“One of the best”, “a top manager” and “the right direction” – What players said about working with Garry Monk at Sheffield Wednesday

It was confirmed on Monday evening that Monk had left the Owls after 14 months in charge of the club, leaving behind a squad that was curated largely by him after a busy summer transfer window over the past few months.

Many players are believed to be surprised at the decision to part ways with Monk, and comments from some of those that he’s worked with in Sheffield may go some ways to explain why they’d be sad to see him go.

Barry Bannan

"It's not the manager… I don't know how many managers I have had since I have been here. This manager, I will speak on behalf of the team, he's a top, top manager.

"He wants to win. A massive thing for players is your manager wanting to win, he's been there, he's done it.

"That (criticism) needs to stop now, the manager stuff. It's nothing to do with the manager.”

Adam Reach

“He’s making improvements on the training ground, he’s making improvements with numerous things, and most importantly he’s trying to improve the mentality of the club.

“He’s trying to improve the mentality of the players in terms of taking more responsibility within the group under his guidance.

“And he’s trying to get everybody moving in the right direction and I think we’re doing that.

“The circumstances we’re in don’t help because it’s a results business, so taking on a transition while trying to win every game is quite difficult at times to see with a clear mind the bigger picture.

“I’m hoping people stick with that, and we are in the right direction.”

Steven Fletcher

“I’ve worked with a lot of managers over my time – I’ve seen a few off as well, which is not a good thing.

“But he’s one of the best managers I’ve worked with – and I’m not just saying that because he’s my manager now.

“Just the little details he works on I’ve never seen before in my career, it’s fantastic.”

Joost van Aken

“To be honest it’s been very good (working with Garry Monk), he’s been a centre back himself so I spoke a lot to him before the season started about what he expects from me and his centre backs.

“I think I can learn a lot from him with the experience he has. Everything is quite good - new manager, new staff, everything positive.”

Fisayo Dele-Bashiru

“The gaffer, I like his DNA, his style of play, I think that it’ll suit me. He likes a certain dynamism of player, so I’d say that I see that dynamism - like I say, I’m powerful and box-to-box. I just felt like it was the right decision for me to make.

“He’s just told me that I need to compete day in, day out. Even on my worst days, when I come in, I need to compete. The rest will fall into place.”

More Owls news

Garry Monk has LEFT Wednesday, and Dejphon Chansiri has spoken about it

The return of Westwood? - Four players who could benefit from Garry Monk’s exit

431 days later – The highs and lows of Garry Monk’s tumultuous Wednesday career

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