Warburton dismisses notion of quitting Ibrox for the Swans
SWANSEA CITY managerial favourite Mark Warburton insists he has no intention of quitting Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers and returning to a job south of the border.
Warburton, who did a brilliant job in charge of Brentford last season and has led Rangers to the top of the Scottish Championship, has been installed as bookmakers’ favourite to replace under-fire Garry Monk as Swans boss.
But he spelt out his commitment to the Rangers cause just a couple of days before the fresh Swansea links.
Speaking after finding his name also touted as favourite for the vacant Fulham post, Warburton spelt out his intention to see through his three-year Rangers contract.
He angrily dismissed suggestions he would be leaving Ibrox and even revealed he had called a meeting of players and staff to emphasise he was going nowhere.
The chance to manage in the Premier League, of course, would be a sizeable step up from the Championship.
But Warburton emphasised his commitment to the Rangers task when the Fulham speculation arose only last week.
“Let’s be really clear, if it’s about money you don’t come north,” said Warburton. “I don’t mean that in a derogatory fashion, far from it. But the fact is the financial climate, as we know, is better down south.
“So it’s not about that. I’ve made the move here and the decision to come to Rangers was a big one.
“I’m not going to turn tail after five months here and say I didn’t know what to expect. A lot of thought went into my decision to come to Rangers. It’s a big club, a great opportunity and a fantastic challenge.”
In an interview reported in The Scotsman, Warburton continued: “There were stories which came out on Wednesday night which suggested approaches had been made and included details which were totally inaccurate.
“Two weeks ago, when people said I had been linked with jobs, I said I was the Rangers manager. I was asked that question, by the BBC among others, I gave the same answer and then on Tuesday it was the same.
“I thought I had nipped it in the bud two weeks ago, then Saturday and then on Tuesday. On Wednesday I was forced to be stronger.”
Revealing the need to call a meeting with the Rangers players and staff at the training ground, Warburton said: “If you look at the team, we brought in a number of them. Part of our environment here is to get them to commit to what we are doing.
“We are asking them to buy into new ideas, into a new training regime, into discipline in the gym work and nutrition. We’re asking them to buy into it and to commit to what we are doing.
“For them then to then hear, five or six months in, this speculation isn’t great. They are young guys and they want to know what’s going on. They want clarity and I’ve been trying to give them clarity.
“We spoke to the players and told them the truth because they read the same stuff that other people have to unfortunately read.
“The club’s board also know exactly where I am at. Again, I can’t do anything other than what I’ve already done and come out and quite clearly state my situation. I’ve committed myself to the club and I am very thankful to be here. I can’t do any more.
“Rangers is huge. It’s a huge club with a huge history and we have got a significant challenge ahead of us, but we know what it is.
“I’m driven to meet this challenge here. It’s easy to say we know where Rangers have to get to, the expectations we speak about. Rangers need to be at the top of Scottish football.”
IT started with a thumping 3-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium. Garry Monk’s reign as Swansea City boss could come to an end with crushing 0-3 loss at the same venue.
I guess it’s a sign of the modernday Premier League rat race that just weeks after absurdly being linked with the England job, Monk stands on the Swansea precipice this morning.
Given he was a former captain steeped in Swans folklore, and that his spell as manager began with that stunning triumph over archrivals Cardiff City in February 2014, it was inevitable Monk would be given plenty of latitude by the fans.
But quite a bit of that goodwill has obviously run out following Saturday’s hiding against Leicester which plunges Swansea perilously close to the relegation zone.
Any manner of names are being linked with Monk’s job, ranging from Rangers boss Mark Warburton and ex-Manchester United chief David Moyes, through to Andrea Mandorlini and Jose Luis Mendilibar.
Those two, I can proudly tell you, have respectively been in charge of Verona in Italy and Eibar in Spain’s La Liga.
I thought I knew quite a bit about continental football, but must admit I had to Google those particular names!
In between, we have the usual old suspects. Successful former Liberty bosses Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup, ex-Leicetser chief Nigel Pearson, Chelsea Champions League-winner Roberto di Matteo.
Then, inevitably, the perennial name of Graeme Jones, Roberto Martinez’s Everton and former Swansea No 2, who is held in such huge regard by the hierarchy down at the Liberty.
Swansea’s directors have coveted Jones as manager in his own right for some time. Doubtless they will again.
Make of it what you will. What is becoming increasingly obvious to many pundits and fans alike is that Monk’s days in the Swansea hotseat appear to be nearing some sort of end. It seems more a question of when, rather than if.
Something is fundamentally wrong when you see Ashley Williams defend in the haphazard manner he did against Leicester, and then angrily storm towards the Foxes team bus in search of hattrick man Riyad Mahrez.
That’s not the Williams I’ve come to know, a centre-back colossus for club and country and as cool and dignified a captain as you could wish to meet.
Mahrez and Jamie Vardy or not, Swansea were an utter shambles defensively on Saturday afternoon and the truism or not of the old saying of ‘too good to be relegated’ will be weighing heavily on the minds of the Swansea directors.
When Monk was installed in the job, I recall going public with my unease at his appointment. Laudrup, in my view, had taken the already soaring Swans to a new cup-winning level and to replace him with a rookie was a highly questionable decision.
Wilfried Bony’s goals were always going to ensure the Swans preserved their Premier League status during Monk’s first three months at the helm. But Swansea’s eighth-placed finish in Monk’s full season in charge led to me doing a public U-turn and saying the rookie boss had proved myself and lots of other cynics wrong.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so hasty with the u-turn, I don’t know?
Whatever, Swansea are struggling badly under Monk this time around and something clearly needs to change to ensure they are in the mix for even greater Premier League riches when the new TV deal kicks in for 2016-17.
The first wish of the board will be for results to alter for the better under Monk’s guise. But it’s evidently got to the stage where, at the very least, some of them will be wodering whether that can happen.
So, what of the names in the frame to potentially replace him? Well, Moyes clearly has big club pedigree, but his high Everton stock has fallen after what happened with his watch at Manchester United and Real Sociedad.
What’s more, Moyes hardly fits the Swansea mantra of young, hungry, novice manager with everything to prove, in the shape of a Martinez, Sousa, Rodgers, Laudrup or Monk.
Moyes clearly has a track record and would doubtless keep the Swans in the top flight, but going for him would represent a complete change in philosophy from the Swans’ directors.
As for links with Laudrup, the Swans are hardly going to turn back to their League Cup winning manager given he departed the Liberty under something of a