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Wales Online
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Swansea City fans' forum: Excitement, McBurnie and the obvious signing still needed
Swansea City fans' forum: Excitement, McBurnie and the obvious signing still needed We spoke to some Swansea City supporters about their hopes for the summer and their views on recruitment so far Oli McBurnie is back on Swansea City's radar this summer (Image: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images ) Swansea City are set for a big summer in the transfer market there has already been a fair amount to digest on the recruitment front. With January signing Melker Widell set to link up with the squad for the first time, the Swans have also added Zeidane Inoussa and Bobby Wales to their ranks ahead of the new season. However, there's likely to still be a fair number of items on the recruitment team's to-do list over the next few weeks. Harry Darling's contract, a possible Oli McBurnie reunion and a squad still demonstrably thin in certain areas. Those are just some of the issues that supporters might well be pondering right now. Sign up to the Swansea City WhatsApp service to get breaking news and top stories sent to your phone We spoke to a handful of fans to get their thoughts on the key issues that have already emerged this summer. Guto Llewelyn - former WalesOnline Swans fan columnist How have you rated Swansea's business so far? Article continues below I think it's always good when you see clubs doing things early in the window. It suggests they have a plan, which is encouraging after several summers that have seemed quite disorganised and frantic at times. A lot of them are unknown quantities and that's the same as it was last summer, which is quite nice. It shows we're looking a little outside the box and in new markets, which I think you have to do because there's not much value in the English market. So looking to Sweden as we've done with Inoussa and Widell and then getting a youngster in from Scotland in Wales, it seems we're looking in different markets for value, which is what a club the size of Swansea needs to do. I think it will be pretty exciting to see Widell. He's a bit of an unknown but he's a Swedish international and the fact we signed him in January knowing we couldn't have him until the summer shows we really, really wanted him, and he's probably going to fill the boots of Lewis O'Brien. So there is perhaps a bit of pressure on him, but it seems that in all likelihood he'll be a really exciting player to have on board. What still needs to happen? My big fear from the positive end to last season was that the club would sit back and say 'oh well everything's fine, we don't need a major overhaul then'. I'm hoping the strong finish under Alan Sheehan doesn't just paper over any cracks because if you look at that squad, it sill looks remarkably thin, and there are several positions that really need strengthening. There are some positions where we've only really got one option, particularly in defence. We've realistically only got one senior centre-back. Darling's position is obviously very, very uncertain. But I think the defence is the main area to bolster even if Darling does commit his future to the club. It's still very, very thin, and I think we were quite lucky last season that we didn't have major injuries at the back. So there's still a lot of work to do, even though we've had a positive start to the window. The Darling saga Darling's been really good for us, particularly in the last year and we don't want to lose him. I think if he stays he has every right to be one of our top earners. But at the same time, there is a wage structure and Swansea can't just promise the world to any player. So if he does go, it will be disappointing but it won't be surprising. If he does leave, it comes down to just finding the best possible replacement. A McBurnie return? I'm all for it. Even though he's older than when he left and he's not managed to replicate his scoring form with the Swans anywhere else I think he'd still have a lot to offer at Championship level, and I think there's more to the modern striker now than just scoring goals. He seems to have actually played reasonably well out there in La Liga without scoring a hatful of goals. But he's been playing regularly even if he hasn't been getting his name on the scoresheet and I think that's because he does actually offer a lot. He's a very difficult player to play against. I think he's the sort of focal point you could build an attack around. Even if he's not banging in the goals, he's still contributing. Then again, I still think at Championship level he's still got goals in him. His is a position we've struggled to get right since Joel Piroe left. I think McBurnie could be a useful player if the figures work for the Swans. Steve Carroll, SOS Fanzine How have you rated Swansea's business so far? It's positive in terms of what's come before. In the past it's felt like we've been a little reactive over the last few years in terms of getting deals done. To get to deals done early is promising. We've probably done more than most in the Championship already. I think the