These are your Swansea City headlines on Sunday, April 10.
Rooney lets rip
Wayne Rooney didn't mince his words following his side's 2-1 defeat to Swansea on Saturday. The home side raced into a two-goal lead before the Rams clawed their way back into the contest via the penalty spot.
Rooney, though, was incensed by the officials all afternoon and let his feelings be known in the press room afterwards, calling for bans and fines to be handed out after a late penalty shout was waved away. "I think everyone in the stadium agrees (it was a penalty), the Swansea manager, the Swansea staff, the Swansea fans, Derby players, staff, fans, everyone saw it was a clear penalty apart from the four officials," Rooney said.
READ MORE: Swansea City's 'beast' against Derby County as Russell Martin breaks dressing room rule
"I have said it time and time again. I understand it is difficult to give it when it is a tight one. When it is a clear obvious foul and penalty it leaves a lot of questions I have to ask the officials. I hope the referee gets banned and fined because that is not good enough."
The outburst could see Rooney facing a rap from the FA over his comments, coming just a month after he criticised the officials in the match against Cardiff City. He said last month : "I can't say too much, I know that, I can get myself in trouble, but it is a fact. I mentioned this after the last game. It is not acceptable some of the decisions.
"We have to defend better after the foul, we know that but there does need to be questions because the standard of officiating, in my opinion, has not been good enough. It is a concern the decisions we are not getting. I brought this up after the last game."
Cullen loving loan life
Swansea loan striker Liam Cullen says he is loving life on loan with Lincoln City.
The young forward left SA1 in January in search of game-time but has found it tough going at times with League One Imps. They may be struggling at the wrong end of the table, but Cullen says the experience has been a beneficial one as he heads into the final throes of the campaign.
“I have loved my time here and I’ve not got a bad thing to say about this club," he said. "I’ve learnt a lot as well with it being my first loan away from Swansea at a different club and it’s been an experience that will help me in the future.
“The reason I came was to play games at this level and do the best I can, so the aim until the end of the season is to do the best I can in however long I play. As a team, we want to do as well as possible and finish strong because we know we can do better and beat anyone in this league.”
Cullen's short-term future will be up for debate this summer, with another attacker likely to be on Russell Martin's wishlist. Another spell away from the club could well be on the cards. The transfer status of every Swansea player can be seen here.
Piroe believed in Swans
Swansea star Joel Piroe says he always knew he would be a good fit for the club after he notched up his 20th goal of the season. The Dutchman arrived in SA1 with a hefty price tag last summer but came in a little under the radar. He has quickly dispelled any doubts over his ability though and is on course to be one of the breakout stars of the Championship.
The battle now is to keep hold of him, as Russell Martin acknowledged in his post-match press conference on Saturday.
“I believed in myself. I knew I could score goals I just needed the chance to play a lot of games,” said Piroe. “I think I’ve showed what I can do now and the team is showing what we can do. The next target is to go on, keep winning games and see where it ends.
“We can finish the season well. We’ve shown that the game plan works and that we’ve got the courage and technique to do it. We just need to keep matching the intensity and get good results. I think we played really well in this game – especially at the start and we’re really happy to finally win three games in a row.”
Martin said of his main man : "We'll have to wait and see. If it's something we have to cross in the summer, we'll try and deal with it. Of course, we want him to be here for as long as we possibly can.
"He's a beautiful footballer and a brilliant finisher. He just needs to continue with the same attitude. There's a lot more to come. He's only a young man in his first season here so it excites us a lot that we still think there's a lot left for him to get out of himself."
Ladies seal title
Swansea City Ladies were crowned Genero Adran Premier champions for the third consecutive season yesterday.
Cardiff City Women did their rivals a favour and held nearest challengers Cardiff Met to a draw, wrapping up the league for the Swans. The capital city sides played out a 2-2 draw, leaving Met four points behind the Swans with one game remaining.
It is a remarkable achievement for Chris Church's side, winning their third title on the spin.
