In a shocking turn of events, Garry Monk has announced that he will not be in charge of his current club Leeds United anymore for the next season. The decision is likely to have come as an aftermath of a season, which the Elland Road club made hard for themselves right at the end as they failed to win all of their last five outings, so as to miss out on the opportunity to make it to the Championship Playoffs for the recently concluded season.
Leeds United were well placed at number six on the Championship table, and were looking good to get into the Playoffs, when the landslide downfall happened to end all hopes for the Whites to make their way back into top flight football after a prolonged gap of 13 years since they were last seen in the Premier League.
The club has expressed their disappointment in regard to their head coach Garry Monk’s departure and said that they have “reluctantly accepted” his decision. They have also expressed a deep sense of gratitude to the services rendered by the ex-Swansea City coach in his tenure that lasted only a couple of years with the club.
The Club released a statement, which said-
“While we are deeply saddened by Garry’s decision, there is no individual bigger than our club.”
It added: “Andrea made it clear to the media yesterday that his intention was to exercise the club’s option to extended the manager’s contract for another 12 months and immediately begin negotiations for a longer term deal.
“Mr Radrizzani has met with Garry twice since taking over at Elland Road earlier this week and during the second meeting yesterday it became clear that Garry was considering life beyond Leeds United as at no time did Garry wish to discuss terms for a longer contract.
“Following that meeting yesterday Garry’s agent requested that the option was not exercised and his resignation was received this morning.
“We thank Garry for his contribution during his time at Leeds United, we are disappointed that would could not continue on this journey together.”
It was a close shave for the Whites as they lost their place in the Playoffs by only five points, managing to win only one out of their last eight games. It goes without saying that the players and fans had a massive heartbreak, coming so close to achieve their coveted dream of playing in top flight football once again after 2003-04.
The supporters took to Twitter to react with varying degrees of emotion.
Sentiment Analysis:#StarWars40th – :slightly_smiling_face:#NationalWineDay – :slightly_smiling_face:
Garry Monk – :neutral_face:#AfricaDay – :slightly_smiling_face:— FeelTheTweet (@FeelTheTweet_) May 25, 2017
Garry Monk – PLEASE don’t take @pjansson5 and @officialcwood with you wherever you are going next #lufc #mot @PhilHayYEP
— Simon Nutt (@snutt30) May 25, 2017
Garry Monk: My favourite ever Leeds manager. He was the perfect fit for Leeds. His influence on this club was unbelievable.
Devastated 😥
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) May 25, 2017
Oh Garry Monk what a kick in the bollocks you’ve just hit the fans. To think you could have been part of something special at #lufc ££ talks
— Darryl Smith (@sm1th90) May 25, 2017
Tuesday: Cellino leaves Leeds.
Thursday: Garry Monk leaves Leeds. pic.twitter.com/DU1nhi8szo— SlashFootball (@slashfootball) May 25, 2017
You’ll never manage a bigger club, Garry Monk. You could have been a legend. Next… #lufc.
— LeedsUnitedAmericas (@luamericas) May 25, 2017
Garry Monk :broken_heart: pic.twitter.com/q6GeVSjIAW
— Robert Dent (@rdent_) May 25, 2017
