I3east

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My name is Garry Monk, i was pretty unknown until around three years ago when Swansea made it into the Premier League. I joined the club in 2004 after leaving Barnsley on a free transfer. Swansea were in League Two at the time and i made my debut against Northampton. After two seasons at the club I became captain after Roberto Martinez left the club and after two games i was ruled out for the season after damaging my cruciate ligament. Devastated, heart-broken, i had to bounce back.

I, we, did that in style winning League One with a club record 92 points in 2008 and the following season in the Championship we managed to finish eighth. We were making great progress as a club on and off the field and i was loving it. The year after we won the play-off's and made it into the Premier League, my greatest achievement as a player. I was rewarded with a 3-year deal and was on top of the world, i was now a Premier League footballer, the dream i had since i was a little kid. I would never imagine what would follow our promotion. In 2013, under Michael Laudrup, we won the league cup final after winning 5-0 against Bradford.


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When Laudrup left in 2014 spirits were low in the club and i was appointed as interim manager. Well, what a way to get spirits high again, in my first managerial game we won rivals Cardiff 3-0 and carried on that form to avoid relegation and stay in the Premier League. I was rewarded with a 3-year deal at the club and the following season i led the club i had been at for 10 years to their highest ever league finish, picking up a manager of the month award in August 2014, what an accolade.

I have two years left on my deal at Swansea, and i'm still only 36 years old. I cannot wait to see what happens next...​
 
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Monk aims for top 10 again

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Reporter: Hi Garry, welcome back. Where do you see Swansea finishing in the upcoming season?

Monk: Hopefully we can push on from last year, beat our points tally and then we will see where we finish. The league is getting stronger by the day and that makes it more difficult for us but i have total belief in my players and i think we can do well.

Reporter: Have you got any players that you want to bring into the club?

Monk: Yeah of course, every manager has players in his mind who should improve the squad. I will be working hard on getting the deals completed nice and early and hopefully having a settled squad for pre-season friendlies which will set us up nicely for the start of the season.

Reporter: What is the situation with Michu? Will he be likely to feature for you next season?

Monk: I need to evaluate everything with Michu. Obviously his first year at the club was amazing and since then it hasn't really worked out for him. At the moment i would say it's likely he will leave but things can change very quickly in football.

Reporter: There have been reports across Wales that you are looking to add to the backroom staff at the club, is that true? If so which areas are you looking at?

Monk: Yeah, me and the chairman sat down and drew up plans to increase the coaching staff, scouting network and the like to hopefully build a secure infrastructure within Swansea City Football Club. We may also be looking at a directer of football to join or possibly a head of youth development.

Reporter: It was widely speculated last year that Bafetembi Gomis wasn't settled in Wales and wanted a move away from the club, how important is it that you can keep him, especially after losing Wilfried Bony last year?

Monk: It's obviously a problem when a player wants to leave the club as it can cause the whole squad to be unsettled. Gomis is a very good striker and of course i would love to keep him but if he's unsettled then i have to do what's best for this football club.

Reporter: One last question Garry. You have been linked with a move for Watford striker Troy Deeney, is that something you're looking to potentially advance on?

Monk: I'm a great admirer of Troy, he's a very good player who scored a lot of goals for Watford last season. I guess we will have to see on that one.
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Troy Deeney could be on the move this summer as Swansea track the £15m rated striker.
 
Nice presentation and I love the team. I'll be following this one, good luck!
 
I absolutely LOVE Garry Monk :wub: I'll be closely watching this and wish you good luck :D
 
Thanks guys! Should hopefully get an update up later on :)
 
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Shelvey rejoining Liverpool?

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Jonjo Shelvey shocked fans of Swansea City last night after forcing a transfer back to Liverpool after he held talks with manager Garry Monk. It was widely reported that Shelvey would reject Liverpool's advances should they come in with an offer after the last time went badly, however it is now believed Shelvey has told Monk that he wants to leave in order to play continental football.

Maybe the most surprising thing about this potential transfer is the price itself. It's believed that Liverpool have offered Swansea close to £30 million for the midfielder split over 12 months with a £5 million fee up front. Should Monk lose Shelvey to Liverpool then he will need to find a replacement, Mario Suarez of Atletico Madrid and Abou Diaby, formerly of Arsenal, have both been linked to the club. This is what Monk had to say...

Reporter: Garry, are you disappointing that Jonjo is wanting to leave the club?

Monk: Yeah of course, i mean Jonjo is a very good player and i believed he was coming into his own here in Swansea. However, i have the best interests of the football club at heart and any unsettled player is of no use to me.

Reporter: The fee is believed to be around the £30 million mark, which would be the record transfer fee received by the club. How will that enable you to strengthen?

Monk: That sort of fee helps a club like us massively. We already have one or two targets flying in for talks and we also have a few players coming on trial and will join us on our pre-season tour in Spain.

Reporter: One name name mentioned, which is a surprise to us, is Robinho. Is there any truth to these rumours?


Monk: Robinho is a target of ours, yes. However, he is in the last year of his deal at Milan and i think he will return to Brazil.

Reporter: Finally, any news on Troy Deeney's potential move to Swansea?

Monk: We have managed to come to an agreement with Watford and Deeney should be with us for the start of our pre-season tour of Spain should all go well.
 
Great read mayte. One of my fav players ever is sigurdson. Keep him mate he's awesome
 
Great read mayte. One of my fav players ever is sigurdson. Keep him mate he's awesome

Thanks pal! Yeah he's the one i'm hoping to be my key player for the next few seasons, he's a great all round midfielder.
 
