Monk returns fire after Cardiff boss Solskjaer criticised De Guzman's reaction to Craig Bellamy elbowing him in the head
In what is quite clearly an attempt to divert attention from a poor run of results, we've had new Cardiff boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer come out in the press criticising Jonathan De Guzman.
"If that was me going down like that, I think my father would have told me off."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Grow up, is it? Whether or not Bellamy meant it (he did), there's contact and De Guzman had a right to go down. I don't like players going down easily, but arguing he was playacting there seems to me to be the act of a manager desperately clutching at straws, because he knows he's got a real fight on his hands to avoid relegation. Anything he can do to deflect fans thoughts away from poor performances on the field must surely be welcome, as one win and a draw in his first six league games is hardly the kind of form which will keep them up. Ok, they've played United and City in that run, but performances have been poor enough to warrant both concern in Canton and mirth in Mumbles.
It seemed the Swans were going to let his little swipe slide, but Garry Monk doesn't back down - especially when it's one of his own being criticised. One of the things he's clearly keen to do is get the squad back feeling like a close-knit unit - we've always derived great success from an "us and them" attitude and to be honest I'm glad to see Monk hitting back. De Guzman did nothing wrong, and the Swansea boss is right to stand up for his man.
"Ole should look at his own players before he starts looking at mine. I saw Ole answering the question saying that my man Jon de Guzman made a meal of it. When you receive an elbow in the back of the head and you just go down normal, I don't think that's an over-reaction.
"In the 35th minute in a corner for them [Cardiff] one of my players Wayne Routledge gets head butted and punched in the face by Kim [Bo-Kjung]. If anything I'd be more concerned about something like that than saying that one of my players is play-acting.
"If you look at Wayne when he gets head-butted and punched in the face he stays on his feet and doesn't make a meal of it." Garry Monk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26172344?
Well in Garry! I can't say I noticed that incident during the match, but you can bet your house that he wouldn't bring it up if it didn't happen. Cardiff "have been asked to comment" on the incident, though by who the BBC haven't informed us.
Solskjaer having a pop just says to me he's already feeling the pressure of being in charge of the madhouse up the M4. It must seem a long time since he announced his aim was to finish above the Swans...
On one final note, let's have a look at Ole "Always Stays On His Feet" Gunnar Solskjaer NOT making a meal of this challenge by Sol Campbell.
Sit down, Solskjaer.