Monk, however, is under no illusions that results need to improve after a hugely disappointing run of one win from eight matches and increasing speculation that his position is on the line. Swansea have declined to make any public comment but it is understood that Huw Jenkins remains supportive of Monk, who was rewarded with a three-year contract in the summer, and that the club’s chairman held positive talks with the manager on Sunday following the 1-0 defeat at Norwich 24 hours earlier, with the aim of turning things round rather than turning up the heat.
Swansea have no desire to make a managerial change and Jenkins has made it clear that he wants Monk, who led the Welsh club to eighth place last season and their highest ever Premier League points total, to succeed. There is no suggestion that the relationship between manager and chairman has broken down and, while the coaching set-up is occasionally discussed along with the playing squad, Monk has never come under any pressure from above to make changes and bring in a more experienced figure to work alongside him.
At the same time there is no escaping the fact that Swansea have lost their way this season and that results since the opening month of the campaign, when they picked up eight points from the first four games and beat Manchester United, are a major cause for concern. Many of the club’s more influential players have struggled for form over the last couple of months and the goals have dried up in a team that have failed to score in three of their last four fixtures.