New United head coach Garry Monk, born March 6, 1979, became the
youngest manager in the Premier League at the time of taking temporary
charge of Swansea City back in February 2014.
Aged just 34 and still registered as club captain in his 10th season
with the Swans, the Bedford-born defender was tasked with halting the
Welsh side’s perilous slide towards the relegation zone following the
departure of Michael Laudrup.
Swansea sat two points above the drop when Monk stepped into the role as
interim player-manager in time for a South Wales derby with bitter
rivals Cardiff City, but an emphatic 3-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium
set the ball rolling for a much-improved second half of the season.
Monk guided the Swans to safety with two games to spare and secured a
respectable 12th-place finish, winning plaudits from supporters, players
and pundits alike as the club’s top-flight status remained comfortably
intact.
His impact in the hot-seat prompted Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins to give
Monk the job on a permanent basis before the 2013/14 campaign was out,
handing the centre-back a three-year deal in May 2014.
Swansea signed off the season with three wins from their final four
matches and, after a summer of preparation under Monk’s stewardship,
that form was continued in a blistering start to the new Premier League
campaign.
The Swans raced to the top of the table after winning all three August
fixtures, including an opening day victory away to Manchester United –
the club’s first ever league win at Old Trafford, and Monk duly claimed
the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award.
It set the tone for a fine first full season in management as Monk went
on to lead the club to their highest ever Premier League finish in
eighth position, recording a record points tally of 56.
Along the way, the Swans became only the third side in Premier League
history to record a league double over both Manchester United and
Arsenal in the same season.
Monk’s stock was rising rapidly and heads of other clubs reportedly
began to turn his way – not to mention links to the England job -
prompting Swansea into offering him another new three-year deal prior to
the start of his 12th season at the club.
The new campaign began well, Monk steering his side through another
unbeaten August which included an opening day draw away to Premier
League champions Chelsea, but results began to dip upon domestic
football’s return from the first international break of the season.
The Swans struggled to hit the heights of the previous campaign,
slipping to 15th in the table at the start of December, and Monk was
relieved of his duties by the club he first joined as a League Two side
from Barnsley almost 12 years earlier.
Prior to signing for the Tykes on a free transfer from Southampton in
2004, Monk’s career had began at Torquay United, where he progressed
through the youth system before switching to the Saints to complete his
apprenticeship and pen his first professional contract in 1997.
The defender made only a handful of first-team appearances during his
time at Southampton and spent large parts of his eight years at the club
out on loan, briefly returning to Torquay before taking in stints at
Stockport County, Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley.
His move to Oakwell was soon made permanent but it was after making the
switch to Swansea a couple of months later when Monk’s playing career
really began to flourish, kick-started by promotion from League Two
during his first season at the club.
Monk was a key part of the side which reached the League One play-off
final the following year, only to cruelly lose out in a penalty
shoot-out defeat to Barnsley. His influence at the heart of defence
resulted in being appointed club captain shortly after that Millennium
Stadium heartbreak, but a cruciate ligament injury sidelined him for the
majority of the 2006/07 campaign.
He returned to action the following season, though, and captained the
Swans to the League One title with a record 92 points, securing
promotion to English football’s second tier for the first time in 24
years. Monk’s only goal of that title-winning campaign happened to come
in a 3-2 victory at home to Leeds.
Monk remained a regular fixture as the Swans continued their climb up
the divisions, quickly settling into life in the Championship with an
eighth-place finish in their first season and just missing on a play-off
place on the final day of their second.
Their third season in the second tier, however, brought what seemed to
be an inevitable promotion to the Premier League as Monk captained
Brendan Rodgers’ side to a play-off final victory over Reading at Wembley.
Monk was rewarded with a new three-year contract and he went on to help
the team to an impressive 11th-place finish in their first season in the
top-flight.
Although injuries were starting to restrict his involvement, the 2012/13
campaign saw Monk lift the first piece of major silverware of his career
after an emphatic Capital One Cup final victory over Bradford City.
His solitary appearance in 2013/14 proved to be his final outing as a
player and Monk’s first foray into management came later that season.
Almost two-and-a-half years later, he finds himself in the Elland Road
hot seat and ready to lead the club into the new Championship campaign.
You can follow the new Leeds United head coach on Twitter - @GarryMonk!
- See more at:
http://www.leedsunited.com/news/article/18o297dzhzyt61q55iqk0kic96#sthash.sXREb1W6.dpuf
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