Swedish winger Inoussa could be quite exciting. We haven't had a huge amount of flair in the team over the last few years so if he can help out with that then that would be great. Melker Widell has obviously been included in the Sweden squad, and I know they've maybe been underachieving in recent years, but to have a Swedish international on board can only be a positive. Then there's the Scottish lad with a brilliant surname! He's perhaps more one for the future, but the positive is we're looking more to the future and bringing people in that are perhaps going to have a bit of a resale value, which is something we've maybe been lacking in recent years. What still needs to happen? I think a new centre-half is urgently needed. We've only got one on the books for this season. I know Darling may yet stay, but my instinct is that he won't. So we're probably going to need about three new centre-halves if he doesn't stay. There's urgent work to be done and I'm hoping they get on with that. The Darling saga It sounds like Swansea have made a decent offer, but the longer it goes on the more unlikely it feels that he'll sign. Every club now knows what division they're going to be in next season, so there's nothing to wait for on that front. If he leaves it's a shame, but unfortunately if you let players go into the last years of their contract then you're going to have have trouble. It would be a blow. The first half of the season, him and Cabango did really well, and weren't conceding many goals. But it is what it is now. If he leaves they can't just replace him, they need a little bit of depth there as well. A McBurnie return? I'd be delighted to have Oli back. He's not quite done as well since leaving us, but to be honest, I don't think he's really a Premier League player or a La Liga player. He hasn't really hit the heights at that level, but in the Championship, if he's made the main striker, I'd be surprised if he didn't get 15 goals. We do need a little bit of experience as well I think after losing Joe Allen and Kyle Naughton, so he'd be good for that as well. Nigel Davies - A Touch Far Vetched Fanzine How have you rated Swansea's business so far? It's not really the norm for us to do business this early. So it's good that we've got up and running after the shambles of the January window we had. It feels like there's a little more confidence now that we've put our ducks in a row. I think all three signings excite me to an extent. The Bobby Wales signing looks like one that's full of potential. It's good to have someone British-based, young and with lots of potential. He's obviously very ambitious, and it feels like the sort of signing we would have made when we were coming up the leagues. But I guess the caveat, particularly with the ones from Sweden, is that they may need a season to settle in. We've seen that with Eom Jisung, Zan Vipotnik and Florian Bianchini, all of whom came in and were new to the league. I don't think we'll have the luxury of doing that again this season. What still needs to happen? We need the centre-back situation sorted. We need to get some clarity on Harry Darling and then we'll know if we need to go and get one or two centre-halves that can step in there. If we can keep Darling, and if we can do some sort of deal for O'Brien then I'd be comfortable going into the season ahead. If we lose Darling and we can't get a deal for O'Brien, it leaves us with a lot of work to be done. They're two experienced professionals. They know British football, and this level inside out. They've got a lot of experience between them. The Darling saga It's symptomatic of the way the club had been run. We were hoping Andy Coleman would learn the lessons of Jason Levien and Jake Silverstein before him, but he didn't and we've ended up in the situation again where we're not going to get a deal done before the end of the season, and now you've got a player in the prime of his career who is going to have options all over the place. Many of them will probably have more money than we'll have. It's frustrating and it's disappointing and it's a lesson that I really do hope now that we've learned the hard way. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here. Then again, we've got to draw a line somewhere financially, I don't think we can keep him at all costs. I wouldn't blame him if he went, for argument's sake, go to a Wrexham or a Birmingham. With a young a family, this might be his one opportunity for a big pay day. I wouldn't blame him for that. A McBurnie return? I really, honestly, don't know. Part of me says yes. He was a really hard worker and got us goals. Linked up well with others around him. He's notorious for being a big fan of the club too. Article continues below But his last few seasons haven't been prolific for various reasons. Does he fit in with what we're trying to do? Also, if you push the boat out for him, how does that impact on the rest of the squad strength? It's a difficult one as if he's given a run of games in a Championship side, then I think there's 10-15 goals in him. But it's about what it does for the rest of our transfer plans. For me, if we're going to push the boat out for anyone, it should be for Darling and O'Brien.
