I like Stoke. Not nearly enough that I don't want to see Swans take them apart at the Liberty on Sunday of course, but I have grown fond of them. I know that's not a fashionable opinion, mostly because Stoke don't play fashionable football. But it is easy to respect someone when they do something well, and Stoke's one-team mission to resurrect old fashioned football in this most modern of eras is a work of beauty. It's an ugly beauty, but it's there none the less. Plus, they're a well run club.

A less than memorable Stamford Bridge return for Brendan Rodgers and Scott Sinclair saw the Swans put in their weakest display in the Premier League so far.

Needing to scour the free agent market for defensive help, the Swans have recently turned their attention to Hungarian centre back Zoltan Liptak.

Liptak was recently released by ex-Swans boss Paulo Sousa's Videton side, probably for scoring too many goals (especially for a defender). Liptak has scored a Stoke-worthy 13 goals in 149 games so far in his career, and being a set-piece threat is always a boon among defensive players. Plus, at 6'4", he's the Ryan Shawcross of the Carpathian Basin. Rodgers has spoken positively about his effort during training so we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Despite the Swans recent on-field success, many fans are still feeling aggrieved by FIFA's decision to block two of the team's summer transfers - those of Rafik Halliche and Darnel Situ. In response to several comments I've recived on this blog, I shall attempt to clarify why this has happened, to the best of my knowledge.

Of course, it is incredibly difficult to extrapolate official details of sensitive business matters such as transfer activity from anyone officially involved in football, so please take what follows as opinion rather than fact. It is educated opinion, but not absolute truth since there is no way to know the exact details without being directly involved.

Swansea laid to rest their goal drought demons with a comprehensive three goal victory over West Bromwich Albion, and it couldn't have come at at better time. With four games already ticked off the fixture list, the Swans couldn't afford to go a fifth with no goals without seriously damaging their confidence. Not only that, but wins for Norwich, QPR and Blackburn meant Swansea needed some points to keep up with the pack.

I had been planning on a whimsical mid-week update with a new "performance index" and some observations about the coming game versus West Bromwich Albion. However, a double-dose of unexpected bad news has landed on the Swans doorstep, and although I'll still be rolling out the index, it will now be as an inadequate dessert to follow a revised main course of misery.

It was always going to be a tall order for Swansea to break their scoring duck against a defensively retooled Arsenal side, especially one out to redress the balance of power following their humiliation at Old Trafford.

Regardless of how much scrutiny and derision Wenger and his men have come under this season, Arsenal remain one of the big six teams, and therefore not a side anyone expected Swansea to get a result against. Of course, it is precisely because of this that the result might rankle a bit more than it should; Arsenal's single goal coming from a mistake by the usually impeccable Vorm to blot what might otherwise have been at least a point against superior opposition (superior at least on paper).

It would be naive to assume the game would simply have ended 0-0 had Vorm not bowled a spare off Rangel's heels, or had Arshavin missed the open net (we all understand causality after all) but on another day it might even have ended with a Swansea victory; Scott Sinclair hitting the bar for the second game running and Danny Graham - the loneliest man in Swansea - missing what appeared to be a sitter in injury time.

With three Premier League games gone, Swansea have played enough football for me to take a look at the team from another perspective; statistically! We all know the adage about statistics and lies, so I'll present my findings with one caveat - don't take it too seriously. It's meant to provide an interesting insight and hopefully create some debate. For the most part, the statistics mentioned will exclude players who have only made bit-part appearances (so Leroy Lita's 100% passing accuracy from all of seven passes won't be counted, for example). I'll start off by breaking the team down into broad units, and then hand out some "awards", which I will re-evaluate each week or so. There'll also be my own "performance index" to indicate which five players are riding high and which are laying low.

The transfer window is finally closed which means it's time to take stock of Swansea's haul. It's easy to forget all the other players who Brendan Rodgers added before the season began; having done most of the work early, there wasn't much left to address. Nevertheless, some have accused Swansea of showing a "lack of ambition" with their low-key last minute additions. The latest new faces at the Liberty might not be big in terms of name recognition, but at least one of them represents an especially savvy pickup.