Was it justified to sack Michael Laudrup?

Michael Laudrup was sacked less than a year after winning Swansea’s first trophy for a century.

It is a decision that sounds crazy, but it was entirely justified.

Laudrup lost his job at Swansea not just because of his results, but by being caught up in his own hype. Handling the media is a crucial part of management and whilst in interviews the Dane always came across as a likeable person and a man fondly remembered from his great playing career, he was embroiled in continual stories surrounding his future. He gave the perception that Swansea were a stepping stone: PSG, Barcelona, Arsenal were among three of the clubs he was heavily linked with, but by failing to respect Swansea he will now have to rebuild his reputation once more before getting linked with clubs of that status.

Laudrup’s final weeks gave a perception of sheer apathy: there were training ground bust-ups; days off before important matches and a divided squad with many of the Spanish players he had recruited forming their own cliques.

The chaos off of the pitch was hardly made tolerable by performances on it. Swansea have long been a side admired for their passing football, but under Laudrup although they still retained dominance of possession their attacks had become slower; predictable and lacking in the final third.

The decision to send Ki out on loan and spend £6million on Jonjo Shelvey was baffling. Shelvey is not a bad player, however if it takes Ki three touches to form an attack it will take Shelvey seven touches to do likewise. Is it any wonder that their tempo has slowed down?

He has also missed Michu. That’s a massive blow for any manager. My feelings on Allardyce are well documented, but I did not have much sympathy for him when Carroll was injured? Or Chris Hughton when his new signing Van Wolfswinkel had missed a large chunk of early games that may have impacted on how he has settled?

Michael Laudrup is walking away with £4.5million after missing his work, whilst Jenkins has to find a new manager who won’t be able to bring in players simply because the former manager simply couldn’t care anymore. It was a justified decision.