OT - EPL Manager Garry Monk is the Harbaugh of England
tl;dr - there seems to be common themes of very successful coaches. One young manager in the English Premier League sure parallels a lot of the themes of Coach Harbaugh.
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For those who don't follow such things today is a huge day across the pond as its the kickoff (pun intended) day of the English Premier League. While surfing some stories I came upon this one on young manager Garry Monk of Swansea City. In the EPL - unlike U.S. sports - teams can fall out of the top league if they finish at the bottom of the standings (and move up) so it would be akin to the top 3 AAA baseball teams moving up each year and the bottom 3 MLB teams falling down to AAA. (Sort of)
Anyhow long story short Swansea City is a newbie to the EPL only being there for a few years and 36 year old Monk who took over the manager role in early 2014 managed to get this tiny club with a stadium of 20K into an 8th place finish last year (of 20). In a league where the top 5-6 are basically pre-ordained to finish top 5-6 almost every year by the huge quantity of dollars they spend.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jul/21/swansea-city-garry…
Here are some comments from the story as the Telegraph spent a day looking at a typical preseason day. You could substitute the name Harbaugh for Monk very easily.... in career path this is probably akin to when Harbaugh first took over Stanford.
I left out the part about the Snoozepads Swansea has installed on the side of the training ground. This is so players don't have to go home to rest in between training sessions - they just go into their "self contained" bubble and can sleep right on the pitch in a comforable bed.
(and yes I know some will say no no no.... Harbaugh = Mourino..... but work with me here)
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Monk gives the impression he never sleeps – and not because he has three young children. The man who led Swansea to eighth place in the Premier League last season is a fiercely ambitious workaholic. He talks a lot about “accountability” and the importance of creating a working culture where there are no excuses for staff or players, and it is easy to see what he means.
This is a club where they monitor sleep patterns at home to check their players are in the best condition. They have even invested in a drone that films training sessions so that every angle is covered when they trawl back through the footage – as they do at the end of each day – and edit the clips to highlight what worked well and what could have been done better as part of their feedback to the players.
The fascinating insight begins with Jonny Northeast, Swansea’s head of sport science and fitness, holding a meeting with the players at 9.30am. With Monk and the rest of the staff looking on, Northeast debriefs the squad on how they performed in the previous day’s fitness exercise that focused on “powerful changes of direction”. He puts up a graphic showing where every player ranked, from highest to lowest, according to the GPS data that traces every step.
Swansea marry up those numbers with the data they collect during matchdays and the resistance tests they conducted at the end of the season and on the first day the players reported back. Based on all those statistics, players have individual targets to hit in each session and if anyone comes up short it stands out.
Everyone gets to view exactly how their team-mates fare in each exercise...
“It’s about having an accountable environment,” Monk says. “I’m not here to hide anything. I don’t want them to hide from each other. The emphasis on it is to be truthful with all the group, for them to be transparent with each other. I have one-on-ones with them and tell them how they’re doing individually and so will Jonny. But the group needs to know where everyone is, because the group relies on each other in a game and you need to know that the man next to you is willing to, and able to, put it on the line for you.” (love this last quote)
Monk acknowledges that there is no specific need for him to be on the training field when the players are working on their fitness and he goes on to tell a story about a TV programme he watched on some NFL coaches who take that part of pre-season off, yet his own view is that the manager’s presence is vitally important. “My job is to make sure that the standard is as high as possible. I told them on the first day of pre-season that I’m not here to waste any time and I said they haven’t got time to waste themselves. To me, every single yard, every single minute of that training session, counts.”
August 8th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
is Harbaugh except Harbaugh.
What are Jack and John?
/deepthoughts
August 8th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
I don't often follow the EPL, but when I do, I will follow Garry Monk and Swansea City.
I'm very impressed with Monk and his ideas. Thanks for posting that.
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August 8th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
Think Swansea has to feel okay about that. But if you plan on finishing in the top four, can't be just hoping for draws at home against anyone. Add in the fact Chelsea played 30+ mins down a man, and Swansea needs to win that one.
