Swansea sack Laudrup

wonderfullife

yabadabado wrote: »

Please explain

Ok , five times was hyperbole but Newcastle have:

Bigger stadium

Better facilities - training ground specifically

Bigger fanbase with less competition from rugby union - in Swansea the Ospreys average about 10,000 a game, the Newcastle Falcons average around 4,000 a home game.

Bigger turnover - £86m for Newcastle in 2011, £58m for Swansea

Longer history in the Premier League/Top Flight (i.e. history and tradition)

It's a bigger club but obviously 5 times was hyperbole.

FearDark

wonderfullife wrote: »

Lunatics running the asylum in the Premier League.

Power hungry chairmen with unrealistic expectations.

Swansea are 3 points off plum mid-table. THREE!

Laudrup delivered them their first trophy since 1734.

He delivered constantly decent football.

And , above anything else, he delivered a shed load of common sense. He speaks in plain english. He's one of the very few managers in the PL who calls a spade a spade, says what he thinks and doesn't speak in riddles and clichés.

Would not be surprised whatsoever to see this backfire and Swansea go down.

Laudrup was a breath of fresh air for the league and for Swansea.

Sad to see him go and really hope his next role is in England, will be a loss to the league.

Well said, plus they've been ravaged with injuries this year, Michu only coming back now and he was their best player last season. Utter madness.

Paully D

Chairman and him didn't get on, huge split in the camp between the Spanish clique and everyone else which he helped create (see his refusal to use Ki for example after falling out with him), and they've been on a horrendous run for almost a year.

Plenty of people were similarily outraged when Sunderland sacked Di Canio and look how that one is going.

Given Jenkins record as Swansea chairman and his last few managerial appointments, I'd be waiting to see what he has lined up before the outpourings of rage. Laudrup was off in the summer anyway, maybe the man Swansea were targeting has indicated he was willing to take the job at the current time?

Some people on here think far too black and white when it comes to football. A look at the league table and Swansea's League Cup win and people are screaming that this is a bad decision. There's loads of other underlying factors such as the fights, cliques etc which will have caused this decision.

wonderfullife

Paully D wrote: »

Chairman and him didn't get on, huge split in the camp between the Spanish clique and everyone else which he helped create (see his refusal to use Ki for example after falling out with him), and they've been on a horrendous run for almost a year.

Plenty of people were similarily outraged when Sunderland sacked Di Canio and look how that one is going.

Given Jenkins record as Swansea chairman and his last few managerial appointments, I'd be waiting to see what he has lined up before the outpourings of rage. Laudrup was off in the summer anyway, maybe the man Swansea were targeting has indicated he was willing to take the job at the current time?

Some people on here think far too black and white when it comes to football. A look at the league table and Swansea's League Cup win and people are screaming that this is a bad decision. There's loads of other underlying factors such as the fights, cliques etc which will have caused this decision.

Paully you know better than anybody nobody was playing for diCanio. You could see they had no faith in him at all.

Swansea were still playing for Laudrup. They busted a gut in that home win against Fulham, they ran their socks off against Birmingham in the cup, and they snatched a win at Old Trafford in the cup.

The bottom line here is there is no need to make this decision. There are no footballing grounds for doing so, as i've outlined above, their form is absolutely expected given that fixture list. anybody expecting more out of City, Chelski, man U, Everton and Spurs fixtures is deluded.

They are still in with a shout of 2 cups - all be it small shouts, and are relatively comfortable in the league. 5 points off the bottom and 3 points away from 10th place.

Laudrup always said his goal was to win their mini-league, and he's 3 points off the top of that. If they finish 10th, with the last 32 of Europa and 5th round or better of FA Cup it'll have been a fantastic season.

Why take the risk now? Let him see it out til the summer.

The chairman is not God, he cant keep nailing amazing appointments his luck will run out sooner than later. Law of averages.

Francie Barrett

The BBC have posted a statement from Jenkins, to me it sounds like Laudrup was most definitely out the door regardless this Summer. It also sounds like the uncertainty of his future was affecting the team.

Owen_S

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Haha ****ing ridicolous. Still in the running for Europe and not exactly scrapping by in the Premier League, which is considerable considering the above... it's all a sham.

They are on 24 points - the team in 7th is on 40 points...

Francie Barrett

Owen_S wrote: »

They are on 24 points - the team in 7th is on 40 points...

Only 2 points above relegation as well.

wonderfullife

Owen_S wrote: »

They are on 24 points - the team in 7th is on 40 points...

he meant against Napoli.

i.e. they can still progress in the Europa.

