Should he stay or should he Gow

Don’t get me wrong, I’d be absolutely gutted to see the finest talent I think I’ve seen in an Airdrie strip for many a year leave the club. Sure, The Living Legend Owen Coyle grabs the headlines for his goalscoring exploits, but look who has been involved in all of the goals in the yesterday, and last Saturday. We’ve also won all five of the league games he’s started this season. Before he came back into the side Coyle was toiling badly too. It’s clear to see who is most responsible for the change in fortune. There are a couple of ‘play-alike’ players to compare him with from the recent past. David Fernandez and Jim McIntyre were both left sided attackers of a similar nature. Like Fernandez, Gow loves to drop deep to get on the ball. Gow doesn’t have quite the same level of control as Fernandez, but he has a lot more pace to burn and is more ‘adventurous’ in getting into goalscoring positions. He’s probably more similar in style to McIntyre, but his overall game is potentially superior to the Dundee Utd striker due this wonderful level of skill. He’s still very young and raw but realistically he can pass these two very capable players in the next couple of years.

What I’d like to speculate on here is what the club will do when the inevitable happens. Firstly, the club must not ‘break the bank’ by needlessly overspending on a replacement. Much as I’d love to see it, the closest we could get to replacing Gowser ‘like for like’ would probably be the aforementioned Fernandez. But Daveed will be on four or five times the money as Gowser. But the club must remain competitive especially as they’ll want to remain in contention in case Falkirk do slip up, never mind the possibility of a much needed revenue from a Scottish Cup run.

We’d not only need to sign a decent striker with pace, McKeown, Varielle nor Roberts would be an adequate replacement long term, but, as was demonstrated when Gow was out, the right side of midfield would need boosted too. I’ve got two players in mind that I’d like to see brought to the club that I don’t think would bust the bank salary wise nor in terms of transfer fee. Neil MacFarlane, who played for us for a season beside Sandy Stewart, is currently rotting on the Tynecastle bench AND is out of contract at the end of the season. Big Neil would undoubtedly improve our midfield to SPL standard with his driving runs, his long range shooting and his natural competitiveness. He’s also an excellent centre half and his height would be more than useful at defending set pieces. Bryan Pruntyis an excellent young striker who needs a chance to kick start his career. Since leaving Celtic he’s been at a couple of struggling SPL sides who haven’t had the chance to give him enough of a run for him to ‘catch fire’. He’s shown at reserve level he’s a goalscorer but he needs a chance. Would he be ready to make the move to Airdrie? He’s a local lad too and from what I know, his salary expectations wouldn’t be insurmountable, such is his desire to prove himself.

I’m sure that Jerome Vareille will also be looking for a move later this month too, for obvious reasons. The big Frenchman is mega popular with the fans but there seems little chance of him getting a regular run now, such is the improvement in the side. There remains the possibility too that any money coming in for Gow will help solve the problem at right back. Would Willie Wilson be keen on moving if Airdrie rekindle their interest in A*r’s Marc Smyth?

Losing Gow would be a devastating blow, but if the club get anywhere near £100,000 for him, then there could still be life after his departure, even if it isn’t quite so exciting. Here’s my guess at the ‘post window’ side minus Gow;

The rest of the 18 man first team squad would be Hollis, Docherty, Christie, Barkey, Dunn, McKeown and Roberts. With youngsters McKenna, Hoey and Grant padding the squad out, I’d still fancy our chances of keeping our good form going with possibly a more solid looking side all round?