ON-LOAN midfielder Chris Birchall last night thanked Buddies boss Gus MacPherson for rekindling his love for the beautiful game.
Trinidad and Tobago internationalist Birchall said his career has been given a whole new lease of life now that MacPherson has rescued him from the soccer scrap heap at Coventry.
The 23-year-old only started 17 games for the Sky Blues following his £300,000 move from Port Vale in the summer of 2006.
He fell even further down the pecking order at the Ricoh Arena when new Coventry manager Iain Dowie arrived in February this year.
But Dowie’s loss is most certainly MacPherson’s gain as the Saints boss has played Birchall from the start in the last three games against Kilmarnock, Hearts and Aberdeen.
And his performances on the right side of midfield have given the Buddies some much-needed pace and power.
Stafford-born Birchall, who is on loan at St Mirren for the rest of the season, said he’s loving life at Love Street.
He added: “The gaffer has been great with me since I came up here and this is the first time in a long while that I’ve actually enjoyed my football.
“I wasn’t match fit when I arrived, so the gaffer knew not to put me in the first team straight away.
“He gave me a run-out in the reserves and then I played 90 minutes in a practice game before making the step up to the first team.”
Birchall revealed that his career was beginning to stutter at the Ricoh Arena, prompting him to look for regular football elsewhere.
He said: “Back at Coventry, I was coming off the bench sometimes and other times I wasn’t even selected, which was difficult to take.
“Thankfully, St Mirren have given me a chance to play football at a good standard and I’m grateful for that opportunity.”
Despite suffering a heavy defeat at Pittodrie on Sunday, Birchall insists his Buddies won’t allow their heads to go down.
He said: “The dressing room is brilliant and, even if we were bottom of the league, the confidence would still be there.
“Most of the lads have experience of the Premier League and, having survived their first season, they want to push on now.”