Francie Barrett

wonderfullife wrote: »

Swansea were still playing for Laudrup. They busted a gut in that home win against Fulham, they ran their socks off against Birmingham in the cup, and they snatched a win at Old Trafford in the cup.

Didn't seem to be playing for him when they got smashed to bits by West Ham of all teams.

LuckyLloyd

Utterly correct decision that has been coming for a while.

wonderfullife

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Didn't seem to be playing for him when they got smashed to bits by West Ham of all teams.

smashed to bits?

Did you even bother to watch the game?

Bony had a clear chance to equalise in the 1st half to make it 1-1. Swansea were the better side in general play 1st half certainly and obviously again when West Ham were down to 10 men.

All that separated the teams was Big Andy Carroll sorting out 2 headers from set pieces for Nolan to slow in.

Hardly "smashed to bits" but meh why let facts get in the way of things.

wonderfullife

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Utterly correct decision that has been coming for a while.

Coming for a while?

That being the case why now? If it's been "coming for a while" why not get rid of him last month and let the new manager have a transfer window? Why let Laudrup sign Emnes, Fulton and others?

It's the wrong call on all levels but they'll have to live with the consequences now good or bad.

yabadabado

There has been talk of discontent since the summer.

LuckyLloyd

wonderfullife wrote: »

Coming for a while?

That being the case why now? If it's been "coming for a while" why not get rid of him last month and let the new manager have a transfer window? Why let Laudrup sign Emnes, Fulton and others?

It's the wrong call on all levels but they'll have to live with the consequences now good or bad.

You're right actually, I agree - they should have sacked him around Christmas.

Skylinehead

wonderfullife wrote: »

Coming for a while?

That being the case why now? If it's been "coming for a while" why not get rid of him last month and let the new manager have a transfer window? Why let Laudrup sign Emnes, Fulton and others?

It's the wrong call on all levels but they'll have to live with the consequences now good or bad.

Laudrup didn't sign Emnes, or Ngog for that matter. It was Jenkins.

wonderfullife

yabadabado wrote: »

There has been talk of discontent since the summer.

all the more reason this is stupid.

Sack him in the summer if that's the case. Or at least at the start of last month and allowed a new manager a transfer window to bring in a few players of his own choosing.

Doing it now makes no sense, particularly when they have a monumental game at home to Cardiff this weekend. Nobody can tell me Garry Monk has a clue what he's doing to prepare for this game.

Francie Barrett

wonderfullife wrote: »

smashed to bits?

Did you even bother to watch the game?

Bony had a clear chance to equalise in the 1st half to make it 1-1. Swansea were the better side in general play 1st half certainly and obviously again when West Ham were down to 10 men.

All that separated the teams was Big Andy Carroll sorting out 2 headers from set pieces for Nolan to slow in.

Hardly "smashed to bits" but meh why let facts get in the way of things.

Seen the extended highlights, don't think Swansea even had a shot on target despite playing against ten men.

Francie Barrett

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

You're right actually, I agree - they should have sacked him around Christmas.

7 wins from 33 games since the league cup win. That is relegation form.

Francie Barrett

Good article that suggests that Laudrup may have lost the dressing room.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/chris-wathan-michael-laudrups-time-6672632#.UvFXBSRkq3E.twitter

Francie Barrett

Glenn Hoddle supposedly being interviewed for the job later this week.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Pellegrini is now the 11th longest serving premier league manager. :pac:

spank_inferno

Joe Kinnear leaves Newcastle on the same day.

Coincidence?

Owen_S

If Di Matteo wasn't still on 130k/week from Chelsea, I could see him getting the job.

thebaz

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Utterly correct decision that has been coming for a while.

crazy stupid decision , if anything Laudrop was too good for Swansea - crazy , crazy decision - lose a couple of games ,just sack the manager - yeah, that will answer everything - yep, you get the usual near jerk re-action , of winning a couple of games , but beyond that it is a joke - in all fairness to Swansea who are they going to get better than Laudrop ?

Skylinehead

spank_inferno wrote: »

Joe Kinnear leaves Newcastle on the same day.

Coincidence?

Yes, because Kinnear left yesterday :pac:

thebaz

Skylinehead wrote: »

Yes, because Kinnear left yesterday :pac:

yep the crazy world of the Premiership - how Kinnear was made DoF at a top football, and then a small provincial club like Swansea , sack a manager of the callibre of Laudrop , who got them into Europe, won them ther first major trophy is truly staggering

eagle eye

Not really that surprising given Laudrup's history and all the rumours that were circling for quite some time.

