Serene Monk harbours no resentment over Swansea exit

(Reuters) - Former Swansea City manager Garry Monk has said he harbours no resentment over losing his job at the Welsh club earlier this season and wants to return to work as soon as possible. Monk played for Swansea during their rise through the divisions to the Premier League and took over from Michael Laudrup in February 2014 with the club flirting with relegation and secured their survival in the top flight. He steered the team to a club-record eighth-placed Premier League finish last season, but was sacked by Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins last week after winning only once in 11 league games since beating Manchester United at the end of August. "I honestly don't feel sad about it," Monk was quoted as saying in Wednesday's edition of the Times. "I totally respected his (Jenkins's) decision. I just feel grateful to have that experience. The past 22 months, I learnt so much. "No other club in the Premier League would have given the club captain that opportunity to take the club in that situation, with 13 games to go, two points above the relegation zone. "They were brave. They deserve credit for it. Of course I trusted myself." Monk's achievements at Swansea saw him being hailed as one of Britain's brightest young managerial talents, and the 36-year-old said he could not wait to get back to work. "I'm very much a manager," he said. "I want to do it at the highest level. I've done it in the toughest league in the world. I've been successful at it. "My only driving focus is on making sure that when that opportunity comes, I'm ready to go straight back in. I want to go back in at the highest level." The thought that he might have to seek that opportunity outside England does not faze him in the least. "Look at Gary Neville at Valencia," he said. "Brilliant. I really hope he's a massive success. "To go abroad is a brave decision, but a good decision, and hopefully he does well and it opens doors for other British coaches. "I would go. I'm open to everything. I'm not closed-minded to anything. Going abroad is a good thing. It's a learning process. "I've got the taste for management. I feel I've done well in this period, and I'm only going to get better." (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)