Have on occasion been, well, a bit too honest. I found this a little strange; "I would imagine the club are looking for players who can play the Swansea City way," he added. Speaking about development players coming in. Isn't that something the manager would insist on? http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Garry-Monk-don-t-know-Swansea-City-development/story-22862269-detail/story.html?
Also strange that GM doesn't know the players coming in,surely he should approve them before the deal is done?
Not sure Barrow will be too encouraged by that interview.....but I guess he's just saying it as it is.
My feelings too. Although the scouting and signing of youngsters is, I think, delegated in larger clubs, Barrow has come in for £1.5 mn (still a tidy sum and not a lot less than we were paying for first team players a year or so back) and at 21 would be looking for some senior games time, so would expect a manager to know quite a lot about such players and to have laid down the law on what type of player to attract to the club.
It may be a surprise that he doesn't know much about the younger players but whether you like Monk or not he works very hard and clearly can't know everything about younger players coming in as that's the responsibility of the Development Team. He identified senior players he wanted and the Board has come up trumps apart from the last two that were missed.
I don't doubt he works hard but it was the, 'I would imagine ' that I found odd. As a manager I would definitely delegate the day to day work of development players but I'd be insistent that certain types of player were coming in. What would be the point of signing and paying large amours of money for players at that age who are used to hoof ball? I'd definately check their CVs before giving the go ahead. Not hugely time consuming tasks. So is the development squad outside the remit of our manager? A question not a criticism.
I'm pretty sure that Gylfi,and Emnes,who had already played at the Club, were identified by a previous Manager. Laudrup tried to sign Gomis,but it fell through. I also seem to recall Montero having been on Laudrup's radar,but I may be mistaken,and I'm sure someone will correct me on that. That leaves Fabianski and Fernandez as Monk acquisitions. Ki,as we all know,has been at the Club for some years.
Vetch, who was manager when these players signed? Monk, therefore they are Monk acquisitions. ML also didn't want Ki, Monk did.
Nowhere, from the people concerned has it ever been said Laudrup didn't want Ki. What Ki has said is he thought Laudrup wouldn't guarantee game time so he, KI, requested the move to get a better chance to impress his S. Korean selectors. That could be seen as poor team loyalty! Laudrup did publicly state he wanted Ki back in January but the loan contract had a bizarre recall clause of the end of Dec. Now, given Monk has indicated he doesn't do the buying (and doesn't even know the policy for signing development players or who they are) I'm inclined to believe Ki and Laudrup's version of events. Not sure about Gylfi and Montero but Emnes was brought in when Laudrup was managing wasn't he? Certainly not a name Laudrup would have had in his 'phone book. Huw has said they started 'discussions' with Gomis last summer. These may have been the club's transfers or they may have been based on specific requests ... we don't know. Fabianski was an inspired BUT opportunist acquisition more to do with Fabianski's agent than us. And has come on the understanding he is first choice goalkeeper (exit Vorm). Fernandez was an excellent appointment but rushed - hence the price - and we are yet tot see if he's an improvement on Chico (or Amat). On the understanding he is replacing the transferred first choice CB. Montero, Gomis, Fernandez and Barrow have said they came to Swansea as it was an opportunity to play in the Premier League and to some extent or other they say appreciated our style. Carroll has said the same and referred to Joe Allen as an example of what can happen for smaller players at Swansea. Emnes was pleased to have a Prem contract and to be fair we are mostly glad to have him. Knew the club and Monk. Gylfi preferred us to Palace but really wanted to stay at Spurs (interviews when Palace were interested). Also, knew the club and Monkl. I believe most players who came in when Laudrup was here stated they wanted to play for him. So far only Gylfi and Emnes have mentioned Monk. Is this Laudrup love in? No. It's using reference to support something nearer the truth. Since Monk has been manager we have brought in decent but (apart from Siggy) untried players at PL level. We have also lost some very good, solid or inconsistent players. Laudrup had an international reputation that players would have known. As yet Monk hasn't and it would be foolish to expect or think otherwise. He is very new as a manager and didn't have international standing as a player - he may in time reach the status of being able attracting players' interest on his name; but until that happens can we be a little more objective?
