Terror, I tend to agree with your views on Laudrup but I must concede that Monk has improved the energy and spirit of the team. For me there have been no great changes in tactics - Laudrup rightly identified that we were too lateral under Rodgers (a criticism made by most pundits) and tried to get us to be more incisive by getting the ball forward a lot quicker WITHOUT disrupting our passing game. We still do that but with more pace and intent of late. There is little that Monk can teach Laudrup about tactics, imo. You are talking about experience gained from playing with Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Ajax (and the quality of teams they opposed/managers played under etc) versus experience gained from the likes of Southampton, Barnsley and Swansea in the lower reaches etc. No comparison in my view. Others may differ. However, where Monk appears (so far) to excel is in the vital area of fitness and approach. My main criticism of Laudrup's teams, and I voiced this MANY times, was that we did not play with the energy and zip that we needed to. All too often we didn't contest game situations because we weren't fit enough. I have often stated that this was down to ML's inexperience of the Premier League where teams generally are far stronger and more physical than most of their La Liga/ Serie A counterparts where Laudrup plied his trade. Last season there is no doubt that we fell off the pace. After the LC final, it seemed as though the players decided to take an early holiday, mentally and physically, as though they were emotionally drained and had achieved all they could. Difficult to deal with because the players had nothing to aim for as relegation was impossible. This season was a complete culture shock in comparison. Our hefty fixture schedule took its toll and with it came the resultant injuries. Laudrup was forced into fielding a diminishing number of players who had been run into the ground compared with their league rivals. Perhaps that was his fault because I said from the very first that 22 players was NOT enough, that 25 was a minimum: which leads us onto fitness issues. Laudrup could not flog the team in training because of the sheer number of games we were playing. Where was the recovery time? What was the correct balance? Difficult with a limited squad decimated by injuries. Would Monk's approach have been better at that time? Seems to me that rigorous training under those circumstances would have driven an already tired squad into complete exhaustion. So Monk now has the reins and let me stress right now that, as our manager, he will have my full support. Not stupidly blind support though. If he does well I will be delighted to say so but if he doesn't, I'll speak my piece. However, in most respects he will have it far easier than Laudrup ever did in recent times. He will benefit from Laudrup's signings. He will benefit from a far easier fixture schedule and he will certainly benefit from players coming back from injury. MUCH easier to concentrate on training in those circumstances. So let's compare apples with apples for a change. Who is to say that Monk would have done any better than Laudrup had he been in charge during our Euro run? We're not likely to be there again so, in that respect, Monk will escape scrutiny. Perhaps lucky for his ambitions that he won't get the chance because it ain't easy!! Meantime, I am looking forward to seeing our rejuvenated team continue to play more like its old self. Good to see so far. But I can't help a wistful thought that we missed a great opportunity in severing all ties with Laudrup. As Director of Football we would still have benefited from his world wide profile; we would still have benefited from his contacts and knowledge in the transfer market and, yes, his tactical input would also have been valuable. Harness all that with Monk's motivational ability and his knowledge of the club, we might have gone on to achieve great things.
Players seem to relax more with players returning from injury and facing your "Cardiffs " , instead of your Manchester Uniteds, just saying .
Laudrup needs to give up managing, he's complained about every club he has been to, he was given complete coaching control here at Swansea something he and his coaching staff always complained about at previous clubs, and he didn't pass with flying colours at all. From early season there were rumours of unrest from certain players, even when Laudrup had a fit squad he failed to motivate the team, his lack of personality and his lack of zeal, effected performances on the pitch, and even when most managers that were watching their team under perform would get up and shout instructions to the players on the pitch, oh no not Michael Laudrup, very rarely did he ever get off his backside and correct issues on the pitch. It is so glaring the difference between Garry Monk and Laudrup, and the difference can be seen pitch side too, if a manager cannot motivate his players, and motivate himself at the pitch side, then quite frankly he should seriously think about sticking to selling wine. I look forward to his next appointment with keen interest because these flaws will not go away, never ever have I heard of a sacked manager calling for a press conference, which was supposed to have put right many so called lies, but in the end he failed to answer most questions put to him, leaving most discerning journalist to wonder why the heck the press conference was called in the first place. For many it was simply about his flagging image and nothing else. A great footballer he was, but a great manager he is not, and Swansea were not the first or the last team he failed to stop a slide in performances, all these teams and clubs surely cannot be wrong, great players clearly do not always make great managers...............
You obviously know little of the importance of this game with a statement like that. Then again maybe they were to relaxed in November given their performance, and Monk reminded them of the importance of this game, hence us thumping them
The importance of playing "Cardiff "types , 19th place and the "Manchester United" types , top teams ,might not be so obvious for you valley but might be obvious for others , its called perspective
I can't take bizarre amateur sociology seriously as an argument, sorry. I think the Welsh are an honourable people. Therefore, Huw would never backstab anyone. I know this because I know Welsh people. See what I mean? It's a stupid argument.
I haven't joined in the Laudrup/Monk debate as I wanted to avoid a knee jerk reaction and to let Monk have a few games under his belt but I agree 100% with Ivor's summary above.
Laudrup has without doubt changed our club in the short time with us which I'm grateful for, but Huw Jenkins sacking him in the way he did doesn't look good at first glance, but then who has the real facts? But then when you Look at Laudrup's track record: Getafe - 1 Season - Resigned (Wanted Panathinaikos Job, Unable to agree terms) Moscow - 7 Months - Sacked (Poor results) Mallorca - 1 Season - Resigned (Differences with Director of football) Swansea - 2 Seasons - Sacked (Poor results/ differences with Chairman & Board) Now are we seeing a pattern here? Laudrup leaves every club he's been to under a cloud, and clearly we are no different to his previous clubs, it's because of his previous track record, and the extended poor run of form from last season's cup win until the shocking display at West Ham this season, that it was clear something had to be done, you can argue the rights and wrongs of his sacking, but clearly we could not continue with the form we were in under him, he cannot motivate players when on a slide, he's had this issue before, and when you look at his lack of ability as a manager in motivating the team he had to go, and the response from our players was resounding, even De Guzman stated in the media that something had to give, under Laudrup we were a team that was devoid of passion and inspiration and looked to be heading for relegation. PS: I have no doubt that his press conference regarding his sacking was all to do with his huge ego.
I know I'm a late arrival to this thread, now the winter games are all but over it's time to focus on football again. This might have been covered earlier, if so I'm sorry for not seeing it. As I understand danish papers reporting on this press conference (i.e. reading between the lines): The real reason was that Huw would have wanted to continue with Laudrup and Monk as his assistant, i.e. the real problem was Wieghorst. Laudrup didn't want to get rid of Wieghorst - and hence Swansea had to fire Laudrup. I understand Huw, Swansea cannot carry dead weight in key positions. On the face of it Wieghorst hasn't brought much to the club since his arrival. If someone analysed the playing form pre-Wieghorst and with-Wieghorst I'm sure you'd notice a pattern, and little to no development happened to younger players, which was supposed to be his forte. This might be harsh to say, and maybe behind the scenes Wieghorst did great work, but it doesn't look like it.
