Betfair's Big Interview: Ishmael Miller

The Big Interview / Editor / 03 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Ishmael Miller is one of the key figures in West Brom's campaign for an unlikely double. Can they win promotion to the Premier League and also become the first team since West Ham in 1980 to win the FA Cup from outside the top flight?

Just when everybody said the FA Cup was predictable and always won by the big four, this year has turned the form-book topsy turvy. So can West Bromwich Albion upset Portsmouth at Wembley and guarantee the old trophy being won by a team from outside the top flight for the first time since West Ham in 1980? Betfair caught up with Albion's quarter-final hat-trick hero Ishmael Miller to find out.

Ishmael, this will be the first time you've played at Wembley. Are you excited, nervous, or a bit of each?

I think excited to be honest. It's going to be a great feeling and atmosphere to walk out there and I can't wait to be part of it. I think getting the hat-trick in the last round at Bristol Rovers was probably the best feeling of my career, possibly only alongside making my debut for Manchester City. I made sure I kept the match ball. All the players signed it and it's at home for everybody to see. It was the first hat-trick of my career and hopefully the first of many more

It must have been tough deciding to leave Manchester City when the chance for the permanent move came up in January?

Yeah, for the first few days after I left it was difficult. I knew it was never going to be the same to go back and see all the lads and the staff. I was a bit sad to be fair. I knew it was right for my career, but emotionally it was big decision. I had never been away from Manchester and my family and friends before so it was a bit of a challenge. But there's such a family feel around the club at Albion it made it much easier

Didn't Sven Goran Eriksson want you to stay?

To be fair he did. We had a few chats while I was out on loan at the start of the season, and he was showing positive signs for me to come back. But I just wanted to make sure I was 100 per cent in the picture to play, and obviously at a club as big as City as a boy my age you can't guarantee that. I was on loan so obviously I didn't figure in his picture at that time. He's a great manager, and a great man, but I just saw my future at the Albion at this moment of time and for the foreseeable future

What are the things that go through your mind when you are leaving a big club that you've grown up with?

It's something a lot of young players have to deal with every year and I think it's tough for anybody. You think you are taking a step down, and some people will tell you that, but in my eyes it was always a step forward and a step up in my career. Last season I was a bit part player, coming in on the left wing and that's not my position. It meant not many people were seeing what I could do at that level. Now I'm playing regularly in the place I want to, and where I think I'm best. I've scored goals frequently and people have seen what I possess, so it was always a good thing.

Anybody in particular helped you settle in?

All the players and staff, really, although I've made a few good friends, James Morrison and Sherjal Macdonald in particular. But it's been the whole feel of the club and just playing on a regular basis that has helped. I also think I've improved as a player by working alongside Kevin Phillips

In what way?

You can only learn off people like him, he's scored goals all through his career and is a great professional. Every day he works 100 per cent in training, and when you see some of his finishes they are amazing. That mattered to me. Yes, I wanted somewhere I would play, but I also wanted to know there were people to help me improve as well, and I feel like I have done. You can always become a better player, can't you. When you see the best ones they are always working hard and trying to do new things, so people like me have a lot of catching up to do.

You've got what everybody reckons is the best squad in the Championship so why are you still not certain of winning promotion?

Now that is a good question. If I could answer that I'd be the manager! And I certainly don't want that job! I still think we can come through and take it, though. It won't be easy because we've got a lot of games to play but I for one am absolutely desperate for another crack at the Premier League because I think it is the best in the world, and I also think I'm good enough to play in it. I just hope we can do it as well as get to the FA Cup final. People said that the Cup might be a distraction but I don't think that's fair. The Championship is just a very tough division with a lot of very good clubs and teams

Getting Portsmouth was probably the draw none of the other three clubs wanted?

Maybe, but it didn't worry me and I don't think it did any of the players. As you just said we've got enough in our squad because as well as Kevin we've also got Roman Bednar. It's a shame that Luke Moore will be Cup tied but that just gives us other options for the League games. We think we can give anybody a game on the day. You see some of the results that there have been this season and you just think: Why can't there be another shock?

Good luck then, Ishmael, and we've a free £50 bet for a charity of your choice.

Thanks. I've got a sneaky feeling for my old club Manchester City to beat Chelsea and [5.6] is a fantastic price for any Premier League team to win a home game. If I'm right the proceeds can go to Cancer Research. I'm just a footballer and the people who are trying to find a way to cure that disease deserve all the help they can have.