MICKAEL ANTOINE-CURIER today vowed to win himself a new Easter Road contract – by helping fire Dundee back into the top flight of Scottish football.
The French striker was devastated to be allowed to leave Hibs on loan until the end of the season as new boss Mixu Paatelainen brought in Kilmarnock hitman Colin Nish on transfer deadline day. Antoine-Curier enjoyed just 16 minutes of first-team acti
on under Paatelainen, coming on as a substitute in the 3-0 Scottish Cup win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in what was the big Finn's first match in charge before being told he could move to Dens Park.
But, although the one-year deal he signed as ex-manager John Collins brought him to Edinburgh from Norwegian Second Division outfit Haugesunds expires at the end of the season, Antoine-Curier believes he can catch Paatelainen's eye by banging in the goals for the Dark Blues.
The 22-year-old has already netted in each of his first two games for Dundee, including the first in a 2-0 win over Morton at the weekend which saw Alex Rae's team cut Hamilton's advantage to four points as the First Division leaders faltered against St Johnstone.
Now he is hoping to see his name feature regularly on the scoresheet, not only to help Dundee gain promotion but to earn himself a return to Easter Road, with Paatelainen having promised to monitor his progress.
Signed on the last day of August having scored four goals against Livingston in a trial match, Antoine-Curier insisted he was happy enough with his record at Hibs after netting four goals in nine starts.
The last of those came in a 2-1 defeat by St Mirren at Love Street after Antoine-Curier was brought back in from the cold following the ignominy of being substituted in a 1-1 draw against Falkirk three weeks previously having been brought on to replace the injured Steven Fletcher earlier in the match.
His cameo appearance against Inverness followed, Antoine- Curier nodding a simple chance over the bar before Dean Shiels completed his hat-trick to ensure a fifth-round tie against Rangers.
Today, Antoine-Curier admitted that miss in his last appearance in a green-and-white jersey still haunts him, although he doesn't believe that moment sealed his fate.
He said: "Everyone misses even the easiest of tap-ins. I thought I did reasonably well in the short time I was on the pitch that day, unfortunately I didn't score that goal. Even if you asked me to head that ball over the bar I wouldn't have been able to do so nine times out of ten, it was that easy.
"I was already celebrating before I headed the ball which was wrong on my part and I tried to put it into the net as hard as I could.
"Afterwards, the gaffer said to me not to worry about missing the chance – the main thing was how I reacted to it."
Antoine-Curier, however, didn't get the chance to do so as he was axed for the following match, the derby at Tynecastle which Hibs lost.
He said: "The Falkirk game was very disappointing for me, but any player can have a poor match. I felt I did well in the reserves thereafter and scored when I got my chance against St Mirren.
"Having also done reasonably well, or so I thought, against Inverness, I was bitterly disappointed not to even be on the bench against Hearts. I desperately wanted to play, everyone wants to play in the derby so not to even be in the squad was devastating."
Antoine-Curier had no chance to redeem himself with Hibs' SPL clash against Gretna the following week postponed due to a flooded pitch, leaving the player to read of Dundee's interest in a loan deal through newspaper reports.
He said: "I was very surprised and went to see the manager who confirmed that was the case. I was bitterly disappointed the way things turned out. I felt I had done pretty well coming from the Norwegian Second Division and scoring four goals in nine starts. "I even had friends in Norway calling to say they were a bit surprised because they didn't expect me to be doing so well straight away against teams like Celtic and Rangers.
"And the guys at Dundee were also a bit shocked, they were asking me if there had been some sort of fall-out or something but that is definitely not the case."
Rather, Antoine-Curier feels he has simply fallen victim to a regular football scenario, a change of management.
But, while disappointed at how his career has been turned on it's head once more – Antoine-Curier having created a record of playing for six different clubs in one season while a teenager in England only to get back on track with a spell in Norway – the forward is determined to make the most of the coming months.
He said: "I didn't really want to go anywhere. I wanted to come back to Britain from Norway and show people what I could do, it wasn't about money but the passion of playing for a club you really liked and I had settled in well at Hibs, I felt really comfortable and was enjoying myself.
"I enjoyed the way we played football, I felt I was learning every day, working with strikers like Steven Fletcher, Clayton Donaldson and Benji and also the defenders we have at the club. I used to go into work every day with a big smile on my face because I loved it all so much." According to Antoine-Curier he had the opportunity to return to England, but Paatelainen expressed a preference for Dundee so he could keep an eye on his progress.
He said: "The gaffer said he would prefer me to go out on loan in Scotland because it would be easier for him to see me play. Hopefully he has already heard I am scoring goals for Dundee.
"My aim is to score as many as I can and help Dundee win promotion. Alex Rae knew how down I was because I did not want to leave Hibs. He has put a smile back on my face. I have a great respect for Dundee because they have given me this chance. Hopefully I can help them into the SPL but, hand on heart, the person I want to impress most is Mixu Paatelainen (pictured left] because I want to come back to play for Hibs again."
