Following Michael Laudrup’s Swansea dismissal last week, club stalwart Garry Monk has temporarily taken up the managerial reigns. The veteran defender got off to a flyer, beating arch-rivals Cardiff, 3-0, which has done nothing but strengthen his claims to the managerial role. So should Swansea keep Garry Monk?
The answer has to be a resounding yes. Some football blogs are reporting that the Swans are interested in Dutch manager Ronald Koeman, but a move for him would be ill-fated. Change was needed at the Liberty Stadium, but bringing in a new manager at this stage of the season could be calamitous. Monk knows the ins and outs of the club, he’s been there for nearly 10 years. He knows every player and such knows their strengths and weaknesses, this is something that no new incoming manager can bring to the club.
More to the point Monk is Swansea through and through. This is the club he has spent the majority of his career at, and a club that he has an obvious affection for. Swansea are locked in a relegation fight, it’s a situation where you want your manager to pour everything he has into their survival efforts, and no one can deny that Monk won’t do that. This is a guy who will bleed for his club, and for that reason he needs to be given until the end of the season to preserve Premier League football at the Liberty Stadium.
Six months is more than Monk deserves, and in truth it isn’t much of a risk at all. The quality of the Swansea is more than enough to keep them in the league. Wiflried Bony and Michu are quality strikers, while Jonjo Shelvey, Michel Vorm and Ashley Williams are a fantastic supporting cast. The fans want him and he seems the type to work well with the board, getting rid of him would be unnecessary and foolish.
