Richard Montague

[jackal2]

You're never safe if a bigger club or put another way someone offers you a better package knocks on your door.

And the owners know that and cater for it. Whether it's a player or a backroom staff member they will have a figure in mind in terms of how much they will pay to retain an employee and deter the vultures, but if the bidding goes above that figure and the employee wants to go (e.g. like Crowley did), there's no point risking the financial stability of the club to retain someone whose heart might lie elsewhere anyway.

Richard Montague may have been the public-facing front man for the recruitment operation, and I don't doubt the importance of his contribution individually, but it has been made clear all along that recruitment is done by a team and a system underpinned by the Football Radar operation, precisely so we don't become dependent on any one component. As one door closes another opens, and Montague's departure presents an opportunity for someone else to show their ability, still working within the same overall structure.

I suspect that Swansea may be putting too much store in the idea that particular individuals who have done well elsewhere can be the solution to their problems. If they haven't got a structure in place, and if they expect instant results from their new recruits, they could be in for a shock. Our progress as a club has come from five years of constructing solid foundations, more slowly than some would like, with plenty of setbacks along the way, but the overall trajectory has been very gradually upwards. I don't think Richard Montague's departure will be allowed to change that.

To borrow the old 'Indispensable Man' phrase: if you want to know how much you will be missed in an organisation, put your hand in a bucket of water, then remove it, and see how long the ripples last.