Cowie’s act hard for him to follow
caley thistle midfielder looks to new season after leading role with inverness last term
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Caley Thistle midfielder Don Cowie believes it will be a formidable task to match his first season at the Highland club.
The 25-year-old was not sure he could force his way into the Inverness team but scored nine times to become its leading league scorer.
His impressive displays inevitably attracted attention from other clubs and both Aberdeen and Hibs have been monitoring his progress.
The former Ross County captain, who has one year left on his contract, has started discussions about extending his Inverness deal. But after observing the steady rise of Barry Robson, who spent five years with Caley Jags between 1997 and 2003 before joining Dundee United and then Celtic, Cowie believes anything is possible if he continues to flourish.
He said: “You want to improve every year and I maybe exceeded my expectations last season. But it just means I have to do a bit better this season. I was apprehensive as midfield was always the strongest part of the team.
“I knew it was going to be hard, but I got lucky and got into the team early on.
“Charlie Christie, who was the manager at the time, thought I deserved a chance and I took it. I then managed to stay in the team for practically the remainder of the season.
“If you have a good season or two, the opportunity is there to get a move.
“I was up and down a wee bit at Ross County. Maybe in my latter years there I played better, scored a few goals and got my move to Inverness.
“I played against Barry Robson when he was with Caley Thistle in the First Division and you could see he was a really good player, but it was all about getting a break. “Once he got the move to Dundee United he took the opportunity with both hands and what he did with Celtic in the second half of last season proved how good he is.
“You are never too old to make the breakthrough and he is definitely an inspiration to a lot of players.
“The fact he has a background at Caley Thistle means people from our area look at him more and see what he has achieved. He has been brilliant.
“Mark Brown also managed to get a move to Celtic and, although he has not played as much as he would have liked, it shows you it can be done.”
Cowie is content to stay at Caley Thistle, though he would never rule out the chance of a move up the ladder should the opportunity arise and is willing to consider offers from other clubs.
He added: “The club came to me last week and we have started contract negotiations. It is not something which happens overnight and we will see what happens in the next couple of weeks. I will be listening to what the club is willing to offer.
“I have really enjoyed my first year at the club and I don’t see any problems. There has been a lot of speculation, but there is nothing for me to think about other than my future at Caley Thistle.”
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