but in the situation we’re in three points was massive for us. Ashley’s been fantastic for us, he’s our captain, he’s our leader. Hopefully he can score a few more along the way.
When you’ve got a new manager watching the game everyone’s out to impress of course. The news has given everyone a lift. It’s a great start with him watching and us getting the win.
It was a big weekend. We dropped into the bottom three and needed a win to get back out of it. It’s a big lift for us, especially coming out of a defeat at home against one of our rivals.
Swansea vault out of the bottom three, and celebrate as if they’ve just won the FA Cup final. Watford at least mustered a vaguely encouraging second half, but despite a load of shots from between 18 and 25 yards, didn’t create a lot. The home side deserved their win.
Final score: Swansea 1-0 Watford
90+4 mins: It’s all over! Swansea have a win! And Watford are beaten for a fourth game in succession!
90+3 mins: Last chance for Watford? Fernandez heads to Deeney, 20 yards out, and he chests down and volleys wide!
Updated
90+2 mins: Sigurdsson is booked for timewasting as he prepares to take a corner, and then keeps preparing, and then argues a bit about where defenders are standing. Three minutes’ stoppage time have been indicated, and they’re running out fast.
90+1 mins: Gomis hits the post! Sigurdsson picks him out with a lovely pass, and he cuts onto his left foot, nearly falls over, doesn’t fall over and then slams his shot against the inside of the post!
90 mins: The referee gives Swansea the most ridiculous handball decision, as the ball is booted into Ighalo’s hand from half a yard, outside the area. A gift, with the home side creaking.
90 mins: … which Fabianski punches clear, fine goalkeeping at the back post.
89 mins: Watford are huffing and puffing here, and now they’ve got another corner.
88 mins: Ooooooh! Watford swing the ball in, Deeney flicks it on, Taylor fluffs his clearance header and Jurado volleys goalwards. Just wide, this time.
87 mins: And Watford bring on Oularé, taking off Behrami.
86 mins: Watford win another free-kick, Watson crosses, and a dominant Williams arrives to thump a clearing header. And Swansea make their final change, bringing on Amat to bolster the defence, and taking off Ki.
84 mins: Now Watford win a corner, which is headed clear to Jurado, 20 yards out, and he volleys it straight back goalwards … and this one is on target! Fabianski is not exactly tested, though, as he catches it.
84 mins: Watford want a penalty! Deeney heads on, and Williams has his arm all around Ighalo in the area! It wasn’t exactly clear-cut, but you’ve seen ‘em given!
83 mins: Paredes is a little better at the attacking than Nyom, and a little worse at the defending. Have Watford nothing else on their bench to help in these situations?
81 mins: Another Swansea sub sees Ayew go off, and Gomis come on.
80 mins: The free kick is pure trash, going straight into the wall.
79 mins: Aké finds Ighalo on the edge of the area, and the Watford striker executes a picture-perfect spin-and-collapse, for which the referee rewards with a free kick. Watson stands over it.
76 mins: Capoue crosses. Swansea clear. Capoue crosses. Swansea clear. Aké gives away a free-kick.
74 mins: At which point, they inevitably make a substitution. Allan Nyom comes off, and Juan Carlos Paredes comes on. So, a like-for-like switch at right-back, then. Gamechanging stuff.
73 mins: For a team that’s losing a game and has created one vague sniff of a chance in a header-from-a-set-piece in an hour and a quarter, Watford don’t seem very keen on making substitutions.
71 mins: Barrow wins his team a corner on the right. “It seems quite smart/desperate for Watford to pile all its transfer news into the one window when the weight of the (mbm) world is watching,” writes Ian Copestake. “At this moment the world seems to be Watford’s and Watford’s alone. Apart from the score, obviously.” I guess if they do enough newsworthy stuff in the next 20 minutes, there’s a chance people might want to report that instead of this.
70 mins: Excitement! Sigurdsson tricks his way into the area on the left and pulls back to Britton, whose shot hits a Watford player and bounces clear. The home fans howl for handball, but get nothing.
69 mins: If Watford keep trying to get their centre-backs to play their killer through-balls from well inside their own half they’re not going to get very far.
Updated
68 mins: Ayew and Jurado contest a header, and the Swansea player wins the ball but lands on his shoulder, screams and starts rolling around. Eventually he stops rolling, gets up and limps away, without the physio being required.
Updated
66 mins: Swansea react by bringing Barrow on for Routledges.
66 mins: Now they do have a chance! Capoue wins the ball, Jurado passes to Ighalo on the edge of the area, takes the return and then tries to pass into the far corner. It’s much closer than either of his last two shots, but still not terrifically close.
64 mins: A much better half so far for Watford, but they still haven’t created anything that you’d call a chance. Swansea may not be dominant, but they’re still relaxed.
