May the Forss (no longer) be with you
Ninja Feet, the Sweatiest Man in Football, the Milky Bar Kid, Forss.
Just some of the sobriquets Mikael Forssell picked up during his time at Blues. In Finland, he is known as
Miklu, and drives a Mercedes with that moniker on the number plate.
Next season, he will be cruising his sleek motor down the autobahns.
It's the Bundesliga and Hannover for the striker. He will join them on July 1, the first day after his Blues contract expires.
Blues could have exercised a two-year option, but they wanted Forssell to take a reduced salary after relegation and because of worry about his knees.
Hannover tried to sign Forssell last summer in a £1 million deal but went cold after their medical people preached caution.
This time they have taken the plunge and Forssell leaves after 37 goals from 118 appearances, stretched over a five-year period.
That term of duty is significant: had Forssell not required surgery to repair a chondral defect (the sort of
injury that forced Jamie Redknapp to quit), who knows what he might have achieved, and where he might have ended up.
A 19-goal return in 2003-04, his debut season on-loan from Chelsea, was Forssell at his peak. His goals
came a variety of ways: sniffed out, followed-up, right place at the right time, manufactured himself with
those quick feet (he liked to joke it was Ninja feet).
He made just four appearances the next campaign before Chelsea took him back for surgery and we never did get to know just how the Forssell-Emile Heskey partnership would fare.
Before returning emphatically these past few months, it did look bleak for Forssell.
Watching him, I felt he wasn't quite the same, he didn't have that fluidity, the snap and sharpness. He tried too hard as well, overdoing the killer moves. And if the truth be told, Steve Bruce had all but written him off.
But, to his great credit, Forssell managed to perform a second coming. He changed his training routine and put in countless hours with strength, conditioning and sprint coaches. His movement looked better, it was freer, and so was his mind.
And he always trained demonically, often taking a bag of balls onto the Wast Hills pitches - or even parks
pitches on his day off - to hone his technique. In many respects, he was obsessional, like Jonny Wikinson
of a few years back.
In pre-season, when the sun was at its hottest, he was a nightmare for kit manager Denis Butler. I have
never seen a footballer sweat so much and drench his training tops - and that was during the warm-up
stretches (hence the way I jwould often jokingly refer to him).
His hat-trick against Spurs - Blues first in the top-flight since 1981 - was just reward for his determination and self-belief to recover to show he still knows where the back of the net is.
During the last couple to three years Forssell became frustrated at Blues style of play. He lives for goals, lives for chances, and Blues haven't exactly been made that way.
He's not the sort who can drop deep, power past opponents and cause trouble for defences by running
at them, direct or down the sides.
He needs the ball in and around the penalty box hot-spots and, as shown by most of his nine goals this
season, he has not lost the instinct to stick them away if the service is provided. The header against Villa
at St Andrew's being a classic case in point.
The pairing with James McFadden showed promising signs but, again, as with Heskey, we'll never know.
They seemed to gel quickly, like Forssell did with Clinton Morrison, the player I feel was his best foil.
Morrison did the foraging, was the outlet who created the space and Forssell manoeuvred himself into
the places where he was most effective.
It was Morrison, always one to poke fun not so quietly, who lambasted Forssell's alabaster complexion
and peroxide hair and coined Milky Bar Kid.
As a professional and a bloke, you would be hard pressed to meet anyone better than Forssell. He was
always well-mannered, gracious and had time to speak, and what he said made sense as he's a deep
thinker about the game, and life in general.
It might well be that a change of scenery suits Forssell and a change of personnel suits Blues and Alex
McLeish in the long-run.
Whatever, Forssell has gone, with the due respect of supporters and just about everyone who came into
contact with him as a player or a person.
Older/Newer
14 Comments
Leave a comment
Profile
Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum’s view of what’s going on at Birmingham City FC.
What a top bloke. I wish him all the best in the future and hope he bangs them in for Hannover.
From his Facebook addressed to the fans:
Hi everybody!
I've received alot of congratulory-messages about my new contract with Hannover 96. I am sorry I am not able to respond to each of you individually, that is why I would like to say collectively to everyone that I am very thankful and happy to have got a positive response. I have had an absolutely amazing time with Birmingham!
During my 4 years I spent there I experienced so many great moments which I cant even put into words. I wanna thank you all for being part of that. This season I experienced my first hattrick in club-football and that was a moment I will cherish my whole life and that is only a small part of the time I spent at Brum.
Birmingham City is a great club and Im so honoured I've had the chance to play for them for such a long time. I know Birmingham City will bounce back to the Premiership next season and I truly am sorry I will not be there...but I know it will happen...and I will watch it with great fondness.
My decision to move on was very difficult as Birmingham City is and will always be close to my heart...but I felt it was time for me to move on and take a new challenge...and this I think I will find with Hannover 96 in Germany. The only positive thing is I wont be scoring against Birmingham City in the next 3 years.
I want to thank everybody who have supported me during my difficult times with injuries and experienced all the lows and highs I have personally been through in the recent years. Your supprt has been crucial for my career. I hope we can stay in touch and I sincerely hope you all have a new favourite club in Germany.
I wish you all the best and I wish Birmingham good luck with the new challenge. I thought we were unlucky this season and I truly believe Birmigham City should be in the Premiership...and they will. They have a good manager with good players and I know it will only improve in the coming years.
Thank you all for everything and you are more than welcome to come and watch my games and see me score in Germany.
Best Wishes
Miklu Forssell
I HAVE to say, may the headline (be no longer) correct. Or (no longer) correct.
tats is it true eck is going to blackburn. some of their fans reckon they've seen his car at the rovers ground
I can confirm that my mate's brother's window cleaner, who knows someone who works at ewood, has just called to say that a Jag with B16 ECK, with blacked out windows, was spotted driving into the car park at blackburn with a ginger haired bloke and an italian looking chap (his agent I presume) walking in the main entrance.
Ominously they had carrier bags from Selfridges. I can confirm to any blackburn fans that there is in fact a selfridges in Birmingham City Centre... hmm.
Worried
I work for a lettering company. We put names on doors for managers and chairman. I can confirm we've just had an order from Lancashire for the letters A X L E M C E I L H S
Crikey.
Even as we speak there's another order come in.
O R Y A T I K N E
I can confirm that signor 'big a Eck' is to become the new Blackburn Rovers Don. signora Robbie Savage will be his numero two in a player coach role
I can't even bring myself to write this one.
But yes, you've guessed it.
A D N Y W A S T O N
Jesus H. Christ, Wazza mate, this is unbelievable! I think i must work in the same lettering company office as you and I've just come back off my dinner at Mr Egg and taken an order from a Mr D Gold at Birmingham City Football Club requesting the letters H O J N G E R G R Y O. I'm scared........
Are all these people dyslexic?
So the Forss was a bit of a 'sweaty' then Tatts?
Not surprised he left after three other 'sweaties' took over!!!!
Have to say I never heard of him nicknamed; The Milky Bar Kid or the Sweatiest man in football, or the guy with Ninja Feet. Let's be brutal and we must is it that sad the Forssell's left for footballing reasons? We feel sorry for the guy that he has left but no doubt Blues have a new player to take his foil. The names Carsley Lee.
All quiet today boys. Not had any orders yet.
Wonder if Portsmouth would loan us David Nugent for a seaon (though knowing the Blues board, we'd probably end up signing erswhile Cornation Street star Emily Nugent cos she'd be cheaper).