Not Leeds United, Not Birmingham City - defiant Garry Monk admits Sheffield Wednesday job is the toughest he's faced

And it could be argued that in a manic first five years of his management career, Garry Monk hasn’t been all that lucky, riding from job to job fighting fires along the way.

From the warm bosom of his 12-year love affair at Swansea he arrived at Massimo Cellino’s Leeds United and was greeted a basket case of circumstances that would end with his departure just weeks after narrowly missing out on a playoff berth.

Having spent a wad of parachute dollars at Middlesbrough, he had begun to turn things around at when he was dismissed in a whirlwind of controversy. To Birmingham, then, and a season-destabilising points deduction dealt with as he gathered praise for keeping matters on the pitch positive.

A cynic would suggest he can’t half pick ‘em.

And as he sits in charge of a Sheffield Wednesday side with a lower points tally at this stage of his Owls tenure than those of maligned predecessors Jos Luhukay, Alan Irvine and Chris Turner.

The lucky / good scale behind such a concerning statistic is there to be debated – this is a manager that had Wednesday in third at Christmas but seems since to have lost his grip of a team in turmoil – and the circumstances haven’t exactly been on his side, with an ageing squad, another potential points deduction and inability to bring in his own coaching staff all thrown into the mix.

So which has been the most difficult job of Monk’s career so far? Saving Swansea from relegation? Playoff pushes with Leeds under the mania of Massimo? Financial muck-ups and general chaos at St Andrews?

Or is it in fact the one he finds himself in right now, attempting to sail a ship sinking in 2020 with half a squad and mass uncertainty hanging over Hillsborough?

“I believe so,” he said speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s trip to QPR. “You can see the start of what we’re going through with the squad right now.

"That of course leaves us in a position where in terms of squad depth we are weaker, that’s also down to some of the decisions of players themselves, it’s not just myself.

“You can see where we need to move it, the club can see that as well. It’s already happening, we’ve already had good conversations with the club on where we need to go forward.

“I know within myself if we can get through this period of four matches with some positivity then we can get to the place where it’s better.

“I get it, the negative side of it and quite rightly results dictate that. But I’ve had periods of good results and it’s still negative, so I’ve seen both sides of it.

“I’ve got enough experience now where I’ve seen a lot of situations and if I we can get through this period now and bring positivity back to everyone and get this transition going there can be a positive outcome.”

The question of a potential points deduction is one that could ultimately see this Wednesday side, now on a run of three defeats on the spin after an encouraging start to post-lockdown life, thrown into the clutches of a relegation battle that was unthinkable just a few months ago.

Asked whether he was able to provide an update on the ongoing EFL case as he has been in every press conference since that return to football, Monk for the first time admitted to frustration at how it was being handled. He said: “Everyone is tired of the same question.

"I've been through this before with Birmingham. It's a difficult one. Of course, from a logical point of view it makes no sense for it to have carried on for this long. The procedure of it all going forward needs to be looked at anyway, it's not a good situation for anyone to be in.

“In terms of the EFL thing, of course it's frustrating. But the energy and the focus from my point of view is not on that. It's a club issue, they're dealing with it, they're confident as they have been all along and we have to concentrate on the football, that's my job and the player's job.”

Monk also delivered a defiant message of ‘siege mentality’ within the changing room and vowed to come out fighting. He is remaining positive within himself, he said, and despite results is enjoying the challenge of transitioning Sheffield Wednesday.

After five jobs in five years – he is only 41 – there is a feeling that he could do with this job going right.

“I love football,” he said. “I love doing this job, I enjoy doing it, it’s my life and there are much worse things in life I’ve been through.

“I’m always going to be positive, I don’t focus on negative things.

“Until you’re told you’re not [contracted], that focus on ifs and buts and what might be, that’s nonsense to me, I’ll let you lot [the media] worry about that.

“I’ll just focus on what I’m here to do which is to help this team improve and with the transition bit we get it right it could be exciting.

“But you need results in the meantime to stop all the noise and that’s what we haven’t done well enough. I understand that.”

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