Michael Laudrup was sacked less than a year after winning Swansea’s first trophy for a century.
It is a decision that sounds crazy, but it was entirely justified.
Laudrup lost his job at Swansea not just because of his results, but by being caught up in his own hype. Handling the media is a crucial part of management and whilst in interviews the Dane always came across as a likeable person and a man fondly remembered from his great playing career, he was embroiled in continual stories surrounding his future. He gave the perception that Swansea were a stepping stone: PSG, Barcelona, Arsenal were among three of the clubs he was heavily linked with, but by failing to respect Swansea he will now have to rebuild his reputation once more before getting linked with clubs of that status.
Harry Redknapp had reached the peak of his managerial career at Tottenham but his failure to deal with constant speculation linking him to the England job was a major factor in his departure. Redknapp went from being a shoe-in for one of the top jobs in International football to facing relegation with QPR within a year: what calibre of club can Michael Laudrup expect to manage now?
Laudrup’s final weeks gave a perception of sheer apathy: there were training ground bust-ups; days off before important matches and a divided squad with many of the Spanish players he had recruited forming their own cliques.
The chaos off of the pitch was hardly made tolerable by performances on it. Swansea have long been a side admired for their passing football, but under Laudrup although they still retained dominance of possession their attacks had become slower; predictable and lacking in the final third.
The decision to send Ki out on loan and spend £6million on Jonjo Shelvey was baffling. Shelvey is not a bad player, however if it takes Ki three touches to form an attack it will take Shelvey seven touches to do likewise. Is it any wonder that their tempo has slowed down?
Of course there are mitigating circumstances.
He has had to contend with combining a Europa League campaign with ensuring the club’s Premier League status and on paper he guided them through to the knockout stages in Europe and they’re in a decent league position. The threat of relegation is obviously still there, but there are several sides who would love to be in Swansea’s position. But how long can managers get away with using the Europa League as an excuse? It is six games in addition to any knockout stages you are involved in. People may wish to include qualifiers, but these matches should be a formality for Premier League teams and Swansea won both of their first leg ties by a four goal margin which effectively made their return legs meaningless. It is simply a sweeping generalisation to blame the Europa League for poor league-form. But I’ll indulge this argument: Swansea played six games following their Group Stage matches and lost two Premier League matches afterwards away to Southampton and Manchester City. The team sitting at the top of the Premier League- Arsenal- did not win those two away games, they are difficult games- you can hardly blame the Europa League? How many League Cup games did Laudrup manage last year yet he still had Swansea sitting comfortable in mid-table. If anything it was once their name was on the trophy that his side declined.
He has also missed Michu. That’s a massive blow for any manager. My feelings on Allardyce are well documented, but I did not have much sympathy for him when Carroll was injured? Or Chris Hughton when his new signing Van Wolfswinkel had missed a large chunk of early games that may have impacted on how he has settled?
Public opinion about Laudrup will always be swayed by the fact that he was a great player and he has inherited a team that played a passing game many like to see.
However, people have sympathy for the wrong person. A good chairman is invaluable to a football club and Huw Jenkins has been instrumental in Swansea’s rise to the top: a series of managerial appointments that have all followed a well thought out plan. Roberto Martinez, Paolo Sousa, Brendan Rodgers and eventually Michael Laudrup were carefully selected appointments.
He is not some trigger-happy chairman who doesn’t know how good he’s got it. He’s simply a man who has worked very hard establishing an identity for his football club. Did he do all that work so the manager he is employing could go to France in the midst of a three month period that could determine which division the club is playing in? For simply expecting a higher standard of conduct at his football club Jenkins has been berated and immediately lumped in with the likes of Vincent Tan as some maniac who doesn’t know about the game?
Michael Laudrup is walking away with £4.5million after missing his work, whilst Jenkins has to find a new manager who won’t be able to bring in players simply because the former manager simply couldn’t care anymore. It was a justified decision.
A Justified Decision
posted on 5/2/14
It was totally justifiable to those who follow the Swans.
posted on 5/2/14
Yes, I do think they would have attracted those players.
************************************************************
You might have attracted them but you didnt know them.
posted on 5/2/14
I'm not a Swansea supporter, and I appreciate that Laudrup had a very good knowledge of La Liga which is a good market for recruiting the type of player conducive to their style of play.
However, Brendan Rodgers did not need such players and in my opinion his Swansea team attacked faster than Laudrup's and were more pleasing to watch.
posted on 5/2/14
I actually agree with this and feel it was time for him to go given the recent dressing room incidents and the alleged time off.
