Forssell was the business
BERNARD Paintin has revealed how he didn’t care that a quick dash across the Wast Hills training fields muddied his shoes and trousers – for it helped Blues secure the signing of Mikael Forssell.
Blues had asked about the Chelsea striker throughout the summer of 2003, but nothing appeared to be doing.
Manager Steve Bruce was on the verge of signing Arsenal’s Francis Jeffers instead until Paintin took a call that would shape the course of Blues recent history. “Mikael was one we all knew about,” said Blues former chief scout of nine years. “It wasn’t necessarily a great piece of scouting that got us him, more the contacts we had at Chelsea. I had known their [former] assistant and chief scout Gwyn Williams 20-odd years and one Friday the phone rang. It was Gwyn and he asked me ‘Are you still interested in Forssell?’. He marked my card that he would probably be available on loan.
“As soon as I put the phone down I dashed straight up to the training pitches from the offices and headed straight to Steve. He was in the middle of a session and I just said: ‘Steve, I think we can get Forssell’. He looked at me and said: ‘Are you sure?’.
“The deal happened and the goals he scored that season were vital in keeping us up. Forssell’s signing was a great piece of business for us, it’s just a shame he injured his knee badly after he came permanently.”
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