Corholio

Soon a manager will get sacked after 1 game and people will be saying 'absolutely correct decision' etc. Fair enough if there was a complete breakdown of relations with the chairman, but for people to justify the reason otherwise is nonsense.

I think some people love to just go against the popular opinion regardless of what situation it is. Sacking him a few days after the window closes is a crazy decision.

WoollyRedHat

Owen_S wrote: »

They are on 24 points - the team in 7th is on 40 points...

They're still in the running for Europa League is what I meant.

sawfish

Owen_S wrote: »

If Di Matteo wasn't still on 130k/week from Chelsea, I could see him getting the job.

Some lad Roberto.Fair play to him. Hes been unemployed now for about 15 months. Biding his time for the right job while pulling in that silly money!

Super-Rush

Can see Steve Clarke taking over here.

He would do very well at Swansea if he could hold onto Michu and Bony.

Mr Cumulonimbus

Corholio wrote: »

Soon a manager will get sacked after 1 game

And in game manager sackings after that?!!! Paddy Power's 'Ball of Shame' ad at 13 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGr5OXHebMM

mike65

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/swansea-sacked-michael-laudrup-phoning-3112286#.UvFvdbSznNJ

pretty damning stuff and if its not true then Laudrup can always sue.

Chucky the tree

Super-Rush wrote: »

Can see Steve Clarke taking over here.

He would do very well at Swansea if he could hold onto Michu and Bony.

Don't think his style of play would suit them.

mike65

His first target is the assistant to Martinez, Brighton's manager Óscar García is another, he has only been at the Albion since last summer .

markesmith

Rumour that Laudrup wouldn't give a long-term guarantee on his future

smellmepower

Sure Chico is looking forward to working under Monk,who he allegedly threatened with a brick a few weeks back!

Michael Laudrup was sacked by Swansea after enraging the club by taking a trip to Paris.

MirrorSport can reveal chairman Huw Jenkins’ patience snapped when the Swans' manager gave his players two days off this week, despite them losing a ­relegation scrap at West Ham on Saturday.

The Dane headed to France at the height of a club crisis and returned on Tuesday to face the wrath of Jenkins - who decided to end his 18-month reign.

Laudrup will get a £4.5million pay-off, with Swansea acting now rather than wait and risk being sucked further into a relegation scrap.

Club captain Garry Monk, whose imminent appointment to the coaching staff is believed to have annoyed Laudrup, has taken temporary charge alongside coach and club legend Alan Curtis.

Their first game will be a massive relegation six-pointer South Wales derby against arch-rivals Cardiff at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening.

Everton No.2 Graeme Jones, who worked at the Swans under then-manager Roberto Martinez, is hotly tipped to replace Laudrup having previously turned down the job three times. Brighton boss Oscar Garcia is also on the shortlist.

We revealed last month how Swansea had already decided to axe Laudrup at the end of the season.

But, after a series of crisis meetings on Tuesday, Jenkins said: “It’s a decision we’ve taken reluctantly, but one made in the best interests of Swansea City football club and our supporters.”

We can reveal Laudrup's departure was met with a huge sigh of relief within the dressing room.

Although the Dane’s 18-month reign saw Swansea win the Capital One Cup, reach the knockout stages of a European competition and enjoy another impressive season in the Premier League, success on the pitch disguised complete chaos off it.

There was a lack of discipline, dressing room bust-ups, cliques and Laudrup’s relationship with chairman Huw Jenkins had long since broken down when the axe fell on Tuesday evening.

Even last week, Jenkins was openly telling players and agents who they were targeting in the transfer window that they were signing for Swansea City and not for Michael Laudrup - because he was going.

The cliques at the training ground had become so bad that a rule had to be introduced that only three Spanish players were allowed to sit at each table when the squad had lunch.

The players complained Laudrup was aloof, not interested in training and even refused to take sessions when it was raining.

When they went to Dubai for a training camp, the only rules enforced were that the players had to be on the bus for 11am and back on it by 1pm.

Much of the training camp was spent drinking. The players wanted discipline - and did not get it.

And that was typical of Laudrup’s reign.

We can reveal there several player delegations went to Jenkins to complain about Laudrup’s lack of training and discipline.

The fact that the 49-year-old saw fit to go to Paris and give the players two days off after Saturday's bad defeat at Upton Park was, in Jenkins’ eyes, typical of his attitude to the job.

Laudrup did take training on Tuesday, but a series of meetings took place in the afternoon as Jenkins’ decision to overhaul the backroom staff - with defender Monk joining the set-up - putting their relationship under further strain.

