Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Garry Monk has emerged as a candidate for the vacant Bristol Rovers post, according to reports from Bristol Live.
The Gas are hunting for a manager after Joey Barton left the club recently, and Monk, out of work for almost three years, is believed to be on the shortlist for the role. He’s joined there by former Blackpool and Grimsby boss Ian Holloway, as well as Dean Holden, who recently left Charlton.
Monk made his name as coach of Swansea City, whom he kept in the Premier League following the departure of Michael Laudrup in 2014. The next campaign saw him guide them to eighth, their highest placing in the Premier League. A tough start to the following season resulted in him being sacked, and he’s since had stints with Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Birmingham before moving to Hillsborough. In all of those spells, he took charge of fewer than 60 matches.
The report suggests that Gas co-owner Hussain AlSaeed is keen on bringing in a young, with experience in taking teams from League One to the Championship, which doesn’t fit either candidate. However, Monk is still young; he’s only 44, and whilst he hasn’t managed in League One, he does have a solid reputation in the Championship.
As for Holloway, he has been promoted from League One before, having taken QPR up in 2003/04. At 60, he isn’t a young man, but he has promotions with Blackpool and Crystal Palace on his CV. Holloway does have one thing in his favour – he is a Gas legend, with three stints at the club as a player, including a spell in the academy, and five years as their boss at the turn of the century.
Caretaker manager Andy Mangan will be in charge of Saturday’s FA Cup tie at the MEM against Whitby Town and very possibly next Tuesday’s League One fixture with struggling Reading.
Writer’s View
Could there be more contrasting managers linked with a job? Holloway was widely condemned for playing a big part in Grimsby dropping out of the league, and his return to management is surely unlikely, given the co-owner’s criteria. Meanwhile, Monk has never managed in League One, and whilst he is still young, he has a string of jobs behind him that have tainted his reputation.
He is the sort of name fans could get behind. His age is a plus, and he has managed big clubs – it’s fair to say Birmingham and Sheff Weds were tough jobs, given the owners and situation Monk found himself in – Leeds could even be lumped into that as well.
Could he be ready to come back, energised and fresh, ready to build on his superb spell at Swansea? He’d certainly be an interesting appointment for the Gas, who currently sit 16th in League One.