Worst part was that the last 10 mins, Chelsea got the better of the chances.
Entertaining match though.
A draw at home against the reigning holders is a bad result?
Trying to get a UCL spot is not going to happen, with the amount of money and talent Chelsea, Arsenal, and the Manchester teams bring to the table. Europa is definitely a possibility.
Especially since the game was actually at Chelsea.
August 8th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
August 8th, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^
Well, hopefully Harbaugh's seasons won't annually end via a large bag with a dollar sign on it squashing him to death.
August 8th, 2015 at 11:28 AM ^
August 8th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
August 8th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ^
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August 8th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^
But I don't love it. Biggest issue for me is finding a team to latch onto.
Arsenal- Maynbe if Gedion Zelalem gets a shot
Aston Villa- "Avoid Relegation" shouldn't be a team motto
Bouremouth- Who?
Chelsea- Don't want to be a bandwagon fan. Just never been fan
Crystal Palace- "Avoid Relegation as impressively as possible" is only a little better than Aston Villa. Cool logo and team colors though!
Everton- Love Ross Barkley. I think Lukaku is fun to watch. I guess it's cool they have Howard, but tried following this team last year, and the style of play turned me off.
Leicester City- Who?
Liverpool- Don't really know of anyone on the team.
Manchester City- Could give them a try. Hate them from PES/FIFA for some reason.
Manchester United- Always watch them play. Like watching them win. Love watching them lose or draw with someone they shouldn't lose or draw to.
Newcastle- Love the beer. Followed them two years ago. Boring soccer IMO.
Norwich City- Who?
Southhampton- I know nothing of this team
Stoke City- BORING
Sunderland- I know nothing of this team besides they are the rival of a team I followed 2 years ago.
Swansea City- Outlined here, sound fun, but no names stick out besides a Ghanaian, which "Boo! Ghana!."
Tottenham Hotspur- Could give them a try. Hate them from PES/FIFA for some reason.
Watford- Who?
West Brom- See Aston Villa
West Ham- Just blah to me.
People say find a team like your favorite teams, in which from my life I could pick a dominate team like the Red Wings, or my young interpretation of the Wolverines. I could pick a team that buys themselves wins, RW or Tigers. I could pick a team that will do nothing by disappoint me, Tigers, Lions, Michigan past 8 years. But I don't want that. I want to watch fun soccer, with a young core, relatable players, and awesome fans.
Seems to me nothing will cement my love for a team but heartbreak. So give me a team I can follow that's going to maybe win a tourny, but lose in the last game of the year to finish 2nd in the EPL or something.
Anyone have any recommendations (besides Swansea)?
They have two young Brazilians in the midfield who are fun to watch, even if they are most likely only a 4-6th place team this season.
Christian Benteke is finally on a team that won't force him to create everything himself.
LFC is perennially in European tournaments, even if it isn't the Champions League every year, they rarely miss the Europa league. They also have a knack for going deep in FA cup play.
You won't feel like a dirty frontrunner for rooting for a team that constantly chokes in big games. In fact, Michigan fans should be especially able to get behind a team that has high expectations every year but in recent history has suffered from untimely exits, controversial management and disappointing results despite a storied history of success. Did I mention that they have a regional rivalry with Everton, a team with an inferiority complex, and a larger overall rivalry with a team with a huge obnoxious fanbase and red and white as their prominent team colors, to whom they frequently lose?
Watching the 30 for 30 Hillsborough kind of made me like Liverpool a little. For the fans to be slandered as the reason for a tragedy like that is terrible, definitely got my sympathy.
Maybe I'll give them a try tomorrow. Didn't realize they had Sturridge and Balotelli. Add in the Brazilians, it could be an entertaining year.
Believe me, the parallels are not lost on me... :|
They were more fun when Suarez was on the team, because that guy is one of the most insane athletes in the world. Steven Gerrard is now in the MLS, but he was a very likeable player too. Plus, due to their popularity, almost every game is on TV here is the states, which is nice.
