Birmingham City: Praise for midfield duo but Michel deal still on cards

Dec 5 2009 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ALEX McLeish has admitted that the Barry Ferguson-Lee Bowyer double act has got him purring.

The pair bring a bit of everything, not least order and calm, to the central midfield areas.

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And that has been a big factor in Blues’ spike in form.

The Blues boss said the two players complement each other perfectly.

“Ferguson got me 18 goals in a title-winning year at Rangers when we kind of let him loose in making runs into the box. He was very good at picking the right moments,” said McLeish.

“Bowyer has made a living out of that throughout his career. We have asked Ferguson to just kind of patrol things a little bit. And the thing about it is that he has made us play.

“We’re asking our players to show composure, to pass it when they can.

“Row Z, of course, when you’re under a bit of pressure is fine. Nobody ever lost a goal doing that.

“I believe that’s what Ferguson’s brought us: a little bit of composure.”

McLeish remains keen on Sporting Gijon’s Michel, another clever midfield schemer, who has age and more dynamic legs in his favour.

That transfer collapsed laughably before the summer window shut and McLeish rushed through a loan for Sunderland’s Teemu Tainio to compensate.

The Finland international has since struggled with a knee injury, which required surgery. Michel could be seen as an heir apparent to Ferguson, although the signing from Rangers seems more than likely to go on for a while longer.

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