I don't think Monk has indicated that he has no control over the buying of all players, he's just stated that he's not in control of the players that are brought in for the development squad. He indicated that he only has dominion over the first team squad and potential acquisitions for that, although maybe not in every case. It appears that it's the development and youth coaches/scouts that will coordinate with the board regarding any development team signings. It must be something that the board have asked for to bring more focus to the constituent managers and coaches at all levels within the club - it's not the way that lots of clubs work, but in many ways, we're not like 'most clubs'. Regarding the players signed: Gylfi - Was a Rodgers signing. A great idea to get him back, even at the expense of Ben Davies (just my opinion). Despite many labelling Gylfi unwanted and a Spurs flop, I always backed that he would fit into our system at number 10 much better than Michu. Even during his first season, I was never happy with midfield balance with Michu playing behind the striker, and he scored most of his goals from striker, not 10. I was sad to lose Michu as he would have provided great cover for Bony and Gylfi, but personally I would never have started him ahead of either. Emnes - Rodgers loan signing. Laudrup knew nothing about him when he was signed so he must have been a board signing (http://www.southwales-eveningpost.c...-admits-seen/story-20548413-detail/story.html). This perhaps hints that the board were already preparing to put Monk in charge or, more likely, that the board and the club scouts are more powerful than the manager with regards to new signings. Remember Laudrup blatantly dodging the "Was Bony your signing?" question in the famous post-sacking press conference? I think we're starting to learn that our club recruits differently to other clubs, no matter who is in charge of the first team. Gomis - We definitely chased him with Laudrup in charge. We unfortunately didn't get him at the time which was a shame. But you have to give some credit to Monk for finalising the deal as a player of Gomis' calibre will have wanted to talk to the manager prior to signing. Definitely a Laudrup/Monk signing. Montero, Fabianski, Carroll and Fernandez all seem to be board and Monk signings in that order, as I wouldn't imagine Monk knowing a great deal about any of them, but he would have met with them prior to signing. Ki - A bit of a special case. Laudrup saw him as backup/utility, whereas Monk sees him as first team. For Monk to get him back, stop him signing elsewhere and get him to sign a new lengthy contract is definitely as good as a signing. I think we have to start remembering that we're now an established Premier League club. We could have Joe Bloggs in charge with Billy No-Mates as his assistant and players will still want to come to us as it's a great chance for them to play in the Premier League. Obviously the board didn't just employ Joe Bloggs and Billy No-Mates, they always recruit intrinsically and with extreme caution to ensure that Swansea's identity is maintained. But they seem to have identified that the club has a big enough status in world football now to survive without a landmark, internationally-recognised manager. By having a lesser well-known manager, we can sign players that are playing for Swansea City FC, not players just here for the manager. Certainly not the norm, but considering that it's been a pretty good transfer window, I'd say that it's not been a bad move so far.
Just a little anecdote to speak to the underlined. I have been in Bogota, Colombia (sorry to those that requested samples, but I forgot to pack my mule). When I left yesterday, the young man checking passports at security, looked up when he read my place of birth, said "Swansea" with a thumbs-up. We rate.
Thats how it works, some fans just don't understand how a club operates. Monks job is to make sure the first team squad members are the right players. any other players are the responsibility of the other managers down the line..
Dragon, where do we draw the line when we are talking about YOUNG PLAYERS. At what age do they not become young players. The few we have signed I dont know what age they are I believe around 21yrs. We have had players in the first team younger than that. Just wondering whether GM should have some knowledge of these considering they may well be required through injuries for the first team. I agree that he cant know every youngster, but i dont consider 21 young in footballing terms anymore.