62 mins: Britton is booked for a ludicrous diving handball to cut out Behrami’s pass.
61 mins: Jurado is challenged and flings himself to the floor with a yell before rolling around for a while. The referee completely ignores him, and eventually he gets to his feet.
Updated
60 mins: Ping! Taylor crosses from the left, Aké gets above Ayew and heads weakly to Cork, who volleys well wide.
58 mins: Watford have mounted three times as many decent forward forays in the first 13 minutes of this half than the entirety of the last. Swansea however reach both Jurado’s outside-of-the-right-boot curled pass towards Ighalo and Aké’s cross first, and clear them both.
56 mins: Not content with signing someone an hour before kick-off, Watford have managed to spark frenzied transfer rumours mid-match:
BREAKING: Sky Sources: @WatfordFC in talks with @SunderlandAFC over deal to sign goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon. #SSNHQ
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) January 18, 2016
55 mins: Oooh! Watford lose possession and with Aké out of position Routledge has acres of empty grass to run into down the right! And run into it he does, before sliding the ball across goal but just behind Ayew!
52 mins: Ooooh! Watford come close to scoring! Watson takes a free-kick on the left and whips it in nicely, and Britos flicks the ball on in the middle, sending it only just over the bar and onto the roof of the net!
Updated
51 mins: Another Jurado shot! This one is much closer to being on target than the last one, while remaining very much off target. Still, a measure of hope for the Hornets.
49 mins: In the first half Watford had Capoue on the right and Jurado on the left. For the last few minutes both players have been on the left, but precisely who this leaves on the right remains uncertain.
47 mins: No personnel changes for either side, so if Watford are to effect some kind of transformation, they’d better have drunk something pretty strong at the break. They have though had a shot, even if Jurado’s effort could scarcely have been more emphatically off-target.
Peeeeeeeep!
46 mins: Game back on!
The players are coming back out. Williams is among them, so that pre-half-time injury clearly wasn’t too bad. More action imminent. Can Watford transform themselves into something other than an incoherent rabble?
Half time: Swansea 1-0 Watford
45+4 mins: It’s interval o’clock, and Williams was back on the pitch by the time the whistle went. Watford had a better final five minutes, but were genuinely execrable until that point. For Swansea, it’s been very encouraging stuff.
45+3 mins: Williams limps off, and play restarts with, presumably, another minute or so to go.
Updated
45+1 mins: We’re into stoppage time, of which there will be one minute. In fact, probably more, as Williams is on the floor looking sore and it might take a couple of minutes to sort him out.
45 mins: Fabianski makes a save! That’s right, there’s been a shot on target from the away side! Jurado’s the man responsible, with a 25-yarder. In truth it’s a very easy save, but still, progress.
43 mins: Watford discover that if they pass the ball among their defenders they might be able to keep it for more than a second or two. So they keep it for four or five seconds, and then Britos pumps a long ‘un down the throat of a grateful Swan.
41 mins: Watford have a shot! Incredible scenes in the away end, as the ball falls to Deeney from Cathcart’s chipped free-kick and he twists and half-volleys way over from 15 yards.
40 mins: Watford now win a corner, their first of the game. It’s no good though, and Swansea clear. But now Watford have got a free-kick! They’re going to have a shot any minute now, I can feel it in my bones.
39 mins: Watford nearly do a thing! Ki gives the ball away to Ighalo, but his first touch allows Williams to steam through and clear.
37 mins: Ki blasts over from 20 yards. Swansea are looking like (a mildly sub-par) Barcelona here. Watford need half-time, and a significant reorganisation.
36 mins: Routledge wins (well, is given) a foul on the right touchline after Aké barely touched him, but Watford manage to clear the cross, by booting it straight back to a Swansea player.
34 mins: Do people still get booked for kicking the ball away? Because Routledge just hammered a (really quite wonderful) shot into the net from the right touchline long after the referee parped.
33 mins: Another booking, Nyom getting punished for steamrolling through Neil Taylor.
32 mins: Swansea have had 65% of the possession so far, and Watford look ragged. It’s as if they were some kind of footballing Cinderellas and when the clock stuck twelve on New Year’s Eve they all turned into pumpkins.
28 mins: Swansea thoroughly deserve their lead, showing great quality in possession in all areas, while Watford haven’t really threatened since the 25th second.
Updated
GOAL! Swansea 1-0 Watford (Williams, 27 mins)
Another corner for the Swans, needlessly conceded by Nyom, and though it’s headed clear the ball ends up with Ki on the right, and when he crosses Williams powers through to head in!
Updated
25 mins: Swansea have owned the last couple of minutes. They’ve pretty much built a house on it. And it ends with Ayew’s low shot being easily saved by Gomes.
