To the cheers of The Kop End and The Wednesday Sing, Garry Monk has been sacked as the Sheffield Wednesday manager.
The news was mildly surprising. It had been a good week for the club. They had picked up four points in their last two games which included a good win over Bournemouth. That win was also their first home win since February. They also had their points deduction reduced which saw them go into positive points and with their draw on Saturday against Millwall, they finally got off the bottom of the table.
But the sacking probably should have come the week before. That was after a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Rotherham United where the Millers played Wednesday off the field in a manner that hasn’t been seen before. That was followed up with a 1-0 loss to Wycombe Wanderers despite them having not won yet this season and their manager watching from home due to a COVID related absence.
It was certainly something that the fans have been wanting for a while. I’d say that there was a majority for his sacking back when the fans were allowed to stay in the stadiums and especially after Wednesday’s last game with attendees, a 5-0 loss to Brentford. But then the lockdown happened which may have ended up being a stay of execution for Monk. In the restart, Wednesday stuttered and staggered to the finish. Despite a much-reshaped squad, it was very much the same this season.
Monk wasn’t helped by the fact he never really won over the fans at Hillsborough. This will be surprising to many as he had a great start with the Owls, statistically, one of the best any manager has had at Wednesday. But the fans never really took to him and this seemed to be for reasons out of Monk’s control.
Firstly, Monk’s predecessor. Steve Bruce came in back in February and his three months were fantastic for the club as they staged an unlikely push for the play-offs. In the end, they didn’t get a spot in the top six but optimism was very high for the coming season. But then the Newcastle United job became available and Bruce being a boyhood fan of the Magpies pursued it and then got to the agony of everyone at Hillsborough and St James Park. This was the first time a Wednesday manager had left for another club since Big Ron Atkinson in 1991, and for many fans the first time they knew this to happen. It hurt, and much like it’s difficult to trust the first partner you date after being cheated on, fans never really trusted Monk despite taking them to 3rd.
Secondly, the points deduction. This was the ghost that haunted Hillsborough, making sure no one got too excited. Yes, Monk got Wednesday to 3rd in the Championship. But fans never really accepted that as a true position because at any moment, the EFL could deal it’s punishment and land them with a major points deduction. So even though Monk getting the Owls to 3rd was an impressive feat, it wasn’t really seen as an achievement because of it being a false position.
2020 though was a disaster, and it was also very bad for Monk. Wednesday’s form was simply appalling and it’s here when the fans well and truly turned on him. The problem was that just as it looked like we would end up at a place where there was no choice but to sack Monk, he’d usually get a few decent results and performances that gave him a lifeline. That’s how he got to November rather than going in July.
Monk has was able to have plenty of excuses at the start of the year. It wasn’t his squad and it wasn’t even his staff. He no longer had this excuse. James Beattie, Andrew Hughes and Daryl Flahavan joined him in the backroom while he got to change the squad to suit the team’s image. The form should have improved, but it didn’t. It was the same turgid play where they struggled to score from open play.
But now the Monk era is over. He will have some excuses I’m sure he’ll use in his interview for new jobs but his inability to end a terrible run of form is what ended him. The new manager will have a tough job but will likely get the fans backing because he is not Monk. Yes there will be some of the same tiresome arguments, if I never hear the name Keiren Westwood again it’ll be too soon, but hopefully, it means Wednesday can score from open play.
