Alan Tate believes that Roberto Martinez as naive to make the comments he did when at Swansea
Alan Tate believes that Roberto Martinez as naive to make the comments he did when at Swansea
MArtinez has been heavily criticsed over time for comments made about never leaving the club and having to be forced out as a manager much as he had been as a player.
But when Wigan came calling, Martinez upped sticks and left to take on the challenge of the Premier League and is now in his third season at the DW Stadium. This weekend he brings his side to the Liberty Stadium for the first time and is expecting a 'warm' welcome from some quarters.
Tate said “I think what gets to the fans were the things he had said – probably naively said
“When he said what he did I’m not sure he realised how good he would be as a manager.
“I think he’d talked about being forced out when we were still in League One.
“We got promoted, had a good year in the Championship and he was given the chance to go to the Premier League.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d forgotten about it and wouldn’t have expected it to be brought up again – but fans aren’t stupid. They don’t forget.
“I can see both points,” he said. “For me he did well for the club and changed everything here.
“The philosophy we have now started under him; Paulo Sousa carried on and the gaffer now has taken it to another level.
“And I think he should get a good reception because you need to appreciate what he did, not only as a manager but as a player.
“When he came in he was a calming influence and got everyone in the right frame of mind.
“When I first came here when we were fighting against going doing we would train and then go over to Tesco for an all-day breakfast.
“When he arrived he arranged for us to go to a restaurant together to eat healthily and then keep us together for coffees after rather than going off to town on our own.
“You can’t say what would have happened if he didn’t come in because he did.
“But there were a number of reasons why we stayed in the League that year and he was one of them.”
Tate went on: “But because he meant so much people obviously felt betrayed when he left.
“He took a lot of backroom staff with him and fans have said he ripped the heart out of the club.
“I can see both sides, but hopefully fans won’t boo him. Still, just because I say that, it doesn’t mean anything.
“Some will forgive, some won’t. Roberto will realise that.
“It was always going to work out like this, anyone could have predicted Wigan in the first home game,” he said.
“But there’s no extra importance. All the talk beforehand makes absolutely no difference and has no effect on us as a team.
“There have been so many big games for us recently that it’s just another game and you forget everything that goes with it.
“It’s like when we used to play Cardiff; there’s a different build-up and in this case it’s being made out as if it’s Roberto v Swansea, but we don’t see it any differently.
“I don’t even think that the fact Wigan are being tipped to struggle makes it any more important either.
“Of course you want to beat the teams around you and it might be fair to say that Wigan could be one of those, but we haven’t got it in our make-up to pick and choose where we go for it.
“We’d be looking for three points – especially at home – against whoever we play.
“That doesn’t change so nothing else matters.”