Garry Monk knows a thing or two about football players having of course been one himself for several years but he believes that there has been a notable change in the attitudes of some of them and clearly not for the better either.

Monk was quite critical in terms of what players want in some instances and accused some of not caring about the football itself.

The advent of the Premier League and the astronomical money that revolves around the division was always going to change the way that the game was viewed by some especially when you hear stories of players earning in excess of £150,000 per week.

Monk though is quite clear that he works with a different philosophy at Swansea and would overlook the signing of a player that he wanted if he felt that it would disrupt the team environment that he wants to build.

It is a great thing to hear and you cannot dispute that working with that viewpoint has done us no harm after last season's brilliant performance and the building of what is by far the strongest squad that we have ever put together.

Monk said: “The player now is a different animal, a different breed. They have everything set out for them and they don’t enjoy accountability so much. Game time and money is all a lot of them care about.

“You have to work hard to bring them away from that, to buy into being part of a team that wants to achieve. We do that well here.

“So many things have changed for the better in terms of professionalism. When I started you trained in the morning, had a sleep in your car and a sandwich, then trained again in the ­afternoon.

“But I’ve spoken to friends at other clubs and seen players myself who don’t care about football. Football isn’t No.1 for them. When I grew up money was secondary. Of course we all wanted it but the love of the game was No.1.

“That has probably changed, so we have to identify the players who care about football so much you can create ­something.

“I’m prepared to sacrifice signing a great player if he isn’t a good person — because that’s the way you create the ­environment you want.”

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