The Most Bittersweet Football Book You Will Ever Read

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday I finished Loud, Proud and Positive an autobiography of Garry Monk. Who was at the time this book was published (2012) the captain of Swansea City.

Now for those of you who have forgotten that timeframe Brendan Rodgers was Swansea City manager and during this eight year period he was mainly captain of the team when he moved from (what is now) Division two to the Premier League. He played (and was mainly captain) for city during this period and then subsequently became manager, after Michael Laudrup,in 2014. So you see he had a long footballing career with this club and was iconic.

Unfortunately, and I'll be coming to this later, he was sacked almost a year ago when results were not going well and is now manager of Leeds United and must be doing a good job given that he's still there when the owner gives the impression sacking managers is a hobby.

So let's get back to the book. Although Garry Monk wasn't there when Swansea City was at it's lowest ebb as it was a match away from extinction he (with ghost writer Peter Read) is able to convey that remarkable rise up the divisions. Whilst calling it magic is probably overdoing the hyperbole there was something in the air in that period. Incidentally if you can catch the documentary of Swansea City at this time, Jack To A King, I can heartily recommend it.

It wasn't plain sailing either. The chapter when Paulo Sousa became manager is fascinating in itself.

And the point is that Garry Monk, born in Bedford England became for want of a better word, Swansea. You can tell by reading his accounts of their footballing confrontations with the hated enemy Cardiff City that his colours are tied to the Jack army mast.

As a book it's readable and races along at a good pace. For those who are interested in this sort of thing there is more information about his personal life in his photos than in the text, which personally I don't mind,

It's an good read and I think conveys the person Garry Monk seems to be on the TV. A committed but essentially decent man

But...

As I've said this library book was published in 2012. It does not show Swansea's Carling cup victory or his initially successful career as manager. However neither does it mention his sacking on 9th December last year due to a poor series of results. So when you read this book and it's optimistic tone it's with a feeling of sadness as you, the reader, know what's going to happen next.

Whether you think that the sacking was justified or not (and personally I think he was entitled to at least the remainder of the year to see whether he could have turned things around) I do think that Swansea changed as a club from that moment on. They were no longer different. They now seemed to be just like any other club. A feeling that has been consolidated by their takeover by an American consortium.

Because I'm a West Ham fan (and I know that analogies can be stretched) the person he reminds me of is John Lyall. Who spent many years in the club before being sacked as manager after the Hammers were relegated from what was then Division One. His autobiography Just Like My Dreams is a sad read for a West Ham fan. For again, the club seemed to change irrevocably. Should Garry Monk eventually write another autobiography It'll remind me of Lyall's book, but I would read it.

That all said I was pleased Swansea City won yesterday in their remarkable game vs Crystal Palace, for as I've said in the past my attitude to all the South Walian teams is akin to being very friendly with a woman but not having an affair as you're faithful to your wife, Though that said my wife, West Ham, is now in a worse position in the league than it was in the beginning of the day.

They will need these victories, remarkable or not, to continue. When I spoke to a couple of Swansea City fans at work yesterday before the match they seemed to have a mindset of preparing for relegation. Such was their poor start to the season. One said to me that if the Swans had lost he was going to sell his season ticket in Ebay.

Until the next time