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I decided this year to become on Everton supporter. A couple of reasons why: Because of ancient Red Sox, and recent Buckeye, hate I can't root for teams that wear red; the three teams I already root for (UM, Yankees, NY Giants) wear blue (okay 4--Knicks), and Everton wear blue. Although Everton is a founding member of the F.A. and have never been relegated out of the Premier League, they don't own the kind of hardward Arsenal and Liverpool have, and they aren't one of the big money teams currently ruling them P.L. roost. Sure, you could go for a front runner like Chelsea, Man City or Man U, but I like the idea of buying low on fandom (I started rooting for the Yankees in '73 when they were terrible, and the Giants after the infamous Pisarcik fumble) and following a rise.
Crystal Palace have a solid squad--they will avoid relegation comfortably, might even surprise with a few wins against the bigger teams
Swansea have quite of few standout names--Sigurdsson is a hell of a player (when in form); Shelvey is very underrated (but has a bad temper at times); and Ashley Williams is good defenders.
You don't have to follow the EPL. There are good teams in the Bundesliga and La Liga to watch, outside of Bayern, Barca, and Real.
You might enjoy rooting for Borussia Dortmund--they have very passionate fans, a bombastic (former) coach, a young core of very talented, loyal players, and they are very entertaining. I love watching their matches, especially the Rhineland Derby against Schalke and their clashes with Bayern.
They fly the confederate flag at home (supposedly bc they are in southern London).
Didn't know that. Why the fuck would a team in London raise that flag? Were they started by Confederate ex-pats?
August 8th, 2015 at 11:41 PM ^
Why would fans of a Italian team fly nazi flags? Why do Tottenham haters (and their fans!) refer to themselves by a racist slur for Jewish people? Soccer fandom is crazy--sometimes the symbols don't actually connect to racist ideas and sometimes they absolutely do.
August 8th, 2015 at 11:57 PM ^
Except in the case of some Italian clubs (Napoli, for example) and Tottenham there are historical reasons; the fascist connection with the former, and the Jewish communities in their neighborhoods with the latter. There is no historical connection with the Confederacy, to my knowledge, for Crystal Palace, a London club started after the Confederacy ended.
August 9th, 2015 at 12:13 AM ^
Yes, definitely. That was my point; in some cases the symbols are connected to racist ideas, while in others the symbol is divorced from a full context. The C.P. colors look like the same shades as the Confederate flag, and I can buy the South London thing as an explanation.
It's a "We're from the Defiant South" thing.
It has nothing to do with the history of the flag itself. Most of their supporters could not even tell you what US states made up the south.
nothing will cement my love for a team but heartbreak.
This is such a true statement, in any sport. You don't really become part of a team, and them a part of you, until you'vre suffered a true heartbreak with them.
Until then, you are just a spectator.
Kane seems like an intriguing prospect to follow for a career as well.
As a Swansea fan since 2001 (when I studied abroad 20 minutes from the old stadium) you are now my favorite poster on the site.
...Allow me to put in another plug for the good guys from Wales.
- In 2001, demoted to 3rd division (bottom of the barrel) and nearly bankrupt. They were sold for 1 GBP to Australian Tony Petty who sold them to a consortium of fans the next year after he stripped the club of their best players.
- In 2003, facing demotion from British football altogether, they beat Hull at home to survive. Roberto Martinez took over as Manager and led them to their meteoric rise.
- In 2011, managed by Brendan Rogers, they won a playoff match against Reading to win promotion to the Premier League for the first time ever, only 10 years after trying to figure out how to keep the lights on.
-In 2013, Managed by all time great Michael Laudrup, Swansea won the Capital One League Cup, defeating giants like Liverpool and Chelsea along the way.
-Now, homegrown manager Garry Monk, fresh off their highest ever finish last season when they missed out on a Europa League birth by only 4 points, they are attracting the worlds best to play for them, Like Bafe Gomis and Andre Ayew. They should have taken down a shorthanded Chelsea squad this year, but the point they grabbed will hopefully prove to be crucial to a 6th place finish and a place in Europe.
