Tate arrived at Swansea at pretty much the same time as the now Swansea manager and fought with him as the Swans battled to remain in the football league.ย ย They then both shared a promotion experience from League Two as well as the heartache of a play off final defeat just twelve months later.ย ย And while this hasn’t been the best season of Tate’s career, the defender is enjoying life at the top of League One as much as anyone.
It now seems to be a case of when rather than if the Swans seal promotion and there are already rumours surfacing that Tate has signed an extension to his deal to stay at the Liberty Stadium.ย Rumours that are unconfirmed at the moment.
However, he has nothing but praise for his manager and told the Wales on Sunday that he always knew he would be a success but few could have envisaged just how much and so soon.ย ย 44 league games have passed since the appointment and with 94 points achieved in that period, Roberto is on target to do 100 points within his first 46 games – a record that not too many of his peers can manage.
โAll the lads knew he was destined to get into management,โ said Tate in today’s paper
โSo it didnโt surprise us when his name started cropping up when people talked about who would be coming in.
โI think the only thing that made some of us think it might not happen was that he was still playing at Chester at the time and we all knew how much he loved to pull his boots on.
โBut he must have felt it was the right time and the right club to give all that up because he hasnโt looked back.
โAnd you canโt argue that he didnโt make the right choice because his record just speaks for itself.
โWe could all see he had what it took to be involved but even saying that, I donโt know if anyone could have predicted he would have done so well so early. It wasnโt in anyoneโs wildest dreams for us to make the play-offs last year the way we were going but we came one game from doing it.
โNow you look at us and weโre clear at the top and a game away from a Wembley final. You canโt really argue with those stats.
โThereโs always been a lot of talent in the squads here and Robertoโs added to that,โ insisted Tate. โBut I think heโs helped that along with his training.
โHe was always big on training when he was a player, taking a big interest in what we were doing or werenโt doing.
โAfter sessions heโd be taking notes when weโd be off doing something else and thatโs paying dividends.
โIโm not sure people outside the club would have necessarily known that; hence the surprise when he arrived here to take over from Kenny.
โBut now you can sense the excitement of what heโs brought on board and he has a good couple of coaches behind him.
โGraeme Jones and Colin Pascoe have big roles and Bonner (Jones) is probably the more outspoken one and can really rip into people when itโs needed.
โBut Roberto has gone mad a few times too; you wouldnโt want to be on the wrong end of it.
โWe heard the things of him being too nice but thereโs a public persona of everyone which is usually wrong.
โHe wouldnโt have had a playing career as long as he did if he didnโt have a nasty streak in him. What comes out on the pitch or on the training field is one thing, but the real person is inside. We wouldnโt be where we are if Roberto couldnโt tell us when we are going wrong in no uncertain times and if youโre not cutting it then, rest assured, he lets us know.โ