It's a good time to be Joe Allen. The last 12 months have seen the youngster's profile shoot from useful midfielder in an exciting small team to, apparently, £15 million pounds worth of Big Six talent.

There's no denying Swans' fans affection for Allen - he'd been in the organisation since he was nine years old - but at times like these, a strong spoonful of perspective helps the medicine go down. Joe Allen was not, after all, the only player in the Swans' 11th place side last season.

The Swans finished their pre-season tour of the United States with a win, a draw and a loss. The results might not have been much to write home about, but the tour has given new boss Michael Laudrup plenty of opportunity to evaluate the players.

With three new players signed already, talk of contraction in the squad and Liverpool sniffing around the Liberty like a pushy old lady in the reduced section of Tesco, it seems pretty certain more change will come before the season opener.

Michael Laudrup continues to re-paint the Swans in continental colours, but might have to watch Joe Allen turn red. Meanwhile, the Swans hit the States as the entire squad get their chance to impress the new boss.

New boss Michael Laudrup has wasted no time in shoring up the squad in key areas, bringing in two former charges to fill out gaps in defence and midfield. The signings should help allay any fears Swans fans might have had following the double loss of loanee stand-outs Stephen Caulker and Gylfi Sigurdsson, who re-united at Spurs.

Whilst the football world was preoccupied with the discovery that 'tiki taka' is actually the sound Spaniards make when they snore, the Swans underwent a significant makeover.

After flirting heavily with ex-Swans boss Roberto Martinez, Liverpool have instead poached Brendan Rodgers from Swansea who will have to find their third manager since Martinez jumped ship to Wigan in 2009.

The Liverpool players might be used to hearing the Kop belt out 'You'll Never Walk Alone', but Sunday afternoon's final game of the season will feature an entirely different sensation - several hundred Elvises (or should that be Elivi) singing "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You". Possibly several thousand.

Straight on the back of securing mathematical Premier League safety, the Swans have unveiled their new away kit for next season, and it's a beauty.

With the season coming to a close, the Swans can afford to watch the relegation fight they were supposed to be involved in from the safe seats in the middle of the table.

As such, the Swans will be among the teams that might have an interest in cherry picking players from the relegated sides to bolster their own squad for next season.

With two perfect strikes Gylfi Sigurdsson practically put number 42 shirts on back order at the Swans club shop until next year... but will Sigurdsson still be wearing a Swans shirt come next season? And is Nathan Dyer's three game suspension too much?

The Swans are off enjoying a training camp in Tenerife during what feels like an absurdly long break before the home stretch of the season. Meanwhile the board have been arguing over a new McDonalds which threatens to put the squeeze on future stadium expansion plans (as well as Stephen Dobbie's already slim chances of making the first eleven). With blog-worthy news thin on the ground, I'm going to shake off some rust and speculate over the Swans remaining fixtures to figure out the teams chances of staying up.

Before the season began, I took a look at what we could expect to see from the Swans this year. With the season a little past the halfway mark, I thought it might be fun to revisit those thoughts.

Giving up an own goal to squander two points versus Chelsea was heartbreaking for the Swans. On the other hand, when a newly promoted team can complain about only getting one point instead of three against big six opposition, things can't be that bad.

My flatmate, like me, is a die hard Swans fan. During one of our many, many conversations about the Swans, he pointed out that last season, at the half way mark, Blackpool had a better record than Swansea, and yet went on to be relegated. Eager to assuage his fears, I thought it might be interesting to see what exactly happened to Blackpool, lest the same fate might befall the Swans.

Brilliance against Arsenal, bewilderment against Sunderland and a few small squad moves...

Since it's Christmas, I decided to have a look at some of the things which might be on the Swansea boss's list to Santa this year...

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.

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.