Having personally witnessed the Swans struggle in the lower leagues, never really having much of a run in major cup competitions and having to withstand seeing the club go through times such as the 'Tony Petty' era, the thought of a trip to Wembley for the League Cup Final just seemed both wonderful and not fully realistic.
Of course, a League Cup triumph and a top ten finish would represent another extraordinary season for the Liberty Stadium residents, but with no team side looking entirely convincing at the League's jazzy end, should they be aiming a little higher than mid-table security
Following on from Eden Hazard's ridiculous red card on Wednesday evening for kicking a ball-'boy' in the League Cup semi-final second leg against Swansea, here are another few weird red cards that came to mind.
It seems that Derek the Weathersheep is writing his place into Welsh history.
Leaving aside the alleged and unresolved illegalities, what we are witnessing is an ongoing transfer of wealth upwards, often from those who cannot afford it to those who do not deserve it. It cannot go on forever, and steps need to be taken now to stop this flow.
They say the April weather is like a woman's heart. But if you have ever been in Wales, where the legendary Richard Burton was born and later grew up,...
So it's back. The Premier League resumes its normal service of thrills and spills with Fulham, Swansea and West Brom thrilling and Liverpool, Norwich and QPR spilling.
Mining accidents, such a regular part of life in industrial communities in decades gone past as to provide perfect plot twists in modern-day novels, became headline worthy again this week due to the tragic events in Swansea. I'm sure I wasn't the only one somehow naively expecting a repeat run of the jubilant scenes played out in Chile almost exactly a year ago. If only real life ran with such Hollywood-perfect endings. Calls for an enquiry have already been made, while Neath MP Peter Hain is appealing for donations to help the bereaved families of those brave men who lost their lives.
Ayoade has once again shown himself to be as fine behind the camera as he is in front (excluding perhaps the deeply unfunny The IT Crowd and the misjudged Marenghi spin-off Man to Man with Dean Learner), and with his feature debut has produced a dark, sensitive and at times hilarious exploration of small town teenage existence.