23 mins: Hernandez is doing a very fine job on Ighalo thus far, giving the striker no space at all. Deeney’s first-time lobs over the defence, source of so many of Watford’s chances this season, have so far come to nought.
22 mins: A moment later Swansea break through Routledge, so Jurado cynically scythes him down, and is booked for his troubles.
22 mins: Oooh again! This time Deeney steals the ball from Taylor, runs into space, and crosses towards Ighalo, but Fernandez does excellently to get in front of him.
21 mins: Watson is fouled, 25 yards out and near the left touchline. He takes the free kick himself, but it isn’t very good and Routledge heads clear.
19 mins: Oooh! Britton plays a one-two with Ayew and for a moment looks about to sprint into the penalty area and into a glorious one-on-one chance-type situation – but then Aké gets his body in front of him, and Gomes claims the ball.
Updated
19 mins: Swansea have worked out that Watford aren’t closing down their defenders when they pass the ball among themselves, and so they’re passing the ball among themselves.
16 mins: Another corner for Swansea, who have started pretty well, but the cross is headed clear – and Deeney immediately finds Ighalo streaking clear, only for the ball to hit the forward on the behind, presenting possession back to the home side.
14 mins: The Swans attempt a training-ground corner routine, but this time Sigurdsson is offside.
14 mins: A long ball finds Routledge outpacing Aké, and Britos heads his cross behind for a corner.
13 mins: A scrappy few minutes ends with Ighalo winning, losing, winning and losing the ball in the space of a few seconds.
Updated
10 mins: Another offside flag, this time it’s Ki, whose at least six yards behind the nearest defender when Sigurdsson picks him out in the penalty area.
9 mins: Britton just won two headers in the space of three seconds. Remarkable scenes (he didn’t actually have any competition for either header, but still).
8 mins: A lot of Swansea passing ends with the ball on the right wing, where Routledge crosses straight into Ake’s leg and they lose possession.
5 mins: It’s been a wild, crazily open start. Cork scoops a 20-yard shot over the bar as Swansea find all sorts of space in the midfield.
3 mins: Chance for Swansea, but the whistle goes! Sigurdsson backheels to Routledge, bursting past Cathcart, but the Englishman had strayed a yard offside. Lovely backheel stylings though.
2 mins: It looks like Behrami is playing central for Watford, alongside Watson, with Capoue on the right wing.
Peeeeeeeeeep!
1 min: We’re off! Watford get us under way by hoisting the ball to the right wing. And they’ve already had a shot, 22 seconds in! Ighalo had it, and it was blocked – he could have played Deeney in to his left, but Ighalo doesn’t do passing within 20 yards of goal.
Francesco Guidolin is in the house! And he’s brought a blanket!
New Swansea head coach Francesco Guidolin (light coat) ready to watch his new team play Watford at Liberty Stadium. pic.twitter.com/n0uswE5qrV
— Phil Blanche (@philblanche) January 18, 2016
The players are out and have shaken hands, leaving a quick huddle and perhaps a lightning ad break between us and action.
Swansea’s own Twitter account suggests a clearer midfield diamond and a wonky front two:
Here's how the #Swans are expected to line up against @WatfordFC tonight. #SWAWAT pic.twitter.com/a8Y5vw8yoX
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 18, 2016
Right, the players are in the tunnel. This is happening, and right soon.
Sky have Swansea in a fluid 4-3-3, with a front three composed of Ayew (right), Sigurdsson (centre) and Routledge (left).
Watford have had some troubles of late with teams setting up with a back three, to give them an extra defender against the Hornets’ front two. Looks like that’s one headache they won’t face tonight. Of course, there may be others …
Alan Curtis has indeed spoken, first about Guidolin:
It’s a welcome addition. I think we’re pobably short on the coaching and managerial side, and I’d said I was comfortable if the club wanted to bring someone in to work either alongside or ahead of me. I haven’t met him yet, but hopefully I’ll catch up with him after the game and I think we’re scheduled to meet tomorrow.
[Tonight’s formation] i’s a sort of diamond. It gives us a bit more solidity. I think the players are perhaps a little bit more comfortable with it and hopefully it can get us a result tonight. It’s important that we don’t get beat, but absolutely we’re looking to get ourselves three points and get out of the bottom three.
On Sky, where Brendan Rodgers is tonight’s guest pundit, they are preparing for tonight’s match with an in-depth tactical analysis of Liverpool’s 2013-14 season.
Just one yellow card so far this season, for all these fouls. Oh, and a red.
26 - Valon Behrami has conceded a foul every 26 mins on average in the PL this season (min. 500 mins played), a league-high rate. Unleashed.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 18, 2016
Alan Curtis will presumably also do the Sky thing, but in the meantime there’s this:
PRE-MATCH: Alan Curtis says #Swans will be going all out for victory against @WatfordFC tonight. #SWAWAT pic.twitter.com/ZnXVkySP0k
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 18, 2016
Quique Sánchez Flores has been a-chatting with the Sky crew:
Of course we’re not happy with the last match, we were very far from our normal performance. In this case we are here to recuperate the level, underestimate never the opponents, they have very good players, they are in a very uncomfortable position so we are expecting a very tough team.
