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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22699324

Michael Laudrup: Swansea need £200m to improve

Manager Michael Laudrup believes only a huge financial investment will enable him to improve on Swansea City's ninth-place finish in the Premier League.

He said: "Unless we find a couple of hundred million pounds I think last season we achieved nearly the maximum we can in terms of the table.

"There are always things you can improve, but there are not many higher positions we can look at.
"Even consolidating is going to be very difficult."

Laudrup's first season in charge is being hailed as the most successful in Swansea City's history.
In addition to their ninth-place finish in the Premier League, the Swans won the Capital One Cup, which earned them a place in the Europa League.

However, improving on that success will be a major challenge, according to the 48-year-old, who was appointed manager of Swansea on 15 June 2012 following the departure of Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool.

"Some of the teams below us this season will invest heavily; West Ham, Newcastle, Aston Villa," he said.
"They are huge clubs who want to take the place where we are right now."

Laudrup wants to strengthen Swansea's squad to meet next season's challenge, specifically targeting a striker to share the goalscoring burden with top-scorer Michu.

Swansea, though, have a reputation for financial prudence, which suggests a limited pot for new signings.
Selling Joe Allen , Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham has generated funds for recruitment, and the club are set to face a similar scenario this summer as they decide whether or not to sell Ashley Williams.

The Wales captain is valued at up to £10m and has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal.
Laudrup's agent, Bayram Tutumulu, told BBC Sport Wales that the manager is committed to Swansea for another year, having signed a contract extension in March until 2015.

However, he added that the extension was signed after the club's board had given assurances about team strengthening.
The situation is further complicated by Laudrup's rising stock as a manager, with his name being linked with jobs across Europe and Tutumlu claiming he has already turned down approaches from major clubs.


Anyone know how Swansea voted on the domestic FFP?

There's a come and get me plea if ever I heard one. I would like us to go and get him.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:There's a come and get me plea if ever I heard one. I would like us to go and get him.

Come and get me plea absolutely.. however I really dont undertsand why some fans want him at City. Hes no where near Mancini and nothing to suggest he has a holistic approach..

Lee_R wrote:
Come and get me plea absolutely.. however I really dont undertsand why some fans want him at City. Hes no where near Mancini and nothing to suggest he has a holistic approach..

He knows how to get teams playing attacking foitball. He has a reputation as one of the finest ever players in world football, he has been successful in management and over achieved in the Premier League. Did I mention he plays attacking football?

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:

Lee_R wrote:
Come and get me plea absolutely.. however I really dont undertsand why some fans want him at City. Hes no where near Mancini and nothing to suggest he has a holistic approach..

He knows how to get teams playing attacking foitball. He has a reputation as one of the finest ever players in world football, he has been successful in management and over achieved in the Premier League. Did I mention he plays attacking football?

Great players dont necessarily mean great managers though and I understand hes an up and coming manager but I just think we should be going for a proven name.. the sort that players want to sign for.

Laudrup has done very well so far and is a young manager at just 48, am biased as he was one of my favourite ever players but would see him as a better choice for a possible "dynasty" manager than the much older Pellegrini.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:

Lee_R wrote:
Come and get me plea absolutely.. however I really dont undertsand why some fans want him at City. Hes no where near Mancini and nothing to suggest he has a holistic approach..

He knows how to get teams playing attacking foitball. He has a reputation as one of the finest ever players in world football, he has been successful in management and over achieved in the Premier League. Did I mention he plays attacking football?

If you judged him as harshly as you have done Mancini, you would not conclude that Laudrup has been anything other than average.

Brøndby (one of the biggest clubs in Denmark) - 4 years, 1 title win, 3 times second place, 2 Danish Cups, 1 League Cup
Getafe - played great and reached Copa del ray final but resigned after 1 year
Spartak Moscow - fired after 7 months in charge
RCD Mallorca - resigned after 2 months
Swansea City - inherited attacking team and made them better, won league cup

It seems that he did ok when he was in charge of a massive team in a small league. Did well when given an already cohesive, attacking team in a competitive league. Was a dud in 3 other jobs. Football management does seem to be a profession where you do good for 6 months and develop a reputation as being good your whole career. Bizarre

Is 1.5/5 considered a success? I love him as a player but don't talk bollox especially when you just gave a man with a 10x better CV such a hard time.

