Swansea Signing Williams?

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There's been rumours of it all week but it seems Swansea WILL be signing Stockport's Ashley Williams before Thursday's loan transfer deadline.

The highly-rated defender made his Wales debut last night in the comfortable win in Luxembourg and was expected to head straight to Swansea for talks after landing at Cardiff Airport.

The chances of a move for the 23-year-old have been played down all week by Swansea, both manager Roberto Martinez and chairman Huw Jenkins distancing themselves from a deal to land some much-needed defensive cover.

But it is understood there is a strong possibility of a loan move being thrashed out to beat the midnight deadline - with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season.

The composed, ball-playing centre-back has courted interest from various clubs all year but Stockport are reluctantly accepting Williams will now move on sooner rather than later.

And after having their fingers burned by going public over moves for centre backs before (Dean Leacock and Roger Johnson anyone?) perhaps Swansea are just staying schtum over the whole thing for fear it might not happen.

The only thing we do know for sure is to watch this space.

Points Away . . .

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The Swans couldn't quite make it a great Friday - although as I'm writing this they're still ten points clear after their draw in Southend.

But I'm one of those that believes in the old saying that points away - promotion in May.

And even if the March return of results might have dampened hopes of record-breaking seasons, it's still been enough to keep top-two rivals at bay.

Talking to a few of the players on Tuesday night and they clearly knew how important a result it was against Rovers.

And the fans should acknowledge it too because it could have been quite easy for that team to slip into a nervous wreck of a side after the first signs of a blip.

They didn't, they got the win, taken a decent little point from their trip to Roots Hall and now face a home clash with Bristol Rovers in front of the Sky cameras.

For me, it says a lot about the mentality of Martinez's men.

Wrexham and Cardiff wins tomorrow will go down quite nice with the chocolate feast awaiting most of us too.

Reggae Boy Hall Music to the Ears of Wrexham Fans

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Paul Hall is a Wrexham hero already - after all, he did score against Chester.

But he's also won the hearts of a few Dragons followers for his comments last week that he's fallen in love with the Racecourse outfit.

The ex-Jamaica international was genuine in his sentiment too, even though it's all too easy for veterans like himself to just be picking up a pay packet at this stage of their careers.

With his World Cup days with the Reggae Boyz a while back now, Hall might not have had the pick of the clubs to move to in the January window.

But he sure as anything didn't have to choose a side - to all those who don't know the club - are everyone's favourites to drop into the non-league 'abyss'.

Same too for Danny Sonner and Carl Tremarco.

Still, it seems I've caused a bit of a stir with some Wrexham supporters for suggesting a selection of fans are worried that those on short-term deals, with no ties to the club, didn't think these guys had the heart for a fight. Not in the same way Wrexham boy Neil Roberts would have.

I mean, short-term deals mean they would be out of the door anyway should the Dragons go down.

That doesn't seem to be the case anyway at Colliers Park, but - no matter what some have said - it is a whispered worry of some.

I heard it myself while taking in a post-game pint at the Centenary bar.

It might not be a majority, but there were some.

Thankfully, their fears are unfounded.

Brian Little's boys are big on heart - now they just need a points tally to match.

Platini's Hope for Cardiff

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Cardiff's - and Welsh football's – ongoing European saga has taken another twist after Michel Platini weighed in to the Bluebirds Uefa Cup conundrum.
The Uefa President, the top man when it comes to European football, has added his support to giving Cardiff a European place should they capture the FA Cup.
At the moment, the English FA are standing their ground and saying there’s no way they would allow City to take one of their European spots.
And there’s not a lot the FAW can do about it as Cardiff aren’t playing in their competitions.
Uefa have always said the FA CAN nominate one of the Welsh clubs for Europe as our story from a few weeks ago points out.
And despite the stubbornness from Soho Square, it will be interesting to see what they do next now Platini has got in on the act.
Platini holds cup competitions in high esteem and was only recently denied his plan to push cup winners into the Champions League rather than the Uefa Cup.
Whether his words have any impact is another matter, but at least it puts a bit of pressure on the FA.
And – best of all for Welsh football – it puts our issue in the national spotlight for a little while.
Now Monsieur Platini has just got to give us the green light to get the Big Three back in the Welsh Cup so we could see Wrexham and Swansea given the chance to return to those big European nights and we’ll all be saying Merci.
Plus, there’s the small matter of Cardiff first beating Barnsley and then either Portsmouth or West Brom. Simple huh?
But, you know what they say, with every small battle is the war won!