Bony sale best for business but Blues beating a sign of Swans struggle

Garry Monk ducked the question of absent players, namely Wilfried Bony, when picking through the wreckage of Swansea City’s 5-0 home demolition by Premier League leaders Chelsea.

One bad result, or a sure fire sign of a slump has started following the sale of the Swans’ star striker? It’s easy to wax lyrical about Jose Mourinho’s men and simultaneously do some doom-mongering about the Liberty Stadium side, now 16/1 with Coral to crash the top six.

What will disturb Monk most, though, is something more than the nature of this defeat. Every side, even Swansea, who this time a dozen years ago propped up the Football League, have dark days like this, but the damning statistic of no shots on target is a worry.

Every player has his price, however, and the Swans have made a rough profit of two-and-a-half times what they paid for Ivory Coast international Bony, but he is merely the latest performer to leave the Liberty.

Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair, Ben Davies, Jonathan de Guzman, Michel Vorm and Michu are just some of the other star turns that have been lost. What is striking about this list is it’s hard to say any of them have been better for it.

Nonetheless, Bony has thrown his lot in with the Etihad outfit where expectation is far greater, and his career there, once he returns from the Africa Cup of Nations, will be watched with interest. An ensemble cast of Marvin Emnes, Bafetimbi Gomis and new loan signing Nelson Oliveira showed no signs of stepping up to fill the void against Chelsea, however.

This poses a problem for Swansea manager Monk. There is money in the bank, but his coaching career is still in its infancy (he will complete a year in charge at the Liberty come February) and he may find it difficult to lure players capable of replacing Bony.

Predecessor Michael Laudrup may have had a fly by night managerial reputation, and so it proved, but the great Dane has a huge standing in the game. That is why he and Mark Hughes were/are able to lure bigger names to provincial clubs like the Swans and Stoke City.