MICHEL SALGADO, a legend in Spanish football after a trophy-packed decade at Real Madrid, would have no hesitation recommending Blackburn Rovers to any player looking for a move into English football - but they had better be aware that it is a very didfferent game to that played on the continent.
"Of course, this is a good club for players like me," said the veteran defender.
"I can advise players from Spain to come here and to enjoy a different league with a good style of life, a good private life for players, much different from Spain.
"You can work easily here at the training ground with no distractions, it is a professional environment.
"Maybe we can sign a player for the next season, I don't know."
Salgado was delighted with his first season in English football, particularly the run of results towards the end of the campaign which saw Rovers clinch a place in the top half of the Premier League with Sunday's win over Aston Villa.
"I think the season has ended really well for the club and for me," he said.
"It was my first season; first of all I had to settle in, that was the most important. It was a big change after ten years at Real Madrid.
"It was a big change in everything, the style of life for my family and me and a new league with a different point of view. So I think it has been great.
"The high tempo is the difference - in football in Spain you try to keep the ball to keep possession, and normally in Spain when you have possession of the ball you win the game.
"In England it is all different, you can have the possession of the ball but you don't win the game. So it is very important to win the knock downs, to control the boxes.
"The players in the midfield in England are there to support the attack and the defence. In Spain it is different, they are the leaders of the match; you control the midfield, you win the game.
"So everything is different - I've never headed so many balls in my life!
"My friends come here and they say after a game that it is fantastic, maybe it isn't a quality game sometimes, but it is always exciting. The tempo, you never give up until the last minute, so everything is different.
"But I think it is great. It has been a new experience for me and a great experience.
"I'm feeling really well, I am fit, I can improve now I know the tempo, now I know my team mates, and I'm looking forward to a full pre-season with the club.
"The manager did the right thing in not hurrying me into the team. That is important for a player when he comes to England after playing 15 years in Spain.
"Sam talked to me and said I need to be patient, to settle in and get used to playing in England as it is really different to Spain. He was really intelligent with this.
"I knew the manager, I talked with him, I know how he used to work with players like me. He used to work with Fernando Hierro, Ivan Campo, Okocha (at Bolton) so he was very important for me.
"I wasn't worried, I took my time and now I have my reward. I'm really happy here and proud of the season, I'm now looking forward to the next year to try and do something big."
