Last season, Swansea City were a team that were remarkably exciting to behold during the majority of their fixtures. This author became quickly interested in the progression of the team, which included adding the maximum three players from their pool of best talent into my Fantasy team, and viewing their game highlights on Match of the Day. However, this campaign has been less than glimmering. Currently sitting 14th of 20 in the Premier League table, not shifting places after the weekend’s events, the club are in dire need of some positive guidance and real action. As it stands, due to the lull in evolution, the Swansea board are deliberating whether a new managerial injection could be pivotal. Sadly for Garry Monk, his future is in question.
Swansea Board: Should Garry Monk Stay or Go?
So far this season, Swansea have only won three matches. Granted, one of these included a victory against Manchester United, but it’s not exactly confidential that Louis van Gaal’s men take a bit of time to warm up to a period of success. More recently though, BBC Sport confirms they’ve had one win in 10 matches, including a 2-2 draw at the weekend against Eddie Howe’s struggling Bournemouth. If Swansea could ever take the home advantage, it would have been when opposing floundering Premier League newbies such as The Cherries. To compound issues further, booing could be heard around the Liberty Stadiu according to BBC Sport, which indicated that insufficient trends of losses do not go down well with fans.
Is this enough cause to sack Monk?
Getting rid of bosses and replacing them as soon as possible is a very common response to a string of poor results within football. Josep Clotet Ruiz or James Beattie, who work alongside Monk at the club, are proving popular replacements, but Clotet is also in talks with Brentford and might be inclined to take Beattie along with him, which would leave Swansea in an even worse position.
Without a concrete successor already properly lined up, Swansea will struggle more in the Premier League than they are presently. Garry Monk has been a dynamic, superb fit for the club; a run of shoddy performances shouldn’t be enough to oust his job.
Monk was especially excellent last season, with many of his integral players, including the pricey Wilfried Bony, lifting Swansea perhaps above their station. They were constantly boomeranging within the top seven region towards the start of the campaign that began in August 2014, so perhaps current reactions are merely kneejerk responses to a pointless comparison between now and a year ago.
Pressingly, are losses down to managers or players? It certainly depends on how the squad performs on the day, but prior tactical planning will obviously play its part, too. This means that both the Swansea team on the field and Garry Monk are equally duty bound to receive flack for poor shows, so why should it only be the manager in the hot seat? Perhaps all they really require is a change in team attitude.
Monk has stated, as shared on Wales Online, that Swansea are the sort of team to play better as the underdogs, in a sense; a win against Liverpool would not be unusual, and could turn their fortunes around. An “unexpected moment in adversity” can shape the future of a team, and so that would be all Swansea would need to get themselves back on track. However, Liverpool are now under new management themselves; Jürgen Klopp will be eager to bag as many triumphs as possible, so they could be, in fact, a particularly tricky challenge.
As with all areas of football and sports around the globe, scrutiny occurs when teams are losing, but praise is awarded when they’re winning. Football is especially guilty of this, and comes across too fickle. For this reason, it isn’t fair for Garry Monk to be relieved from his position based on a bad run of luck, in a sense; yes, the team will need to tighten up, and Monk could be at the forefront of that much craved drive, whilst a fresher manager could also offer that, but Monk should really be allowed to continue. There is a certain proportion of Swansea’s ill fortunes being caused by other teams strengthening in order to be better matched to their opponents. Furthermore, the media is always hungry for a story, let’s face it, so Monk’s recent shortcomings will have been amplified by media coverage.
Swansea have a trip to Manchester City at the Etihad to contend with after heading to Anfield, but will also host ever-surprising Leicester and West Ham in the coming weeks, so the club isn’t short of approaching challenges. Perhaps the board ought to give Garry Monk time to let Swansea redeem themselves? Perhaps Swansea could falter more if he stays? But, chiefly, is Monk wholly responsible? I think it’s a joint failure whenever a team doesn’t meet the mark. There’s no denying that Swansea must regroup fast, but they aren’t quite slumming it in the relegation zone just let. I vote more time for Garry Monk.
