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da esport bet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
On the face of it, Sheffield Wednesday’s appointment of Garry Monk is a rather smart move.
Despite being only 40 years of age, he comes with masses of experience managing at this level of football having managed Leeds, Middlesborough and Birmingham City over the past four years.
His last spell at St Andrew’s came to an abrupt end in June after the relationship he had with chief executive Xuandong Ren broke down following the sale of Jota to arch-rivals Aston Villa.
Monk had the Blues battling on the outskirts of the playoffs until a nine-point deduction and a string of losses had them soon fighting it out at the wrong end of the table to finish 17th, which was without a doubt no mark on his accomplishments.
The local paper described it perfectly by saying he turned Birmingham into “a side vastly superior than the sum of its parts.”
One member of his backroom staff is still in the Midlands, as former assistant Pep Clotet is actually in caretaker charge of the club and with him more than unlikely to return to partner his old sidekick, Monk has kept on caretaker Lee Bullen as part of his backroom staff.
This has the potential to be a big mistake.
It can be argued that the former utility man, who once captained the club, deserves to stay based on loyalty – he made 144 appearances between 2004 and 2008 and has been in caretaker charge of the club three times now.
But it opens up the risk of sticking to old habits, the ones that have seen them lose three games from four in the league which ultimately has led to the 48-year-old not receiving the job on a permanent basis.
The fact is, Wednesday need fresh faces to take them forward and Bullen is the opposite of that.
Monk’s job will be under scrutiny from day one, whether that is just or not is a different story, but there are expectations at Hillsborough. In 2020, it will be 20 years since their last foray into the top-flight of English football.
He simply cannot afford to risk his squad falling into previous practices.
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