Rodgers poised to sign new deal

26 January 2012 17:16

Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers has agreed in principle to a new three-year contract with the Barclays Premier League club and expects to put pen to paper in the coming days.

The Northern Irishman has operated on a one-year rolling contract since moving to the Liberty Stadium in the summer of 2010.

He guided the Welsh club to the top flight and has overseen an impressive start to life in the Premier League with the club lying 13th in table, leading chairman Huw Jenkins to look to tie the former Reading and Watford manager to a longer-term contract, and Rodgers revealed the deal to keep him in south Wales until 2015 is as good as done.

He said: "I spoke with the chairman (on Thursday) and we have agreed everything in principle, we just need to draft up the paperwork and be presented with it over the weekend, then it will be signed and done and that will be fantastic.

"It was clear to me I wanted to be here. There was very little to discuss and I will be proud to move forward with the project. Ultimately my job is to make Swansea a sustainable Premier League club, that's the challenge.

"It looked a massive challenge to get promoted, but since then we have shown we can compete at this level, although we are riding high and playing well the objective is to stay in the league, that would be monumental and give the club more money to invest in the team. But the goal is firstly to make Swansea sustainable and you can obviously build from that."

Rodgers and Swansea's next Premier League fixture sees Chelsea visit the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday, but before then they travel to face Bolton in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Rodgers will include Alan Tate in his squad for the first time since the defender broke his leg in a golf buggy accident in August. The 29-year-old has made three appearances for the reserves after completing his recovery a month ahead of schedule.

And Rodgers said: "He is working very well, he has been out for a long time, but he is a wonderful pro and I have no doubt he will come into the squad this weekend. He was outstanding last season and was just unfortunate that he had the freak accident.

"It was a long road back for him and to be out that long was tough, but he dealt with it well and it's a credit to him and the medical team that he is back in contention earlier than expected."

Source: PA