Socrates wrote:Laudrup has done very well so far and is a young manager at just 48, am biased as he was one of my favourite ever players but would see him as a better choice for a possible "dynasty" manager than the much older Pellegrini.

Laudrup is rumoured to have signed a contract extension until 2015 (two seasons) with Swansea, we are rumoured to have offered Pellegrini a two season contract... There's one for the conspiracy theorists.

Dameerto wrote:
Laudrup is rumoured to have signed a contract extension until 2015 (two seasons) with Swansea, we are rumoured to have offered Pellegrini a two season contract... There's one for the conspiracy theorists.

2 years isnt unusual. He will prove himself to be the man they wanted and he'll get 2 more etc or they'll part ways. Esss normull.

bigblue wrote:If you judged him as harshly as you have done Mancini, you would not conclude that Laudrup has been anything other than average.

Brøndby (one of the biggest clubs in Denmark) - 4 years, 1 title win, 3 times second place, 2 Danish Cups, 1 League Cup
Getafe - played great and reached Copa del ray final but resigned after 1 year
Spartak Moscow - fired after 7 months in charge
RCD Mallorca - resigned after 2 months
Swansea City - inherited attacking team and made them better, won league cup

It seems that he did ok when he was in charge of a massive team in a small league. Did well when given an already cohesive, attacking team in a competitive league. Was a dud in 3 other jobs. Football management does seem to be a profession where you do good for 6 months and develop a reputation as being good your whole career. Bizarre

Is 1.5/5 considered a success? I love him as a player but don't talk bollox especially when you just gave a man with a 10x better CV such a hard time.

Brondby are NOT one of the 'biggest' teams in Denmark. They had 2 short, sweet spells c.1985-91, and 95-98. They were founded less than 50 years ago, their first internationally-capped player was Laudrup (1982), they finished 9th last season, and are currently rooted to the bottom of the table. Besides one Danish League Cup (which was actually an unofficial trophy, with the top 3 teams from the previous season entering in a round-robin, and which lasted for only 2 seasons) won the year after Laudrup left, they have not won a single trophy without Laudrup as manager in the past decade.

Also, he was at Mallorca for 14 months. Didn't take the world by storm, but they would have probably kept him given the chance.

Exactly right BiB. He picked Brondby up from the dumps and brought them success. Getafe is a tiny team in Spain. And he has achieved what nobody else ever has at Swansea. Most importantly he has always done it with style and panache.

Whoever said he isn't a manger players would want to play for must have been joking - Laudrup was a genuine all time great!

(I don't want him at City though)

BlueinBosnia wrote:
Brondby are NOT one of the 'biggest' teams in Denmark. They had 2 short, sweet spells c.1985-91, and 95-98. They were founded less than 50 years ago, their first internationally-capped player was Laudrup (1982), they finished 9th last season, and are currently rooted to the bottom of the table. Besides one Danish League Cup (which was actually an unofficial trophy, with the top 3 teams from the previous season entering in a round-robin, and which lasted for only 2 seasons) won the year after Laudrup left, they have not won a single trophy without Laudrup as manager in the past decade.

Also, he was at Mallorca for 14 months. Didn't take the world by storm, but they would have probably kept him given the chance.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:Exactly right BiB. He picked Brondby up from the dumps and brought them success. Getafe is a tiny team in Spain. And he has achieved what nobody else ever has at Swansea. Most importantly he has always done it with style and panache.

I read the dates wrong on Mallorca, but you are just plain wrong regarding Brondby.

Not a big club? Picked them up from the dumps?

