Football
9y

Swansea manager Garry Monk sticking to controversial Stoke comments

Swansea manager Garry Monk says he stands by his controversial postmatch comments about Victor Moses made at Stoke last weekend.

Monk was contacted by the Football Association on Thursday to "seek his observations'' over comments made following the controversial 2-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday.

The Swans boss claimed Moses had cheated to win a penalty for Stoke's equaliser and also criticised referee Michael Oliver for making a "disgusting" decision to award the spot kick.

The FA has yet to decide whether to take disciplinary action against Monk, who has until Oct. 27 to reply, but he said his views have not changed since last weekend.

"I'm happy to give them observations and I will do that,'' Monk said, speaking at his news conference ahead of Saturday's home game against Leicester. "What I'll say will be between me and authorities but I will speak honestly about how I felt at the time and what I said.

"They'll want to go over it and go through correct procedures, which is fine, but I stand by my comments because it was plain to see for everyone. I spoke about how I felt at the time in terms of Victor Moses and the situation and everyone will have their own judgements. But it was clear for me to see and I stand by my comments.''

Monk said he had previously sent a list of what he considered to be bad decisions this season to the referees' organisation Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) but had not received a response.

The referees' organisation said on Monday it had only just received Monk's list and that Mike Riley, general manager of PGMOL, would be in touch soon.

"I didn't approach Mike Riley,'' Monk said. "I've spoken about my feelings for a while over the way my team were being penalised in certain situations which were very unfair.

"They've contacted me to say they've received the DVD and letter and they'll be getting back to me in due course. It's in hand and hopefully sooner rather than later we'll have a reply.''

Stoke responded strongly to Monk's postmatch comments, with Mark Hughes saying it was "unacceptable" for the Swansea manager to label one of his players as a cheat, while Potters chairman Peter Coates called for the football authorities to look into the matter.

But Monk's stance was backed by former Stoke boss Tony Pulis and BBC pundit John Hartson, and he says he was pleased to have received those messages of support.

"It's great to have support but the point is I'm very passionate about this club and my players and when I feel there's an injustice against us I feel I need to stand up,'' he said.

"I think I need to say how I feel and represent the club properly. As I say, there have been a number of situations leading up to the one against Stoke and I felt it was the right time to express our concerns at what had been going on.''

Monk, the youngest manager in the Premier League and only eight months into his reign at Swansea, dismissed Hughes' comment that as he gains more experience he will "learn to bite his lip."

"It's his view on the situation, it's not one that really applies to myself,'' he said. "What was presented was very clear to me and I feel I've done nothing wrong. I tried to represent the club properly, myself properly, the players properly and that's how I felt.''

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