Swansea midfielder Ki needed to be persuaded the club was right for him this summer, admits Garry Monk Ki Sung-Yeung was on loan at Sunderland before he returned to Swansea Garry Monk is also wary of the threat Jermain Defoe will pose Jack Cork could make his Swansea debut against Sunderland monk admits he had to persuade Ki Sung-yueng to buy into his philosophy and stop him leaving the club last summer. The South Korean returns for the Swans against his former club Sunderland on Saturday after spending the last month leading his country to the runners-up spot at the Asian Cup. But Ki could just as easily have been playing for visitors at the Liberty Stadium after being deemed surplus to requirements by former Swansea manager Michael Laudrup last season. please log in to view this image +4 Swansea midfielder Ki moved back to Swansea after a spell on loan at Sunderland last season Ki joined Sunderland on loan and played a major part in their run to the Capital One Cup final and successful battle to stay in the Barclays Premier League. Black Cats boss Gus Poyet wanted to make the move permanent, but Monk's persuasive powers paid off and Ki has since signed a new four-year deal at the Welsh club. 'It was important to give Ki the confidence and belief I have in him,' Monk said at his pre-match press conference. 'Ki was unsure in the summer what he was going to do or how he felt about things, so I sat down with him. please log in to view this image +4 Ki has been influential in Swansea's good form under Garry Monk this campaign 'We had good discussions with how I saw football, how I saw the club going forward, how I wanted the team to play and Ki bought into that. 'He's been one of our most consistent performers and before he went away he was playing well, and now it's about him producing better football than he was earlier this season.' Monk is also wary of another player who has returned to these shores recently - former England striker Jermain Defoe, who has wasted little time settling in at Sunderland after joining from Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. please log in to view this image +4 Monk recently celebrated his one-year anniversary in charge of the Welsh club Defoe scored his first Sunderland goal in last weekend's 2-0 home victory over Burnley - the Wearsiders' first win in six league attempts. 'He's a fantastic player with a good Premier League pedigree,' Monk said. 'He scores goals and always plays on the shoulder of defenders. 'I think he enjoyed his time away but I think he's already spoken how much he missed the Premier League and we have to be wary of him.' please log in to view this image +4 The former Sunderland midfielder helped Gus Poyet's side reach the Capital One Cup final Jack Cork could make his Swansea debut in a re-shaped midfield following the former England Under-21 international's arrival from Southampton. Swansea's win at Southampton last weekend took them to 33 points and within seven of the tally traditionally seen to guarantee safety in the top flight. But Monk promised Swansea's season would not fall away if that mark was achieved sooner rather than later. 'You have to be realistic and the first point of call is to get to 40 points,' Monk said. 'We have a great opportunity to do that earlier than ever before, but we have an important month that starts against Sunderland. 'We want to get those 40 points as quickly as possible and then re-assess our targets, but I will push for more from myself and the players.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...t-summer-admits-Garry-Monk.html#ixzz3R03qc6S3 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Ki was our player and no one made an offer. Must have been difficult job - Come back and don't play = kiss goodbye to your chances of playing the Aisan Cup. I thought Ki had begged to come back to be coached by Monk
(Just some thoughts, nothing personal, not looking for an argument) It's funny, at the time, I don't remember many having a good word to say about Ki...Valley I think you were one of the guys on his back?...and he deserved criticism I and a few others said give him time, but he disobeyed the manager's wishes and found himself loaned out...on signing him Poyet stated that Ki could have a very good career but first he had to work on the defensive side of the midfield role (I wonder if this was the point of the loan?). Ki didn't go so well at DM and was moved further forward by Poyet where things started to click for Ki, before moving back to DM towards the end of the season. He's come back and been great for us this season at DM, fair play, but let's not pretend that this would have obviously always been the case! Monk deserves credit for the decision to keep Ki but imo there were some factors that helped him arrive at that decision; 1) in the middle of an exodus/rebuild he couldn't afford to let another one go 2) Ki was a board signing (£5-6m) and it was good politics to keep him and nod write off a few mill 3) He was seen as somebody who didn't like the previous boss. Which meant that keeping him gave Monk an easy PR boost and bonded those in the squad who felt similar closer together 4) it was easy to achieve. An arm around the shoulder and a pay rise is easy to do...the scenario when you have to be the bad guy, tough, is the more difficult thing in management.
I'm not a great admirer of Managers to sing they're own praises, but Monk seems to be very good at it. When things go wrong he blames certain players publicly and not in private as he should and now telling us how he kept Ki at the club. Why on earth does he need to tell us how he alone kept Ki at the club, after all that's his job isn't it. With regard to Ki's improvent I take issue that Monk was behind his transformation, for whatever reasons he was not playing that well before going out on loan (in saying that I've always been a big fan of Ki). The credit for his improvement is down to one man Gus Poyet who has done us a big favour in improving Ki's all round game during his season long lone at Sunderland. Monk is improving, there's no doubt about that but as a manager he still has a massive learning curve to overcome.
It was definitely a press conference where they are focusing on Ki as he played for them last season. So there'll be lots of questions about Ki and why he didn't move to/stay at Sunderland. However, as a manager, Monk does seem quick to take the opportunity to self-promote. Maybe a simple, "Whatever went on, Ki's our player this season. I'd rather focus on the game rather than one particular player if that's alright with you." The top managers would try not to make too big a deal about it, or even better, point out the hole that Ki left in the Sunderland team to heap pressure and limelight on the opposition, rather than onto one of our own players.
The guy has been committed this season & is 'key' to our set-up (no pun). His attitude has been superb!!..
I've always liked Ki and was fuming when Laudrup sent him out on loan. The Sunderland fans seem a bit split on him though. I like Monk too but I don't like the way he is singing his own praises at the moment. When we scrape an undeserved win it was down to his brilliant game plan and when we lose it's players not doing as they're told. He doesn't mention the times he gets it wrong, including the subs. He's done it a couple of times in TV interviews as well and it's very unattractive. Then again I suppose he's no different to any other manager in that.
Some on here need to get a life if all they are concerned about is the praise that monk rightly deserves and is proud of the fact.....good on you monk you have turned this club around and deserved all the credit for that..