Metro
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
EasyJet flight diverted to Gatwick after emergency declared on board
An emergency forced the plane to change course (Picture: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images) An easyJet flight from Alicante to Manchester was forced to divert to Gatiwck after a mid-air emergency. Flight U25521 declared an emergency on board while flying over the south British coast this morning. The plane then changed flight plan and landed at Gatwick airport at around 8.30am on Sunday. It is not known what the emergency was or whether the plane was met by emergency services after touch down. This diversion comes weeks after another easyJet flight from Tenerife to Liverpool landed early at a northern Spanish airport due to a medical emergency on March 25. Flight U25521 altered course after being forced to land at Gatwick (Picture: FlightRadar) There attempts were made to 'revive a 67-year-old passenger who was unconscious'. Passengers then stayed at the Santiago-Rosalia de Castro Airport, in Galicia, over night before heading home the next day. A couple weeks earlier an easyJet pilot made an emergency diversion after families came to blows 30,000ft in the air over a boy watching The Karate Kid too loudly. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. Arrow MORE: British Airways pilot caused plane to catch fire after mixing up left and right Arrow MORE: Greece's little-known 'floating village' with £100 flights and hardly any people Arrow MORE: Major UK airport to hike parking drop-off fees within days
Forbes
31-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Dulles Airport Wants More Cargo And United Airlines Is Ready
A United Airlines Boeing 777, with lots of cargo capacity, departs Barcelona in February 2024. ... More (Photo by Urbanandsport/NurPhoto) Virginia's state economic development authority has ambitious goals for Dulles International Airport. It wants 'to position Dulles as America's next great cargo gateway, particularly for international air cargo,' said Jason El Koubi, its president and CEO. In particular, he said, 'We want to make it the next great cargo airport on the East Coast.' The East Coast is a tough neighborhood for cargo airport competition, with Newark and Kennedy International Airport well-established and Philadelphia International Airport expanding. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership faces two issues at Dulles: The airport's cargo handling capabilities must grow, and the proclivity of Virgina companies to ship cargo at Dulles must grow with it. Dulles touts advantages in geography and infrastructure that should help it to acquire a bigger presence. 'Virginia is positioned for that,' said Eric Jehu, the partnership's vice president for transportation and logistics. 'Countries are moving to the Southeast and MidAtlantic, and the center of population is moving to the South and West.' But for now, he said, 'Air cargo is a missing piece.' El Koubi said Virginia has various potential users for improved air cargo service, 'We are already a leader in aerospace and defense and advanced materials, and we are a strong emerging player in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing,' he said. 'All of those will be strengthened by an air cargo capability,' he said. Over the next 15 years Dulles plans expansion spending of $9 billion, including preliminary spending for a fifth runway. Fifty-one airlines use the airport, including hub carrier United, which operates 260 daily departures and serves 40 international destinations. In May, United will begin Dulles-Dakar service: Next year, the airport will open a 14-gate $700 million concourse for United. 'We have a strong network to feed Dulles,' said Chris Busch, United vice president for cargo. 'We use our network to bring freight to Dulles, and we have a trucking operation throughout the East Coast. The air product is there. It's the rest of the infrastructure that needs to update.' A primary issue is that passenger aircraft from Europe come in with high utilization of their cargo bellies, but they are rarely full when they depart. Cargo bellies are 'full coming in and empty going out,' said Jehu. He envisions transatlantic freighter capability, but noted, 'We need to fill the planes we have first.' For now, Kennedy, Newark and Philadelphia airports all handle more cargo than Dulles does. According to the statistics on each airport's web site, about 1.7 million tons of cargo passed through JFK in 2024, while Newark handled 711,000 tons, Philadelphia handled 524,000 tons and Dulles handled 247,000 tons. However, in terms of 2023 international outbound cargo capacity, Dulles has about 207,000 tons while Philadelphia has about 61 tons, according to statistics provided by the partnership. In 2021, in a Forbes story entitled 'Philadelphia Airport Plans To Rule Over East Coast Cargo With $1.8 Billion Project,' PHL laid out plans for about 800,000 square feet of additional cargo buildings as well as ten spots for overnight parking by widebody cargo aircraft. The airport currently has about 600,000 square feet of cargo buildings. (The $1.8 billion is for both cargo and passenger expansion.) 'PHL is advancing its cargo development strategy by collaborating with industry experts and investing in cutting-edge technology,' said Philadelphia airport spokeswoman Heather Redfern, in an email. This spring, the airport will break ground on a 261,000-cargo refrigeration facility. 'The PHL Cool Port will feature cooler and frozen zones to support the handling of pharmaceuticals, life sciences, perishable foods, and specialized electronics,' Redfern said. Philadelphia also plans a new 150,000 square foot cargo facility. While Dulles is a transatlantic hub for United, Philadelphia is a transatlantic hub for American, which has 340 daily departures to 110 destinations in 24 countries. Richard Golinowski, airport manager at Dulles, said, 'We are primed for cargo operation and we are looking at our cargo facilities, trying to figure out whether we can expand where we are or whether we should move to the south end of the airport.' The intent, he said, is 'to fill in the blocks on the airport to make sure we can accept the cargo business.' Carriers included United, FedEx, UPS and the international passenger carriers 'are ready to accept more cargo.' The airport has capacity with 12,000 acres, four runways and a fifth in the planning stages. Also, 'We are so close to highways,' Golinowski said. 'We have the road structure in Virginia to get cargo to and from the airport and the rest of the state and the region. 'We need the demand,' he said. 'We can support whatever cargo there is.'
