"If I have to prove people wrong, I have to prove people wrong. If people have made their mind up after this short space of time, I can't control that. I've had to prove people wrong my whole life. I was written off at other clubs. People saying 'he's useless, he's no good'. But I believe in the work I've done. I believe in the mentality and believe in resilience."
At the time, it was difficult not to view those comments from Michael Duff as anything more than the desperate musings of a man on the ropes. After all, it wasn't so long ago we were starting to wonder if time was already running out on his tenure.
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How foolish we all were. Three weeks on from their tepid showing in the South Wales derby and Duff has duly delivered. Those words instead feeling almost unnervingly prophetic.
The Swans have taken 13 points from a possible 15 and are now three points off the top six. It's a stunning turnaround. One that's made a mockery of the often scathing early verdicts from critics.
That's not to say the start to the season didn't warrant a bit of naysaying, mind. A worst start for 32 years meant questions over his suitability for the job were inevitable and, some would argue, entirely justified. For so long it was a struggle to work out what the team was supposed to look like at times. Performances were disjointed and players looked unsure of themselves, seemingly stuck between two styles and philosophies.
Certain comments in the press didn't help Duff's cause, although at the same time, the micro-analysing of each press conference from some corners became increasingly ridiculous. Yes a manager that oversees the sort of start should always expect a bit of stick, but the increasingly personal barbs thrown in his direction, particularly on social media, started to feel classless, paranoid, and sometimes just plain bizarre.
Whether you agree with the criticism levelled at him or not, Duff, to his immense credit, has offered up the perfect response. This sensational run of form will have entitled him to a fair number of apologies, although judging by recent comments, there's no hard feelings towards any doubters on the terraces.
"The supporters have been great," Duff told WalesOnline. "Particularly since the Cardiff game. The players took a lot of heat, as did I, after the game, and quite rightly so.
"I say it all time. Come support the team. Then when the final whistle goes that's your moment to either clap them or vent and boo them.
"800 turned up at Millwall using planes, trains, automobiles and four-day camel rides to get there. The players are really appreciative of it. They really are."
After a rocky start, it feels like there's more of a bond with the Jack Army, although Duff's previous promise not to celebrate a victory with a fist pump to the fans was clearly broken at Home Park. Perhaps we should let that indiscretion slide, though.
But incredibly, there's still a small minority of fans determined to feed their addiction to misery. Some have doubled down, insisting this upturn is down to the players, rather than Duff himself. Matt Grimes is apparently the man actually managing the team, while Duff is presumably sat in the corner, plotting the best way to beat the traffic on his way back to Cheltenham, receiving another rollicking from his mother-in-law.
"You're only as good as your senior players a lot of the time," Duff said when asked about the influence of the senior heads in the dressing room. "That's why they're so powerful, but can also be so dangerous. If you get senior players that aren't a good role model or a good example, because they carry so much weight in the dressing room, if they want to go the other way they can pull four, five, or six with them.
"Pato's been great. Jay Fulton hasn't been in the team, but the way he's gone about it. Grimsey leads by example, obviously. We are a young group, but the senior players have been really, really good in stepping up, and being honest as well in seeing that certain things weren't good enough and certain things had to change. It's good they're driving that, rather than me having to push, push, push all the time."
Clearly the players deserve credit, but as has been said before, the buck always stops with the man in the dugout. It's ridiculous to expect Duff to take criticism when things go wrong, and not give him credit for when things start to click.
For all the noise and conspiracy theories, this side has now equalled the tally Russell Martin mustered at this stage last season. Martin's shadow clearly loomed large over the latest regime, but after some initial strife and struggle there's finally now a real sense that Duff is starting to implement a side with its own identity.
In fairness, as with his promise to prove people wrong, Duff did tell us all this was coming. “I didn’t win a game for 10 games at Cheltenham, 18 months later we won the league," he said back August.
“The same thing happened at Barnsley. We were eighth or ninth in the league for the first three months, then we were the most in-form team in the country from November on.
“It’s never going to happen overnight. I want to win as much as anyone else. I also understand there’s a process.”
Martin understood the importance of that final point too. 'Trust the Process' was a mantra that underpinned his time in SA1. Duff may well have moved away from many of his predecessor's methods, but he may well feel there's something to be said for that viewpoint. If choppy waters return, it's perhaps a lesson we'd all do well to remember too.
