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Glimrende intervju med Monk i Daily Mail
Leeds manager Garry Monk dreaming big at Elland Road: 'If I can take these fans to the Premier League, then wow!'
The mood at Leeds is buoyant with team flying high in the Championship
Garry Monk is building belief at Elland Road that the good times can return
The ex-Swansea boss is determined to use his past mistakes to improve
It is an attitude Monk is instilling throughout the club from the academy up
Last Sunday at Elland Road and a sell-out for the first time in six years. The result might not have gone to plan — visitors Newcastle winning 2-0 — but for Leeds United, there were 36,000 signs of progress and unity.
Victory over Rotherham on Saturday would lift Leeds into the play-off places, and Tuesday brings a visit to Liverpool in the EFL Cup quarter-final.
For the first time in years, hope and optimism abound.
Leeds, do not forget, have not finished in the top half of the Championship since 2011 and have reached the play-offs only once since being relegated from the Premier League in 2004.
Under Italian owner Massimo Cellino, Garry Monk, 37, is their sixth manager since the summer of 2014. At Swansea, Monk emerged as one of England's brightest young coaches, leading the club to an eighth-place Premier League finish, their highest ever.
Inevitably, there were suggestions that the FA should take a look. In football, however, things change quickly and 15 games into last season Monk was sacked.
His work had been impressive enough to bring calls of support from Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Dan Ashworth. Now he faces an altogether different challenge — to succeed where 12 others have failed by taking Leeds back to the summit of English football. So why risk it?
'It's the belief you have in yourself,' Monk said. 'I feel I can do something. I went in with no experience at Swansea. I had 80 or so games. 70 of those went really well and then for the sake of the last 10 games . . . I just didn't feel it was going to be more difficult here than what I'd already faced.
'I wanted a real challenge. I don't want to be safe all the time. If you can take these fans to the Premier League, then wow! Just imagine. They are unbelievably loyal. The ultimate aim is to get Leeds back to the Premier League. It's the motivation. We are fighting for it.'
Seven wins in 11 league games have lifted Leeds up the table. Monk has a young team, with a midfield comprised mostly of players below the age of 23, such as Kemar Roofe and Kalvin Phillips. In central midfield, 18-year-old Ronaldo Vieira is shining bright. His brother Romario (seriously) is also in the Leeds academy.
'Yeah — and he's got a little brother called Ronaldinho!' Monk joked. Immediately, though, he becomes more serious, pointing to a malaise among young English talent and echoing warnings made by Jamie Carragher in Sportsmail.
'We have a fantastic academy here but most academies are not producing real footballers.
'I met our young players at the start of the season and told them straight. I said they would be serving their apprenticeship with me.
'The system is not developing players right. I don't think we produce leaders. They are far too sheltered from everything.
'I remember coming through as a youth player. We prepared for if we didn't make it. We cleaned the stands, took out the rubbish, did errands for the managers, players' boots, cleaned cars...
'It was ruthless. Everyone had jobs and responsibilities. In my teams at Torquay and Southampton, there wasn't just one leader, we were all leaders. I want to expose my young group to the harsh realities. They can't shy away from responsibility.
'The key is work ethic and attitude. It is the attitude that is wrong now more than anything. They expect it to be given to them. The reality is you have to earn it.
'It's difficult to change the mindset of youngsters. Many big teams buy young players not to play them but just to stop another big club from having them. Will you ever change it? I don't think so. It needs to be changed, though.
'We are not producing men. We are producing boys. When I came through, I was 15 years old playing against professionals, getting battered and growing up quickly.
'At 16 and making my league debut for Torquay, I felt ready. If we were to drop young men into that situation now, I don't think many could handle it. I like our young players. I see them take more responsibility every day, developing. We can't make them wash cars but I can make them be men about responsibility.
'I don't want them looking for an excuse, coming in after training and blaming someone else. Whatever happens, it's on you. I respect them as adults, I don't treat them as kids. They have huge potential. How far can they go? That's up to them.'
Monk says he is 'an old-school-values individual with modern methods'. While out of work, he visited Sevilla to talk with coach Unai Emery and director of football Monchi. He also had meetings with elite-level tennis and cricket coaches.
'I spoke to Ryan Jones, the former Wales rugby captain,' Monk said. 'I wanted to know about mental and physical preparation.
'Rugby treats games as war. There are certain bits about how they prepare mentally that can benefit my young players, particularly their professionalism.
'I wanted to know how rugby managers talk to players at half-time. In rugby, they have units. You have splits between defensive unit and forward unit and the team-talks are separate and then the manager comes in at the end.
'Would I do that? No, I do all of it! But who knows? In the future, football might go that way.'
Monk continues to film every training session. On the first day of pre-season each player was given a digital presentation of Monk's vision for Leeds.
At Swansea, he would mic himself up for training and listen back to every recording to check tone and clarity. He no longer does that. 'I'm fed up with my own voice,' he joked.
Sports psychologist Ian Mitchell would also join the coaches for training. 'I don't have a sports psychologist now,' Monk said. 'I'm confident dealing with that myself.
'I've changed. At Swansea, I knew what I was doing but there were things that played a big part in my mind that weren't really relevant.
'I would get in very, very early and make sure I was the last to leave. What was the latest I left? Well, the problem was my house was two minutes from the training ground. It was like "have a row with the missus and just go up the training ground for a bit!"
'I was there late into the night at times. You have a lot on your shoulders so you need a clear mind. Working from 6am until 10pm is not the most effective thing.
'There were times where I wanted to be there for the sake of wanting to be there. I was working but was it effective work? Maybe not always. I felt I had to do it because that's the typical image of a manager. I feel a better manager now than I ever did at Swansea.'
For Leeds, the picture now looks rosy but six games into the league season it was different. Leeds had suffered their worst start to a campaign since 1981 and supporters wondered if Cellino's patience would run out.
'I never had doubts about the way I was working,' Monk said. 'Yes, there was frustration because I could see the lads working hard but we need time and understanding from all at the club to understand the process.
'Ninety-nine per cent of promoted teams have longevity together. Swansea was built over many years. We can see Burnley, Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton doing similar. We are putting down important foundations here.
'My relationship with the owner has been excellent. He likes to know about the club, he is passionate about it — which I like. My job is the football and all the other side is for the club to deal with.'
'There are Leeds fans everywhere. I go to Spain and there are Leeds fans in the airport. I speak to Eddie Gray (former Leeds player and manager), who reminds me of the responsibility.
'Johnny Giles visited us at pre-season in Ireland. We had 3,000 at every game. I want to take them where they deserve to be.'
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3965870/Leeds-manager-Garry-Monk-dreaming-big-Elland-Road-fans-Premier-League-wow.html#ixzz4QwyvYBYy 
