Swansea players 'all behind' boss Bob Bradley but fans demand change

27 December 2016 01:23

Swansea defender Alfie Mawson insists the players are to blame for the club's current turmoil rather than under-fire manager Bob Bradley.

The mood at the Liberty Stadium turned toxic on Boxing Day as Swansea lost 4-1 to West Ham and supporters called for Bradley to be dismissed less than three months after being appointed.

Bradley said after the defeat that he expects boardroom discussions over his future to take place, and the situation could be resolved before Saturday's home game against Bournemouth.

The 58-year-old has won just two of his 11 games in charge, with Swansea only above the Premier League's bottom-placed club Hull on goal difference.

"It is never nice to hear those things, but it is football and it can be cruel at times," Mawson said of the crowd's angry reaction to the seventh defeat of Bradley's reign.

"We understand that, but the manager is not out on the pitch. He is not the one out there on the field making mistakes.

"I am not going to have a dig at the fans. In football you expect some explanation for what is happening and we just don't have it at the moment.

"I cannot question why the fans turned because losing 4-1 at home is not good enough, but hopefully we get can them back on our side."

The West Ham defeat was another defensive horror show for Swansea, who have now conceded a league-high 41 goals - 29 of them under Bradley.

Swansea have conceded at least three times in eight of Bradley's 11 games, despite players having regularly spoken about an e xtra intensity in training since the former United States boss succeeded Francesco Guidolin on October 3.

"The manager has great attention to detail, on the finer details of the game," Mawson said.

"But it does not show because we are making mistakes and not executing well enough. That is down to us.

"He is so upbeat on the training ground, he is very positive with us and has worked hard to keep morale up.

"It is hard because we are the ones who put ourselves in this situation, he came in at a bad time.

"We are all behind him but we have to get through it together. We are men and we have to man up and go again."

The picture looks a lot brighter for West Ham after a third straight league win lifted them to 11th place.

There was also the bonus of Andre Ayew scoring a first Hammers goal since his club-record £20.5million summer move from Swansea.

Ayew suffered a thigh injury half an hour into his debut at Chelsea in August and against his former team on Monday was making only his fifth league start.

"It was hard for him because for West Ham it is a massive price tag and then he got a very bad injury straight away," said West Ham manager Slaven Bilic.

"But he kept working and he's now in a really good position to be the Ayew from last season and from Marseille.

"To me it's his performance but, of course, for any striker nothing boosts their confidence like scoring goals.

"If you had asked before the game who I would love to score for the future, then I would say Andre definitely.

"Not because it was against Swansea, but what we expect from him in the future - and what he expects."

Source: PA