Striking the balance between ability and value for money

Falkirk: Hidden asset Alan Gow has already proved his worth, but an SFA tribunal will decide what he should cost, writes Stewart Fisher

FALKIRK FC’s accounts department may join Hearts in a sneaky sigh of relief if Alan Gow is kept quiet this afternoon.

The striker is likely to recover from a bout of the flu to appear against the league leaders at the Falkirk Stadium, and will complete a momentous double header with an appearance at Hampden on Thursday as an SFA tribunal finally places a monetary value on his worth, after the pre-season row in which Airdrie United and Falkirk found an £80,000 conflict in their respective valuations of the player too wide to resolve.

Succeeding in keeping the 22-year-old from the headlines is another matter, however. This intelligent, elegant player has scored in each of his last two outings, including an inspired, headline-grabbing solo goal in the CIS Cup tie against Celtic, which made him a housewives’ favourite as well as effectively blowing his cover as one of the best-kept emerging secret talents in the Scottish game.

Never the most pacy, or prolific, of strikers – with little more than a one in four strike rate – as he worked his way through the divisions, Gow has only unfashionable Clydebank, Airdrie United and Falkirk on his CV. Yet were it not for a few untimely injuries, and the fickle workings of footballing fate, that list could also include Rangers and Birmingham City, where he had trials as a youngster.

He could even be lining up on the other side of the halfway line today. Gow, you may recall, was shown round the Hearts training ground by John Robertson last season, before the Tynecastle club baulked at the transfer fee they were being asked for, became Vladimir Romanov’s plaything, and promptly got rid of their manager.

Still, the player thrived when he was left clubless after the Bankies went out of business, and can hardly claim to be too disappointed about where fate has left him this season, even if his new employers could do with some more league points to nudge them away from the foot of the SPL table.

“I am delighted to be playing first-team football in the SPL,” said Gow, who also saw a six-figure bid from Gretna turned down. “I always believe I am going to score goals no matter what level I am at, but to do so at places like Celtic Park boosts your confidence.

“It was good at the time to have the interest at Hearts, but it wasn’t to be and you can’t have any regrets,” he added. “I went and had a look at them last season under John Robertson, and who knows where I would be now if that had happened.

“Airdrie obviously wanted a certain amount of money for me, and Hearts didn’t want to pay that, maybe they never did.”

For Gow, a successful result from next week’s tribunal would be an outcome that leaves all parties without a festering grievance. With Falkirk hoping to pay only £20,000, and Airdrie United holding out for £100,000, that may be easier said than done.

“It is not really down to me any more,” Gow said. “I spent three good years at Airdrie, I have a lot of time for people there, and I just hope everything is sorted out. It will be interesting to get the panel’s answer, they will decide how good they think I am.”

If Gow and former Hearts wing-back Kenny Milne formed the Scottish-based sector of a formidable piece of summer strengthening, certain others from further afield are also making an impression at Falkirk.

Portuguese central defender Tiago Rodrigues and midfielder Vitor Lima are very much support acts to countryman Russell Latapy, but both have earned pass marks.

Tiago, a 21-year-old plucked from the relative obscurity of FC Infesta and Portugal’s Second Division (north), started out life alongside former Tottenham Hotspur player Helder Postiga in the Porto youth team, and remains a supporter of Rangers’ Group H Champions League rivals to this day. In Edgaras Jankauskas, he will be marking an idol and Champions League winner.

“I still love Porto. It is my town and my club,” Tiago said. “I played with Helder Postiga when I was coming through, and he is a really great player. We were friends when I was at Porto but he went one way and I went the other.

“I still think Porto have a chance to get out of the group but I don’t really understand why they have lost two easy games for them.”

Tiago’s career was crucially interrupted by a four-month stint in national service at the age of 20, an obligation which only the very well connected (Cristiano Ronaldo perhaps) are permitted to bypass.

In Tiago’s case, his time stationed in Lisbon was enough to leave him considering quitting the game. “When I went to the army, my head was very low, I was thinking my football career was over,” Tiago said.

“It was hard to keep going, people were wanting me to go to teams in the Portuguese first division before I left, then when I came back from the army those same teams didn’t want me. I was very low, very sad. They wanted me to join up full time, but I said no way.”

He pauses, then laughs. “But yes, I suppose it is good preparation for playing at Falkirk.”

Taken from the Sunday Herald