Less than 12 months after guiding Swansea City to its first-ever trophy, the English League Cup, as well as guiding the Welsh club to a comfortable mid-standings finish in the Premier League lastseason, Michael Laudrup has lost his job. According to club owner Huw Jenkins, the Swans coach lost the locker room after winning just one of its last 10 games in theleague. Captain Garry Monk has now been placed in charge for “the foreseeable future”; his first game will be the south Wales derby against Cardiff City on Saturday.
The Guardian claims that relations between Laudrup and Swansea management were never the same after the club last summer severed ties with Laudrup’s agent, BayramTutumlu, who brought several players into the club in Laudrup’s first year. Then, Jenkins noted how all was not well behind in the scenes in an interview last October, where he said hewas unhappy with the mentality among some staff and players, whom he accused of accepting that Swansea couldn’t compete with the top teams in the league. Moreover, ever since the club’sLeague Cup triumph over Bradford City last March, its Premier League form has been poor, with the Swans winning eight, drawing nine and losing 18 of 35 games and picking up just 33 points — which theGuardian says is essentially relegation form.
“It is a decision we have taken reluctantly,” Jenkins said in a statement of the decision to fire Laudrup. “But it’s a decision made in thebest interests of Swansea City Football Club and our supporters. It is the first time in nearly 10 years that the club has parted with a manager in this way but we had to remove the constantuncertainty surrounding the club and Michael’s long-term future with us.”