"Davies' sale to Tottenham took the shirt off my back"

TSW's newest contributor Josh Denk returns with a wistful look at why, for Swansea City, patience is most definitely a virtue

Rookie Mistake

 
The offseason makes me restless. I miss the football so much that I do things many of you long-time football fans would consider poor choices. The World Cup this year only made it worse. It only made me want to be at the start of the Premier League season that much more. I look for any occasion that signals we're ready to go again and this year, it was the kit launch.

When the Jacks released the new kit on the eighteenth of June, there really wasn't any stopping me getting an away kit, with the classy half-and-half red-black design. Yes, that logo is massive and atrocious, but it's not THAT much worse than last year's. And yes, it's a little slimmer than last year's design, but that's just another incentive to get back on the bike and shed some pounds this summer and fall.

But I went one step too far. Can you spot the mistake? I should have checked with the experts before getting Ben Davies' name and number on the kit. I should have known there'd be this kind of interest in Davies after his first-team work the past couple of years. Now I know better. And I'm stuck with a shirt Davies will never wear.

I was naively hoping for some sort of collector's-item cred, but a quick conversation over Twitter with The JackCast's Matt Harrison ("that's not how it works, mate") set me straight. He did suggest I could pass it off as my last name; unfortunately, in the U.S., Davies becomes Davis. Perhaps I could pass it off as a Kinks tribute, but they're not even a little Welsh, so that doesn't make a lot of sense either.

So what to do? Well, it's not like my neighbors will know anything about the team or where Ben Davies will end up playing in 2014-2015, so there's no reason to be publicly ashamed. But how do I reconcile wearing the shirt personally if he goes? Transfer windows gossip columns are hilarious reading. I mean, where else can you read about an agent trying to create distance between a superstar and his team over a birthday cake? The speculation drives clicks and newspaper sales. It's way more fun than reading actual news as well.

There's such authority in those pages, though, that it can easily fool you, especially if you're new to the Premier League. Sometimes the pages say "Liverpool are looking to swoop for Davies for £8 milliion" and that sounds reasonable. Then sometimes they say "Liverpool have agreed an £8 million fee for Davies" and that also sounds reasonable, even though it's total crap. Big Wilf definitely has a £19 million release clause! Someone's seen it! No, you can't see it. Does it exist? Definitely maybe. Ooh, Gus Poyet is going to make Ash a Black Cat with a £4 million offer. Yes, that definitely happened.

Speculation about potential destinations is a universal sports phenomenon; what's less present on American soil is the interminable wait for some deals, specifically for teams like ours who don't have seemingly infinite resources. Last year, I started posting updates about the Wilfried Bony signing on my Facebook page under the header "BONY WATCH." Bony Watch (it's usually all caps but I'll spare you that) lasted a very long time before he actually signed. What's fascinating is that the "watch" terminology could apply to pretty much every speculative deal.

There could actually be (and probably should be) a DAVIES WATCH as well as a Bony Watch this year, and I could also add a Montero Watch, given the predictably protracted nature of his supposedly imminent transfer this summer. For teams like Swansea City, the negotiation is a slog. By the time the speculation is over, I've had time to create a starting XI with the desired player in the lineup. It's like he's already here and playing for us. So if he doesn't arrive, I end up wondering what we're going to do without him. 

The answer is "what we've always done; keep building a team around a philosophy." But when even Huw Jenkins goes public with his frustration at the slow pace of the transfer market, it's hard to stay focused on the long term plan, which has a lot more to do with the structure and playing philosophy of the team than it does with any individual players - either those present or those on their way to South Wales. 

See? Even Huw forgets that sometimes. (Can I call you Huw, sir? I like to think he reads this). Patience is ever the watchword. Get comfortable; there will be no sudden moves. Wait for official word from the club or an official report; don't get carried away with the gossip. I mean, by all means, read it, and have a laugh, but don't trust anything.

So in the end, having a 2014/15 Davies kit is a reminder to practice patience. It's a reminder to wait for resolution. It's a reminder that the only thing that matters after the breathless speculation is who's around on September first, and whether the team's creating and finishing chances. I'll wear the shirt with pride - chastened pride but pride nonetheless - and a healthy dose of skepticism.
 

Also: no more names on the back of kits. I'm not dancing with that devil again.

Thanks to Josh for this latest piece, which I'm sure everyone will enjoy. You can follow him on Twitter @TheJoshDenk