Last month, Monk was involved in a training ground bust-up with Swansea's Spanish defender Chico Flores that led to police being called.

The players had complained that they were motivating themselves and therefore Jenkins decided he could dispense with Laudrup - even though it would cost around £4.5m to sack him.

Laudrup negotiated himself a big new contract after leading the club to Capital One Cup triumph at Wembley last year, which caused big clubs across Europe to cast admiring glances at the former Getafe, Spartak Moscow and Mallorca boss.

But even before that there were rumblings of discontent and within weeks Laudrup’s relationship with Jenkins - and particularly the choice of agents to do deals - was under strain.

They were hoping to hold on until the end of the season, but Jenkins feared that the defeat at West Ham did not spark a big enough reaction from Laudrup and he decided to act.

Jenkins said: “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 constant uncertainty surrounding the club and Michael’s long-term future with us.

“I had a meeting with Michael today in a final attempt to support him and establish a way to improve the work of the backroom team to secure the results we need over the final 14 Premier League games.

“However, after thinking long and hard about the best way forward, I felt it was unlikely we would achieve a stable environment at the club to allow us to get back to basics and produce the performance levels that have served Swansea City so well over the last few years.

“Now we need to put that uncertainty behind us and move forward as a united football club on all fronts, while placing on record our gratitude to Michael for the work he has done over the last 18 months and wish him well for the future.

“I hope all our supporters can fully understand how difficult this period has been for us and I would urge everyone connected to the football club to get behind Garry Monk, the staff and players.

Chucky the tree

Yea, crazy to sack him. :pac:

osarusan

wonderfullife wrote: »

The chairman is not God, he cant keep nailing amazing appointments his luck will run out sooner than later. Law of averages.

I don't really see how you can use the chairman's consistent choice of good managers as evidence that he will inevitably choose a bad one.

grenache

smellmepower wrote: »

Sure Chico is looking forward to working under Monk,who he allegedly threatened with a brick a few weeks back!

Reading that, it shows that it wasn't a snap decision. I still would have given him until the end of the season. They're 12th! Any of the bottom 10 teams could go down.

wandatowell

So Laudrup signed a new deal and then proceeded to not give a fiddlers or was the chairman just an idiot to give him a new deal?

MisterAnarchy

spank_inferno wrote: »

Joe Kinnear leaves Newcastle on the same day.

Coincidence?

Alex McLeish as manager and Joe Kinnear as Director of Football would be the dream team .

grenache

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Alex McLeish as manager and Joe Kinnear as Director of Football would be the dream team .

Having experienced both of their "management skills" at Forest, i don't think i would wish that scenario on even my worst enemy.

764dak

It was a good decision. Swansea plays too much tiki taka garbage soccer.

LuckyLloyd

thebaz wrote: »

crazy stupid decision , if anything Laudrop was too good for Swansea - crazy , crazy decision - lose a couple of games ,just sack the manager - yeah, that will answer everything - yep, you get the usual near jerk re-action , of winning a couple of games , but beyond that it is a joke - in all fairness to Swansea who are they going to get better than Laudrop ?

Swansea have lost more than a couple of games since they won the League Cup. They have regressed from last season, the manager has created a poor working environment with the chairman; has lost the players to some extent; has made it clear that he sees the job as a stepping stone to bigger things and will not commit his long term future.

The mistake here was not sacking him sooner and allowing the new manager an opportunity to bring in players during January.

Corholio wrote: »

Soon a manager will get sacked after 1 game and people will be saying 'absolutely correct decision' etc. Fair enough if there was a complete breakdown of relations with the chairman, but for people to justify the reason otherwise is nonsense.

I think some people love to just go against the popular opinion regardless of what situation it is. Sacking him a few days after the window closes is a crazy decision.

Some sackings are justified. In this case we have a well run club with a decent playing squad that has gone backwards over the course of a calendar year where the manager isn't really giving his all to turn it around.

Just because there have been some unjustified dismissals the past year doesn't mean there isn't merit to Swansea's decision in this case. Each termination needs to be analysed on its own merits in a vacuum.

If some of the people aghast at the decision on this thread are honest, they'd admit they were unaware of Laudrup's relationship with the chairman and hadn't realised how bad their record was since last February. He was popular in the media; started well and gave great interviews. That tends to stick in people's minds far more than it should.

Knex*

All of this really shows how much I wasn't paying attention to things at Swansea.

I'm sure they'll bounce back from it all though.

