Birmingham City: Why the future is bright at Blues for Michel

Jun 10 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

MICHEL has spoken of his determination to make a real mark on the Blues side next season.

The Spaniard said he had been frustrated by a lack of action following his £3 million January move.

But he vowed to give his all and force his way firmly into the reckoning.

Alex McLeish tended to use the midfielder sparingly as the regular Lee Bowyer-Barry Ferguson combination performed so well, so consistently.

And he spoke about how important it was for Michel to get used to the pace and physicality of the Premier League, rather than throwing him in at the deep end.

Michel, who made three starts for Blues, told the Birmingham Mail: “It is always difficult for any player not to play.

“Particularly that is the case when you come from a situation where you have been playing every week, as I did, in Spain.

“So it has been tough for me to hang on and not be playing.

“But next season is another season and I am hopeful it will be different for me.

“I understood why the manager made his decisions. We have very good players and the team was doing very well.

“But I have faith in my ability and I think I have learnt a lot already. So I am looking forward to next season very much, when I can hopefully show people what I can do.”

Michel, 24, said he didn’t feel the Premier League’s rather frenetic nature had left him struggling. Used to La Liga, the former Sporting Gijon captain commented: “For me, football is football wherever you play it. There isn’t a lot of difference between the way we do it in Spain and the way it is here.

“There are cultural differences between Spain and England, but not so much football. It has not been a problem for me.

My life here is good. I have got used to the food and I am enjoying it.”

Michel said he sensed Blues were on the verge of good things in the future and he had no regrets about his switch.

“Regrets? No. None at all,’’ he added.

“I always wanted to come over here and I was very happy when my move to Birmingham finally worked out.

“I just want to contribute to the team’s success now.

“We had a very good season and the manager is going to be bringing in more players who should make us even stronger and even better.

“When he first spoke to me he had some good plans and I think we are now seeing that this club can do good things.”

“As for next season, I’m sure I’m going to be able to get on and the team will do even more than we did this season,” Michel added.

“I hope I will contribute to success for Birmingham – that is my wish.”