However you are a Celtic fan by the looks of things Marcelino so i am interested to know how much of an impact did him being ex-Rangers have on you wanting to write this article?
None the less a good article
posted on 5/2/14
Rangers wish it was Michael that played for them
posted on 5/2/14
good article
posted on 5/2/14
Marcelino,
Cheer up! The good news is that you will probably be paying Cardiff again next season.
posted on 6/2/14
CDUBYA.
I've been quite interested in the way Swansea have run themselves and the approach your chairman has taken in recent years is one I want at my own club. As Kayal said though Rangers wish they had Michael!
posted on 6/2/14
Seems to me you have very little idea about Laudrup. What evidence have you "that he was caught up in his own hype"? The evidence is to the contrary. There have been a number of instances of other clubs showing considerable interest in Laudrup; he has always squashed the rumours. He has always said that he has a contract and that he will see it out. When he signed a contract extension it was because he intended to extend his stay at Swansea, period. He's always been enthusiastic about the challenges offered to him at Swansea.
The rest of the OP is pure garbage as well. Chaos off the pitch? Not respecting Swansea? Sheer apathy? You appear to have been trawling the media for any scraps you can find, and then some. Nothing happened at Swansea which is outside the norm for most clubs; clubs deal with it the whole time.
Fact it Laudrup is a very good manager, committed to attractive modern and successful football. Hence Swansea ended up, deservedly, with their first major trophy last season, as well as a decent league position. He has been successful not only at attracting star players like Michu and Boney but identifying them in the first place. This season he has been successful in reaching the knock-out stages of the Europa Cup, are still in the FA Cup (by knocking out Man U) , and are 12th in the PL, all the time with a relatively shallow squad and injuries to key players. OK, they're not far above the drop zone, but they won't get relegated, there are far worse teams lined up for that. No reason at all for Laudrup to be sacked.
So why was he sacked? Seems to me there was a divergence of priorities, methods and style, and the owner was determined that his would prevail; a different owner might well have seen that Laudrup was doing a good job and let him get on with it.
For a start, Laudrup was determined that Swansea would go as far as possible in the Europa league. I think he was right, it was an opportunity for the club, the fans and the players not to be missed. Jenkins obviously thought that the PL came first, a tenable position if Swansea were in serious danger, but they weren't, not that serious. Then there was the managerial style; Laudrup uses his brain, as he always has, rather than histronics, and it works. Then there were the alleged cliques in the dressing room; it happens in clubs with mixed nationalities, it needs to be managed, and maybe Laudrup was actually a better person to deal with it than Jenkins. After all, it's something he's quite used to.
So, Laudrup was given no reason for his sacking, because there wasn't one, not a good one. Seems Jenkins didn't want him there, period. But it's not good news for Swansea. They've lost a manager with very broad international experience. They will have trouble in identifying, let alone attracting, the right calibre players, paricularily those from abroad. The existing foreign players must be thinking about where they go from here. And a season which would probably have ended up as a good one is likely to peter out, not in disaster, but just rather poorly.
posted on 7/2/14
Can you tell me why a man who respected his contract was booking flights to Paris and allowing players to miss days of training in the week before a crucial Welsh derby match that isn't only big because of the rivalry but it is also a massive match in the context of survival?
Is that acceptable conduct? No it certainly is not.
Would you want your manager and players having two days off of training for no justifiable reason in the build-up to a big derby match? I certainly wouldn't and Jenkins is employing this man to manage a football team.
Furthermore, Swansea's attractive, modern and successful football was not solely down to Laudrup. As I mentioned in my article managers like Martinez, Sousa and Rodgers had also adopted this brand of football. Moreover, Huw Jenkins did not sack any of them: he is a man who is patient with managers and it was clear he sacked Laudrup for disrespecting his football club and not because he is a chairman that makes rash decisions.
In addition, you said what went on at training was "normal". Police were called to that training ground as there were players brandishing bricks at others? Apparently I'm talking "absolute garbage" for highlighting this as chaotic? If you find this normal then it is you who is talking rubbish.
I acknowledged his achievements in my article, but looking further into them: knocking a poor Manchester United side out of the FA Cup hardly takes a World Class manager and nor does winning two Europa League games as a Premier League team either. They are good achievements but they sound better than they really are.
Finally, could you tell me that if Laudrup is such a good manager do you think he will do better than Swansea? Admittedly there will be clubs who will give him a chance based on who he was as a player, but I think if he does get a job beyond their level that he may struggle.
Yet again, it was a justified decision.