Someone's knocking at the door, somebody's ringing the bell,
Sooner or later, open the door, and let them in.

Faxes? Terrible machines. You think you've sent them and they don't arrive. Were they not sent and made out that they were? Were they received and made out not to have been? I don't know, haven't got a clue, but seemingly neither has anyone else. One word against another, and the latest tale from the Vetch hits the headlines – and again it's a case of - at last.

Whether the consortium wants to speak to Mr Connolly or not, is not the important issue here. What is key is that a faster statement of events from their side might have stemmed the now common and expected flow of speculation surrounding anything to do with The Swans. Speculation eventually breeds suspicion, and that is not healthy for the club. The Management Committee alone must decide if they wish to continue purely as custodians of the club, pending the arrival of a suitable investor, as they announced shortly after the take-over, or whether they now wish to carry the fight for long term survival themselves. Whatever their decision, it would be good for the fans, and maybe even the employees down the Vetch, to have some idea. We know that secrecy has abounded since the take-over, and often reasons for this may be very valid, but the flow of information out of the club has been slow at best, and minimal in the extreme. It is surely time for the Club PR machine to rev up and kick in. It has a function to keep fans informed, but it appears sadly redundant at the moment.

Please let me just mention here that I am in no way suggesting that Mr Connolly would be the person best placed to take the club forward, or even that the committee should be speaking to him. Certainly the character references he seems to be attracting and carrying around with him are hardly comforting are they? What I am leaning towards is, whatever the management committees views were on this issue, then a short early statement to that effect would have settled many people's concerns regarding this latest episode and given an indication as to the likely nature of the way forward. There have been many comments of concern, and some of suggested support for this man from the fans; these fans deserve to be kept informed to some degree, they do have a stake in the club after all.

If the committee does eventually decide that the time is right to pass control to another party, then we must surely hope that they, (and also the fans), do not carry the 'Post Snow White' syndrome, where we are suspicious every time anyone offers us a bright red juicy apple, and assume it is laced with poison. Maybe, just maybe, one of them will taste very sweet indeed.

Rikki don't lose that number
3,5,2,4,4,2,4,3,3,5,3,2,2,3,5

After listening to radio commentary from last Saturday's pilgrimage to Carlisle, and reading the subsequent match reports, it seems that any combination of three of the above numbers adding up to ten was tried during the match as a playing formation. It was certainly a move away from the worn out ninety minutes of the 3-5-2 system that we had played so badly recently, but it must have been very unsettling during the game.

A poor result on the day, best left to those who have already covered the game in detail, but probably the greatest shame of all was that no club representative saw fit to travel with the team at a time when they probably needed support from above. Surely we are at the stage of the season now where we try out the younger players ahead of retained lists being drawn up, and even if results go against us as a consequence, the experience that they will gain will be invaluable.

You say yes, I say no, you say why, and I say I don't know

One of the great things about having the daily columns on this site is being able to read the full spectrum of opinions from fans across the country (and across the pond!). It is amazing the differing views that come up on all sorts of Swans related events and issues, and you can't beat a good debate around a football matter can you?

Some weeks, events take place at such a pace that there is only time and room to cover a few, but on other weeks, when things are a bit quieter, a topical choice isn't so easy.

If there are any particular subjects that you would like covered in this column each Friday, then I'd be pleased to hear from you, and I'll throw my views and perspective on virtually anything. Use the e mail address below.

If anyone has any feedback to give me, I'd love to hear from you at pauly@scfc.co.uk