Swansea’s strong start to this EPL 2014/2015 season
is like rolling back the memory of watching everything great about this
Welsh-based football club. Last season’s down in form really saddened all fans
who love to see them playing. There was a fear that Swansea might have been relegated
last season with the sacking of Michael Laudrup in February 2014. Then came
Garry Monk (still their player last season) as the caretaker manager to steady
the ship. Luckily Swansea finished the season strongly with a 12th
finish in the table and this lead to the appointment of Gary Monk as the new
permanent manager for the 2014/2015 season. 3 wins in 3 games this season lead
to a huge admiration from all corners of the world football. People who love
Swansea, are brimming with confidence and a lot of smiles again. And most importantly,
Swansea reverts back to their traditional style of play. Tiki-taka passing,
ball on the floor, attack without fear and always go for the goals. Everyone
loves that in Swansea. Garry Monk’s appointment was applauded as one of the
best in business. But actually, over the years Swansea appeared to be hiring
the right kind of managers. Managers that were suited to the tactics mentioned above.
Here The Writer brings readers into the brief stories of former and current
managers of Swansea since the club managed to free themselves from huge debt
& near extinction in 2002 and moving to their new Liberty Stadium in 2005.
1)
Kenny
Jacket
The
perfect start for Swansea in a new era after the almost bankruptcy. Although
Jacket didn’t start well enough in his management at Swansea (he lost 6 of his
first games in charge, ending any hope of promotion from League 2 in 2003/2004 season),
he managed to finally brought Swansea to the promotion after guiding the club
to a 3rd place finish in 2004/2005. He also won the Football League
Trophy and FAW Premier Cup in 2005. Swansea then moved to the Liberty Stadium
within the same year in their way to capture more success in League 1.
2)
Roberto
Martinez
After the
sudden resignation of Kenny Jacket in the middle of 2006/2007 season, Swansea
appointed their former player, Roberto Martinez to be the new man in charge.
Martinez continued the good system left by Jacket but Swansea just nearly
missed out on the play-off to the promotion to the Championship Division. The
following season, he improved the system by implementing the tiki-taka style of
play. This proved to be a masterstroke as little did everyone knew that this
style will be the new trademark of Swansea in the years to come. The new tactic
helped Swansea won the League 1 for the 2008/2009 season and thus Swansea was being
promoted to the Championship (just one level below the English Premier League).
Roberto Martinez was then selected to be the League One Manager of The Year.
His stock rose higher than ever and bigger clubs were very interested in
appointing him. In 2009, Martinez was finally being appointed by a bigger club.
This time, Wigan Athletic of the EPL was his new destination.
3)
Paulo Sousa
Swansea
then appointed Paulo Sousa to be the new successor of the departed Martinez. He
was the least successful of all managers in this list but still having done a
good job in maintaining Swansea’s tiki-taka style of play and improving it to be better
by instilling a solid defensive element. His tenure was too short too as he
left to join Leicester City in 2010.
4)
Brendan
Rodgers
The young
and upcoming coach, Brendan Rodgers was appointed by Swansea to lead the club
in 2010/2011 season. His appointment was seen as a ‘match made in heaven’ as
his style of play suited to both the idea of Roberto Martinez and Paulo Sousa.
This continuity proved to be the perfect platform for Brendan to guide Swansea
to achieve a play-off spot for the promotion to the EPL. In the play-off final
against Reading, Swansea managed to defeat them by 4-2 and history was created
as Swansea became the first Welsh club to play in EPL. In 2011/2012 season,
Brendan continued to amaze the EPL fans by guiding Swansea to play their
tiki-taka game and won against top teams. They finished the season in an
outstanding 11th place and many referred them as the ‘Barcelona of
EPL’. The success was the end of Brendan’s journey with Swansea as he left to
join Liverpool for the 2012/2013 season.
5)
Michael
Laudrup
The club
then had an extensive search for a new manager that suited their brand of
tiki-taka game. Many candidates were being interviewed but in the end, Danish
legend Michael Laudrup passed the test and was appointed to succeed Brendan
Rodgers. Laudrup started his Swansea career with a bang by defeating QPR 5-0
and the club reached a new height. He continued exceeding bookmakers’
expectation and then in February 2013, Laudrup guided Swansea to win the League
Cup by defeating Bradford City 5-0 in the final. The record big win was Swansea’s
first ever major silverware in the top flight and the club was becoming bigger
everyday’s passing. They finished with an improved 9th placing in
that EPL season. However, after a several conflicts and dispute between Laudrup
and the Swansea’s owners, he was sacked in February 2014.
6)
Gary Monk
A Swansea
player since 2004, Garry Monk was selected as the caretaker manager to guide
the club to finish the entire campaign before they looked for other permanent
candidates. But being a Swansea player and captain through thick and thin
across all the four divisions, Monk was able to resurrect Swansea back to their
best. He steadied the ship, ousting any negative effects from the clubs, and
freezing out any bad-influenced players. The outcomes saw Swansea finish a
respectable 12th placing in the 2013/2014 season and in the end, the board of
directors agreed to promote Garry Monk to be the new permanent manager for the
2014/2015 season.
As mentioned above in the introduction of this article, Garry Monk has guided Swansea to a maximum 9 points from the first 3 games. Swansea was the only two teams to achieve that feat alongside the imperious Chelsea side lead by Jose Mourinho. The brightest highlight was the club’s success in overcoming Manchester United in the first game by 2-1 at Old Trafford. That was some achievement as Monk managed to win the tactical battle against the more experienced and more hyped Louis Van Gaal. The first win signaled a new refreshing start for Swansea, back from last season’s February crisis. They are now 2nd in EPL and if they continue like this, they will finish in the top 10 again. Even a European placing is possible. Huw Jenkins, the Swansea’s chairman, the man behind the scene, who hired all these magnificent managers, has to be applauded too. He sticks with finding the very best managers who are well-suited to the club’s identical style of play as he always believes continuity breeds success. And ‘SUCCESS’ and ‘GLORY’ will be the words in the mouth of every Swansea fans, comes May 2015. Just seat back and enjoy the ride…
This is SWANSEA!
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