Laudrup to stay... issue over?

With no mention of the alleged "rift" in the Swans camp for days, speculation surrounding the Dane's future seems to have died down

Right, I'm aware that this article is possibly both premature and a little foolhardy, but I'm in a good mood and feeling positive so let's be having you. 

As I've stated in previous blogs, I'm not convinced there was ever any serious issue between the manager himself and the board. Laudrup went on holiday when the season ended, and the Swans had a list of targets to work on which I've no doubt they did to the best of their ability. If we didn't/couldn't sign any of the players on that list, it's because we can't afford to. Simple as. Laudrup has, in his defence, always seemed to understand this, and when he's spoken about the transfer market he's always been very careful to end his comments with something akin to "...within the financial boundaries of the club" - indicating he's very much aware of how we do things in SA1. 

Tutumlu, however, clearly had a harder time getting used to this. The Evening Post have reported that as early as the Wigan game he'd been spotted remonstrating passionately to Laudrup on the field in the warm up - what the content of that discussion was is anyone's guess but the Post seem to think it was related to the subsequent set-to over the transfer budget, and in fairness it is hard to fault that logic. The former car salesman seemed very intent on making a point in the press throughout, but once the Swans had severed ties with him it all came to a close so quickly it's left me wondering whether something was said to make him, essentially, shut up.

Any time he'd spoken to the press over the preceding few weeks, he'd clearly had some kind of agenda, and wasn't afraid to throw in some spicy comments. Ok, journalists have a way of goading people into giving juicy answers, but he's been a football agent for a long time and he knows what he's doing. Once the Swans announced they would no longer deal with him (and he'd thrown in a token indignant outburst for good measure) however, the issue disappeared. He came out saying:

"There is no problem with Michael Laudrup and Swansea City. He is staying. It is my problem, my problem with Huw Jenkins. 

"I spoke about it yesterday and I don't want to speak about it again. The issue is now finished. I don't want to speak about it anymore." Bayram Tutumlu

To me, when you compare that statement to any that went before it it's clear that either he's been told to leave it alone, or he's decided to "be the bigger man" and not cause any more trouble. I know which one I think it is. He was very careful with his wording to point out that it was his problem, not Laudrup's, which reinforces my belief that this was all just a storm in a teacup, where Tutumlu thought by throwing his toys out of the pram he might get a few more million to help spend in the transfer market. He picked the wrong sparring partner in Huw!

Of course, we can't completely rule out the possibility that there is some kind of problem between Laudrup and the board, but I'm yet to see anything which makes me think that's the case. There are still articles appearing on a daily basis with various hypotheses about the situation (mostly including PSG - the latest few seem to think they want/would have to pay £10mil to acquire the Swans' manager), but they're now appearing in dribs and drabs as opposed to the flood that we saw a week or two ago.

I won't be alone in hoping that we've already heard the last on this issue, and with talk now turning to transfer targets it seems that all is once again well (if ever it wasn't) at the Liberty.

Fingers crossed...

Swansea sever ties with Laudrup's agent, but the Dane will stay

Wow, that was a crazy few hours wasn't it? Earlier in the day I'd bemoaned the lack of news from SA1 of late (from a selfish point of view anyway - it's easier to write about the Swans when there's actually stuff going on!) however the arrival of a text this evening changed all that. Perhaps a little melodramatically, the text read "!&$% - that's Laudrup off then", which obviously led me to investigate just what on earth had gone on.

First up, it was announced earlier today by the Evening Post that Swansea City had severed all ties with Bayram Tutumlu, Laudrup's agent and a major player in all the recent unrest at the Liberty. The man himself was quick to respond;

“[Huw] wants to bring in players who do not have the quality for Michael Laudrup .

He went on:

"I don’t work for Swansea City. Huw Jenkins has paid me nothing, but I have spent a lot to try to bring players to Swansea. My relationship with Michael Laudrup is excellent, as he has told you himself. Nothing changes between me and Michael. I have known Michael for 25 years.

”Michael Laudrup is the coach of Swansea City and he will stay as the coach of Swansea City. He thinks only about Swansea. He has said many times before that he will stay at Swansea. 

“I’ve not spoken to Michael, but I’m very disappointed about the situation. I did a lot of good work for Swansea and I helped to bring players like Chico Flores, Michu, Pablo Hernandez and Jonathan de Guzman to the club. 

“Huw forgets everything I have done for the club. I’m afraid and worried of what will happen in the future.”  Bayram Tutumlu

Apparently he also told Skysports that he was happy he no longer has to work with Huw over transfers, but I've not been able to find any quotes from an official source which backs up that he called our chairman a liar. It's all over message boards and the like, however if someone can send me an official link to that I'd be most interested in reading it.

