GOING UP - SWANSEA CITY
Thursday 10th July 2008
by Simon Skinner

Our sixth and final look at Rangers' new opponents for the 2008/09 season leads us to the League One champions, Swansea City.

Last Season: Swansea absolutely smashed it in League One last season and actually had a better record on their travels than they did at The Liberty Stadium. They won an incredible 14 games away from home and when you add that to 13 wins at home then it would be fair to say they were worthy champions. They finished a full ten points clear of second placed Forest and their only worry was whether Leeds were going to get their points back.  

Transfers: The biggest piece of news for Swansea this summer was the departure of Andy Robinson for Leeds United. The shaven headed midfielder grabbed ten goals last season but money obviously talks and this would perhaps seem more important to him than testing himself at a higher level. The only players in so far have been Spaniard Albert Serran and midfielder Mark Gower from Southend. 

The Manager: This is a first tilt at management for the likeable Spaniard Roberto Martinez. He had spent the bulk of his career as a low league journeyman in the English game, aside from a spell in Spain with CF Balaguer and briefly Zaragoza and a brief stint at Motherwell north of the border. Having seen out the end of the 06-07 season he really stamped his authority on the side in 07-08 and in his 68 games in charge of The Swans he has recorded an impressive 40 victories. 

The Ground: A new ground for most Rangers fans I would have thought, The Liberty Stadium has been open for a couple of seasons now and it looks ok from what I have seen, if not a little drab. It can’t be any worse than The Vetch which was an absolute kharzi!  

Last Time We Met: The two cubs haven’t met in the league for getting on for thirty years but there have been a couple of cup encounters. The last of these came in the League Cup at Loftus Road when Rangers ran out comfortable 3-0 winners thanks to goals from Cureton, Rowlands and Gallen. The saddest part about the game was how Kenny Jackett had clearly told his team to target the returning Danny Shittu for some rough stuff and the big man lasted barely twenty minutes. 

QPR Connections: Swansea are another club with a fair few connections. Welsh internationals Jeremy Charles and the late Robbie James turned out for both whilst Marcus Bean had two loans spells down in South Wales. Dennis Oli ended up there after his release from Rangers, Gary Chivers was signed from Swansea and Karl Connolly was signed by them. Kevin McLeod also made the long trip down the M4, no doubt with a boot full of fish fingers and kids’ size boots!