Planet Swans ArchivesAfter the summer shenanigans that was the Ferrie Bodde saga, he comes face to face with his then prospective employers for the first time when the two sides meet at the Liberty on Tuesday night.
The saga which started in May and ended just before the season started with news that Ferrie has elected to stay at Swansea was greeted by the Swans manager as the right decision as Derby went off and looked elsewhere for their new midfielder.
The Swans had slapped a £2m price tag on the head of the Dutchman – a tag that Adam Pearson said had changed at the last minute and the whole saga became a very public war of words – a war that was eventually won by the Swans when they kept hold of their man.
And that in itself should add a little spice to the fixture on Tuesday which will give Ferrie the chance to show those who do make it from Derby exactly what they missed out on. And that is something that Roberto believes will happen as he told the Wales on Sunday “I don’t think we have seen him hit top form yet.
“Slowly he is getting to that level, but I don’t think as a team we’ve peaked yet, so it’s difficult for individuals to peak themselves.
“But he will be fired up for Tuesday and that’s great because he’s a player for the big occasions.
“When you have a player like him you don’t have to worry about big games, in fact it’s better for him because such talented players can get bored in normal games.
“But I’m very happy with the way he’s started his football in the Championship and I know there’s a lot more to come from him and the squad.
“And the more he plays at this level then his greater understanding of the game will allow him to shine even more because Ferrie will be as good as he wants.
“For me, if at the end of the season he is not one of the best midfielders in the division it is because he didn’t allow it to happen.
“And I believe he has the whole package to be looking at the Holland squad.
“Ferrie had to make a decision and he made the right one.
“He’s delighted he did and now he’s settled, enjoying his football and trying to win games for Swansea City.
“Sometimes it shows the grass is not always greener. When you are enjoying your football and everything is going well, you can easily take it all for granted.
“We lost a couple of players in the summer and you can see they are not themselves at their new clubs.
“It shows agents can have a big say in a cold office and wrong decisions are made when you are not considering your happiness in your football.
“We have that with Ferrie and, only after a few games, he has again shown to everyone he’s got the potential and all the attributes to be the best player in this division.
“It’s easy to say now that we’re ahead of them, but at the end of the season they could be ahead of us.
“What we have to do is be consistently competitive at this level and then we will be fine. Derby will finish where they deserve to finish – and the fact they wanted one of our players is a compliment.”