Laudrup himself was also quick to respond, speaking directly to the Evening Post. He was keen to state his commitment to the club and despite the temporary uproar caused by this story it seems Swans fans can finally rest easy in the knowledge Laudrup will be the Swansea manager next season.

“Bayram is my agent and that’s not going to change. If the club do not want to work with him or Bayram does not want to work with them, it’s their problem not mine. The only thing I care about is to have the best players possible at Swansea who are within range of the economy of the club. 

“Again I must say that my intention is to stay - I have repeated it so many times in the last three months. I have 100 per cent confidence in Bayram, but if the club don’t want to work with him or he doesn’t want to work with them, they have to live with that. It will not change my relationship with Bayram one centimetre. 

“The only thing I am interested in is having the best players at Swansea within the budget that is possible. That’s what I have been fighting for every day, last year when I arrived and this year as well. That will always be the most important thing for me wherever I end up in the future.” Michael Laudrup

Seemingly tying the matter up, a cheeky chappy called @Luke_Morgan on Twitter asked Laudrup's daughter to say goodbye (as he thought at that point that it was certain the manager was on his way). She responded by saying "He promised to stay, so he's staying". She went on:

I'll be honest, this latest bout of press-based shenanigans has left me wondering if all along this was simply an issue between Tutumlu and Huw/the board. The quotes which kicked this all off were all along the lines of "if Michael doesn't get the players he wants then who knows" and it was all from the agent. Realistically, if he was involved in the signing of Chico, De Guzman, Michu & Pablo there's no reason to assume he wouldn't have been involved in recent transfer dealings - putting him at loggerheads with Huw. 

This clearly isn't an issue that's sparked off overnight; it's been festering for a while but in fairness to Laudrup he's never said anything other than "my intention is to stay". It's possible that Tutumlu simply grew frustrated with the Swans preference for building a solid club as opposed to pumping more money into the transfer kitty, however whatever the issue is the club have put a bold line underneath it by announcing that they will no longer deal with him. 

For me, I accept that I will never know the exact ins and outs of the football club I love. There's a lot that I, and most fans don't know and I'm happy with that, as I have faith in the current regime to run the football club in the way that they think is best. Ok, there are going to be occasions whereby naivety and inexperience lead to slight imperfections (ticketing, anyone?) however they move fast to address these problems for one crucial reason; they always have the best interests of the club at heart. Can you say the same for Tutumlu? I doubt it. 

The club have come a long way in the last 10 years and I think they've earned our faith. They've admitted that 10 years ago they had to "blag it" to a certain extent until they'd figured out just how to run a football club, however after a rise which wasn't quite meteoric, but spectacularly successful in it's own right they deserve the backing of the fans in situations such as this. They're only human, they'll make mistakes, but the key is learning from them and they've consistently done this in my opinion.

So, issue over? Somehow, I doubt it...

"Laudrup to stay at Swansea" says someone who could be his agent

Posts on Twitter indicate all is well in South Wales

Following on from the supposed news that Laudrup was growing miffed at our lack of activity in the transfer market, we've had to endure a farcical few days of speculation. The manner in which this is currently being handled is rather worrying to be honest - it seems no-one really knows what's going on and at the centre of the issue is Bayram Tutumlu, Laudrup's agent.

Posts on a newly created Twitter account purportedly belonging to the Dane's representative have led to a new wave of stories. The only quote the press have run with is this:

"Michael Laudrup is going to stay at Swansea City because he promised the players that he was going to stay. 

"For Michael Laudrup, his word is more important than other things." 

Matter over? Not quite. Within hours of this story being picked up, there was massive speculation as to whether the Twitter account is genuine. I have to admit, I have my doubts and given that WalesOnline weren't confident enough to use the quote in their article it seems I'm not alone. The Evening Post and Skysports were both confident enough to include it though, so maybe they've managed to verify it's authenticity.

As stated the other day, even if there is an issue I'm sure it can be resolved amicably. Laudrup seems like a reasonable chap, and losing out to clubs like Liverpool (Aspas) and Chelsea (Lukaku looks set to stay in London next season) can hardly be labelled as a failing on the part of the board.

Given that all this speculation stemmed from comments by Tutumlu, if it turns out the Twitter account is genuine then it could be that he's trying to stem the surge of conjecture that we've seen this week. We won't know until it's confirmed or denied either way - Swansea Vice-Chairman Leigh Dineen originally denounced the account as a fake but has since admitted it looks like the account used (along with another) are both genuine, so hopefully that's this one put to bed.

With Laudrup reported to be meeting the board for talks next week, it could well be that transfer dealings start in earnest. I for one can't wait.