Statement by Monk today

In a statement released through the League Managers' Association, Monk said:

"It's with great sadness that I am leaving this special club.

"It has been both an honour and a privilege to play for and manage this club.

"I believe that whenever you join a football club, the supporters deserve your blood, sweat and tears. I can say for sure I gave all those things and more.

"I have had too many amazing memories to mention them all. As a player captaining the club to three promotions, a League Cup winners medal and of course winning promotion to the Premier League via the Championship Play Off Final will be some of the best highlights. The biggest honour, for sure, was wearing the white jersey with pride.

"Taking over as manager in February 2014 whilst the club was involved in a relegation battle, two points above the bottom three positions with 13 league games left, then helping guide the club to safety, comfortably, whilst also managing the club in the Europa League were both amazing and great learning experiences which gave me great confidence to take the club forward.

"Then in my first full season taking the club to an historic 8th place finish and highest points tally in the Premier League, combined with starting this season so well leads to obvious disappointment of our recent run of results.

"Everyone at the club from myself, my staff and the players themselves have been working tirelessly to change this loss of form, but unfortunately have not been able to in satisfactory time.

"I have no doubt whatsoever that these players will start to show their true quality again very soon, and the club will be looking upwards once more."


Read more at http://talksport.com/football/garry...nd-privilege-151210177360#pyHCSVGZ7frT48aa.99

 

Thanks for your time as a player and as manager, but as he says his time was done, good luck with whatever you undertake.

 

Yes,good luck Garry.

 

an alternative view by someone who I do think writes lot of sense

Swansea's decision to sack Garry Monk far from short-termism
ESPN FC's Craig Burley is not surprised by Garry Monk's firing and thinks Brendan Rodgers may return to Swansea.
Newly manager-less Swansea will visit Manchester City on Saturday in a game which will mostly serve as a buffer between the sacking of Garry Monk and the appointment of his successor. Getting any kind of result away at City would be a tall order even if the Swans were playing well. Having missed the chance to fire Monk after the 1-0 defeat at Norwich on Nov. 7, and therefore use the international break which followed to effect the managerial change, the Swans board have chosen the next best option and made their move ahead of a virtually unwinnable fixture instead.

Perhaps the aftermath of the Norwich defeat would have seemed too soon, but considering what followed -- a draw and two more losses -- was there any value in prolonging the inevitable? Swansea have been unfairly accused of short-termism for not sticking by a man who had managed one victory in a span of 12 games by the end, but given the way Swansea have been plummeting towards the drop zone, it was actually a move made with the club's long-term future very much in mind.

Short-termism might apply when a manager has not been given sufficient time to change a club's playing philosophy, or to bring in the right kind of players for his system, but the whole point of Swansea's obsession with succession planning is to eliminate such factors. Swansea managers are only ever appointed because they are familiar with and willing to uphold the established style, and it stands to reason that they always inherit a squad engineered for that style. The same was true for Monk. The fact was that he had shown nothing but a knack for press conference cliches about confidence rather than anything of substance about the Swans' free-fall; certainly nothing tactically inspired.

So no, Monk's dismissal was not short-termism and was not unfair. One win in 12 games is a generous length of rope to be given by any board in football. If anything, the club could and possibly should have acted sooner -- given that almost all teams play well for the first handful of games following a sacking, it is possible more points could have been squeezed from the 2-2 draw with Bournemouth or the 3-0 Leicester humiliation had the board acted after the Norwich game.

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Garry Monk won just 28 of 77 matches as manager of Swansea.
What's important now is that the board have finally acted. The list of suitors being matched to the club is underwhelming to say the least (Avram Grant is the latest, a man who has overseen two Premier League relegations), and the prospect of saving a small club in a tailspin in the middle of winter is far less attractive than being offered the position in the summer, with months to settle in and a clean slate. Someone is going to have to clean up Monk's mess, but barring a last-minute appointment, Swans legend Alan Curtis will overseeSaturday's fixture in the meantime.

What will be most interesting is watching how different players react. The expectation is that the side should play with freedom, released from the tension of this inevitable split and given a chance to reassert their individual places in the squad pecking order. It could even be the best performance for weeks.

During last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Leicester, the application shown by Leon Britton and Neil Taylor stood out, marking both men as very much Monk allies. If other players suddenly spring into life on Saturday (Bafetimbi Gomis?), we'll know who was least happy under Monk's charge. The starting lineup should also be revealing.

Argentinian international Federico Fernandez has recently been benched for no apparent reason, and unless the issue Monk clearly had with the defender is shared by Curtis, he should be restored to the starting lineup. Ditto Jefferson Montero. Any kind of tactical shake-up seems extremely unlikely, with Curtis certain to favour a damage limitation approach. This probably means one more week of defensive 4-2-3-1 (which is as uncomfortable as it sounds, as anyone who has watched the Swans lately should attest) before a new mind with (hopefully) fresh ideas is installed at the helm.

Like or loathe Monk, his chapter with the club is now closed. Swansea's football hasn't been exciting for months now, but finally there is another reason to be excited. The rumour mill is grinding, and for the next few days at least, before the fantasy is inevitably spoiled, those delicious Marcelo Bielsa rumours will feel like Christmas come early.

 

Another good read.
Thanks

 

Yep cracking read that!!

 

Marcelo Bielsa would be a

 

All the best to Garry ....
That being said , I've heard that paragraph from him about taking over with us in the middle of a relegation battle ,, 2 points from relegation with 13 games left , and guiding us to a comfortable finish at least a half a dozen times now.
When Monk took over , with a totally healthy team , we were in 12th place 2 points from relegation with 10 teams duking it out for relegation .After 9 games in charge , where he averaged a point a game just like the previous manager averaged previous , the teams in the relegation battle dwindled to half that amount with us 4 points from relegation with 4 to play sitting on 33 points .
3 things saved us from that point and none were Garry Monk .
1: we won 3 games from are last 4 games ... Two of them against teams the result made no difference to them
2: In those 3 wins Bony scored 5 goals .
3: 18th place only had 33 points in the end .
On top of that , we played the least amount of games possible to be chased from both Cups.
Most of the difficult Premier League games were played previous to Monk taking over
Nothing worse than a bragger bragging without substance .
Again , good luck Garry .

 

"Nothing worse than a bragger bragging without substance".

I wish I had written that.

 

According to Wiki, Bielsa likes a 3-3-3-1 formation. Could be interesting.

 

We can't win with 11 players on the pitch atm let alone 10

 

One chapter ends, and another begins...................

 

"Monk's dismissal was not short-termism and was not unfair. One win in 12 games is a generous length of rope to be given by any board in football. If anything, the club could and possibly should have acted sooner"

Sums it up.

 

Won 28 of 77 matches in charge - pretty damning statistic that.

 

The pundits were backing him only because, half the buggers want us relegated!!

 

Absolutely! They don't like it up 'em from a Welsh team, but we are here to stay, so they had better get used to it.............