Birmingham City midfielder Kemy Agustien has retaliated against his critics in the Netherlands who have branded him lazy.
The 22-year-old left the country of his birth during the summer for a season-long loan spell at Birmingham from Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar and he has no intention of returning.
Not only does Agustien dream of forging a long and fruitful career in English football but the occasional aspersion he attracted in Holland may also have played a small part in his wish to remain on these shores.
For someone of such a young age, Tilburg-born Agustien gained a wealth of experience during his four-year career in the Dutch top flight. Over 100 league appearances and a decent taste of UEFA Cup during his time with Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC Kerkrade and AZ is hardly a record to be sniffed at.
However Agustien admits that he grew frustrated with criticism that he often wasn’t pulling his weight during matches, a tag that, in his opinion, he has found difficult to shake off until now.
“Back in Holland I’ve learned that the people are always critical because they think I’m not the kind of player that likes to work, I’m not with their opinion” said Agustien. “I think I proved against Ipswich that I will always keep working.
“I think for the team that’s a good thing because if I’m not working you are one player down. The only problem is getting space but that is also something that I have to keep working at.”
The Ipswich game on Boxing Day in particular was a tough test of Agustien’s ability to put a shift in when it mattered most. Birmingham ground out a hard-earned yet crucial victory at Portman
Road and Agustien was out there for the entire 90 minutes after making his first start for Blues in seven games.
By his own admittance, Agustien’s passing wasn’t good enough that afternoon in Suffolk.
And he found himself dropped for the following fixture with Swansea City.
However, as he prepares for a likely recall for Saturday’s FA Cup encounter at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Agustien still remains fully focused on two tasks – Birmingham’s bid for promotion and earning a permanent deal at St Andrew’s.
“For me that was a busy afternoon at Ipswich, I started for the first time in almost two months and you can’t compare starting a game to when you come on as a substitute.
“I didn’t do so well and I still have to prove myself but we had a great result for the team which was the most important thing. We have to keep going and take our points because we want to get promotion.
“The only thing that matters now is that we have to win our own games and we cannot look to the other opponents. If we win our games then we can watch the other opponents. If you don’t do that then there’s not much to watch.”
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