“The decision has been made very reluctantly and with a heavy heart… It was not a decision we took lightly, especially given Garry’s history and standing within the club.”

These words, taken from the official statement released by the Swans today, confirmed what had been anticipated for a few weeks now. Garry Monk has been officially dismissed from his role as manager, and the search now begins for a replacement.

To say that Swansea’s form in recent weeks has been poor would be an understatement. Match after frustrating match, performances have been way below expectations and most importantly, results have not been picked up along the way. One win in eleven games tells its own story, and the extended wait for a decision to be made became increasingly frustrating and inane.

As a Swans fan, it is difficult to grasp that Garry Monk, ex-captain, long-time servant and manager, will no longer be in the employ of Swansea City AFC. For weeks, I have been in denial that this would eventually happen. I hoped upon hope that Monk could pull us out of this slump, re-ignite the dressing room that was seemingly so flat and keep his job.

His performance as manager as a whole has certainly been satisfactory at the very least. Leading us to a record points total last season, adding a different dimension to our play, pulling off results that had previously been unthinkable. These will all stand as hallmarks of Garry Monk’s tenure as Swansea manager. To achieve doubles over Arsenal and Manchester United last year spoke volumes of the levels we could achieve under Monk.

Personally, I am gutted that it has come to this. Garry Monk gave so much for our club as a player and a manager. From his so-called £90 million block to leading us to impressive victories as a manager, plenty of Swansea’s historic moments owe some debt to Garry Monk.

Could it have been different? Much has been made of Monk apparently ‘losing the dressing room’, which perhaps speaks more on the nature of football that players paid ~£40/50k a week aren’t able to concentrate on doing their job. Perhaps if some of our current squad took responsibility for ending our poor run of form, we could have ended the season with Monk in charge.

Now however, attention switches to who the next man will be in the Liberty dugout. A few names have been linked, David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers among them. Whoever it is, the faith must remain in Huw Jenkins and the board. I’m sure I was not alone in questioning whether we should have sacked Michael Laudrup, and even with Monk’s sacking, there is no doubt he enjoyed success with us as a club.

As always, In Huw We Trust.