MONK WAITING FOR POSTMAN TO KNOCK

[TrueBlueTerrier]

09:00 - 14 December 2007

Postman gets Footy contracts maybe

The postman in Swansea City's squad should soon receive a letter of his own.Garry Monk, who is required as club skipper to dish out mail to his team-mates, can expect confirmation in the next week or two of a one-year contract extension.

The new deal, which is based on appearances and could be triggered before Christmas, will make Monk a Swansea player until at least the summer of 2009.

And it will represent a major triumph for the central defender after 2006-7 was almost completely obliterated by a serious knee injury.

Doubt surrounded Monk last summer.

There were questions about whether he would remain at Swansea, and there were questions about how effective he would be.

Out of contract, Monk was also out of luck when it came to asking the club for a two-year extension.

Swansea's management were not prepared to offer such lengthy terms to a player who had completed only one full game in the last campaign.

Their fingers burned by other long-term casualties, those in charge at the Liberty Stadium insisted on 12 months only for Monk, with the same to follow should he manage 25 first-team games in 2007-8.

With the season yet to turn for home, the former Southampton player has played 23 times, missing only three matches because of minor fitness problems - plus a one-match ban - unrelated to his knee.

"This has been the best start to the season I've had in my career," Monk admits.

"It couldn't have gone too much better for me."

Monk could stick two fingers up to the men at the top - and to all the other doubters - as he nears the 25-appearance landmark.

Some players would, but he won't.

For Monk is a player who goes around steadying the ship, not rocking it.

"I said all along in the summer that this was the club I wanted to play for," he adds.

"Unfortunately, new contracts don't get sorted out overnight but, thankfully, I got something sorted out in the end.

"It wasn't ideal for me, but I could see why the club offered the deal they did.

"They had to protect themselves because of my injury and I understand that.

"But I came back determined to prove nothing was wrong with my knee and I think that issue is behind me now.

"It will be nice to get to 25 games, but I'm not going to relax when I do.

"I'll be trying to get an improved contract then because I don't just want to settle for one more year, and I'll be trying to get this club into the Championship.

"Getting the football right is the key. If you do that, the contracts look after themselves."

Monk has got his football right so far this season, making a mockery of those who suggested he could not be the same player following such a serious injury.

Not the same? If anything, he has been better than the one whose last major contribution was to help Swansea into the 2006 League One play-off final.

Were there to be a player-of-the-year vote at the Liberty right now, it would be seriously competitive.

Yet Monk would be a safe bet for the podium and, in the eyes of many, the top prize.

"I'm happy with the way I've played," he says.

"Being a defender is all about being consistent, and I've been happy with my consistency levels.

"But saying that, we're not even halfway through the season yet, so there's plenty of work to do."

Fingers crossed, Monk will be involved throughout.

Roberto Martinez will hope so, for the man who succeeded him as Swansea captain has been the linchpin of his defence this term.

Asked last week about the success Martinez's men are currently enjoying, midfielder Andy Robinson singled out Monk for praise.

Mercifully, there has been barely a hint of knee trouble for the 28-year-old as he has steered his team into automatic promotion contention.

"I think people have been quite surprised professionally because the injury wasn't just a cruciate, it wasn't as straightforward as that," Monk goes on.

"And I've been quite surprised myself that it has got so strong so quickly.

"I've felt it once. I jarred it in the last 10 minutes at Tranmere and it was sore after the game.

"I wondered if I'd tweaked something, but the next day I felt fine again so that shows you the knee's okay.

"I've played regularly and that's been fantastic, because last season made me realise that you can't take the games for granted."

Making Monk's life even more enjoyable has been the excellent form of the team.

"The atmosphere in the squad is different from anything else I've experienced here," he adds.

"We keep on fighting and we keep on believing.

"Even when we go down in games there are no heads going down, and that's a great way to be."