Beefy78

If one chairman of the 92 Clubs has enough credit in the Bank to be able to be trusted on a single decision it is Jenkins. It's very difficult to not like Michael Laudrup but everyone knew for a year that he was on his way out and it's very rare that things works well when that happens - look at what happened at Manchester United the first time Ferguson said he was retiring.

Laudrup will get a fat pay-off and will be back in the game in no time.

Plus there's not a single club in English football where the manager is less important than at Swansea. He's an interchangeable figure at the top of a club which is rigorously structured. If that figure is becoming a negative influence then replacing him is a no-brainer.

Agueroooo

Beefy78 wrote: »

If one chairman of the 92 Clubs has enough credit in the Bank to be able to be trusted on a single decision it is Jenkins. It's very difficult to not like Michael Laudrup but everyone knew for a year that he was on his way out and it's very rare that things works well when that happens - look at what happened at Manchester Untied the first time Ferguson said he was retiring.

Laudrup will get a fat pay-off and will be back in the game in no time.

Plus there's not a single club in English football where the manager is less important than at Swansea. He's an interchangeable figure at the top of a club which is rigorously structured. If that figure is becoming a negative influence then replacing him is a no-brainer.

Yea I like Laudrup but it is hard to put him before Jenkins when all is considered.

If Jenkins has fecked up then he will have to suffer the consequences of his decision, but taking Jenkins track record into account I think Swansea are still in very safe hands.

wonderfullife

osarusan wrote: »

I don't really see how you can use the chairman's consistent choice of good managers as evidence that he will inevitably choose a bad one.

It's not "evidence", it's an anecdotal observation.

The chairman is human. We all make mistakes. Sooner or later he'll make one with an appointment - or maybe he won't! But there's very few PL chairmen who haven't made at least 1 bad appointment. If all accounts this morning are to be believed, Garry Monk is the chosen one. That's a huge risk.

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Swansea have lost more than a couple of games since they won the League Cup. They have regressed from last season, 1. the manager has created a poor working environment with the chairman; has lost the players to some extent; 2. has made it clear that he sees the job as a stepping stone to bigger things and will not commit his long term future.

The mistake here was not sacking him sooner and allowing the new manager an opportunity to bring in players during January.



Some sackings are justified. In this case we have a well run club with a decent playing squad that has gone backwards 3. over the course of a calendar year where the manager isn't really giving his all to turn it around.

Just because there have been some unjustified dismissals the past year doesn't mean there isn't merit to Swansea's decision in this case. Each termination needs to be analysed on its own merits in a vacuum.

If some of the people aghast at the decision on this thread are honest, they'd admit they were unaware of Laudrup's relationship with the chairman and hadn't realised how bad their record was since last February. He was popular in the media; started well and gave great interviews. That tends to stick in people's minds far more than it should.

1. It's too early to say Laudrup "created" the bad relationship with the Chairman. It could easily have been the other way around or a bit of both. We only have 1 side to the story so far.

2. Laudrup is no different to Rodgers or Martinez in that respect. Both of them placed on record their ambitions to manage at higher levels in their career (as Laudrup did). That, in itself, is no cause for sacking otherwise they should have sacked Martinez and BR too.

3. "Calendar Year" is my number one bug-bear term in football, not far above "hitting the woodwork" which somehow made it's way into the modern dictionary as a colloquial term for describing hitting a metal post.

The season runs from August to May. It doesn't matter a monkeys what happens in the Calendar Year period - there's no prizes for being top of a Calendar Year form table, and no relegation for being bottom of it.

Football is done by seasons.

He won a trophy last season = success.

They are 12th in PL, in 5th round of FA Cup and in last-32 of Europe and have beaten both Valencia and Man Utd away in Cup competitions this season = success

Calendar Year statistics are a pure nonsense. When they start handing out promotions and relegations for calendar year form get back to me, until then i'm going to stick with dealing in Seasons. This season Swansea have been terrific in 2 cups (to date) and are 12th in the league - which is a solid position given their squad size and European adventures.

If people want to try put this down to footballing reasons they are barking up the wrong tree. All the other shenanigans that went on in the camp will come out in time. When i hear Laudrups account i'll make a view on it, until then it's all tittle tattle being leaked by the Chairman to put a positive slant on them losing a massively popular guy who achieved results.

Beefy78

Pointing out Swansea's record in 2013 is perfectly valid in this discussion. Like with Steve Clarke at West Brom before him, Michael Laudrup's Swansea team picked up a lot of points in the early part of the 2012/13 season but if one stops for a moment to look at the records of each of them over the last 12 months it is clear that there is a long-term pattern forming which goes way beyond a poor run of form.