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ROBERTO MARTINEZ
Roberto, you’re a long way from home. About 2000 kilometres to be precise. How can a guy from Balaguer, Spain, be so chirpy on a rainy day in Swansea?
I love this place. It’s why I keep coming back! People ask me why I came back to manage here after three seasons as a player and it’s simple. I love it! It is a beautiful spot; sometimes I think we take for granted how nice the area is. The new players, the first thing they tell you is they can really see themselves feeling at home here. It feels like a close community, like the people belong to the city. The club represents that a bit, I think. It has a bit of a family atmosphere.

And that’s important to a player?
Very much so. Football is a stressful job, you need a place where you feel comfortable, where your family are happy and have things to do, so that you can free your mind. I can go to the Gower, Mumbles, Rhossili Bay and escape. It is important because if you go somewhere which doesn’t feel like home and your family does not fit in the community, it can be stressful, horrible.

Your players certainly seem happy on the pitch this season. Has it surprised you how well Swansea started the season?
It has, to be honest with you. It was our biggest worry whether or not we could play the way we wanted in the Championship, which this season is the strongest I think it ever has been. It’s a close league. I’m delighted that the players feel comfortable here, that they are not intimidated. What we need to make sure is that we carry on enjoying our football because it is easy to get scared at a higher level.

Is there a target on reaching the next level and getting Swansea into the Premier League?
The target is to keep improving. We have a very inexperienced squad and club at this level. If we can get past this first season, consolidate our status at Championship level, and make sure our players keep improving we are doing well. We have a very young squad and that will be a huge asset for the future. We would be stupid not to dream of being in the Premier League, but we have to be realistic and build for it. We already have the stadium and infrastructure.

Do you miss the buzz of the Vetch?
That was a special place with a special feel, but an old stadium. The Liberty Stadium is something to be proud of and now, finally, we are getting a great atmosphere there. We have 16,500 people coming to games, it makes a great noise. I guarantee we would not be in the Championship if we stayed at the Vetch.

Do you miss home? Do you want to manage in Spain one day?
Swansea is my home. I have been here so long, it’s not like I crave paella or whatever and need to get back. The weather is usually better, though! I only believe in short term goals and all my short-term goals are about success for Swansea in the Premier League.

Can you get there before Cardiff?
We'll see! That would make me popular if we did, but it is important to remember they have been in this division a while, they know this level and have built to reach the next stage. We have to consolidate our Championship status before we are ready for the next step. They have a good squad of players, a good manager. They can go up, but they won't get much help from us!

DAVE JONES
Morning Dave. Another transfer window has closed and the club still has Joe Ledley. Good summer for you by all accounts.
Yeah, you could say that. It’s always hard keeping your best players when the Premier League clubs come sniffing around. You’ll never get better if you lose those players because they are hard to replace.

It’s a tough market at the moment.
In this division, you can spend a lot of money but it will only be on Championship players. If you’ve got £10 million you won't attract a £10 million player because they are in the Premier League. There is not one team who thinks they can get quality Premier League players because they won’t come down.

It must have been hard telling Ledley that you were blocking his dream of playing among the elite.
That’s just one of the challenges of managing. We had offers for him, but it was in the interests of the club to keep him. It wasn’t just a decision for the club, but we had to decide for Joe. We didn’t feel it was the right move for him. Joe might have thought differently but I gave him my reasons. It’s always difficult, everyone wants to play in the Premier League, but that’s part of the game. Unfortunately, so is upsetting players from time to time.

There’s a school of thought that players get it too easy anyway. Doesn’t it annoy you seeing players forcing transfers when they are in the middle of a contract?
It really does. There’s no use having a player who, one year into a five-year deal, says ‘I want to leave and if you don’t let me, I won’t play’. I lay most blame with the agents. There is player responsibility in all this as well, but it is the agents who are turning players’ heads with talk of money. It’s why I put a lot of time and effort into learning about a player’s background and personality before I sign him.

Do players get too much money?
I have no qualms with any player making any amount of money. They can only ask and it’s up to the club to give it. The club can say ‘no’. Once you say ‘yes’, you can’t blame the player.

From an outside perspective, it’s sometimes easy to think all players are greedy, selfish and disloyal.
I know, but it’s not a fair representation. There are good boys out there. People get confused; not everyone is earning £100k a week but because of the profile everyone thinks players all earn a fortune. Truth is, there are a lot of good players who earn what normal society would consider a good salary but not a great one.

Speaking of money, Cardiff were on the brink of receivership not so long ago and now they are hoping to reach the Premiership. Does it make you think the chairman, Peter Ridsdale, deserves a bit more credit from fans?
I think so. If we look in the last couple of years, what has been achieved has been fantastic. That’s in a large part down to the chairman but, good news or bad news, he is the one that gets discussed. There are a lot of people here doing really good things that go unnoticed. It was two years ago we had no assets here, but now we have plenty.

One of those is a state-of-the-art new stadium. Do you think the club will be adversely affected when the time comes to leave Ninian Park?
We’ve been at Ninian Park for a long time and have great memories. On top of that, it is not a place other teams find easy to visit: our fans have that special charm! But the game has moved on and if we are to move with it then a new stadium is essential. This new stadium is coming along nicely and is going to be great and look fantastic when it’s finished. The players can’t wait to get in there.

Is the Premiership a realistic goal this season?
Of course it is. We are a good club, with good people and a good squad. We have been building towards it, but now we can make it happen. The shame is there are another 23 clubs in this division that think that!

Roberto Martinez is being quite reserved about Swansea's chances. False modesty?
They played so well last season, who am I to say they won't surprise us all. It is definitely a club moving in the right direction and one that plays good football. But this is a hard division to get out of and they might need to do some building before making the jump up. Personally, I'm glad they came up and I think the fans are too. There should be a few good games to watch this year!

Swans and Bluebirds flying high

This season for the first time since 1984 Swansea City and Cardiff City meet in the Championship. Riath Al-Samarrai caught up with managers Roberto Martinez and Dave Jones to discuss wages, weather and paella