Monk's managerial debut gets off to a flying start at the Liberty Stadium
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| Garry Monk was always going to be a tracksuit manager. Photo: +adamnlloyd . |
Huw Jenkins might just be a genius. The buildup to yesterday's derby was the usual fervent rollercoaster of press interest, interviews and the like, but the main talking point was obviously Garry Monk being installed as head coach at the expense of Michael Laudrup. The club didn't make the decision lightly, and to those outside the club it possibly seemed a rash decision, however most Swansea fans seem to be in agreement that something needed to be done as it was starting to look like Laudrup didn't have the answers to the questions posed by competing on three fronts.
Arise Sir Garry Monk. It's long been known to those at the club that Monk has aspirations of coaching and managing, but few (including Garry himself) would even have dreamed his managerial bow would go so well. Obviously the match could in theory have gone the other way - his appointment has been widely referred to as a risk given his lack of managerial experience, and losing the derby would have been a devastating way to start your managerial career. If that had happened I probably wouldn't be referring to Huw as a genius right about now, but hey - we won 3-0 so right now he's earned that accolade. Since Monk was appointed I haven't met a single Swansea fan who wasn't actually more confident about the derby, and that's why in the short term at the very least Garry Monk was the right appointment, and is the right man for the job.
Yesterday's performance was just fantastic, and a proud return to the football we know so well. Defeat was unthinkable, but in Monk the Swans had a catalyst (not a "Catist" as Jamie Redknapp infuriatingly repeated over and over again on Sky - honestly, how is he in a job?) who was always going to galvanise a group of players who were only really in need of a bit of a kick up the arse. Well, that and a tweak to the tactics. Gone were the inside wingers, and with Dyer & Routledge hugging the touchlines our central midfield once again had room to operate in - something that's been lacking in recent times.
The team played with a commitment and an enthusiasm we haven't seen in a long, long time, and seemed to once again have confidence and belief in what they were doing on the field. Of late I got the sense that we were knocking it around the back hoping for someone to score a screamer, but from the first minute yesterday we pressed high up the field, harried Cardiff into making mistakes and imposed our football on Cardiff. Monk's post-match comments echoed what we saw on the field - noting that in recent times we've seemed to adapt our football based on who we were playing, as opposed to forcing the opposition to react to us. If yesterday was anything to go by, teams will have a hard time reacting to Garry Monk's Swansea City!
The win moves us up (remarkably) to tenth in the table, and puts a bit of much needed distance between ourselves and the relegation spots. As I write this, Fulham are beating Man Utd which makes things a bit more interesting if it stays as it is, but we'll still remain four points clear of the drop zone, and hopefully we can stretch that even further when we travel to Stoke on Wednesday evening.
There's a long way to go yet, but early signs are excellent. The team played for Monk from the first whistle to the last, and if we can get anywhere near that level of performance for the remainder of the season we'll be just fine.