Evening Post football writer Gareth Vincent puts the questions to Swans boss Roberto Martinez . . .

GARETH VINCENT: As the dust settles, how does it feel to have won promotion and to have done it the way you did?

ROBERTO MARTINEZ: It's a great feeling after a very complete season. I always get excited looking back at the golden years of Swansea City and I'm very proud that the players have written their own chapter in that golden history. We won the title, which only one club can do, and we did it playing good football. We also did it with a young squad which has its best years ahead, so the whole thing excites me. I'm very proud of that group of players.

GV: Did you really think things could go this well, this quickly when you hung up the boots last year?

RM: You never set targets for you or your team. You believe in a certain way to play and then you see how far you can go. After the friendly against Levante here and the first league game at Oldham, you could see we had the talent in the squad. It was just a matter then of how consistent we could be. We set our standards behind the scenes and it really paid off.

GV: Your signings have almost invariably come off. Is talent spotting one of your big strengths as a manager?

RM: When you know what you need to improve the squad it's a huge advantage. You get names thrown at you on a daily basis and 90 per cent of them are fantastic players for this level. But when you look for players who can come and play for Swansea, you reduce that group a lot. It's very hard to play for Swansea, that's something I found as a player. Also, we've got a very good group of players already, so whoever comes in needs to bring something different. Whoever comes in needs to have character and a hunger for success and they need to be prepared to work for everyone else. They need to understand that we are a family club. I really enjoy seeing possible Swansea players and it's an area where Kevin Reeves has been fantastic as well.

GV: Why is it hard to play for Swansea?

RM: Because you're expected to win every single game and that only happens at the big clubs. As a player, you can either cope with that or you can't. Every time we've lost a game this season it's been the end of the world. We lost in the Carling Cup against Reading in extra time and everyone was disappointed.

GV: Looking back, the start was the only slightly difficult period of the season. Did it take the new faces time to settle in?

RM: I'd say it took the group time to gel because we had 10 new players. There are partnerships on the pitch and small details which come when you have been playing together for a long time can win and lose games. The new signings had an impact with their individual ability, but as a team you need time to settle and work out what's needed.

GV: After you lost at Leeds, you drew at home to Brighton, which was the start of the long run featuring just one defeat which was key. What changed after Leeds?

RM: Before Leeds, we had a very good platform of performances but didn't get the rewards in terms of results. Leeds was disappointing because we weren't ourselves. The draw at home to Brighton was a completely different challenge because away from home teams will try to match you and play face to face, but here they will come and try to be organised. They set out to be very hard to break down and look to waste time. In the next game, at home to Swindon, you saw the reaction from the team. They really got together that day and the winning mentality started there. There was also the second half at Cheltenham, before we went to Leeds. Those four games saw a metamorphosis, where a squad of players with great talent and hopes became a very effective and strong football team.

GV: What was the strongest department of your team, defence, midfield or attack?

RM: I would say the personality we showed coming back from a goal behind on a number of occasions was our strength, not any area of the pitch. Going behind at places like Gillingham and Hartlepool and stamping our authority showed our character.

GV: Who would be your player of the year?

RM: I would pick a group of 10 players. That's the six nominees for the award (Jason Scotland, Ferrie Bodde, Leon Britton, Garry Monk, Angel Rangel and Dorus de Vries) plus Andy Robinson, Paul Anderson and Tom Butler, who were all at the top of their games for long periods. And then there's Darren Pratley as well.

GV: What was the best performance of the season?

RM: That's a hard one. In games where things went our way, I would mention Leyton Orient (away), Northampton (home) and Crewe (home). We only beat Crewe 2-1, but it was a 10-0 performance. We were outstanding in other games where we had to adapt to another role, like Carlisle (home), Gillingham (home) and Leeds (home).

GV: And the worst?

RM: Leeds away. We weren't ourselves for 60 minutes. When we went a goal down we came out of our shell, but we had created our own problems by then. We didn't perform as we expected to up there. Yeovil at home was the same but there was a big excuse because it's hard to perform after you've got over the line. And against Millwall at home we played the occasion again and gave too much away.

GV: What was the best goal of the season?

RM: As an individual finish, Jason Scotland against Bristol Rovers at home. Then there's Guillem Bauza's goal at Luton. But the goal that best describes us was Paul Anderson at Leyton Orient. The ball comes out quickly from Dorus, it goes to Ando and he has a two-v-one so he comes back out. Then it comes back to the right-hand side, Ando's got a one-v-one and he goes through and scores.

GV: Was NottinghamForest's promotion a surprise?

RM: It was after they lost at Doncaster (in late March). After that it wasn't a question of what Forest had to do to get promoted, it was down to what Carlisle and Doncaster didn't do. In football you don't get something because you don't deserve it, and Forest deserve to be up. But in the last third of the season Doncaster and Carlisle didn't continue the level of performance they had showed earlier on. Without the Leeds cloud, I don't think both those teams would have failed. One team can always be affected because of an injury or a couple of sending offs, but you don't normally see that happen to two teams.

GV: Who's going to win the play-offs?

RM: It's a lottery, but looking at form it has to be Southend or Leeds. Then you look at the extra push the club can give you and I think Leeds have the ingredients to get promoted.

GV: How much has the Leeds saga marred your success this year?

RM: Now that everything's finished, only a little bit. It really tested the character of the boys in certain periods. They couldn't relax because the 15 points were playing on their minds. But we aimed to win the championship assuming Leeds would get all their points back and we achieved that. The only real disappointment was not being able to celebrate in front of our home crowd. That's a shame because as a player you work hard for those moments, and if you are fortunate you will do it once in your career. If you're very fortunate you'll do it twice. Unfortunately, that was taken away from our players.

GV: The focus now shifts towards the Championship. How hard is it going to be?

RM: It's going to be a very hard challenge but a very enjoyable one too. That's where we want to be and I think the whole club is ready. By that I mean the players, the people in the office, the fans, the board, the staff. Everyone is ready for the next challenge.