‘Well liked. Hands-on.’ - The Sheffield Wednesday lowdown on Bristol Rovers manager candidate Garry Monk

Bristol Rovers are approaching nearly two weeks since they sacked Joey Barton as their search for a new manager goes on.

Barton was relieved of his duties on October 26, and since then Andy Mangan has taken charge of the wins against Northampton Town and Whitby Town. Mangan was Barton's right-hand man at the Memorial Stadium and at Fleetwood Town, and last week Sam Finley came out and said Mangs had the backing of the players to succeed his mate.

Whether Mangs keeps hold of the job remains to be seen, and since then numerous names have popped up with the vacancy. All of them have more managerial experience than Mangan, and one of the most interesting is Garry Monk. Monk is a popular name amongst supporters when asked the question as to who they'd like to see take to the Mem hotseat.

Monk has managed in the Premier League with Swansea City, and has also been at Birmingham City, Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday. His last job in management was at Hillsborough in 2020, and is approaching nearly three-years out of the management game.

To get the lowdown on Monk, we spoke to The Star's Sheffield Wednesday reporter Joe Crann, who gave us an insight into Monk, and whether he'd be a good fit.

How would you describe Garry Monk? What was his management style like at Sheffield Wednesday?

I really liked Garry on a personal level, he was good to talk to, really respectful to the media and offered plenty of insight when we spoke to him.

Unfortunately it was during Covid so face-to-face stuff was largely limited. He was really well liked by the players, too, many of them were genuinely shocked and a bit gutted when he left the club. He was very hands on, and was keen for the club to give more of a look inside training etc with regards to content put out.

What was Garry Monk's favoured formation at Sheffield Wednesday - or did he change his approach depending on the opponent/player availability?

He changed things quite a lot to be honest. He started with a back four in his first season and but switched to a 3-5-2 towards the end of it when things started to go a bit wrong if I recall.

In the relegation season he alternated between a back three, back four and to some extent a back five before he eventually left after a bad run of games.

How did Monk operate in the transfer market during his time at Sheffield Wednesday? Did he have a specific profile when signing a player?

He was in charge at a difficult time really, with all sorts going on behind the scenes. There was a bit of money spent on Josh Windass and Callum Paterson but that was about it.

He was largely restricted to loans and free transfers, but often spoke about bringing aboard 'young, hungry and dynamic' players as he sought to undergo a squad revamp at Wednesday - a revamp that was eventually completed by Darren Moore.

He's not managed outside the top two tiers of English football, how would you see him adapting to League One football?

He's got plenty of experience in the EFL in general, and played plenty of games in League One - so he knows what the division is all about. It's obviously a different style of football in the third tier to what it is in the second, and the quality of player tends to be a bit lower. I can't see much need for 'adapting' as such, not with his experience higher up.

If Monk were to be appointed, what kind of coaching staff would he bring, and could you see him reuniting with any former players?

Again, it's tough to say. It took him a while to get his staff in at Wednesday, eventually bringing in the likes of James Beattie and Darryl Flahavan, but it didn't last too long given that he was fired a little while later.

I'd imagine he would like to take people who he knows and trusts, though - whether that be former players or coaches that he's worked with previously.