From 1985 to 2005 the club won the championship 10 times and since 85 the club has only finished outside top 3 four times. In that period Brøndby has won at least one trophy or medal every single season except 1992 and 2012.They won the Championship in 2002, the year before Landrup took over!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brondby_IF

And when you say "he has achieved what nobody else ever has at Swansea" you mean, win the league cup. Not exactly a massive unprecedented achievement for a team like Swansea. Plus, you can't deny that Swansea were already a quality football side the season before he took over.

I don't think he's shit or bad even, I just think he's a massive step down from your nemesis Mancini.

bigblue wrote:

BlueinBosnia wrote:
Brondby are NOT one of the 'biggest' teams in Denmark. They had 2 short, sweet spells c.1985-91, and 95-98. They were founded less than 50 years ago, their first internationally-capped player was Laudrup (1982), they finished 9th last season, and are currently rooted to the bottom of the table. Besides one Danish League Cup (which was actually an unofficial trophy, with the top 3 teams from the previous season entering in a round-robin, and which lasted for only 2 seasons) won the year after Laudrup left, they have not won a single trophy without Laudrup as manager in the past decade.

Also, he was at Mallorca for 14 months. Didn't take the world by storm, but they would have probably kept him given the chance.

I read the dates wrong on Mallorca, but you are just plain wrong regarding Brondby.

Not a big club? Picked them up from the dumps?

From 1985 to 2005 the club won the championship 10 times and since 85 the club has only finished outside top 3 four times. In that period Brøndby has won at least one trophy or medal every single season except 1992 and 2012.They won the Championship in 2002, the year before Landrup took over!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brondby_IF

Yes, 10 times between 1985 and 2005. They have never won it any time outside those dates. Eight of the ten were during the two periods I highlighted above, one was while Laudrup was in charge, and one was the season before he arrived. Like I said, the only trophies they have won during the past decade have been during Laudrup's tenure.

Pray tell what trophies they won in 1986, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011...

2006/07 6th
2007/08 8th
2008/09 3rd
2009/10 3rd
2010/11 3rd
2011/12 9th
2012/13 9th
That's 3 times in the bottom half of the table since Laudrup left, four times outside the top four. They have not finished in the top two (where Laudrup finished with them every season he managed them) since Laudrup departed.

BlueinBosnia wrote:Yes, 10 times between 1985 and 2005. They have never won it any time outside those dates. Eight of the ten were during the two periods I highlighted above, one was while Laudrup was in charge, and one was the season before he arrived. Like I said, the only trophies they have won during the past decade have been during Laudrup's tenure.

They have also had horrible owner problems since he left and filed for bankruptcy. That doesn't prove at all that laundrup did an exceptional job there. They may not have won the league in 10 years, but they have won in the league the past 11 (the year before he came)! What is your point?

The main question is did he inherit a good team that had recently experienced success? Yes.

Has the club faced problems after he left? Yes. Are those problems related to his departure? No.

Based on the standard that Piccs has set for Mancini, is Landrup anywhere near as good? No.

Also - arguing that they are not a big club because they are only 50 years old and have won nothing before 1985 stinks of a Liverpool or Arse mentality. They have a huge supporter base for the country and have won a fuck load over the past 25 years.

bigblue wrote:Also - arguing that they are not a big club because they are only 50 years old and have won nothing before 1985 stinks of a Liverpool or Arse mentality. They have a huge supporter base for the country and have won a fuck load over the past 25 years.

They just over half-fill their stadium (16,500 average in 29,000 capacity stadium; 2nd largest in the country). Bear in mind that Brondby have no direct competitor for fans in any other sport (handball, primarily) unlike a lot of other towns with teams in the top flight.

I'm not arguing they are not a big team because they were formed recently. I am arguing they are not a big team because they have had two concentrated spells of success very close together in a relatively minor league. You claimed they were a 'massive club in a minor league', which they simply aren't. They are one of five teams to have won the league 9 or more times; only Copenhagen have had a similarly-concentrated spell of success, with other teams having won the league intermittently throughout their existence (although only 2 of the 7 clubs to have won the league more than 5 times are still in existence, as are only 8 of the 19 to have ever won the league...).

bigblue wrote:
They have also had horrible owner problems since he left and filed for bankruptcy. That doesn't prove at all that laundrup did an exceptional job there. They may not have won the league in 10 years, but they have won in the league the past 11 (the year before he came)! What is your point?

