South Wales Evening Post

Martinez makes Holland pledge to Bodde

Friday, October 31, 2008, 08:00

ROBERTO Martinez claims he will have failed Ferrie Bodde if he does not turn him into a full Holland international.

And after brushing off fresh rumours linking his playmaker with the Premier League, Martinez has revealed that Bodde has talked about signing another Liberty Stadium contract extension.

The Swansea City boss believes "every club" in the top flight would be keen to sign Bodde given his spectacular current form.

But he has dismissed stories linking the 26-year-old with West Brom, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Bolton and insisted his future lies in Wales.

"Ferrie signed a long-term contract with us in July and I know that if he doesn't play for Holland, it will be a failure from our side," Martinez said.

"Ferrie will not have developed the way I know he can and I will take responsibility for that.

"At the moment we are in a position where every Premier League club would be delighted to have Ferrie.

"We are not going to stop speculation about him, but he's enjoying his life, he's enjoying his football and he knows he is progressing with every game.

"We should welcome attention from other clubs because it shows we are doing well.

"We have four or five players who are ready to play at the top level and another six or seven who are developing towards that, but we don't have to sell and that's a great position to be in.

"Ferrie has mentioned a few times that he would love to sign an even longer Swansea contract and it's great when players are enjoying their daily work."

Martinez laughed off suggestions that Swansea have received fresh offers for the player Derby tried so hard to prise away from the Liberty in the summer.

But he conceded that rival clubs are likely to come calling during the transfer window, saying: "We will get bids because we're getting a lot of compliments for the way we play and that's down to the players.

"There are four or five players who might be attracting a lot of interest, and that's good, but our concentration right now is on trying to beat Doncaster.

"There will be lots of talk and rumours in the paper, but when you look for a player you have to look at the club.

"Anyone looking at us will know it will be very difficult to take one of our players away."

Bodde will lead the way for Swansea as they look to put their midweek defeat at Wolves behind them by beating a struggling Doncaster side tomorrow.

Rovers are in dire form, with just one point from their last 10 games, but Martinez believes the division's bottom club will soon be on the up.

"They have been playing a lot better than their results show and it's a difficult place to go at this time because their bad run will come to an end at some point.

"They are still adapting to the new division, but they have the quality and the power to win games at this level."

Swansea have been hit by news that Tom Butler will miss the Doncaster trip after collecting a minor hamstring injury in training, while Andrea Orlandi (quad muscle) is still not fit to return.

But they head north full of confidence after the brave defeat by leaders Wolves in midweek.

"If you could choose the way to lose a game, Wolves was how we'd do it," Martinez added. "The way we kept control was very impressive for a team who have just come into the Championship, and the next step for us is to convert that kind of performance into results.

"When we do that, we will be title challengers."

Martinez makes Holland pledge to Bodde

 

   






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