BY NISAR KHAN
Michael Laudrup was sacked by the Swansea City board on Tuesday evening after his eighteen-month spell as manager of the club. After winning Swansea’s first major trophy just less than a year ago, to a situation where relegation is still a big possibility, the Dane’s plumet has been dramatic.
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| Rainy Day: Laudrup finished with a 34.52% win percentage. IMAGE COURTESY: Mirror.co.uk |
Michael Laudrup’s career as the manager of Swansea City started with a 5 – 0 thumping at Queens Park Rangers, in the first game after his appointment. Around the time of his appointment, Laudrup was busy in the Summer transfer window, acquiring Michu, Chico, Pablo Hernandez and a few others.
Under his power, the club would pick up seven points from their next three games, before three consecutive losses including a 3 – 0 home loss to Everton. In the remaining fourteen games of the calendar year, Swansea would only lose three times, while picking up a historic win over Arsenal along with a few, solid draws.
Michael Laudrup’s finest moment, and what would appear to be the peak of his managerial career at Swansea, would come on Sunday 24th February 2013. At Wembley Stadium, he managed his side to their first major trophy, after dispatching Bradford City by five-goals-to-nil in the Capital One Cup final. Even the man himself acknowledged it as the finest moment of his career, “as a manager it’s absolutely at the top”.
This would also result in Europa League qualification for next season, where his side famously defeated Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, with the three scorers being players signed by Michael Laudrup during his tenure at the club.
Swansea City would finish ninth to conclude the 2012/13 Premier League season, with Liverpool far ahead at seventh, while West Bromwich Albion finished just three points ahead of the Swans.
Although it was a relatively successful finish for Swansea, their demise would eventually, almost subtly come into play following their League Cup triumph.
When Michael Laudrup was sacked, he had a record of 29 wins out of 84 games, a win percentage of 34.52%. Although better than two of his managerial spells at other clubs, it was simply not good enough for the Welsh side who now find themselves stranded in the relegation battle, in a tight survival race that is sure to put them under pressure.
In the current Premier League season, Swansea City had won eleven of the twenty-four league games (as of 3rd Feb 2014), while only winning six, with their latest win being Michael Laudrup’s penultimate game as manager with a 2 – 0 win over fellow relegation battlers Fulham.
Who could be Laudrup’s successor?
In February last year, Michael Laudrup appointed Morten Wieghorst as assistant manager, claiming that he “can be manager” of Swansea with his experience in Scottish football and other leagues. Could Swansea’s assistant manager be ascending to the focal point of Swansea’s managerial hierarchy?
They Tweeted: Reaction to the sacking harnesses support for the Dane
Unable to find a Tweet that supports the move, it looks like the vast majority support Michael Laudrup. We can conclude here that managing in football loses its job security by the day.
And Laudrup sacked! No Manager is safe in the game at the moment, too many Americanised owners without a clue about the game
— Mr Higgins (@mrhiggins180) February 5, 2014
Why sack Laudrup when we’re 3 points from 10th and in the last 32 of the europa league; both whilst having 5+ injuries to our starting XI?!
— Will Pike (@willpike8) February 5, 2014
Is there any reason why a club would sack their manager a few days after the transfer window closes. #Laudrup #Swansea #epicfail
— Kevin (@kevosullivan07) February 5, 2014
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