The main question is did he inherit a good team that had recently experienced success? Yes.

Has the club faced problems after he left? Yes. Are those problems related to his departure? No.

Based on the standard that Piccs has set for Mancini, is Landrup anywhere near as good? No.

Also - arguing that they are not a big club because they are only 50 years old and have won nothing before 1985 stinks of a Liverpool or Arse mentality. They have a huge supporter base for the country and have won a fuck load over the past 25 years.

Laudrup did a rebuilding job there. My standards are not merely set by the trophy haul but by the standard of play and the quality of the entertainment. In Engkand to win trophies you have to overcome the formidable opposition of Filth and to a lesser extent Chelsea. But my gripe witj Mancini has always been more about the mindset of the manager and the negative and overly cautious approach to many games.

Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:
Laudrup did a rebuilding job there. My standards are not merely set by the trophy haul but by the standard of play and the quality of the entertainment. In Engkand to win trophies you have to overcome the formidable opposition of Filth and to a lesser extent Chelsea. But my gripe witj Mancini has always been more about the mindset of the manager and the negative and overly cautious approach to many games.

So Laudrup rebuilt a 1st place team into a 2nd place team?

To me, Mancini always had the mindset of a win-at-all costs manager (like Mourinho or baconface). There are very few people in fotball that I think have a deeper desire to win than Mancini. He many not have always had the tactics or man-management to back it up, but his mindset was always top notch.

Your feelings against Mancini stems from something illogical and grew into ridiculous proportions. You give other managers the benefit of the doubt when Mancini would get endless criticism if he were in the same situation. It is pointless to talk with you about anything remotely related to Mancini (say for example a new manager to replace him) because you went so far off the deep end in wanting him out that you bamboozled yourself.

bigblue wrote:
So Laudrup rebuilt a 1st place team into a 2nd place team?

To me, Mancini always had the mindset of a win-at-all costs manager (like Mourinho or baconface). There are very few people in fotball that I think have a deeper desire to win than Mancini. He many not have always had the tactics or man-management to back it up, but his mindset was always top notch.

Your feelings against Mancini stems from something illogical and grew into ridiculous proportions. You give other managers the benefit of the doubt when Mancini would get endless criticism if he were in the same situation. It is pointless to talk with you about anything remotely related to Mancini (say for example a new manager to replace him) because you went so far off the deep end in wanting him out that you bamboozled yourself.

He rebuilt the side with younger, more attacking players with youth players getting a chance. Would that not fit in with the direction orur club wants to take?

Illogical? What I've been saying (plus many others) are pretty much the reasons given for Mancini's dismissal. The opinion I held was gaining more support by the week from people who could see what was happening. Thankfully the people at the club who count, could also see it.
Let's just hope they have also made a wise appointment with Pells.
Win at all costs is a very generous description of a man who often set out not to lose.

I think there are some unfair assessments of Mancini. I wasn't his biggest fan, but I appreciated what he was trying to do in terms of changing the mentality of the team and club. And in that respect, he achieved that goal to his own demise.

When he first took over, our play was negative and focused on not conceding, which I believe payed dividends the next two seasons because we were defensively very good.

The last two seasons he tried to play football. You can see that with the types of players he was after (not necessarily signing). What spoilt his football, was the lack of goals.

He did at times piss us off with his defensive substitutions, rather than going for the jugular, but that's where his flaw with tactics at times let him down. His other flaw was like we all know, his management of players. It seems towards the end, he just wasn't supported by the players.

Now we are about to move on and I hope Pello had an incredible future with our great club and I for one will support him fully, but I will also release my frustrations when we don't win. That's just part and parcel of being a fan.