It was actually Kenny Jackett who took over at Swansea in 2003 and brought them from near bottom of the fourth tier in 02-03 to midtable in 03-04, automatic promotion in 04-05, and the playoff final to get to the Championship in 05-06. They struggled the next season and Jackett stepped down in February of 07. Martinez then took over and got them promoted to the Championship the following season.
Kenny Jackett is now the manager for my Wolverhampton Wanderers and we are amongst the favorites to finish near the top of the Championship.
Harbaugh is more like Mourhino--his interaction with rival coaches (Carrol incident, for example), his desire to win, his tactical adaptability, and his pragmatism (though not pretty). Chip Kelly is to Arsene Wenger what Harbaugh is to Mourhino; aesthetic football with frustrating results for fans at times, vs pragmatic, results-only matter, football. I know these sound like cliches, but Stanford's smash-mouth football was not as entertaining as Oregon's spread-and-shred, in my opinion. For others, it is.
Disregard
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1. He took over his predecessor's squad and led them to a 5-3-6 record mid-season without the opportunity to put his stamp on the team.
2. In his first full season he led Swansea to their highest ever finish of 8th.
3. They consistently spend at the bottom of the table while the results are closer to the top. While they are still a long way away from competing for a top of the table finish, Swansea are still able to compete with the giants of English soccer. In fact, in Monk's first full season they swept both Manchester United and Arsenal.
4. Small market teams like Swansea have to make a choice that others don't have to when competing in tournaments such as the FA and League cups. While Manchester City can trot out 11 completely different superstars for a league game on Saturday than they did for a Champion's League match on Wednesday, Swansea has to decide in which game they want to go for the win and which one they will hope and pray for a miracle. Therefore, I'd argue a .500 record at Swansea is just as impressive as a .750 record at a place like Arsenal.
EDIT: Sorry, I meant for this to be a reply to the comment above.
August 9th, 2015 at 11:11 AM ^
I think your last point is lost on many. Soccer is essentially a 10 month sport - longest season in any sport and that doesnt include the international players who then go play for their country during both the season and "off season". I was reading a piece the other day on a set of factors to succeed as a small club in your main league and one of them was "don't do well in tournaments". Because you wear out your main guys - the big spending clubs can trot out 8 new guys to play those games, esp the beginning half of tournaments while these small low spending clubs don't have the depth.
Swansea will never win an EPL title - 8th place for them is like 2nd for Chelsea Man U Arsenal Liverpool etc.
They are a fun story and I'll be watching them closer this year. If they have another year of top half success in the standings it will be interesting to see if other clubs come after Monk and if he stays long term there due to his long history there as a player. Either way I love his "management style". He is the more fun (playing style) version of Pulis....who also overachieves generally.
August 9th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
.750 winning % would be crazy even at a place like Chelsea or Arsenal. Mourinho has never won 75% of games anywhere he's been. Sir Alex won less than 60% of his games at ManU. Even take out those first few years when they weren't winning trophies and I bet you it's still lower than 75%. Pep has own less than 75% of matches at both Barcelona and Bayern.
And .500 at a place like Swansea is a bit more realistic. Southampton needed to win one more game and they'd have done it. Swansea three more. Monk won 44% of games in all competitions last season. Impressive no doubt. But if he'd have advanced one more round in the FA Cup, Shelvey not sent off against Everton and you guys score late, and beat QPR (which you should've) and boom - .500.
I would say going .500 at Swans is more impressive than going .650 at a big club. .750 is increidbly impressive though.
But the fact that we're debating this is why I would be happy with my Wolves being a yo-yo club between the Championship and the Premier League. There is no hope for us to challenge for a title in the league. So why bother spending time in a league where you lose more than half your games and your highlights are an upset here or there of the top clubs? I'd rather drop down every once in a while and pop back up after winning the second tier or getting promoted through the playoffs because it means we had a season where we won over half our matches and there's really no such thing as an upset. Every game is competitive.