Here are the latest Swansea City headlines on Sunday, July 24.
Piroe delighted with pre-season work
Striker Joel Piroe has hailed the contribution of specialist coach Andy Parslow so far after their 2-1 win at Charlton to round off pre-season on a positive note.
The forward bagged his sixth pre-season goal as his fine finish got the Swans level just before the 60-minute mark, after they had been trailing for most of the match thanks to an early Harry Darling own goal.
READ MORE: Russell Martin's definitive transfer message as Swansea City boss provides double injury update
Piroe’s leveller came from a set-piece - with Nathan Wood heading a Matt Grimes corner into the feet of the Dutchman – and the striker said improving set-pieces has been a focus of pre-season training. Swansea struggled to capitalise from set-pieces last term, but are hoping to put that right with the arrival of specialist coach Andy Parslow.
“We’ve been working on set-pieces a lot. AP [Parslow] has been really working us hard on that, and we want to improve and score more next season,” he said. “We have been working on a few things, but that was one.
“It’s only pre-season, but it’s always nice to start off scoring goals and I want to continue that into the league. There were some tough weeks in pre-season, but I think we feel ready now and we can’t wait for the season to start.”
The Swans tried out a different formation in each half, which Piroe believes will be important when the season starts next weekend.
“It was nice to be able to show that we can play in two ways and change up the style if we need to,” Piroe said. “There are some things we still need to work on. We want to get a bit more fluid, and some players are still getting used to how we play. But I think it’s a good way to end pre-season with a win and some good goals.”
Martin pleased with Academy change
Russell Martin believes Andy Goldie will bring some exciting new ideas to the development of Swansea City’s young players following his appointment as academy manager.
The 37-year-old Scot joins the Swans from Dundee United, where he had been part of the club’s executive team after three and a half years as academy director. He formally begins his role on August 8. His work with the youth ranks at Tannadice won a number of plaudits, with an innovative focus on individual player development on and off the pitch.
“There has been a lot of change, so we need someone who can help steer the ship in the right direction and Andy is a man who can do that,” said head coach Martin. “We are trying to implement a way of playing, we need someone who believes in what we are doing and what we are trying to put in place.
“It’s a brilliant place to work and I know Andy is looking forward to it. Everyone we have spoken to about him speaks very highly of him. He and I have some mutual connections in Scottish football, from his work with the SFA and my time doing my coaching badges.
“He is a really good appointment, he did some very exciting and innovative things with the Dundee United academy, and they have developed a lot of good young players in recent seasons. It has been a real strength of theirs, and we hope his ideas and experience can help us build on the strong foundations there already."
The Swansea academy has a track record of producing first-team players, from Joe Allen to the likes of Joe Rodon, Daniel James and Ben Cabango.
That is a trend, Martin believes Goldie and the staff can help continue. “We are trying to produce players that are going to be good enough to play for Swansea City and beyond, because you look at the Wales team now and there are a number of our academy players in the squad,” he said. “In fact, I think at one of the recent games I went to, half the team was Swansea academy graduates.
“That is unbelievable, and we need to keep trying to grow that. We have a lot of exciting young players in our squad. I think Andy will be really good, he is very excited to be joining us and we are looking forward to working with him.”
Swans linked with Spurs midfielder
Swansea City are reported to be bidding to sign Tottenham midfielder Harvey White, a highly-regarded 20-year-old who was a regular in Antonio Conte's first-team squad in the latter half of last season.
That's according to Football Insider, who say Tottenham are yet to make a decision on what to do with him ahead of the upcoming new season. The outlet reports that Swansea have registered their interest in a deal, while other EFL clubs are also monitoring White’s situation.
White signed a new deal in December 2020 and is contracted to Spurs until the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
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