It's been quite a week for Swansea City and keeping Ferrie Bodde was the icing on the cake

I think that 15 July could turn out to be quite a significant day in the history of the Swans.

On the face of it, securing one of the players of last season on a longer term contract may not seem a huge move but when you consider it meant turning down £1.5m into the transfer coffers and beating off a side trying to show their financial muscle it is a statement of intent and a clear indiciation of where we are at this moment in time.

In the early part of the summer there were criticisms aimed that we would struggle to compete financially in this division and as other teams band about multi million pound transfer deals our squad would struggle.  But on the eve of the first pre season game in Wales, the Swans pulled off a great about turn and persuaded Ferrie to stay in Wales.

Make no mistake this was a significant move.  Derby had made him their number one target and despite the "we have moved on" comments they still wanted the player.  Badly.  And they offered more money.  And they offered a fee that was closing in on what the Swans wanted.   But the persuasion of Roberto and his Chairman meant that Ferrie will play against Derby next season rather than for them.

And when you wind the clock forward 24 hours and get the first glimpse at the new players Roberto has brought in and it gets better and better when you see the strength in depth that we have at the club.   Maybe light in one or two positions but we are close to a squad that could well raise a few eyebrows over the next nine months.

The headline of the article is very tongue in cheek because nobody can deny Derby their history of league titles etc but on a level playing field (well, it wasn't level they had the financial advantage) we pulled off a signing that we weren't expected to achieve.

And whilst other clubs have been beating the drums about their summer signings, our club goes about their business quietly securing quality players at affordable prices.

And that, factored in with the summers work to date makes me think we are at the start of something very special.   It couldn't happen, could it?

Photo: Action Images

Derby County Polls