Planet Swans ArchivesThis game has been billed as Ferrie showing Derby what they are missing out on after their failed attempts to sign him in the summer.
A very public saga ended just before the season started with Ferrie signing a new contract to stay at the Liberty Stadium and two goals and five appearances later he has helped the Swans into an early season 10th place – 10 places ahead of Derby.
Banned from speaking to the English press, Ferrie has just gone about his business as he tends to and got same rave reviews for his performances to date although he was criticised by many who made the trip to Selhurst on Saturday.
However, Roberto believes that the game against Derby is more about his side bouncing back from the weekend defeat rather than any points to prove. He told the Western Mail “We all know Ferrie is a passionate player, he loves the game and gets excited because he’s a winner
“But it won’t be anything different than normal and I think the players on the pitch will be more concerned about reacting from the weekend, not because they are playing Derby County.
“It’s probably more important we carry on with the standards we’ve set earlier in the season. That’s what we are looking at, not who we are playing against.
“In that respect, I don’t see it as a big test for Ferrie. It’s a great story for the press and people on the outside, but I would think Ferrie’s already forgotten about that situation.
“Since then he’s matured a lot, got better as a player and is probably a bit more focused about his direction and the future – he wants to be successful in the Championship, successful with Swansea City and he wants to improve and be able to play in the Premier League one day, hopefully with us.”
Roberto insists as well that there is no bad blood between the two sides despite the way Derby publically played out the saga and he added “Relations weren’t strained, things were dealt with honesty and in the end it was straightforward – the deal didn’t happen the way Derby wanted, it happened the way we wanted.
“Ferrie signed a new contract and it affected him in a positive way – he enjoys life here, enjoys being an important player in the way we play and enjoys his football.
“And I always saw the situation as a compliment. If people want to fish in Swansea for players that shows the players and the club are doing something right.
“So there are no issues other than football now and everything else is in the past.
“It was a period of time where there is no football so all the talk is of speculation – but now there is football and to talk about it now would be a mistake."
And of the weekend defeat?
“It’s a compliment if people from the outside think it’s about putting right our negative aspects from Saturday rather than about the opposition
“We are newly promoted and sometimes when that happens you can feel not good enough in certain games to compete against bigger clubs. But it’s true we felt we only had ourselves to blame when we did not compete, and that shows the strength and quality of the squad.
“That’s why we need to look at ourselves and make sure we are on top of our game because if we do that we will compete.
“The start we’ve had this season has been pleasing in seeing the players doing themselves justice – but perhaps we expect too much already because we are still adapting.
“We are playing against a Derby side who were one of the clear favourites to win promotion at the start of the season.
“They’ve come here after a good performance against a good side, we are here after not such a good performance and a very bad result.
So we have to make sure our performance is up there to compete. And it is true, it is harder to play against them now than it would have been two weeks ago because just as side can have a losing dynamic, their win can bring a different mentality.
“It is a difficult challenge but an exciting one because when you get through these challenges it can really move the football club forward.”