Tonight’s match programme features a special feature on cover star Alan Curtis, who’s just been reshuffled out of the hot seat.
This chap will be a keen spectator today – it’s new Swansea manager, and former Pozzo family employee, Francesco Guidolin.
One change for Swansea, who bring Jack Cork in for Modou Barrow. Three changes for Watford: Aké returns from suspension, Cathcart replaces Prödl, who pays the price for a poor performance against Southampton last Wednesday, and Valon Behrami comes in for Almen Abdi, presumably to play on the right.
The teams!
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Cork, Ki, Sigurdsson, Ayew, Routledge. Subs: Amat, Emnes, Nordfeldt, Gomis, Montero, Rangel, Barrow.
Watford: Gomes, Nyom, Cathcart, Britos, Ake, Behrami, Capoue, Watson, Jurado, Ighalo, Deeney. Subs: Prödl, Oulare, Paredes, Guedioura, Anya, Abdi, Arlauskis.
Referee: Michael Oliver.
#Swans starting XI v @WatfordFC: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams (C), Taylor, Britton, Cork, Ki, Sigurdsson, Routledge, Ayew.
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 18, 2016
#Swans subs v @WatfordFC: Nordfeldt, Rangel, Amat, Barrow, Montero, Emnes, Gomis.
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) January 18, 2016
#watfordfc line-up v @SwansOfficial: Gomes (GK); Nyom, Britos, Cathcart, Ake; Capoue, Watson; Behrami, Deeney (c), Jurado; Ighalo.
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) January 18, 2016
#watfordfc subs v @SwansOfficial: Arlauskis (GK), Prödl, Paredes, Anya, Guedioura, Abdi, Oulare.
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) January 18, 2016
Breaking transfer news!
Watford have signed the Moroccan international forward Nordin Amrabat!
OFFICIAL: #watfordfc are delighted to announce the signing of versatile attacker Nordin Amrabat from Malaga. pic.twitter.com/XDcf33auNj
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) January 18, 2016
Hello world!
Well, this is quite a big game. Swansea, of course, are becoming a little desperate, having won only twice since August (and one of those games was against Aston Villa, so doesn’t really count), in which time they’ve lost 10, been knocked out of both domestic cups by lower-league opposition and fallen from a promising and unbeaten fourth (after four games, two of them won), to the current, precarious 18th. Since the end of August they have accumulated 11 points, which is five fewer than Sunderland (a statistic that would, it’s true, appear less stark had Sunderland not been gifted victory at the Liberty Stadium last week by an error-loving referee). Victory tonight, when Kyle Naughton will be available after ludicrous his sending-off by said official was overturned, would take them out of the bottom three at the expense of Newcastle.
Watford have been doing some slipping of their own, from the pre-Christmas heights of seventh to their current 12th, after three successive defeats. There are mitigating factors here: they were unlucky to lose 2-1 at home to Spurs, whose winner was obviously offside, and were beaten by the same scoreline by Manchester City despite the title-aspirants only playing well for about 180 seconds. At Southampton last Wednesday, however, they were horrifically poor and should have been beaten by considerably more than two goals. Their front two of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney – both former Swansea transfer targets, apparently – has been extraordinarily successful, but beyond them they lack any kind of effective creativity or goalscoring threat – nobody else has either set up or indeed converted more than one goal. In particular they lack effective pace in wide areas – first-choice wide creative midfielders José Manuel Jurado and Almen Abdi tend rarely roar down the touchline, and between them have one goal and no assists this season. Quique Sánchez Flores is at least aware of this, with the imminent arrival of Nordin Amrabat (to these English eyes it looks more like a jumble of random letters than an actual name, but the best anagram I can think of is a dormant brain) intended to offer options across the front line, with a full-time winger possibly to come.
So one of these sides started the season well and then fell apart, the other started the season poorly and then came together. As it happens, the changes happened simultaneously, with Swansea’s first defeat of the season, and Watford’s first victory, coming in the last meeting between these teams at Vicarage Road. Whether this will engender a further turnaround in fortunes remains to be seen.
Simon will be here shortly but for now …
Struggling Swansea City are set to bring in Francesco Guidolin as head coach to work alongside Alan Curtis for the remainder of the season as the Welsh club make one final throw of the dice to preserve their Premier League status. Read the full story here.
Meanwhile, Troy Deeney hopes Watford’s dire defeat at Southampton was “just a blip” and they can bounce back. More on that here.
Oh and not forgetting the match preview …
