5 Reasons Why Swansea May Struggle To Avoid Relegation

4. Inexperienced Caretaker Manager

After the sacking of Laudrup, chairman Huw Jenkins placed Garry Monk in interim charge of the first-team. The 34-year-old club captain is clearly a risk, having had no managerial experience, and this baptism of fire will determine whether Swansea remain a Premier League club at the end of the season. As captain, he will obviously know the players well, but making the jump to management will be a huge challenge, one that many players struggle to tackle. Newcastle found themselves in a similar position in 2009, with Alan Shearer taking on the reins. Their situation was much more dire, granted, but he failed to learn on the job sufficiently to muster more than one win in eight games and the Magpies were relegated. Monk will also have to ensure his players are fully behind him. His recent training-ground bust-up with fellow defender Chico Flores cannot be repeated if Swansea are going to have the united fighting spirit required for the final third of the season. Management provides very different challenges to captaincy, and Monk must rise to these if he hopes to succeed.