Routledge completes Swans move

Posted on August 4th, 2011 | 13 Comments |

Deal agreed with Swansea City.
Wayne Routledge off to Swansea.
It seems Newcastle United have decided that Wayne Routledge simply does not fit into the Newcastle squad and have sold the lad to Swansea for a reported £2m.

Wayne hasn’t had much luck in the Premier League and received criticism when he left Crystal Palace for Tottenham Hotspur from the then owner, Simon Jordan. Last January the powers that be decided that Routledge was fit to be loaned to his former club Queens Park Rangers where he helped the club to automatic promotion with 19 appearances and 5 goals.

Loaning the lad out was a surprise to us all has he was our only designated RW – an area we have sorely lacked bodies in for a long time now. Perhaps it was the bicep in his jaw that prompted the decision – who knows?

Talking to the Swansea City FC website, he had this to say:

“I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s taken a couple of days to get everything agreed, but I’m excited about getting started.

“I’ve had a good chat with the manager and he really impressed me. I had heard a lot of good things about him and the chat only reinforced my belief that moving to Swansea was the right thing to do.”

“Having watched Swansea last season, I think everyone would agree that they were the best footballing side in the Championship. It’s going to be a difficult first season in the Premier League; it’s going to be tough but everyone is confident and looking forward to it. After all, playing in the Premier League is what you dream of.

I’m excited about it.”

He will wear the number 15 shirt for the club and hopefully can get the confidence to play in the Premier League as he can in the Championship – he’s shown he has the ability after all.

Routledge once praised Chris Hughton for restarting his career after spending the majority of it as a journeyman – no doubt Swans boss Brendan Rodgers will get similar praise from the lad.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I wish the lad the best of luck at his new club.

Thanks for the memories, Wayne.

NUFCBlog Author: Thump Some say his bones are black and white but that is yet to be medically proven. Currently writes for a few different publications and likes to assert his imaginary authority on nobody in particular. Beware: eats children. Thump has written 36 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

13 Responses

  4. Pity,
    though he could never beat the first man, could he?
    Canny running on to a ball ower the top though.
    Nevermind.

  5. TBH, I always thought Routledge had more to offer us, although I admit I doubt I’d pick him to start from the midfielders currently available.

  6. Hugh,
    aye, but your last line sums it up really,
    there’s no real point in him being here, is there?

  8. I don’t think he was mate, i reckon that’s why he moved on really.
    He knew he was surplus, especially now…on skill alone.
    The fact that promoted teams & champ teams wanted him tells it like it is.
    He’s mid way perfectly between prem & champ.
    IMHO like.

  9. In fairness, I’d sooner see the likes of Sammy being given a run out over Routs. It’s one of the easier decisions the club have made but I still think he’s a lad who could have provided some nice cover. I’ll always remember him at Villa – he had a cracking game.

  10. Nah you’re spot on Clint. I reckon he could easily be Prem class but I think he has a bit of a psychological issue in playing. Like I said on Facebook earlier – he can set fire to the Championship, so why can’t he put a consistent shift in the Prem? The gulf really isn’t that deep from the bottom 6 and the top 6 of the EPL and NPC respectively… it has to be psychological.

  11. Aye,
    nowt wrong with the lad, tried his best, did a decent job helping us back up for not a lot of cash, got our money back.
    Job’s a good ‘un.

    All the best Wayne, except v us.

  12. Thump,
    great point mate, could be the deciding factor mate.
    Maybe AP just saw that lack of self belief?
    After all, he’s done prem, champ, lower, yo-yo. That covers a bit of league player knowledge.