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Finally, a week before pre-season begins and things are starting to take shape for my plans to take Swansea to the next level. I had cleared out as much as 18 members of staff who i felt, despite being good friends of mine and people i had known a long time, were no longer able to take this football club to the next level. The main area which i looked to improve was the scouts, with everyone at the club currently let go and replacements brought in immediately. The main scout and one who i will look to most will be Paul Montgomery, the former Newcastle scout was someone who i had a great amount of belief in after finding many good players for both West Ham and Newcastle under Glenn Roeder. I also decided to bring in some scouts from across Europe, mostly Italy, in order to gather a wider knowledge of the European market.


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Once i sorted the scouting system i felt the need for more expertise in two areas, a director of football and a head of youth development. Luckily, i was able to persuade World Cup winning Brazilian Leonardo to join as the director of football and help run day to day things in the club whilst i could focus more on the training aspects until the season begins. Leonardo will be helping set scouting missions and is able to offer ideas on who to sign alongside Montgomery et al. Finally, the head of youth development. I only ever had one person in mind for this role and since he left Blackburn in January it made it a lot easier for me. Phil Cannon gladly accepted my offer and joined the club, he will have full control of youth players brought into the club and also has the power to decide whether or not to keep them at the end of their scholarships.

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The last place to fill was the vacant assistant manager position, i decided to let people apply and i would choose the candidate i felt would most benefit the sets of players we currently have and those we are looking to bring into the club. Out of four or five candidates i felt that Roy Aitken, a vastly experienced man who racked up over 600 career appearances would be the man for the job and has signed a two year deal and will leave the club the same time as myself, unless i manage to persuade the board to give me an extension.

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Well, to say we are going in a new direction the club and new director of football Leonardo have pulled some massive signings out of the bag which will only make us stronger in the long term. They reinvested most of the Jonjo Shelvey deal and also sold Wayne Routledge to Huddersfield for £3,500,000 and Leon Britton to Bolton for £700,000.

The first player to join the club was Franck Tabanou who joined from St Ettiene for around £6,500,000 and he was quickly followed by the signing of Eder from Braga for £3,100,000. Next through the door was Watford striker Troy Deeney who signed on the same day as Itumeleng Khune, Mario Suarez and Marc Albrighton, who joined from Kaizer Chiefs, Atletico Madrid and Leicester respectively.


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It then seemed as though Leonardo turned towards youth after completing deals to sign Tomas Kalas, Hector Bellerin, Will Keane, Demerai Gray and Joe Gomez for a combined total of around the £12,000,000 mark. This then led to the departures of Angel Rangel to Roma and Ashely Richards for £1,000,000 combined. However, with pre-season just around the corner Swansea are still negotiating with three players which could drag on throughout the whole transfer window...

Pre-season schedule

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Brazilian due join Swansea

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Swansea City are pleased to announce that the club have completed deals to sign vastly experienced Brazilian due Kaka and Robinho from Orlando City and AC Milan respectively for a fee of around £2,000,000 combined for both players. Kaka has signed a one year deal with the club and has played almost 600 professional club matches for European giants such as AC Milan and Real Madrid and has also been capped by Brazil 89 times scoring 29 goals and grabbing 25 assists as well as winning the Ballon D'or.

Robinho, 31, has put pen to paper on a 3 year deal worth around £65,000 p/w. The tricky forward spent last season on loan to the club that he started his professional career at, Santos, where he scored 6 goals in 20 games. Robinho has played 571 games in his professional career scoring 192 goals in the process and has also played for Real Madrid and AC Milan.

This is what Garry Monk had to say on the signings...

"Well what can i say really. These are two magnificent professional footballers who have played at the very highest level for both club and country. They will bring a wealth of experience to the team, which i felt was lacking at times last season, and hopefully their presence will create a buzz around the place and keep moral high. Unfortunately they both have slight injuries that will probably keep them out of most of pre-season but i am sure they are going to be very valuable players to our team this season. "
 
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Tactical analysis


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I believe that the 2-3-2-3 formation is the tactic to take this squad of players to the next level. The two center backs have to have pace in order for this tactic to work so they are able to cover for full-backs if needed or if the opposition try to expose the space in behind the full-backs then the central defenders are capable of beating most strikers to the ball.

The full-backs will be key attacking players in this set up as they will look to run the line all game, taking on the opposition and trying to get crosses into the box or look inside for the oncoming midfielder who will be trying to find space. The defensive midfielder will look to protect the defence throughout the game and especially when the full-backs push higher up. He will work the space between the defenders and midfielders looking to capitalize on any loose balls and break down the oppositions attacks in the early stages.

The right central midfielder will be the play-maker, the one who will pull the strings and look for those killer through balls in behind the defenders to either of the three strikers. He will be the player who looks to find space in between the oppositions midfielders and will always look for the pass instead of looking for a shooting opportunity. The left central midfielder is the one who will support the strikers when an attacking opportunity arises. He will run and linger around the edge of the area waiting for a lay back or the ball to break loose and then will look to shoot on sight.

The left striker is the one who will look to cause the defence problems by always being on the move and trying to find little pockets in behind the defence in which the midfielders can try and pass to him in this space. This striker will also look to divert the attention of the defenders, therefore leaving the central striker more time and space. The main striker, the man in the middle, will be the poacher of the side and will look to get into the area at any given opportunity and should be the main scorer of the season. He will look to lose his markers, create space for himself so he can get a shot away as soon as possible. The right forward will be the striker who looks to hold the ball up and bring the other strikers into play by cutting inside and hopefully opening little pockets of space for the others to run into before attempting to pass.

Possible XI for first game of the season


Khune

Kalas
Williams

Naughton
Cork
Tabanou

Sigurdsson
Sung-yeung/Kaka

Robinho
Gomis
Deeney​
 
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