moore_94

Players not expected to start vs Genoa as they played against Cov in a behind closed doors friendly earlier today Vieites; Aluko, Faes, Souttar, McFarlane; Choudhury, Page, Neale; Carr, Hutchinson, Opoku.

Eleven was made up of players not expected to start vs Genoa City team vs Coventry: Vieites; Aluko, Faes, Souttar, McFarlane; Choudhury, Page, Neale; Carr, Hutchinson, Opoku.

https://x.com/onlyswanss/status/2083123035779760155?s=46&t=iTzhx1CuqR6Zm7mlPMX1ug It felt like this day would never come. That isn’t because Liam Cullen is the most talented player to play for Swansea City, or a key squad member. There was just a certain vibe that this boyhood jack was here to stay. A utility man who always gave his all, popped up at big moments and very rarely got injured. The sort of player you need in any good dressing room. It was less than a year ago that Alan Sheehan sounded like a broken record each week in the press, saying that Cullen was his number nine and someone would have to win the shirt off him. Unfortunately for the Welshman, Žan Vipotnik did that in spectacular fashion, stepping up to finish as the Championship's top goalscorer. One of those always quick to sing Cullen’s praises was Vitor Matos, perhaps why this news has come as such a surprise. “He has a top mentality. He’s a winner. He’s one of the most important players in the squad,” The Portuguese told us when we asked a question about Cullen in the press conference following his spectacular goal against Stoke City. Cullen joined the Swansea City academy at the age of eight before making his senior debut under Graham Potter in a League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in 2018. He leaves just one year short of two decades at the club. In Lockdown, he announced himself to Swans fans with a goal in a 4-1 victory over Reading, helping drag Steve Cooper's side into the play-offs. Possibly the forgotten goal of that game, it kicked off Cullen’s reputation as a man for the big occasion. That was best typified by three goals in South Wales Derbies. Any goal in that fixture is special, but when a goal is scored by somebody who sat in the stands dreaming of this occasion it just means a little bit more. The only reason we pack out the stands is because we are not good enough at football or too young/old to live our true dream and be out there on the pitch representing the club we love. Liam Cullen is one of the lucky few who got to do that. Three goals against them? I think we’ve all thought about how we’d celebrate that if we were out on the pitch. Ultimately that is what we all want as football fans. Local lads representing the club they love. If not for that, then what is a football club? After Joel Piroe left, Swansea struggled badly for goals, with nobody reaching double figures during the 2023/24 season. In the 2024/25 campaign, the Welsh international stepped up and arguably saved the Swans from a relegation scrap by scoring 12 goals. Even last season, he continued to deliver in important moments. He helped to kickstart the Vitor Matos era with the winner against Portsmouth in December. On Snoop Dogg's maiden visit to South Wales, Swansea trailed 1-0 in injury time, before Liam Cullen saved the club from embarrassment when the world was watching. His long-range strike against Stoke will also be remembered as one of the best goals scored by a Swansea player in the Championship era. He closed out his time at the club by opening the scoring in a friendly victory over Udinese just last Friday. Perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay Liam Cullen is that every manager he played under trusted him. For some reason, we as football fans often think we know better than those who watch their players train every day, yet every manager Cullen worked under spoke highly of him. You reading this might not rate Liam Cullen. Football is a game of opinions and that is why we are all captivated by this sport on a weekly basis. But, no matter how much you don’t rate a coach for Swansea or Wales in recent years, you do not know more than them. Sorry. "I keep hearing some nonsense about him about how maybe he shouldn't be playing. I get really surprised by that because he's such an intelligent footballer,” Craig Bellamy said about him in November last year. With the potential exit of Žan Vipotnik on the horizon and rumours of Bobby Wales heading out on loan, Swansea could once again find themselves looking light up front. The transfer window remains open, so that may yet change. Regardless, Cullen's departure removes a proven Championship goalscorer and one of the club's most reliable options from the bench. Cullen is a dream squad player. He can play in several positions, is a good pro, sets high standards in training and never drops below a 6/10. Perhaps he has pushed for this move. He’s never seemed like that sort of character but the draw of more regular football with Euro 2028 approaching in the rear view mirror may be captivating. Russell Martin is the man who gave him the greatest springboard at Swansea and working with him once again is an understandable draw. The move may be a step down in level initially, but Leicester will be well positioned to bounce straight back up from the third tier next season. Go well, The Kilgetty Messi.

Man City are already trying to sign him

He’s probably being shown off as a new signing

I had to find something new after watching women’s tennis blindfolded no longer worked

Panathinaikos won their conference league qualification round tonight - 2-1 win and 2-2 draw Victor Kristiansen did not feature in either game or in the friendlies they have played since he joined

Cheers McCarron Start looking at centre backs fella so we aren't waiting and scrambling around later in the window

Most of it was left wing from what I saw and I watched quite a few of his Cardiff games

Must’ve been a Hourihane recommendation after he saw him get 3 assists for Brighton against him in the cup last season haha

I do think this is a really big coup for us Didn’t get to play much for Millwall but need to remember they were fighting for automatic promotion and they had quite strong depth on the wings Really expected him to go to a mid table / bottom half Championsip side, definitely not league one

Hopefully we get to see the likes of Evans, Hutchinson, Carr etc. loaned out somewhere they can be playing good minutes every week rather than just shoved back in the under 21s

Still very early in his career and hasn’t actually played that much, but Brighton are one of the best when it comes to identifying young players to sign and develop… 2024/25 - Sunderland: 22 appearances - 11 starts 916 mins - 10.2 90s 3 goals Goal contribution every 305 mins 2025/26 - Brighton and Millwall: 22 appearances - 3 starts 434 mins - 4.8 90s 1 goal and 4 assists Goal contribution every 87 mins

Poor Bobby Reid as well

Yeah pretty much just a left winger

Selling our most experienced and only senior striker just 2 weeks before the league season begins? McCarron and Russell out!

lmao

I think you only have to look at how much we spent on agent fees during a period where we didn’t spend any money on actual transfer fees to see how easy a target we are for them as well 3rd highest in the league

No obviously but just because a player is free doesn’t mean they aren’t also coming with big costs like a transfer fee signing - the money just moves elsewhere in the deal I don’t want us to touch Adebayo with a bargepole - I have more issues with that deal than I do the Cullen one I am looking forward to the potential carnage if we sell all 4 centre backs - gonna be some disgusting deals because clubs will know how desperate we are

I am sure some people had mentioned attitude issues or something like that on here Might just have not settled well finally moving away from London If we can somehow get him a loan out it might kick start his career again but I expect he will leave on a free whenever his contract is up

Although it was an obvious PSR fiddle he was quite highly rated when we signed him Was moving up through the Chelsea youth teams and England youth squads Chelsea fans were annoyed at the time

Not necessarily - a free transfer can still get a very big chunk of money from a club They can feel like they can ask for higher weekly wages and agent fees etc. because there is no transfer fee And we know what we are like with wages and long contracts Bertrand, Reid, Chaplin, McCarthy - all getting longer contracts than they probably should If the Adebayo one is true that could be the case with him as well